Literary studies: plays and playwrights Books
Oxford University Press Great Shakespeare Actors
Book SynopsisGreat Shakespeare Actors provides a series of well-informed, well-written, illuminating, and entertaining accounts of many of the most famous stage performers of Shakespeare in both England and America, offering a concise, actor-centred history of Shakespeare on the stage.Trade ReviewWells's vignette reports will make you wish you had been there... Eye-witness accounts are good, and especially when they are by actors such as Helen Faucit in the 19th century and by such academics as Stanley Wells in the 20th century, are invaluable. * Robert Tanitch, Mature Times *Wells's book is a mentor and companion to the Shakespeare lover. It can be dipped into at leisure as each chapter is complete in itself, but the text is so diverting and compulsive, so utterly knowledgeable and incisive, that it is difficult to find an easy pause. It is a book to cherish, to laugh with and to wonder at. * Sandra Callard, On: Yorkshire Magazine *Aimed at a broad readership, the book offers short biographies of "great Shakespeare actors" from Shakespeare's time to our own ... the book will very likely prove a helpful and entertaining resource for many. * Kevin Curran, Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 *Great Shakespeare Actors is most impressive when quarrying the more remote past, and, although it is suitable for dipping into, reading it straight through conveys a sense of how acting styles and actors' careers have changed. * Henry Hitchings, Spectator *[A] fascinating book. * Benedict Nightingale, New Statesman *Stanley Wells has his work cut out in Great Shakespeare Actors as he assesses around forty performers over the past four centuries, from Richard Burbage to Simon Russell Beale, offering brisk career summaries with a dash of scholarship and plenty of anecdote ... There's no shortage of excellent stories. * David Collard, The Times Literary Supplement *... Wells' passion is infectious. * New Republic, Charles Shafaieh *This collection is not only a useful source in itself, but opens up many other routes into theatre commentary, both historical and contemporary. * Heather Neill, Around the Globe *What could easily have been a repetitive book, as a series of actors is connected to a limited number of distinguished roles, is so well written that this never becomes the case. The writing is assured and never flags in an unexpected volume that is well worth dipping into. * British Theatre Guide, Philip Fisher *There's so much more in this fascinating book that I haven't been able to cover, so I can only urge you, if this kind of thing interests you, to go out and get a copy soon. You won't regret it. * Shiny New Books, Harriet Devine *Stanley Wells has written a book which is a total delight... unputdownable. * The Journal (Newcastle), Richard Edmonds *There is deep research here, lightly worn but nevertheless offering clear pointers for those who wish to study individual performers more closely, and for the great majority of the book there is also an engaging tone * Lisa Hopkins, Sheffield Hallam University, Times Higher Education *a brisk, fascinating theatrical voyage through more than four centuries * The Independent, Nicholas De Jongh *There is deep research here, lightly worn Wells is judicious and restrained and has a dry, crisp style. * Times Higher Education, Lisa Hopkins *Stanley Wells - Shakespeare's brightest and best champion for decades - has produced an absolutely wonderful and wildly readable survey of Shakespearean acting. With tremendous flashes of insight, Wells illuminates not just the staging and the modes of acting that predominated over the centuries, but also the true nature of Shakespeare as a provider of play scripts for actors and audiences. Superbly researched, this is a book that I shall revisit time and time again. * Stephen Fry *This astonishing book fills a vital gap on the shelves. Stanley Wells combines the detailed knowledge of a Shakespeare scholar with the sharp eye of a dramatic critic in a book that makes great performances come resonantly alive. If future generations want to know what Olivier or Dench really were like in Shakespeare, it is to this book that they will turn. * Michael Billington *In his own day, and ever since, Shakespeare's plays have been staged by some of the worlds most extraordinary actors. Stanley Wells, who knows these plays and their fascinating histories as well as anyone, offers here incisive portraits of exceptional actors who have performed Shakespeare over the past 400 years, from Burbage and Kemp up through Olivier, Dench, McKellen, and Beale. It's a thrilling and captivating account. * James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare *Stanley Wells's Great Shakespeare Actors is a companionable tour through the encyclopaedic knowledge of our greatest Shakespeare scholar, full of anecdote, erudition, and intimate firsthand observation. It's a tribute to a life of devotion to the theatre, on the page and on stage, informed by a living sense of what actors do, and who they are, and how they work. There are many classic lives here, but also, to me, some enjoyable surprises. * Margaret Drabble *a highly enjoyable book, clearly and pungently written. ... it will be of great help to the general reader, to Shakespeare students and to theatre historians alike as it allows us to reflect on the very essence of theatre * Sophie Chiari, Cercles *As well as drawing effectively on significant written accounts by actors and critics, Wells is particularly persuasive in analyses of visual and aural evidence * Russell Jackson, The Year's Contribution to Shakespeare Studies *Table of ContentsIntroduction Prelude: William Shakespeare 1: Richard Burbage 2: Will Kemp 3: Robert Armin 4: Thomas Betterton 5: Charles Macklin 6: David Garrick Who Was the First Great Shakespeare Actress? 7: Sarah Siddons 8: George Frederick Cooke 9: John Philip Kemble 10: Dora Jordan 11: Edmund Kean 12: William Charles Macready 13: Helen Faucit Who Was the First Great American Shakespeare Actor? 14: Ira Aldridge 15: Charlotte Cushman 16: Edwin Booth 17: Henry Irving 18: Ellen Terry 19: Tommaso Salvini Times of Change 20: Edith Evans 21: Sybil Thorndike 22: Charles Laughton 23: Donald Wolfit 24: Ralph Richardson 25: John Gielgud 26: Laurence Olivier 27: Peggy Ashcroft 28: Michael Redgrave 29: Paul Scofield 30: Donald Sinden 31: Richard Pasco 32: Ian Richardson 33: Judi Dench 34: Derek Jacobi 35: Ian McKellen 36: Janet Suzman 37: Antony Sher 38: Simon Russell Beale 39: Kenneth Branagh
