Literary studies: plays and playwrights Books

Book SynopsisThe acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series, now repackaged in award-winning modern covers to inspire Shakespearians of all ages.

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Book SynopsisThe acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series, now repackaged in award-winning modern covers to inspire Shakespearians of all ages.

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Book SynopsisShakespeare for Every Day of the Year is not just for Christmas, but for all time. —Helena Bonham CarterA magnificent collection of 365 passages from Shakespeare's works, for the Shakespeare scholar and neophyte alike.Make Shakespeare a part of your daily routine with Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year, a yearlong collection of passages from Shakespeare's greatest works. Drawing from the full spectrum of plays and sonnets to mark each day of the year, whether it's a scene from Hamlet to celebrate Christmas or a Sonnet in June to help you enjoy a summer's day. There are also passages to mark important days in the Shakespeare calendar, both from his own life and from his plays: You'll read a pivotal speech from Julius Caesar on the Ides of March and celebrate Valentine's day with a sonnet. Every passage is accompanied by an enlightening note to teach you its significance and help you better appreciate the timelessness and p

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Book SynopsisStephen Scully both offers a reading of Hesiod''s Theogony and traces the reception and shadows of this authoritative Greek creation story in Greek and Roman texts up to Milton''s own creation myth, which sought to soar above th'' Aonian Mount [i.e., the Theogony] ... and justify the ways of God to men. Scully also considers the poem in light of Near Eastern creation stories, including the Enûma elish and Genesis, as well as the most striking of modern scientific myths, Freud''s Civilization and its Discontents. Scully reads Hesiod''s poem as a hymn to Zeus and a city-state creation myth, arguing that Olympus is portrayed as an idealized polity and - with but one exception - a place of communal harmony. This reading informs his study of the Theogony''s reception in later writings about polity, discord, and justice. The rich and various story of reception pays particular attention to the long Homeric Hymns, Solon, the Presocratics, Pindar, Aeschylus, Aristophanes, and Plato in the Archaic and Classical periods; to the Alexandrian scholars, Callimachus, Euhemerus, and the Stoics in the Hellenistic period; to Ovid, Apollodorus, Lucan, a few Church fathers, and the Neoplatonists in the Roman period. Tracing the poem''s reception in the Byzantine, medieval, and early Renaissance, including Petrarch and Erasmus, the book ends with a lengthy exploration of Milton''s imitations of the poem in Paradise Lost. Scully also compares what he considers Hesiod''s artful interplay of narrative, genealogical lists, and keen use of personified abstractions in the Theogony to Homeric narrative techniques and treatment of epic verse.Trade ReviewScully has long been interested in the polis, as his excellent 1990 study, Homer and the Sacred City, demonstrated, and this new volume about Hesiod's Theogony is, in a sense, an extension of that interest. An equally exciting aspect of this comprehensive study is its clear and full discussion of Hesiod's until-now overlooked literary methods, in which personification reflects psychological reality, or flows from action, and in which common nouns, in their shifting meanings, follow the narrative arc of the poem. * Helaine L. Smith, Semicerchio: Rivista di poesia comparata *The heart of Stephen Scully's book is a masterful inquiry into the place of the Theogony in literary history, in the course of which he makes important observations about the evolution of ancient Greek ideas of the cosmos, divinity, sexuality and gender, justice, and the polis. He prefaces his historical investigations with a careful reading of the poem on its own terms, before looking backward toward its sources and then forward toward the influence it exerted on later texts. Literary analysis and literary history are carefully interwoven, as Scully's initial reading of the poem provides a road map for the historical sections of the book. * Deborah Lyons, American Journal of Philology *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements ; Introduction ; Chapter I: Points of Comparison: Hesiod and Homer; the Theogony and Genesis ; Chapter II: The Theogony ; Chapter III: The Theogony and Eastern Parallels: City-State Succession Myths? ; Chapter IV: The Theogony in the Archaic and Classical periods ; Chapter V: Echoes of the Theogony in the Hellenistic and Roman periods ; Chapter VI: Theogonic shadows: Byzantine, Medieval and Renaissance, Milton's Paradise Lost ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThis original and distinctive verse translation of four of Sophocles' plays conveys the vitality of his poetry and the vigour of the plays as performed showpieces, encouraging the reader to relish the sound of the spoken verse and the potential for song within the lyrics.Trade ReviewRendered with uncanny clarity and intrinsic energy, the translation shows great patience, ingenuity, and learning in the capturing of the Greek original. It is lucid, smooth, elegant, and musical, captivating readers instantly. Choice deeply rewarding version ... It outshines all the other versions that I have to hand and (I would guess) those that I don't. Malcolm Heath, Greece and RomeTable of ContentsOEDIPUS THE KING; AIAS; PHILOCTETES; OEDIPUS AT COLONUS

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Book SynopsisThis vibrant collection of verse translations of Aristophanes' works-featuring Clouds, Women at the Thesmophoria (or Thesmophoriazusae), and Frogs-combines historical accuracy with a sensitive attempt to capture the rich dramatic and literary qualities of Aristophanic comedy.Trade ReviewIt would be hard to find a better companion to Aristophanes, for classicists but perhaps especially for the general reader Altogether a fine effort, to be recommended for all classes of reader. * Colin McDonald, Classics for All *Halliwell pairs his fluency in rendering verse with deftness at capturing the complexities of Aristophanes' language, which gives his translations particular verve. * The Classical Journal *Table of ContentsPREFACE; INTRODUCTION; NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION; SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY; CHRONOLOGY; CLOUDS; WOMEN AT THE THESMOPHORIA; FROGS; APPENDIX: THE LOST PLAYS OF ARISTOPHANES; NOTES; INDEX OF NAMES

