Volpone
A critical guide
Published on 24. March 2011
Book
Hardback
214 pages
978-0-8264-2495-2 (ISBN)
Description
As perhaps the best-known and most-studied work in the canon of Shakespeare's leading contemporary rival, Ben Jonson's Volpone (1606) is a particularly important play for thinking about early modern drama as a whole. This guide offers students an introduction to its critical and performance history, including recent versions on stage and screen. It includes a keynote chapter outlining major areas of current research on the play and four new critical essays presenting contrasting critical approaches focusing on literary intertextuality; performance studies; political history; and broader social history. Finally, a guide to critical, web-based and production-related resources and an annotated bibliography provide a basis for further individual research.
Reviews / Votes
'Volpone: A Critical Guide offers the most wide-ranging and thought-provoking overview of Jonson's comedy ever assembled. It considers the play both as a literary text and as a performance piece, covering its history on the stage and in critical commentary, and so illuminating the current state of scholarship on this most provocative and ambiguous of plays. The well-balanced essays are not afraid to disagree with each other and repeatedly point us towards exciting new questions about a play which is all too often castrated by being labelled a "classic". It will be of value to scholars, teachers and students alike. Future study of Volpone starts here.' -- Richard Dutton, Humanities Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of English, Ohio State University, USAMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
439 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8264-2495-2 (9780826424952)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Matthew Steggle is Reader in English at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. He is editor of the ejournal Early Modern Literary Studies, and a Contributing Editor to The Cambridge Works of Ben Jonson.
Content
Series Introduction; Volpone Timeline; Introduction; The Critical Backstory Sam Thompson; Performance History, Rebecca Yearling; The State of the Art: Robert C. Evans; New Directions: Jonson's Literary Theater: Volpone in Performance and Print (1606-1607) James P. Bednarz; New Directions: "Live Free,... Rob Churches,... Lend me your Dwarf": What's Funny about Volpone? Rick Bowers; New Directions: Ben Jonson and Imprisonment Frances Teague; New Directions: Age and Ageing in Volpone Stella Achilleos; Resources for teaching and studying Volpone Matthew C. Hansen; Bibliography; Notes on Contributors; Index.