Shakespeare's rise to cultural prominence : politics, print and alteration, 1642-1700 / Emma Depledge, University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Depledge, Emma, author.

Contributor:

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.

Authors and theater.

History.

Drama--Publishing.

England.

Drama--Publishing--England--History--17th century.

Drama.

Authors and theater--England--History--17th century.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Criticism and interpretation.

Shakespeare, William.

Criticism and interpretation.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Adaptations--History and criticism.

Genre:

Adaptations.

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

History.

Physical Description:

xiii, 251 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom : Cambridge University Press, 2018.

Summary:

Shakespeare's rise to prominence was by no means inevitable. While he was popular in his lifetime, the number of new editions and revivals of his plays declined over the following decades. Emma Depledge uses the methodologies of book and theatre history to provide a re-assessment of the reputation and dissemination of Shakespeare during the Interregnum and Restoration. She demonstrates the crucial role of the Exclusion Crisis (1678-1682), a political crisis over the royal succession, as a foundational moment in Shakespeare's canonisation. The period saw a sudden surge of theatrical alterations and a significantly increased rate of new editions and stage revivals. In the wake of the Exclusion Crisis, Shakespeare's plays were made available on a scale not witnessed since the early seventeenth century, thus reversing what might otherwise have been a permanent disappearance of his drama from canonical familiarity and firmly establishing Shakespeare's work in the national cultural imagination.

Contents:

Introduction

Shakespeare in the Civil Wwar and Interregnum years, 1642-1659

Shakespeare on the early Restoration stage and page, 1660-1677

Shakespeare and the Exclusion Crisis, 1678-82: the decision to alter his plays

The politics of Shakespeare alterations of the Exclusion Crisis

Selling Shakespeare on the Exclusion Crisis stage and page

Shakespeare in the wake of the Exclusion Crisis, 1683-1700.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

9781108427104

1108427103

OCLC:

1022084419