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Book SynopsisArden of Faversham * A Woman Killed with Kindness * The Witch of Edmonton * The English TravellerIn about 1590, an unknown dramatist had the idea of writing a tragedy about the lives of ordinary people, instead of the genre''s usual complement of kings and queens and politicians. His play, Arden of Faversham, inaugurated a new genre of ''domestic'' drama, set in near-contemporary England and concerned with issues of marriage, crime, and property rather than war and power. Arden dramatizes a notorious murder case of forty years earlier, in which a wealthy husband was killed by his wife and her lover.In Thomas Heywood''s A Woman Killed with Kindness, a wife is caught by her husband in bed with his best friend, only to find that he takes unusual reprisals. The Witch of Edmonton combines a true-life story of witchcraft with a fictitious tale of bigamy and wife-murder, and The English Traveller deals with the unexpected and unwelcome changes people find when they return home after a lengthyTable of ContentsIntroduction ; Note on the Texts ; Select Bibliography ; A Chronology of the Plays and their Genre ; THE TRAGEDY OF MASTER ARDEN OF FAVERSHAM ; A WOMEN KILLED WITH KINDNESS ; THE WITCH OF EDMONTON ; THE ENGLISH TRAVELLER ; Appendix 1: The Unknown Author of Arden of Faversham ; Appendix 2: The Date of The English Traveller ; Explanatory Notes ; Glossary

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Book SynopsisThe Oxford ShakespeareGeneral Editor: Stanley WellsThe Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative texts from leading scholars in editions designed to interpret and illuminate the plays for modern readers.- A new, modern-spelling text, collated and edited from all existing printings- Wide-ranging introduction explores the lyrical language with which Shakespeare dramatizes competing kinds of love- Detailed performance history designed to meet the needs of theatre professionals- On-page commentary and notes explain language, word-play, and staging- the only edition to provide a setting of the song ''Who is Silvia?'' , taken from an Elizabethan source- Illustrated with production photographs and related art- Full index to introduction and commentary- Durable sewn binding for lasting use''not simply a better text but a new conception of Shakespeare'' ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each afforTrade ReviewRoger Warren's edition of the play in the excellent Oxford series is emphatically performance-orientated throughout. * Ruth Morse, Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisA book on the experience of reading Honoré de Balzac's La Comédie humaine which recounts the process of Peter Brooks's own discovery of Balzac.Trade ReviewBrooks never ceases to intrigue readers by his deeply probing work of literary and critical scholarship. * Dana Vuckovic, French Studies *Table of Contents1: Balzac: Reading for More 2: Fangs and Kisses 3: Making Books, Devouring Presses 4: The Shape of Time 5: To Say Everything