£12.59
Oxford University Press Exiles
Book SynopsisJames Joyce's only surviving play has divided Joyceans for a century. Illuminating the themes of performance that are so prominent throughout Joyce's fiction, Exiles sees Joyce staking his claim definitively within the European theatrical tradition.Trade ReviewThe book is complete with Walsh's useful notes and a well-established text and can safely be recommended to students. * Valérie Bénéjam, James Joyce Quarterly *Table of ContentsIntroduction Composition and Publication History Select Bibliography A Chronology of James Joyce EXILES Appendix A: 'Ibsen's New Drama' Appendix B: 'The Day of the Rabblement' Explanatory Notes
£8.54
Oxford University Press Mastering the Revels The Regulation and
Book SynopsisA new edition that offers detailed consideration of the role of the Master of the Revels in English Renaissance entertainments and the relationship between the politics of the court and English theatre.Trade ReviewThis book is thoroughly researched and presents a great deal of information about this subject in a manner that allows readers to follow the narrative or to skim to the sections relevant to their individual research. * Anna Faktorovich, editor-in-chief, Pennsylvania literary Journal *This second edition is must reading for those interested in Shakespeare and early modern English theater. * Choice *
£106.88
Oxford University Press George Bernard Shaw
Book SynopsisGeorge Bernard Shaw has been called the second greatest playwright in English (after William Shakespeare) and one of the inventors of modern celebrity as the most famous public intellectual of his time. Beginning in the 1880s, as a critic and as a playwright, he transformed British drama, bringing to it intellectual substance, ethical imperatives, and modernity itself, setting the theatrical course for the subsequent century. That his legacy endures seventy years after his death is testament to the prescience of his thinking and his prolific creativity. This Very Short Introduction looks at Shaw''s life, starting with his upbringing in Ireland, and then takes a chronological approach through his works. Considering Shaw''s committed antagonism on behalf of a range of socio-political issues; his use of comedy as a mode for communicating serious ideas; and his rhetorical style that pushes conventional boundaries, Christopher Wixson provides an overview of the creative evolution of core themes throughout Shaw''s long career. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Table of ContentsIntroduction "Shavian" 1: "GBS" 2: "Unpleasant" 3: "Pleasant" 4: "Puritan" 5: "Political" 6: "Extravagant" 7: "Farfetched"
£9.49
Oxford University Press Stages of Loss
Book SynopsisStages of Loss supplies an original and deeply researched account of travel and festivity in early modern Europe, complicating, revising, and sometimes entirely rewriting received accounts of the emergence and development of professional theatre. It offers a history of English actors travelling and performing abroad in early modern Europe, and Germany in particular, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These players, known as English Comedians, were among the first professional actors to perform in central and northern European courts and cities. The vital contributions made by them to the development of a European theatre institution have long been neglected owing to the pre-eminence of national theatre histories and the difficulty of researching an inherently evanescent phenomenon across large distances. These contributions are here introduced in their proper contexts for the first time. Stages of Loss explores connections real and perceived between diminishments of national value and the material wealth transported by itinerant players; representations of loss, waste, and profligacy within the drama they performed; and the extent to which theatrical practice and the process of canonization have led to archival and interpretive losses in theatre history. Situating the English Comedians in a variety of economic, social, religious, and political contexts, it explores trends and continuities in the reception of their itinerant theatre, showing how their incorporation into modern theatre history has been shaped by derogatory assessments of travelling theatre and itinerant people in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Stages of Loss reveals that the Western theatre institution took shape partly as a means of accommodating, controlling, evaluating, and concealing the work of migrant strangers.Trade ReviewStages of Loss: The English Comedians and Their Reception is an important, wide-ranging study ... informed by incisive argumentation and meticulous research... [It] successfully broadens our scholarly engagement with the English Comedians and intelligently interrogates the reception they have received. * Prof. Lukas Erne (University of Geneva) *Stages of Loss is an admirable contribution to an understudied but important aspect of English theatrical performance ... Oppitz-Trotman's recovery of evidence is so thorough and his discussion of the issues is so wide-ranging that Stages of Loss establishes itself as both a place of origin for the study of English troupes on the Continent and a guideline in methodology for a wide array of research questions that the next generation of archival scholars can address * Prof. J. P. Conlan (University of Puerto Rico) *A compelling, detailed history * Renaissance Quarterly *Table of ContentsPrologue 1: In the Air 2: Out of Time 3: Moving Cloth 4: Moving Coin 5: Out of Laughter Epilogue
£96.00
Oxford University Press The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and
