Cleopatra in Italian and English Renaissance drama / Anna Maria Montanari.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Montanari, Anna Maria (Renaissance literature scholar), author.

Series:

Renaissance history, art and culture.

Renaissance history, art and culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, d 30 B. C--In literature.

Cleopatra.

Italian drama--To 1700--History and criticism.

Italian drama.

English drama--Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600--History and criticism.

English drama.

Queens in literature.

Women in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (309 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, 2019.

Summary:

This book considers some of the main adaptations of the character of Cleopatra for the Renaissance stage, travelling from Italy to England to arrive finally to Shakespeare. It shows how each reading of the story of Cleopatra is unique to and expressive of the culture which produced it, even as writers drew from the same sources from Antiquity. For the first time texts belonging to different cultures, rigorously presented, are brought into dialogue on such questions as moral standpoint, gender and the representation of the exotic. Moreover, through the fascinating figure of Cleopatra, the reader is able to explore the development of Renaissance tragedy, in its commercial and non-commercial versions. Ultimately both questions at the heart of this study - concerning Cleopatra's identity and her translation into theatre - converge to be (dis)solved by Shakespeare.

Contents:

'No Humble Woman She'

'The Subject of Talk the World Over'

The Egyptian queen's rebirth

The great theatre of Cleopatra

'The wanton luxurie of Court'

'A lass unparalleled'.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 20 Nov 2020).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-04-077656-6

1-003-69266-4

90-485-3723-1

OCLC:

1141734327