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Book SynopsisNo Hamlets is the first critical account of the role of Shakespeare in the intellectual tradition of the political right in Germany from the founding of the Empire in 1871 to the ''Bonn Republic'' of the Cold War era. In this sustained study, Andreas Höfele begins with Friedrich Nietzsche and follows the rightist engagement with Shakespeare to the poet Stefan George and his circle, including Ernst Kantorowicz, and the literary efforts of the young Joseph Goebbels during the Weimar Republic, continuing with the Shakespeare debate in the Third Reich and its aftermath in the controversy over ''inner emigration'' and concluding with Carl Schmitt''s Shakespeare writings of the 1950s. Central to this enquiry is the identification of Germany and, more specifically, German intellectuals with Hamlet. The special relationship of Germany with Shakespeare found highly personal and at the same time highIy political expression in this recurring identification, and in its denial. But Hamlet is not the only Shakespearean character with strong appeal: Carl Schmitt''s largely still unpublished diaries of the 1920s reveal an obsessive engagement with Othello which has never before been examined. Interest in German philosophy and political thought has increased in recent Shakespeare studies. No Hamlets brings historical depth to this international discussion. Illuminating the constellations that shaped and were shaped by specific appropriations of Shakespeare, Höfele shows how individual engagements with Shakespeare and a whole strand of Shakespeare reception were embedded in German history from the 1870s to the 1950s and eventually 1989, the year of German reunification.Trade ReviewIn taking this long view, Höfele rectifies any misconceptions we might have that 'right-wing Shakespeare' is purely a phenomenon of the Second World War, and in doing so he sheds fascinating light on less familiar aspects of German history in relation to right-wing politics and ideals and Shakespeare's role within these ... The position of Shakespeare comes full circle, from serving anti-democratic, racist, and fundamentalist causes, only to re-emerge as a powerful force in the midst of liberating and forward-thinking voices. Shakespeare, Hamlet, and to some extent Othello, thus become the keys to understanding German history, psyche, and identity in this powerful study. Höfele's work has all the potential to become an instant classic, a standard work for academics and teachers alike. * Alessandra Bassey, Modern Language Review *I cannot remember reading so compelling, important, and revelatory a Shakespeare book as this one ... This is a wonderfully, indeed movingly well-written book but the quality which particularly singles out No Hamlets is its intellectual and moral honesty. * Shakespeare Jahrbuch *Höfele tells a remarkable story about the way Shakespeare provides imaginative resources for some of the most challenging and troubling thought of the modern era ... also very much engaged with current conversations in early modern studies. * Kevin Curran, Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations A Note on Texts and Translations Introduction 1: Highest Formula: Nietzsche's Shakespeare 2: Shakespeare in the Master's Circle: Stefan George and the 'Secret Germany' 3: In the Master's Circle (II): Ernst Kantorowicz 4: Millions of Ghosts: Weimar Hamlets and the Sorrows of Young Goebbels 5: Little Otto: Carl Schmitt and the Moor of Venice 6: Third Reich Shakespeare 7: 'But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue': Hamlet in Inner Emigration 8: Hamlet in Plettenberg: Carl Schmitt and the Intrusion of the Time 9: Epilogue: Welcome to the Machine. Berlin 1989 Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisEighteenth-century Britain thought of itself as a polite, sentimental, enlightened place, but often its literature belied this self-image. This was an age of satire, and the century''s novels, poems, plays, and prints resound with mockery and laughter, with cruelty and wit. The street-level invective of Grub Street pamphleteers is full of satire, and the same accents of raillery echo through the high scepticism of the period''s philosophers and poets, many of whom were part-time pamphleteers themselves. The novel, a genre that emerged during the eighteenth-century, was from the beginning shot through with satirical colours borrowed from popular romances and scandal sheets. This Handbook is a guide to the different kinds of satire written in English during the ''long'' eighteenth-century. It focuses on texts that appeared between the restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 1660 and the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. Outlier chapters extend the story back to the first decade of the seventeenth-century, and forward to the second decade of the nineteenth. The scope of the volume is not confined by genre, however. So prevalent was the satirical mode in writing of the age that this book serves as a broad and characteristic survey of its literature. The Oxford Handbook of Eighteenth-Century Satire reflects developments in historical criticism of eighteenth-century writing over the last two decades, and provides a forum in which the widening diversity of literary, intellectual, and socio-historical approaches to the period''s texts can come together.Trade Reviewa collection of brilliant and intentionally provoking essays about how we have studied satire, how we study it now, and how, implicitly, we might study it in the future. * Andrew Benjamin Bricker, Eighteenth-Century Fiction *Table of ContentsList of Figures List of Abbreviations Notes on Contributors 1: Paddy Bullard: Describing Eighteenth-Century British Satire PART I: SATIRICAL ALIGNMENTS 2: Judith Hawley: Corporate Acts of Satire 3: Marcus Walsh: Against Hypocrisy and Dissent 4: George Southcombe: The Satire of Dissent 5: Claudine Van Hensbergen: The Female Wits: Gender, Satire, and Drama 6: David O'Shaughnessy: National Identity and Satire 7: Adam Rounce: Banter, Nonsense, and Irony: Churchill and his Circle 8: Robert W. Jones: Foxite Satire: Politics, Print, and Celebrity PART II: SATIRICAL INHERITANCES 9: Nicholas Mcdowell: The Double Personality of Lucianic Satire from Dryden to Fielding 10: Matthew C. Augustine: The Invention of Dryden as Satirist 11: Kristine Louise Haugen: Alexander Pope and the Philosophical Horace 12: Daniel Carey: Swift, Gulliver, and Travel Satire 13: Sophie Gee: Believing and Unbelieving in The Dunciad 14: Matthew Scott: Augustan Romantics PART III: SATIRICAL MODES 15: Paul Baines: Mixing It: Satire in the Miscellanies, 1680-1732 16: Gillian Wright: Fable and Allegory 17: Bonnie Latimer: Burlesque and Travesty: Pope's Early Satires 18: Jesse Molesworth: Graphic Satire: Hogarth and Gillray 19: Jonathan Lamb: Romance, Satire, and the Exploitation of Disorder 20: Ros Ballaster: Dramatic Satire 21: David Francis Taylor: The Practice of Parody PART IV: SATIRICAL OBJECTS 22: Sean Silver: Satirical Objects 23: Gregory Lynall: Science and Satire 24: Paddy Bullard: Against the Experts: Swift and Political Satire 25: Helen Deutsch: The Body of Thersites: Misanthropy and Violence 26: Louise Curran: Self-Portraiture 27: Melinda Alliker Rabb: 'Little Snarling Lapdogs': Satire and Domesticity PART V: SATIRICAL ACTIONS 28: Ashley Marshall: Thinking about Satire 29: Kate Loveman: Epigram and Spontaneous Wit 30: John McTague: Satire as Event 31: Joseph Hone: Legal Constraints, Libellous Evasions 32: Alexis Tadié: Quarrelling 33: Jill Campbell: Sexing Satire 34: Lawrence E. Klein: Ridicule as a Tool for Discovering Truth PART VI: SATIRICAL TRANSITIONS 35: James Fowler: Moralizing Satire: Cross-Channel Perspectives 36: Jennie Batchelor: Pamela and the Satirists: The Case for Eliza Haywood's Anti-Pamela (1741) 37: Peter Robinson: The Edge of Satire: Post-Mortem and other Effects 38: Lynn Festa: Satire to Sentiment: Mixing Modes in the Later Eighteenth-Century British Novel 39: Jon Mee: Satire in the Age of the French Revolution 40: Carolyn Steedman: Out of Somerset: Or, Satire in Metropolis and Province 41: Clare Bucknell: Satire, Morality, and Criticism, 1930-1965 Index

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Book SynopsisBased on the conviction that only translators who write poetry themselves can properly recreate the celebrated and timeless tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the Greek Tragedy in New Translations series offers new translations that go beyond the literal meaning of the Greek in order to evoke the poetry of the originals. Under the general editorship of the late William Arrowsmith and Herbert Golder, each volume includes a critical introduction, commentary on the text, full stage directions, and a glossary of the mythical and geographical references in the plays. This vital translation of Euripides'' Electra recreates the prize-winning excitement of the original play. Electra, obsessed by dreams of avenging her father''s murder, impatiently awaits the return of her exiled brother Orestes. When he arrives, the play mounts toward its first climax, a tender recognition scene. From that moment on, Electra uses Orestes as her instrument of vengeance. They kill their mother''s