Book SynopsisPresents the most current approaches to Shakespeare in performance, including how experimental modes of performance ensure Shakespeare's contemporaneity; how and why audiences respond to performances as they do; how technology has revolutionized our access to Shakespeare, and cultural appropriation in productions for international audiences.Trade ReviewJames Bulman is to be congratulated for having amassed a diversified collection of essays with reference to the contemporaneity of Shakespeare for Western audiences. * Susan L. Fischer, Bulletin of the Comediantes *Table of ContentsJames C. Bulman: Introduction: Cross-Currents in Performance Criticism PART I: EXPERIMENTAL SHAKESPEARE 1: Susan Bennett: Experimental Shakespeare 2: Bridget Escolme: Shakespeare and the Contemporary: Psychology, Culture, and Audience in Othello Production 3: Roberta Barker: 'Deared by Being Lacked': The Realist Legacy and the Art of Failure in Shakespearean Performance 4: Carol Chillington Rutter: Shakespeare for Dummies, or 'See the Puppets Dallying' 5: Peter Kirwan: Not-Shakespeare and the Shakespearean Ghost 6: Kim Solga: Shakespeare's Property Ladder: Women Directors and the Politics of 'Ownership' 7: Andrew James Hartley: Dialectical Shakespeare: Pedagogy in Performance 8: Ton Hoensalaars: Captive Shakespeare PART II: RECEPTION 9: Ayanna Thompson: (How) Should We Listen to Audiences? Race, Reception, and the Audience Survey 10: Peter Holland: Forgetting Performance 11: Cary M. Mazer: Documenting the Demotic: Actor Blogs and the Guts of the Opera Singer 12: Robert Shaughnessy: The Time is Out of Joint: Shakespeare, Jet Lag, and the Rhythms of Performance 13: Paul Menzer: Archives and Anecdotes 14: Robert Conkie: Reveries of a Shakespearean Walker 15: Katherine Prince: Intimate and Epic Macbeths in Contemporary Performance PART III: MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY 16: Thomas Cartelli: High Tech Shakespeare in a Mediatized Globe: Ivo van Hove's Roman Tragedies and the Problem of Spectatorship 17: Stephen Purcell: 'It's All a Bit of a Risk': Reformulating 'Liveness' in Twenty-First Century Performances of Shakespeare 18: Pascale Aebischer: Technology and the Ethics of Spectatorship 19: W. B. Worthen: Shakespearean Technicity 20: Sarah Werner: Performance in Digital Editions of Shakespeare 21: Anthony R. Guneratne: Shakespeare's Rebirth: Performance in Music, Dance, Theatre, and Cinema in the Age of Electro-Digital Reproduction 22: Scott Newstok: Making 'Music at the Editing Table': Echoing Verdi in Welles' Othello 23: Samuel Crowl: 'Nobody's Perfect': Cross-Dressing and Gender-Bending in Sven Gade's Hamlet and Julie Taymor's Tempest 24: Courtney Lehmann: Can the Subaltern Sing? Liz White's Othello PART IV: GLOBAL SHAKESPEARE 25: Alexa Alice Joubin: Global Shakespeare Criticism beyond the Nation-State 26: Dennis Kennedy: Global Shakespeare and Globalized Performance 27: Christie Carson: Performance, Presence, and Personal Responsibility: Witnessing Global Theatre in and around the Globe 28: Sonia Massai: Shakespeare with and without its Language 29: Rose Elfman: Slapstick against Stereotypes in South Sudan's Cymbeline 30: Colette Gordon: Open and Closed: Workshopping Shakespeare in South Africa 31: Adele Seeff: Indigenizing Shakespeare in South Africa 32: Alfredo Michel Modenessi: 'Victim of Improvisation' in Latin America: Shakespeare Out-sourced and In-taken 33: Robert Ormsby: Global Cultural Tourism at Canada's Stratford Festival: The Adventures of Pericles 34: Michiko Suematsu: Verbal and Visual Representations in Modern Japanese Shakespeare Productions 35: Li Ruru: There Is a World Elsewhere: Shakespeare on the Chinese Stage 36: Yong Li Lan: Translating Performance: the Asian Shakespeare Intercultural Archive
£52.46
Oxford University Press The Authors Effects On Writers House Museums
Book SynopsisThe Author''s Effects: On the Writer''s House Museum is the first book to describe how the writer''s house museum came into being as a widespread cultural phenomenon across Britain, Europe, and North America. Exploring the ways that authorship has been mythologised through the conventions of the writer''s house museum, The Author''s Effects anatomises the how and why of the emergence, establishment, and endurance of popular notions of authorship in relation to creativity.It traces how and why the writer''s bodily remains, possessions, and spaces came to be treasured in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as a prelude to the appearance of formal writer''s house museums. It ransacks more than 100 museums and archives to tell the stories of celebrated and paradigmatic relicsBurns'' skull, Keats'' hair, Petrarch''s cat, Poe''s raven, Brontë''s bonnet, Dickinson''s dress, Shakespeare''s chair, Austen''s desk, Woolf''s spectacles, Hawthorne''s window, Freud''s mirror, Johnson''s coffee-pot and Bulgakov''s stove, amongst many others. It investigates houses within which nineteenth-century writers mythologised themselves and their workThoreau''s cabin and Dumas'' tower, Scott''s Abbotsford and Irving''s Sunnyside. And it tracks literary tourists of the past to such long-celebrated literary homes as Petrarch''s Arquà, Rousseau''s Ile St Pierre, and Shakespeare''s Stratford to find out what they thought and felt and did, discovering deep continuities with the redevelopment of Shakespeare''s New Place for 2016.Trade ReviewThis smart, well-written book will attract a wide audience through its seamless grafting of literary history, material culture, and museum studies. Highly recommended. All readers. * M. Frank, University of Massachusetts Lowell, CHOICE *...an engaging journey through Authorland in nine chapters... her [Watson's] writing has the capacity to make us think on more detailed ways about the institutions of literary tourism * Bill Bell, Literary Review *Watson is an assured and intuitive guide to the perhaps slightly introspective world of the writer's house museum. She knows the literature well (there are 92 pages of notes and bibliography to 231 pages of text) and her awareness of critical theory does not come at the cost of clarity of expression. It is a broad-ranging, thoughtful and informative book. * Stephen Clarke, The Johnsonian News Letter *The Author's Effects engagingly insists that we attend to the presence and particularity of its examples, that we share Watson's fascination with the ability of each to "effect" the author it evokes. * LuAnn McCracken Fletcher, Cedar Crest College , Review 19 *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: Remains: Burns' skull and Keats' hair 2: Bodies: Petrarch's cat and Poe's Raven 3: Clothing: Brontë's bonnet and Dickinson's dress 4: Furniture: Shakespeare's chair and Austen's desk 5: Household Effects: Johnson's coffee-pot and Twain's effigy 6: Glass: Woolf's spectacles and Freud's mirror 7: Outhouses: Thoreau's cabin and Dumas' prison 8: Enchanted Ground: Scott's Abbotsford, Irving's Sunnyside, Shakespeare's New Place 9: Exit through the Gift-shop
£20.00
Oxford University Press New Oxford Student Texts Goldsmith She Stoops to
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 ''She Stoops to Conquer'' by Oliver Goldsmith.
