Shakespeare: The Comedies
The Comedies
Published on 2. December 1999
Book
Paperback/Softback
280 pages
978-0-333-73968-6 (ISBN)
Description
Shakespeare's comedies combine charm and wit with probing intelligence. Through detailed analysis of passages from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It and Twelfth Night this book explores the satire and sympathy, the linguistic variety, and the dramatic skill which make Shakespearean comedy both entertaining and profound. Part II suggests connections with the rest of Shakespeare's work, and concludes with a survey of comic theory and criticism devoted to the comedies.
Reviews / Votes
'Dwelling almost wholly within the text, this well-organised and appealingly written book will be most useful to relative beginners in Shakespeare who need to be alerted to the texture and rhythm of language and event in the plays.' - Claire Preston, Times Higher Education SupplementMore details
Series
Edition
2000
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
356 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-333-73968-6 (9780333739686)
DOI
10.1007/978-1-349-90880-6
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
02/2000
Palgrave
€154.55
Article exhausted; check different version
Person
R. P. DRAPER is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Aberdeen and has published widely in the fields of Shakespeare and modern literature and, in particular, on D.H. Lawrence and Thomas Hardy. His most recent publication is An Introduction to Twentieth-Century Poetry in English, also published by Macmillan.
Content
Contents.- General Editor's Preface.- A Note on Editions.- PART ONE: ANALYSING SHAKESPEARE'S COMEDIES.- Introduction: The Nature of Shakespearean Comedy.- Atmospherics.- Sympathetic Criticism.- Illusion.- Romantic Sentiment.- Wooing.- Fools (1): Dupes.- Fools (2): Clever Fools.- Manlike Women.- Odd Men Out.- Set Pieces.- Endings.- General Conclusions to Part One.- PART TWO: THE CONTEXT AND THE CRITICS.- The Other Comedies and the Poems.- Histories, Tragedies, and Last Plays.- Theories of Comedy and Criticism of Shakespeare's Comedies.- Further Reading.- Index.