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Book SynopsisEuripides'' Bakkhai is the staple of the canon of Greek tragedy and is required or strongly recommended reading for most undergraduate Classics majors. It also surfaces quite often in non-classics courses focusing on tragedy because its structure and thematics offer exemplary models of the classic tragic elements. The plot of Bakkhai centers around the actions of Pentheus, King of Thebes, who refused to recognise the god Dionysus or permit Thebans to worship him. In revenge, Dionysus drove Pentheus mad, made him cross-dress as a maenad, sent him to worship the god he had spurned, and made his mother, Agave, mistake him for a wild beast and rip him to shreds. Gibbons, a prize-winning poet, and Segal, a renowned classicist, are both leaders in their professions and are well-suited to take on this central text of Greek tragedy. This edition includes an introduction, a new translation, notes on the text, and a glossary.Trade Reviewthis translation merits serious thought for classroom and even scholarly use. Of particular interest is Segal's extensive reconstruction of the lacunae that mar the end of the Bakkhai, including the so-called compositio membrorum of Pentheus. * Thomas E. Jenkins, Trinity University *Gibbons ... has crafted a lyrical verse translation that displays an evident understanding of and respect fo the source text. * Thomas E. Jenkins, Trinity University *This is a lovely, thoughtful edition of the play, and between Gibbon's sturdy verse and Segal's sensitive notes, one can hardly go wrong in assigning the text to an introductory literature class. And even more advanced students of Greek tragedy will wish to examine Segal's valuable appendix on the compositio membrorum, a succinct and insightful bit of scholarship in its own right. * Thomas E. Jenkins, Trinity University *

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Book SynopsisIn Herakles, Euripides reveals with great subtlety and complexity the often brutal underpinnings of our social arrangements. The play enacts a thoroughly contemporary dilemma about the relationship between personal and state violence to civic order . Of all of Euripides'' plays, this is his most skeptically subversive examination of myth, morality, and power. The play depicts Herakles being driven mad by Hera, the wife of Zeus. Hera hates Herakles because he is one of Zeus'' children born of adultery. In his madness, Herakles is driven to murder his own wife and children, and he eventually exiles himself to Athens. The volume includes a new translation, an introduction, notes on the text, and a glossary.

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Book SynopsisA new translation of a long-neglected Greek drama that has become increasingly popular in classrooms and on the stage. The two editors, Alan Shapiro and Peter Burian, a poet and classicist, collaborated previously on The Oresteia. This is the final volume of the Greek Tragedy in New Translations series.Trade ReviewShapiro's poetic translation works not just as a rendering of Greek, but as a good, at times gripping, English Literature script. * Maxine Lewis, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction On the Translation Trojan Women Notes on the Text Glossary For Further Reading

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Book SynopsisBased on the conviction that only translators who write poetry themselves can properly re-create the celebrated and timeless tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the Greek Tragedy in New Translations offers new translations that go beyond the literal meaning of the Greek in order to evoke the poetry of the originals. The volume brings together four major works by one of the greatest classical dramatists: Electra, translated by Anne Carson and Michael Shaw, a gripping story of revenge, manipulation, and the often tense conflict of the human spirit; Aias, translated by Herbert Golder and Richard Pevear, an account of the heroic suicide of the Trojan war hero better known as Ajax; Philoctetes, translated by Carl Phillips and Diskin Clay, a morally complex and penetrating play about the conflict between personal integrity and public duty; and The Women of Trachis, translated by C.K. Williams and Gregory W. Dickerson, an urgent tale of mutability in a universe of precipitouTable of ContentsElectra ; Aias ; Philoctetes ; The Women of Trachis

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Book SynopsisCollected here for the first time in the series are three major plays by Euripides: Bacchae, translated by Reginald Gibbons and Charles Segal, a powerful examination of the horror and beauty of Dionysiac ecstasy; Herakles, translated by Tom Sleigh and Christian Wolff, a violent dramatization of the madness and exile of one of the most celebrated mythical figures; and The Phoenician Women, translated by Peter Burian and Brian Swamm, a disturbing interpretation of the fate of the House of Laios following the tragic fall of Oedipus. These three tragedies were originally available as single volumes. This volume retains the informative introductions and explanatory notes of the original editions and adds a single combined glossary and Greek line numbers.Table of ContentsBacchae ; Herakles ; The Phoenician Women

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Book SynopsisTrade Reviewthe poets in these volumes communicate a freshness and vitality ... The vivid and responsive re-creations are a clear first-choice recommendation for the general reader * James Morwood, Classical Review *Table of ContentsAndromache (Susan Stewart, Princeton University; Wesley D. Smith, University of Pennsylvania) ; Hecuba (Janet Lembke, poet and translator; Kenneth J. Reckford, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) ; Trojan Women (Peter Burian and Alan Shapiro) ; Rhesos (Richard Emil Braun, University of Alberta in Edmonton)

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Book SynopsisBased on the conviction that only translators who write poetry themselves can properly re-create the celebrated and timeless tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the Greek Tragedy in New Translations series offers new translations that go beyond the literal meaning of the Greek in order to evoke the poetry of the originals. This volume collects Euripides'' Electra (translated by Janet Lembke and Kenneth J. Reckford), an exciting story of vengeance that counterposes suspense and horror with comic realism; Orestes (John Peck and Frank Nisetich), the tragedy of a young man who kills his mother to avenge her murder of his father; Iphigenia in Tauris (Richmond Lattimore), a delicately written and beautifully contrived Euripidean romance; and Iphigeneia at Aulis (W. S. Merwin and George E. Dimock, Jr.), a compelling look at the devastating consequence of man''s inhumanity to man. This volume reprints the informative introductions and notes of the original editions, and adds a single combined glossary and Greek line numbers.Trade Reviewthe poets in these volumes communicate a freshness and vitality ... The vivid and responsive re-creations are a clear first-choice recommendation for the general reader * James Morwood, Classical Review *Table of ContentsElectra (Janet Lembke, poet and translator; Kenneth J. Reckford, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) ; Orestes (John Peck, poet; Frank Nisetich, University of Massachusetts, Boston) ; Iphigenia in Tauris (the late Richmond Lattimore, poet and translator) ; Iphigeneia at Aulis (W. S. Merwin, poet and translator; George E. Dimock, Jr., author)