£14.81
Oxford University Press Rehearsal from Shakespeare to Sheridan
Book SynopsisAttention is often given to the performance of a text, but not to the shaping process behind that performance. The question of rehearsal is seldom confronted directly, though important textual moments - like revision - are often attributed to it. Whatismore, up until now, facts about theatrical rehearsal have been considered irrecoverable. In this groundbreaking new study, Tiffany Stern gathers together two centuries'' worth of historical material which shows how actors received and responded to their parts, and how rehearsal affected the creation and revision of plays. This is the first history of the subject, from the sixteenth century to the eighteenth. It examines the nature and changing content of rehearsal, drawing on a mass of autobiographical, textual, and journalistic sources, and in so doing throws new light on textual revision and transforms accepted notions of Renaissance, Restoration, and eighteenth-century theatrical practice. Plotting theatrical change over time, this boTrade ReviewAs Tiffany Stern demonstrates in her remarkable Rehearsal from Shakespeare to Sheridan, it may be possible to know more about the preparations for an early modern performance than about the performance itself. Assembling a truly daunting number of instances from archives and from references embedded in playtexts themselves, Stern offers a wonderful three-dimensional look into the process of preparing and performing plays between 1567 and 1780. This encyclopaedic study is indispensable for those interested in the conditions of England¹s early modern theatre. * Seventeenth-Century News *One of the outstanding features of Tiffany Stern's highly original monograph is the amount of research that has gone into its preparation...The persuasive and intelligently constructed argument is its second outstanding feature. * Notes and Queries *The book goes well beyond the limitations of its title, providing a comprehensive survey of the whole process of theatre work, form the first consideration of a text to the first night and beyond...Provides a rich repository of newly assembled information for theatre historians. At the same time it offers an unsentimental account of the life in the theatre during 200 formative years, from which actors and directors in "the business" can draw both fun and profit. * Essays in Criticism *It deserves to become a long-lived reference work.... This is a mature book, one based on a reassuringly large and diverse body of evidence, moving from Shakespeare's to Garrick's theatre with no sense of strain, and elegantly written throughout, with several good new stories for connoisseurs of theatrical anecdote.... Its wide range makes it of especial use for Restoration and eighteenth-century material. * Times Literary Supplement *Table of ContentsConventions and references ; Introduction ; Rehearsal in the theatres of Peter Quince and Ben Jonson ; Rehearsal in Shakespeare's theatre ; Rehearsal in Betterton 's theatre ; Rehearsal in Cibber 's theatre ; Rehearsal in Garrick 's theatre - and later ; Bibliography ; Index
£42.29
Oxford University Press, USA Writing Under Tyranny English Literature and the Henrician Reformation
Book SynopsisWriting Under Tyranny is both a study of the birth of Renaissance literature in England and a history of the reign of Henry VIII told through and around the lives of its poets and writers. It shows how political tyranny prompted resistance in and through literature.Trade ReviewReview from previous edition Walker's readings invest the literature of the early sixteenth century with a complex political urgency that is more often associated with Elizabethan texts. This thoroughly researched and well-written book asks us to rethink the standard narrative of sixteenth-century literary history... For scholars in the fields of literature and history, Writing under Tyranny is destined to become a classic. * Journal of British Studies *A new book by Greg Walker... is a major event. * Reviews in History *... an exceptionally good book... will surely remain an important work * Lucy Wooding, English Historical Review *Walker's ability to invoke very specific points of reference in clarifying the contemporary significance of his texts is ... remarkable ... This is an important book, which deserves to have a profound influence upon the ways in which we understand the literature of the Henrician period. * Roderick J. Lyall, Cahiers Elisabethains *Walker gives voice to a fascinating dialogue between literature and politics... in a compelling work ... This is an actively engaging book, required reading for anyone interested in the relation between literature and politics, and a welcome addition to the ranks of intellectual history. * Alessandra Petrina, Renaissance Quarterly *Walker's strength is that he understands and engages intimately with the culture of a generation schooled in the rhetorical tradition... Walker is a most acute critic of the literature of an age when most published writers were active politicians and most politicians were writers. * Patrick Collinson, London Review of Books *... a monumental achievement that furthers our understanding of an area that Walker has done much to illuminate over the years. The careful and scrupulous analysis of a whole range of texts that deserve to be better known, and more meticulously read, has resulted in a serious, scholarly and, in places, profound work, well written throughout. * Andrew Hadfield, Times Literary Supplement *Table of Contents1. The Long Divorce of Steel: Tyranny and Political Culture