Essential Shakespeare
The Arden Guide to Text and Interpretation
2nd Edition
Published on 16. October 2025
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-1-350-44427-0 (ISBN)
Description
Addressing the transition from pre-university to undergraduate Shakespeare studies, this introductory critical guide examines 16 key plays. Each chapter focuses on modern theoretical methods, close reading skills, early modern contexts, and productions from stage and screen spanning several decades.
You will gain insights into each play, develop skills of analysis and be introduced to a diverse range of critical approaches that are central to the study of English today. Suggestions for further reading are included at the end of each chapter, together with examples of Shakespearean adaptation across genres, media and time.
New to the second edition:
* A revised and expanded introduction
* Two additional plays and further critical approaches are covered: As You Like It and Titus Andronicus
* Revised chapters on Othello and Twelfth Night
* Updates to each chapter with wider reading and extended Afterlives sections
* New links between chapters to aid study
* A preface to the revised edition
* An appendix featuring recommended open access online resources
* Glossary of critical terms used in this book
You will gain insights into each play, develop skills of analysis and be introduced to a diverse range of critical approaches that are central to the study of English today. Suggestions for further reading are included at the end of each chapter, together with examples of Shakespearean adaptation across genres, media and time.
New to the second edition:
* A revised and expanded introduction
* Two additional plays and further critical approaches are covered: As You Like It and Titus Andronicus
* Revised chapters on Othello and Twelfth Night
* Updates to each chapter with wider reading and extended Afterlives sections
* New links between chapters to aid study
* A preface to the revised edition
* An appendix featuring recommended open access online resources
* Glossary of critical terms used in this book
Reviews / Votes
The particular strength of Pamela Bickley and Jenny Stevens' thorough guide to the study of Shakespeare's plays is its targeting. Their discussion of each of the fourteen plays is framed via the introduction of a theoretical method and an exploration of Shakespeare's language, thus offering a critical tool-kit aimed squarely and effectively at undergraduates and ambitious sixth formers . . . Bickley and Stevens know their audience and address it clearly and unpatronisingly. Everyone who wants, or is just beginning, to study English literature at university would benefit from this book. (Of the 1st edition) -- Emma Smith, Hertford College, University of Oxford, UK * Around the Globe * The defining quality of Bickley and Stevens' Essential Shakespeare is the absolute clarity of their organisation as they navigate the extensive field of Shakespearean criticism ... Bickley and Stevens engage students who will enjoy their direct, modern approach, as well as teachers who can enjoy the wry smile and the shared experience of justifying literary analysis to teenagers: 'Did Shakespeare really intend all this?' (Of the 1st edition) -- Tara Hanley * Use of English * [T]his engaging volume successfully explains the most important concepts related to the playwright's use of language through a number of critical perspectives ... The Essential Shakespeare is a well-balanced synthesis where each chapter provides a real wealth of information about the playwright. More importantly, it offers a highly readable overview of Shakespeare's main plays for those already acquainted with the playwright's language ... [I]t certainly deserves to be given a special place on academic bookshelves. (Of the 1st edition) -- Sophie Chiari, Aix-Marseille Universite, France * Cercles *More details
Edition
2nd edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
669 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-44427-0 (9781350444270)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Pamela Bickley is an experienced teacher of A-Level and IB students and taught for many years as a Visiting Lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.
Jenny Stevens has taught English at both pre-university and degree level. She currently combines literature teaching at the City Lit, London, with academic writing, educational consultancy and series editing for Methuen Drama Student Editions.
Jenny Stevens has taught English at both pre-university and degree level. She currently combines literature teaching at the City Lit, London, with academic writing, educational consultancy and series editing for Methuen Drama Student Editions.
Content
Preface to the Revised Edition
How to Use this Book
Introduction
1. A Midsummer Night's Dream: Transformations, Illusions, Festivity
2. Much Ado About Nothing: Exploring Language and Gender
3. As You Like It: 'Let the Forest Judge'
4. Twelfth Night, Or What You Will: Genderqueer Desires
5. Measure for Measure (and its problems...)
6. Titus Andronicus: Shakespeare's Most Violent Play?
7. Hamlet: Repeats, Returns, Retellings
8. Othello: Sex, Race and Rhetoric
9. King Lear: 'That things might change, or cease'
10. Macbeth: Kingship and Witchcraft
11. Antony and Cleopatra: The Legendary on Stage
12. King Richard II: The Performance of Majesty
13. King Richard III: History's Monster or Charismatic Villain?
14. Cymbeline: Moving Across Place, Time and Genres
15. The Winter's Tale: Tyranny, Trials, Time
16. The Tempest: Where 'Thought is free'
Linking Questions
Recommended Open Access Online Resources
Glossary of Critical Terms Used in this Book
Abbreviations
References
Index
How to Use this Book
Introduction
1. A Midsummer Night's Dream: Transformations, Illusions, Festivity
2. Much Ado About Nothing: Exploring Language and Gender
3. As You Like It: 'Let the Forest Judge'
4. Twelfth Night, Or What You Will: Genderqueer Desires
5. Measure for Measure (and its problems...)
6. Titus Andronicus: Shakespeare's Most Violent Play?
7. Hamlet: Repeats, Returns, Retellings
8. Othello: Sex, Race and Rhetoric
9. King Lear: 'That things might change, or cease'
10. Macbeth: Kingship and Witchcraft
11. Antony and Cleopatra: The Legendary on Stage
12. King Richard II: The Performance of Majesty
13. King Richard III: History's Monster or Charismatic Villain?
14. Cymbeline: Moving Across Place, Time and Genres
15. The Winter's Tale: Tyranny, Trials, Time
16. The Tempest: Where 'Thought is free'
Linking Questions
Recommended Open Access Online Resources
Glossary of Critical Terms Used in this Book
Abbreviations
References
Index