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Book SynopsisThis volume collects for the first time four plays of Euripides in the acclaimed Greek Tragedy in New Translations series, each previously published individually: Alcestis, Medea, Helen, and Cyclops.Table of ContentsEditors' Foreword ; Alcestis the Late William Arrowsmith, founder of the Greek Tragedy in New Translations series ; Introduction ; Alcestis ; Notes ; Medea, Michael Collier, University of Maryland; Georgia Machemer, Duke University ; Introduction ; Medea ; Notes ; Helen, Peter Burian ; Introduction ; Helen ; Notes ; Cyclops, Heather McHugh, University of Washington; David Konstan, Brown University ; Introduction ; Cyclops ; Notes ; Glossary ; For Further Reading

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Table of ContentsHippolytos ; Suppliant Women ; Ion ; The Children of Herakles

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Book SynopsisThis volume collects for the first time three of Sophocles most moving tragedies, all set in mythical Thebes: Oedipus the King, perhaps the most powerful of all Greek tragedies; Oedipus at Colonus, a story that reveals the reversals and paradoxes that define moral life; and Antigone, a touchstone of thinking about human conflict and human tragedy, the role of the divine in human life, and the degree to which men and women are the creators of their own destiny.Table of ContentsOEDIPUS THE KING ; Introduction ; Oedipus the King ; Notes ; OEDIPUS AT COLONUS ; Introduction ; Oedipus at Colonus ; Notes ; ANTIGONE ; Introduction ; Antigone ; Notes ; GLOSSARY ; FOR FURTHER READING

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Book SynopsisMacbeth before Shakespeare is a history of the medieval King Macbeth and his legend that was the basis for William Shakespeare's Tragedie of Macbeth. It traces the life of the real man and his important innovations, while showing how different legends were created in subsequent eras.Trade ReviewBenjamin Hudson's Macbeth before Shakespeare is a very entertaining and educating read. It succeeds very well in bringing out the man behind the myth, as well as explaining how the man became the myth. Hudson is a master of all the materials and languages required for the job, and he knows the history of Ireland and Britain around the year 1000 intimately. * Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, National University of Ireland, Galway *Here at last we have a solid and detailed account of the historical Macbeth. Ben Hudson is the historian of Celtic Scotland in the central Middle Ages, and he provides us with a readable narrative of the origins of the kingdom of the Scots and Macbeth's role as one of its most energetic and effective kings prior to Scotland's vassalage to their Anglo-Norman neighbor to the south. We see here the process by which Shakespeare inherited the history and legends surrounding Macbeth and the 'three weird sisters,' how Scots were generally perceived in Tudor England, and whether or not there could have been surviving children of Macbeth and his Lady. This is a meticulously constructed history of Scots, Viking, and English relations in the tumultuous eleventh century and a fascinating glimpse into how this particular Scottish monarch—called by one contemporary poet 'the red king'—made his way onto the Elizabethan stage. * Christopher A. Snyder, author of The Britons *This fascinating examination is an important contribution to medieval and early modern Scottish and British history, literature, folklore, and drama. Combining an unrivalled mastery of a complex array of sources with expert use of multiple methodologies, Benjamin Hudson deftly unveils the story of one of Scotland's most enigmatic figures across half a millennium as he explores the evolution of Macbeth from an historical, eleventh-century ruler of Scotland to the infamous Shakespearean literary villain of five-and-a-half centuries later. * R. Andrew McDonald, Brock University *Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty. * Choice *Table of ContentsNote on Methodology List of Abbreviations Acknowledgments Preface Introduction: A Man and a Legend Chapter 1: Macbeth: Place and Past Chapter 2: Macbeth Emerges Chapter 3: King of All the Scots Chapter 4: Fame and Defamation Chapter 5: Not the Beginning of the Legend Chapter 6: Weird Sisters and the Prior of Loch Leven Chapter 7: Macbeth and Renaissance Scotland Chapter 8: The Scot in Tudor England Chapter 9: Macbeth before Shakespeare Conclusion Appendix 1: Children of Macbeth Appendix 2: Andrew of Wyntoun's Macbeth Episode: A Translation Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThe visual effect of the staging of Aeschylus'' plays was an essential part of their impact. And yet all that survives today are the scripts. Imagination, helped by anachronistic sources, has played the chief role for those dealing with the dramaturgy of Aeschylus'' works, and the result has usually been stages crowded with extras and equipment.In this book, the author approaches the subject from a completely different angle. He clears the stage and looks for clues of Aeschylus'' stagecraft in the texts of the plays themselves. He concentrates his study in an analysis of the exits and entrances in Aeschylus'' works with constant reference to the practice of Sophocles and Euripides as well. His arguments and conclusions are fascinating and thought-provoking, and make the book indispensable for anyone interested in ancient Greek drama and its staging.Trade Review'A fascinating commentary. Every controversial passage (and there are many) is discussed with incisive intelligence, great learning, and also good-humoured respect for opposing views.' Bernard Knox, Times Literary Supplement'Dr Taplin has made Greek tragedy more vivid and more accessible to us all, to the professional classicist, to the historian of the stage, and to would-be performers of ancient drama. Mark Griffith, Phoenix'This substantial and original work of scholarship is essential for anyone who wants to gain a serious understanding of Greek tragedy in performance. It is the combination of the attempted reconstruction of the stage-action with sustained, perceptive reading of the plays in the light of this reconstruction that gives this study its specific value.' Christopher Gill, University of Exeter, Theatre Research International Autmun '90Table of ContentsPersai; seven against Thebes; Hiketides; Prometheus; Aganemnon; Choephoroi; Eumenides.