in Henry VIII's England ; POETRY AND THE CULTURE OF COUNSEL: THE 1532 IWORKES OF GEFFRAY CHAUCER/I AND JOHN HEYWOOD'S IPLAY OF THE WETHER/I ; 2. A Gift for Henry VIII ; 3. The Signs of the World: The 'Wondrous' Divisions of the early 1530s ; 4. Reading Chaucer in 1532 ; 5. Thynne and Tuke's Apocrypha ; 6. Mocking the Thunder: Henry VIII, Jupiter, and John Heywood's iPlay of the Wether/i ; 'TO VIRTUE PERSUADED'?: THE PERSISTENT COUNSELS OF SIR THOMAS ELYOT ; 7. Sir Thomas Elyot and the King's Great Matter ; 8. iThe Boke Named the Governor/i: Good Kingship and the Royal Supremacy ; 9. Tyranny and the Conscience of Man: Elyot's Dialogues, 1533-34 ; 10. From Supremacy to Tyranny ; 11. The Apotheosis of Sir Thomas Elyot ; THE DEATH OF COUNSEL: SIR THOMAS WYATT AND HENRY HOWARD, EARL OF SURREY ; 12. Sir Thomas Wyatt: Poetry and Politics ; 13. Tyranny Condemned: Wyatt's Epistolary Satires ; 14. Wyatt's Embassy, Treason, and 'The Defence' ; 15. Pleading With Power: Wyatt's Penitential Psalms ; 16. 'Wyatt Resteth Here': Henry Howard and the Invention of Resistance ; 17. Writing under Tyranny: Wyatt, Surrey, and the Reinvention of English Poetry
£50.35
Oxford University Press, USA Shakespeare and the Origins of English
Book SynopsisWhat did Shakespeare learn at school? Did he study creative writing? This book addresses these and similar questions as the author shows where the modern subject of 'English' came from, and what part Shakespeare played in its formation. By looking at the origins of English we gain a new perspective on the subject as it is practised today.Trade ReviewShakespeare and the Origins of English will keep provoking and inspiring not only Renaissance scholars, but all kinds of students of all kinds "Englishes". * Veronika Ruttkay, The AnaChronist *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Renaissance Articulations ; 2. Did Shakespeare Study Creative Writing? ; 3. Both Sides Now ; 4. Vernacular Values ; 5. Commonplace Shakespeare ; 6. The Origins of English ; Afterword
£44.99
Oxford University Press, USA The Boastful Chef The Discourse of Food in
Book SynopsisThis is a book about Greek culture. It explains why Greek comedy picked out food in particular as a cultural marker. Hundreds of comic fragments are quoted in translation. The development of comedy is explored together with comic creativity as poets sought to represent 'reality' (figs or cooking-pots) on the stage.Trade ReviewThis is a fascinating and original book, spiced with liberal quotations (all translated) from comic fragments alongside discussion of the plays of Aristophanes and Menander * Greece & Rome *Offers a more multi-sided approach to ancient cooking and its practitioners than any other available * Simon Goldhill, Times Literary Supplement *A scholarly book * Simon Goldhill, Times Literary Supplement *
£237.50
Oxford University Press, USA The Oxford History of Literary Translation in
Book SynopsisOffering a comprehensive view, this five-volume work casts a light on the history of English literature. Incorporating critical discussion of translations, it explores the changing nature and function of translation and the social and intellectual milieu of the translators.Trade ReviewMagisterial...provides invaluable historical groundwork for anyone wishing to attempt a closer study of translation specificities of the nineteenth century Jeremy Munday, The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory Together with volume 3 in the series, Peter France and his team provided a comprehensive documentation of nearly two and a half centuries of translating in Great Britian. Armin Paul Frank Target ...monumental achievement...admirably comprehensive project. Diego Saglia A critical and historical work in its own right...all the contributors to the volume have consistently maintained an impressive standard of scholarship. There are no weak sections...an up-to-date bibliography to serve as a stimulus to fuller exploration. Leon Burnett, Translation and Literature The editors and contributors are to be warmly congratulated for assembling, consolidating and making available so much useful knowledge William St Clair, TLS The virtues of this capacious, well-ordered volume augur well for the colossal work-in-progress in which it will hold the penultimate place... The book is eminently browsable and consultable Herbert F. Tucker, Modern Philolgy This collection is a goldmine of information regarding an important part of our literary heritage in an age in which it has reached unparalled heights. Contemporary Review, Volume 288 This volume, the second in the series to be published, is if anything an even more valuable addition than volume III to our understanding of the complete range of what was being read in Britain and the United States during the period that it covers. MLR, 103.1Table of ContentsCHAPTER 1: TRANSLATION IN BRITAIN AND AMERICA; CHAPTER 2: PRINCIPLES AND NORMS OF TRANSLATION; CHAPTER 3: THE TRANSLATOR; CHAPTER 4: THE PUBLICATION OF LITERARY TRANSLATION: AN OVERVIEW; CHAPTER 5: GREEK AND LATIN LITERATURE; CHAPTER 6: LITERATURES OF MEDIEVAL AND MODERN EUROPE; CHAPTER 7: EASTERN LITERATURES; CHAPTER 8: POPULAR CULTURE; CHAPTER 9: TEXTS FOR MUSIC AND ORAL LITERATURE; CHAPTER 10: SACRED AND RELIGIOUS TEXTS; CHAPTER 11: PHILOSOPHY, HISTORY, AND TRAVEL WRITING; CHAPTER 12: THE TRANSLATORS: BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
£265.00
Oxford University Press Plautine Elements in Plautus
Book SynopsisEduard Fraenkel was one of the most influential classicists of the twentieth century. His Plautine Elements in Plautus (originally published in German in 1922) revolutionized the study of Roman comedy. This translation makes this seminal work accessible to an English-speaking readership for the first time.Trade ReviewDeeply satisfactory * Colin Leach, Notes and Queries *...one of the greatest works of classical scholarship. I do not review it, I salute it. * TLS *[this] monumental study has now, at long last been translated in to clear..English..Fraenkel makes a cohesive and still convincing case for the idea that Plautus' poetic vision is about giving voice to the voiceless. * London Review of Books *Thanks to this new translation...the audience who will be able to benefit from Fraenkel's deep and insightful knowledge will broaden much further. * Scholia Reviews *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Comparative openings of speeches ; 2. Transformation and identification motifs ; 3. Mythological material ; 4. Animating the inanimate ; 5. Expansion of the dialogue ; 6. Expansion of monologues ; 7. Implausibility in conversations ; 8. The predominance of the slave's role ; 9. 'Contaminated' plays ; 10. The nature and origins of the cantica ; 11. Plautus as a poet
£191.25
Oxford University Press, USA On Shakespeare and Early Modern Literature Essays
Book SynopsisJohn Kerrigan is one of the foremost critics of English literature. This richly informed collection brings together his essays on such major figures as Sir Philip Sidney and Milton, but also less celebrated writers, including Thomas Carew and - in a new piece - William Drummond, to reconfigure the familiar and help extend the canon. Shakespeare looms large; his plays and poems, and his influence on Keats, are the subject of half the book. But themes and issues are pursued from the 1580s to the late Restoration. Kerrigan acutely reassesses the nature of early modern texts-their production and reconstruction by writers, printers, theatre companies, and readers-and their relationship with socio-political circumstance.This original and eloquent book shows what criticism can do when closely engaged with verbal fabric and form. Always alert to the scholarly and theoretical debates that have raged within literary studies, it concentrates on drawing out the distinctive qualities of poems and plays.Trade ReviewReview from previous edition Though elegantly written, Kerrigan's essays are densely argued and formidably erudite . . . The quality of Kerrigan's work sets a standard for others to aim at. * Neil Rhodes, Around the Globe *These essays consolidate Kerrigan's position as one of the outstanding scholars of the English Renaissance of his generation * E. A. J. Honigmann, Times Literary Supplement *Table of ContentsI: SHAKESPEARE; II: EARLY MODERN LITERATURE
£45.12
Oxford University Press, USA Aristophanes Acharnians
Book SynopsisAristophanes'' Acharnians was performed at the Lenaia festival in Athens in 425 BCE. The play is the story of an old peasant farmer, Dikaiopolis, who has grown so disgusted with the Peloponnesian War and the patent self-serving of the city''s leading politicians (abetted by the stupidity of his fellow-citizens) that he concludes a separate peace with the enemy. As a result, he gains access to an immense supply of wonderful things, including wine, eels, thrushes, and a pair of beautiful and compliant women. Whether he is a traitor and a villain, or simply the cleverest and most daring man in the city, is a matter of extensive debate within the play. Acharnians itself, at any rate, took first place and is generally regarded as one of Aristophanes'' two or three most brilliant surviving comedies. Olson offers the first complete new scholarly edition of the play in almost a century. The text and apparatus are based on a fresh examination of the papyri and manuscripts, many of which have neTrade ReviewReview from previous edition Review from other book by this author (Aristophanes ^(Peace ) O.'s commentary, while it shows fine all-round scholarship, ... is particularly strong on economic and social matters. * Alan Sommerstein, Journal of Hellenic Studies *(Aristophanes ^(Peace ) This edition will prompt fresh interest in a play that has been comparatively neglected - undeservedly, as it now seems. * Jeffrey Henderson, Religious Studies Review *(Aristophanes ^(Peace ) the Greek text is masterfully edited and for the first time based on a complete recension of the manuscripts; the comentary is richly informative on everything from the play's dramatic form and technique to its social and policital contexts. * Jeffrey Henderson, Religious Studies Review *excellent ... impressive coverage of linguistic, historical, and cultural aspects of the play ... a prodigious amount of information and good judgement. * Greece & Rome *
£86.40
Oxford University Press The Oxford Handbook of Global Modernisms