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Book SynopsisIn addition to its many topical references to social life, religion, and politics in classical Athens, the Lysistrata is one of our best sources for the life of women in antiquity: unlike epic, tragedy, and oratory, Attic comedy draws its characters and plots from everyday life and provides a unique glimpse into the situation of everyday Athenians.Henderson''s standard edition of Aristophanes'' play provides much new evidence for those working on anthropological and sociological aspects of Athens, as well as those working in traditional philological fields. The text is brought fully up to date with the advances made in Aristophanic scholarship over the past sixty years. In particular, it is the first to report all the manuscripts, papyri, and testimonial sources of the text, offering a new account of its history and a detailed review of the transmission of the Aristophanic corpus as a whole. Henderson''s text and apparatus criticus is supplemented by a full Introduction giving details Trade Review`This is a very satisfying work, fully alert to matters linguistic, epigraphic, paratragic, and so forth, and provided with an extremely good index (the sub-headings ... will be very useful).' Greece and Rome`This is an excellent book (both in contents and layout), and a much needed one...Henderson has rendered a signal service in increasing understanding of this comic masterpiece.' Choice`well worthy of OUP's outstanding series ... this method of study would give a keen sixth-form or undergraduate student, with or without a knowledge of the language, a balanced and well-rounded knowledge of the play and its context ... An edition of Lysistrata which meets all criteria of scholarship has been long overdue and Henderson satisfies on all counts. The commentary is very detailed and painstakingly researched.' Peter Hartley, JACT ReviewH. offers attention to many aspects of language, vase paintings, structural features, and the significance and general comic use of metres...offers the first full report of all the MSS and testimonial sources...provides persuasive attributions of speeches. * The Journal of Hellenic Studies 113 *Table of ContentsAbbreviations; Introduction; Lysistrata and the events of 411; The character of the play; Dramatis personae; Production; The Spartan dialect; The history of the text; Notes on lyric analyses; Sigla; Hypotheses; Dramatis personae; Text; Commentary; Indexes

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Book SynopsisText, Notes and Preface in Latin.Trade Review`The detailed analysis of affiliations and multifarious linkages ... is handled with unimpeachable accuracy ... and clarity of presentation. ... But we must be grateful to D. ... for providing so much of the evidence needed for further study in this field.' C. W. Willink, The Classical Review, Oxford University Press 1992

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Book SynopsisEuripides'' Hippolytos tells of an honourable youth''s tragic death, contrived by his father in the false belief that his son had seduced his new wife. This edition of the play is intended for students and scholars alike. The detailed commentary deals with textual problems in full, but wherever possible the editor has sought to explain the text adopted before discussing the reasons for its adoption. It also includes a close analysis of the lyric metres, and discussion of the play''s subject-matter and dramatic context.The text is based on new collations of the medieval manuscripts (two of them hitherto uncollated) and on all known papyri. The Introduction contains a reappraisal, in the light of the evidence of the papyri, of the history of the text in antiquity, and advances a new account of the relationship between the medieval manuscripts. There is also a full discussion of the early history of the legend and of the two lost tragedies on the same theme.Trade Review`profoundly learned and supremely intelligent book ... a truly great achievement' Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones, Journal of Hellenic Studies`This book ... deserves the careful attention of everyone seriously interested in Greek literature.' Journal of Hellenic Studies'celebrated edition ... I can think of no better advertisement for this type of scholarship which may be unfashionable but still has so much to offer.' Greece & Rome, April 1993

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Book SynopsisIncest, polygamy, murder, sacrilege, impalement, castration, female power, and despotism: these are some of the images by which the Greek tragedians defined the non-Greek, `barbarian'' world. This book explains for the first time the reasons behind their singular fascination with barbarians. It sets the plays against the historical background of the Panhellenic wars against Persia and the establishment of an Athenian empire based on democracy and slavery. Contemporary anthropology and political philosophy is discussed, revealing how the poets conceptualized the barbarian as the negative embodiment of Athenian civic ideals. By comparing the treatment of foreigners in Homer and tragedy, it shows that the new dimension which the idea of the barbarian had brought to the tragic theatre radically affected the past, and enriched the tragedians'' repertoire of aural and visual effects. The invented barbarian of the tragic stage was a powerful cultural expression of Greek xenophobia and chauvinTrade Review`she sets out the important considerations with great clarity ... this is a thorough, well-researched and broadly convincing book ... an impressive piece of work.' Classical Review`Dr Hall offers a careful survey of the archaic background, enlivened by much shrewd observation. It is no criticism of this learned and lively book to observe that it suggests more questions than it answers.' Times Literary Supplement`a most impressive analysis of ancient Greek ethnocentrism' Greece & Rome'H. presents her case with great skill and learning. Her scholarship is meticulous but not stodgy, and the argument is constantly enriched with references to comparative material on ethnicity drawn from a wide range of historical and social contexts'. R.G.A. Buxton, Journal of Hellinic Studies'.'a beautiful book which developed out of the author's PhD-thesis. It is elegantly produced, provided with an elaborate bibliography, an index of passages cited and a general index ... well-argued and carefully referenced text ... an important contribution to both Athenian history and Persian history.' Heleen Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht, De Novis Libris JudiciaTable of ContentsAcknowldgements; Preface; Editions and abbreviations; Setting the stage; Inventing Persia; The barbarian enters myth; An Athenian rhetoric; The polarity deconstructed; Bibliography; Index

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Book SynopsisPlutarch's Life of Caesar deals with the best known Roman of them all, Julius Caesar, and covers virtually all of the major events of the last generation of the Republic. Pelling's volume gives a new translation of the Life, together with an introduction and commentary, while also acknowledging the literary aspects of the narrative.Trade Reviewa commentary that will remain an indispensable resource for historians and historiographers alike â and which constitutes something of a reproof to anyone insisting that history and historiography are incompatible enterprises. * W. Jeffrey Tatum, Journal of Roman Studies *[an] awe-filling, exemplar of how decades of excellent scholarship have produced a book that will be in use for many decades, and generations, to come. * Brad L. Cook, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *Table of ContentsLIST OF MAPS ; ABBREVIATIONS ; INTRODUCTION ; 1. Plutarch and the Caesars ; 2. TheLife of Caesar ; a) Biography and History ; b) Alexander and Caesar: Pair and Series ; 3. Sources and Methods ; a) Gathering the Material ; b) The Sources ; c) Remoulding the Material ; 4. Plutarch and Roman Politics ; 5. Caesar and Julius Caesar: Plutarch and Shakespeare ; TRANSLATION ; COMMENTARY ; INDEXES ; Names ; General Index