Book SynopsisThe Oxford Handbook of Global Modernisms expands the scope of modernism beyond its traditional focus to explore the contributions of artists from regions like Spain, the Balkans, China, Japan, India, Vietnam, and Nigeria. Together, these essays offer the most comprehensive worldwide examination of modernist studies available. Topics covered include: Richard Wright and photographic modernism; poetry of the Caribbean; Chinese modernism and Lu Xun''s Ah Q-The Real Story; Ben Okri and magical realism; aesthetic autonomy in Paris, Italy, Russia; Cuba''s avant-gardes; geography of Hebrew and Yiddish modernism in Europe; Japanese modernism in works by Kitagawa Fuyuhiko and Yokomitsu Riichi; and South African cinema.Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Mark Wollaeger ; Part I : Opening Places, Opening Methods ; 1. The Balkans Uncovered: Towards Historie Croisee of Modernism ; Sanja Bahun ; 2 . Caribbean Modernism: Plantation to Planetary ; Mary Lou Emery ; Part II : Temporality ; 3. Berber Poetry and the Issue of Derivation: Alternate Symbolist ; Trajectories ; Edwige Tamalet Talbayev ; 4. The Temporalities of Modernity in Spanish American Modernismo : ; Dario's Bourgeois King ; Gerard Aching ; 5. Nation Time: Richard Wright, Black Power, and Photographic ; Modernism ; Sara Blair ; 6. Chinese Modernism, Mimetic Desire, and European Time ; Eric Hayot ; Part III : Whose Modernism? ; 7. The Will to Allegory and the Origin of Chinese Modernism: ; Rereading Lu Xun's Ah Q-Th e Real Story ; Xudong Zhang ; 8. Neither Mirror nor Mimic: Transnational Reading and Indian ; Narratives in English ; Jessica Berman ; 9. Modernism and African Literature ; Neil Lazarus ; Part IV: Forms and Modes ; 10. " Petro-Magic Realism": Ben Okri's Infl ationary Modernism ; Sarah L. Lincoln ; 11. Little Magazines, World Form ; Eric Bulson ; 12. Poetry, Modernity, Globalization ; Jahan Ramazani ; Part V: Comparative Avant-Gardes ; 13. Futurist Geographies: Uneven Modernities and the Struggle for ; Aesthetic Autonomy: Paris, Italy, Russia, 1909-1914 ; Harsha Ram ; 14. Modernity's Labors in Latin America: Th e Cultural Work of Cuba's ; Avant-Gardes ; Vicky Unruh ; 15. Queer Internationalism and Modern Vietnamese Aesthetics ; Ben Tran ; Part VI: Forms of Sociality ; 16. Cosmopolitanism and Modernism ; Janet Lyon ; 17. Jean Rhys: Left Bank Modernist as Postcolonial Intellectual ; Peter Kalliney ; 18. The Urban Literary Cafe and the Geography of Hebrew and Yiddish ; Modernism in Europe ; Shachar Pinsker ; Part VII : Locating the Transnational ; 19. Th e Circulation of Interwar Anglophone and Hispanic ; Modernisms ; Gayle Rogers ; 20. Scandinavian Modernism: Stories of the Transnational ; and the Discontinuous ; Anna Westerstahl Stenport ; 21. World Modernisms, World Literature, and Comparativity ; Susan Stanford Friedman ; Part VIII : Translation Zones: Culture, Language, Media ; 22. Modernism Disfi gured: Turkish Literature and the "Other West" ; Nergis Erturk ; 23. Modernism's Translations ; Rebecca Beasley ; 24. Japanese Modernism and "Cine-Text": Fragments and Flows at ; Empire's Edge in Kitagawa Fuyuhiko and Yokomitsu Riichi ; William O. Gardner ; Part IX : Film as Vernacular Modernism ; 25. T racking Cinema on a Global Scale ; Miriam Bratu Hansen ; 26. Visions of Modernity in Colonial India: Cinema,Women, and the City ; Manishita Dass ; 27. Vernacular Modernism and South African Cinema: Capitalism, ; Crime, and Styles of Desire ; Rosalind C. Morris ; Part X : Afterword ; 28. Modernist Studies and Inter-Imperiality in the Longue Duree ; Laura Doyle ; Notes on Contributors ; Index
£57.55
Oxford University Press The Tragedy of Coriolanus
Book SynopsisCoriolanus is perhaps the most brilliant political play ever written. Set in Ancient Rome, it remains a gripping psychological study of the relationship between personality and politics. The introduction to this new edition considers Shakespeare''s adaptation of his historical material (Plutarch''s Lives) in relation to the social and political conditions in London and Stratford at the time of the play''s composition, also offering new evidence that it was written in 1608. Professor Parker examines the play''s history and particularly its staging at the Blackfriars theatre, where it was probably the first of Shakespeare''s plays to be presented and for which it may have been written. A thorough commentary pays special attention to the needs of actors and directors. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the mostTrade Review'Stanley Wells' OUP Complete Works of Shakespeare is now eight years old and has spawned a new Oxford Shakespeare which appears now in splendidly affordable volumes in that nonpareil of libraries of good reading The World's Classics.' The Oxford Times * English Studies Offprint from vol.77 Number 1, January 1996 *
£8.54
Oxford University Press The Merchant of Venice The Oxford Shakespeare
Book SynopsisWhat was Shakespeare''s attitude to Semitism? The Introduction to this edition of The Merchant of Venice opens by addressing this vital issue raised by the play, and goes on to study the sources, background, and date, includuing a discussion of Sigmund Freud''s essay on ''The Three Caskets''. Professor Halio interprets the play''s contradictions, inconsistencies, and complementarities, especially as these relate to the overarching theme of bonds and bondage. A survey of the play''s stage history ranges from discussions of its early staging to important twentieth-century productions and performances outside England, particularly in Israel.The text, based on a fresh examination of the early editions, is presented in modernized spelling and punctuation. Unfailingly lucid and helpful, this is an ideal edition for students, actors, and the general reader. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Trade ReviewThe annotation, generally proficient, is admirably frank in rendering sexual doubles entendres and is frequently illuminating in its references to modes of staging ... As in the other volumes of this Oxford Shakespeare series, there is a good range of pictorial material and a very useful index ... this edition of The Merchant of Venice is creditable, lucid, and practical. * Cedric Watts, University of Sussex, Review of English Studies, Vol. 47, No. 186, May '96 *
£7.99
Oxford University Press The Winters Tale The Oxford Shakespeare