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Book SynopsisA comedy of Aristophanes was in large measure a musical performance, and his lyric verse covers a wide range of styles - from popular song to parody of tragedy. The music is lost, and our only way of recovering something of the experience of an Athenian audience is by studying the rhythms of the poetry. This book provides a full text, with scansions, of the lyric of the surviving plays, and an introduction to the different rhythms used by Aristophanes, their origins, and literary associations. Dr Parker pays particular attention to showing the role played by lyric metre in the structure of the plays and to distinguishing the different levels of musical style, thus illustrating the integral part metre plays in Aristophanes'' dramatic art and satire. She also discusses fully the metrical aspects of textual problems in Aristophanes'' lyric, and a section of the introduction traces the evolution of the study of Aristophanes'' metres and the influence this has on the text.Trade ReviewA major addition to the specialist literature on the author ... There is an enormous amount of scrupulous, carefully pondered scholarship here, used to highlight both large scale features ... and the rhythmic effects of particular passages ... Parker's work represents a superb achievement; it will be indispensable to all who want to pick the finer threads in the fabric of Aristophanic comedy. * Greece & Rome *This book testifies to extraordinary scholarly zeal, offering an abundance of detailed analyses, observations and readings of all lyric passages in Aristophanes' complete works ... the book provides a good insight into the metrical techniques employed in the comedies of this period ... By giving the book a clear structure and by offering a comprehensive study of Aristophanes' poetry and to some extent of the entire Attic poetry of the time, Parket has successfully provided us with another commendable basis for research. * Christoph Kugelmeier, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *The explanatory text is highly readable because of its refreshingly low amount of footnotes. Important quotations and bibliographical references are integrated into the text, giving the impression of a lively discussion ... Parker incorporates her scholarly knowledge into the discussion and evaluates opposing views only where absolutely vital. She offers sensitive observations and readings without ever exceeding the self-imposed limits. * Christoph Kugelmeier, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *

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Book SynopsisAmong extant Greek comedies, the Frogs is unique for the light it throws on classical Greek attitudes to tragedy and to literature in general. Sir Kenneth Dover''s edition, with a full introduction and extensive commentary, has been the most comprehensive edition available, drawing together the relevant scholarship that had accumulated on the subject. The general purpose and character of the abridged version remains the same: to provide a helpful guide on a difficult author for students who wish to translate the play, or need to interpret it for performance. In this edition, nothing relevant to the performance of the play on stage has been sacrificed although information on manuscripts and discussion of the history of the text have been pared to a minimum, and arguments on controversial points have been abbreviated. Where relevant, conclusions reached in the original edition have been changed in the light of work done by others since 1993. The inclusion of a vocabulary should reduce thTrade ReviewThe Commentary is admirably suited to being read alongside the text. The MSS are described in an Olympian treatment of the history of the text with a thoroughness not encountered before ... A commentary of characteristic brilliance. * A.M. Bowie, Queen's College, Oxford, The Classical Review, XLV, 2, '95 *

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Book SynopsisEach book in this established series contains the full and complete text, and is designed to motivate and encourage students who may be writing on these challenging writers for the first time. It contains useful notes to add depth and knowledge to students'' understanding, comments to explain literacy and historical allusions, tasks to help students explore themes and issues, and suggestions for further reading.

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Book SynopsisOxford Student Texts offer an accessible route into the study of texts for A Level including line-by-line notes, and detailed sections covering key themes, issues and contexts. This edition focuses on The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.

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Book SynopsisOne of a series designed to provide an accessible approach to the works of great poets and playwrights. Each title includes general notes on the text; discussion of themes, issues and contexts.

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Book SynopsisEasy to use in the classroom or as a tool for revision, Oxford Literature Companions provide student-friendly analysis of a range of popular A Level set texts. Each book offers a lively, engaging approach to the text, covering characterisation and role, genre, context, language, themes, structure, performance and critical views, whilst also providing a range of varied and in-depth activities to deepen understanding and encourage close work wtih the text. Each book also includes a comprehensive Skills and Practice section, which provides detailed advice on assessment and a bank of exam-style questions and annotated sample student answers. This guide covers Othello by William Shakespeare, is suitable for all exam boards and for the most recent AS/A level specifications.

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Book SynopsisEasy to use in the classroom or as a tool for revision, Oxford Literature Companions provide student-friendly analysis of a range of popular A Level set texts. Each book offers a lively, engaging approach to the text, covering characterisation and role, genre, context, language, themes, structure, performance and critical views, whilst also providing a range of varied and in-depth activities to deepen understanding and encourage close work wtih the text. Each book also includes a comprehensive Skills and Practice section, which provides detailed advice on assessment and a bank of exam-style questions and annotated sample student answers. This guide covers Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, is suitable for all exam boards and for the most recent AS/A level specifications.

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Book SynopsisEasy to use in the classroom or as a tool for revision, Oxford Literature Companions provide student-friendly analysis of a range of popular A Level set texts. Each book offers a lively, engaging approach to the text, covering characterisation and role, genre, context, language, themes, structure, performance and critical views, whilst also providing a range of varied and in-depth activities to deepen understanding and encourage close work wtih the text. Each book also includes a comprehensive Skills and Practice section, which provides detailed advice on assessment and a bank of exam-style questions and annotated sample student answers. This guide covers Hamlet by William Shakespeare, is suitable for all exam boards and for the most recent AS/A level specifications.

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Book SynopsisGet to grips with set texts and be fully prepared for the AS/A Level exam with the Modern Languages Oxford Literature Companions. The Companions are written by experienced lecturers, teachers and examiners and provide comprehensive coverage of characters, themes, plot, language and context with activities in Spanish to consolidate your knowledge of the text. There are also extensive sections on exam preparation and response planning, with a bank of annotated sample answers and practice questions. This guide covers La casa de Bernarda Alba by Federico García Lorca. Modern Languages Oxford Literature Companions are also available for selected French and German set texts.

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Book SynopsisEasy to use in the classroom or as a tool for revision, Oxford Literature Companions provide student-friendly analysis of a range of popular A Level set texts. Each book offers a lively, engaging approach to the text, covering characterisation and role, genre, context, language, themes, structure, performance and critical views, whilst also providing a range of varied and in-depth activities to deepen understanding and encourage close work with the text. Each book also includes a comprehensive Skills and Practice section, which provides detailed advice on assessment and a bank of exam-style questions and annotated sample student answers. This guide covers Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare, is suitable for all exam boards and for the most recent AS/A level specifications.

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Book SynopsisPlease note this title is suitable for any student studying: Exam Board: AQA Level: AS/A Level Subject: Drama and TheatreFirst teaching: 2015First exams: 2017This student book comprehensively covers both the AQA AS and A Level Drama and Theatre specifications and has been approved by AQA. It provides coverage of the set texts, guidance on interpretations and support for studying a range of practitioners, advice on approaching and assessing theatre visits and support for creating original drama and the Working Notebook. Structured so as to allow for co-teachability of AS and A Level and developed from OUP''s well-loved resources for the previous specification, this new student book will provide all the support and guidance students need as they engage in their studies and prepare for assessments.

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Book SynopsisSituated within the Oxford Handbooks to Literature series, the group of Oxford Handbooks to Shakespeare are designed to record past and present investigations and renewed and revised judgments by both familiar and younger Shakespearean specialists. Each of these volumes is edited by one or more internationally distinguished Shakespeareans; together, they comprehensively survey the entire field. An essential resource for the study of Shakespeare, The Oxford Handbook to Shakespeare is edited by esteemed scholar Arthur Kinney and contains forty specially written essays. It provides fresh and imaginative readings of his plays and poems, reflects on the current state of Shakespeare Studies, and suggests the likely future directions it will take. The Handbook is divided into five sections: ''Texts'' explores how Shakespeare wrote, who he collaborated with, the ways in which his works were transmitted, and the reactions of his early readers; ''Conditions'' examines the economic, social, artisTrade Reviewinventive and inspiring. * Julia Reinhard Lupton, Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 *Table of ContentsI. TEXTS; II. CONDITIONS; III. WORKS; IV. PERFORMANCES; V. CURRENT SPECULATIONS

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Book SynopsisThe Oxford Companion to Shakespeare is the most comprehensive reference work available on Shakespeare''s life, times, works, and his 400-year global legacy. In addition to the authoritative A-Z entries, it includes nearly 100 illustrations, a chronology, a guide to further reading, a thematic contents list, and special feature entries on each of Shakespeare''s works. Tying in with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare''s death, this much-loved Companion has been revised and updated, reflecting developments and discoveries made in recent years and to cover the performance, interpretation, and the influence of Shakespeare''s works up to the present day. First published in 2001, the online edition was revised in 2011, with updates to over 200 entries plus 16 new entries. These online updates appear in print for the first time in this second edition, along with a further 35,000 new and revised words. These include more than 80 new entries, ranging from important performers, directors, and sTrade ReviewThe Companion is a neatly prepared one-stop shop for a wealth of basic information about Shakespeare's works, then, and now. * Kevin Curran, Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 *Table of ContentsContents ; Foreword ; Preface to the 1st edition ; Preface to the 2nd edition ; Acknowledgements ; Contributors ; Thematic listing of entries ; List of plays ; Note to the reader ; The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare ; Map of British Isles and France in English Histories and Macbeth ; Family tree of the royal family in Shakespeare's English Histories ; Shakespeare's life, works, and reception: a partial chronology, 1564-1999 ; Further reading ; Picture acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisProduced in 458 BC, Aeschylus'' Choephori stands as the second play in the Oresteian trilogy. The bloodshed begun in the first play with the murder of Agamemnon by his wife Clytemnestra is here continued when Agamemnon''s son Orestes avenges his father''s death by killing Clytemnestra. It is not until the third and final play, Eumenides, that peace is restored to the family of the Atreiadae.This edition (first published in hardback in 1986) takes into account the large amount of recent research on the play and tackles the problems presented by an unusually corrupt text. The introduction discusses the pre-Aeschylean ''Orestes'' tradition in literature (from Homer to Pindar) and art (representations on vases and reliefs), as well as the place of Choephori within the Oresteia, its imagery and dramatic structure, the questions of staging the play, and the manuscript tradition. Much of the commentary looks at problems of style, dramatic technique, and interpretation of the play, and before Trade Review'Meticulous and profound scholarship, wide familiarity with relevant work, painstaking attention to detail: all these are to be seen in profusion ... this work of genuine scholarship can only be welcomed as an outstanding, and outstandingly produced, long-needed edition from the Clarendon Press.' J. H. C. Leach, Times Literary Supplement'[Garvie's] commentary is immensely thorough, open-minded and sober.' Greece and Rome'Particularly valuable is the treatment of the myth before Aeschylus ... the combination of literary and archaeological evidence fills a serious gap left by previous commentators, and will be useful also to those reading or teaching the other plays of the trilogy.' R. A. S. Seaford, JACT Bulletin'The need for a detailed, up-to-date commentary on the play was clear, and it is fully met by this solid and substantial work...a fine and valuable commentary.' Martin L. West GnomonTable of ContentsText. Commentary. Metrical appendix.

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