Book SynopsisTrade Reviewa valuable edition of The Winter's Tale. ... this is a well-focused and helpful edition. * Paul Hammond, Review of English Studies *
£7.59
Oxford University Press Julius Caesar The Oxford Shakespeare
Book SynopsisJulius Caesar's exciting plot, brilliant rhetoric, and searching characterisation have made it one of Shakespeare's most popular plays with both readers and theatre-goers. Introducing this thoroughly reconsidered edition, Arthur Humphreys provides a fresh look at the play's date and its place in the Shakespeare canon and examines Shakespeare's transmutation of history into drama. He investigates the play's ethical and moral concerns in a section on Roman values and analyses its fortunes in performance, from its immediately successful first staging to modern productions for cinema, television, and stage.Trade Review`Professor Humphreys is an excellent Shakespeare critic: he responds sensitively to the play's language and style, and his judgements on the action's finer points are subtle and discriminating...this edition is an impressibley mature piece of work.' Emrys Jones, Literary Review
£11.14
Oxford University Press Cymbeline The Oxford Shakespeare
Book SynopsisThis is the first full-scale edition of Cymbeline for 37 years. During that time, there has been considerable interest in Shakespeare''s late work in the theatre, and several notable productions have demonstrated the powerful impact of Cymbeline. Based firmly on Roger Warren''s extensive experience of the play in rehearsal and performance, this edition shows how Shakespeare draws upon a wide range of sources to create a self-sufficient dramatic universe, combining virtuoso theatrical and poetic means to present a story of a marriage imperilled by mistrust and painfully rebuilt through the physical and spiritual journeys undertaken by the heroine and hero, set in a context of international conflict. A full and detailed commentary pays close attention to the play''s complex, evocative language. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholTable of ContentsIntroduction: Theatricality; Theatrical Perspectives: Experiment and Intimacy; Romance; A Retrospective Play; Style; The Wager Story; Widening the Wager Story; 'In a great pool a swan's nest': Rome and Britain; 'none but Milford way': From Court to Country; Innogen by Cloten's Corpse; Posthumus-and Jupiter; The Final Scene-and James I; Date; The Text ; Editorial Procedures; Abbreviations and References ; Cymbeline ; Appendix A: The Characters' Names ; Appendix B: The Music, edited by James Walker ; Appendix C: Alterations to Lineation ; Index
£8.54
Oxford University Press Henry V The Oxford Shakespeare
Book SynopsisHenry V, the climax of Shakespeare''s sequence of English history plays, is an inspiring, often comic celebration of a young warrior-king. But it is also a study of the costly exhilarations of war, and of the penalties as well as the glories of human greatness.Introducing this brilliantly innovative edition, Gary Taylor shows how Shakespeare shaped his historical material, examines controversial critical interpretations, discusses the play''s fluctuating fortunes in performance, and analyses the range and variety of Shakespeare''s characterization. The first Folio text is radically rethought, making original use of the First Quarto (1600). ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to c
£8.54
Oxford University Press Troilus and Cressida The Oxford Shakespeare
Book SynopsisTrade Review`authoritatively tackles one of the most textually troubling plays' Sunday Times'Stanley Wells' OUP Complete Works of Shakespeare is now eight years old and has spawned a new Oxford Shakespeare which appears now in splendidly affordable volumes in that nonpareil of libraries of good reading The World's Classics.' The Oxford Times
£8.54
Oxford University Press Doctor Faustus and Other Plays
Book SynopsisChristopher Marlowe (1564-1593), a man of extreme passions and a playwright of immense talent, is the most important of Shakespeare''s contempories. This edition offers his five major plays, which show the radicalism and vitality of his writing in the few years before his violent death.Tamburlaine Part One and Part Two deal with the rise to world prominence of the great Scythian shepherd-robber; The Jew of Malta is a drama of villainy and revenge; Edward II was to influence Shakespeare''s Richard II. Doctor Faustus, perhaps the first drama taken from the medieval legend of a man who sells his soul to the devil, is here in both its A- and its B- text, showing the enormous and fascinating differences between the two.Under the General Editorship of Dr Michael Cordner of the University of York, the texts of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. In addition, there is a scholarly introduction and detailed annotation. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Table of ContentsTamburlaine, Part I ; Tamburlaine, Part II ; Doctor Faustus, A-Text ; Doctor Faustus, B-Text ; The Jew of Malta ; Edward II
£8.99
Oxford University Press Henry VI Part One The Oxford Shakespeare
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- On-page commentary and notes explain meaning, staging, language, and allusions- Detailed introduction considers the first performance in 1592 in relation to the 1623 folio, structure, theatrical history, and the role of women in the play- 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. This is a major achievement of twentieth-century scholarship.'' ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the
£8.54
Oxford University Press Henry VI Part Three The Oxford Shakespeare
Book SynopsisThis new edition is based on the 1623 First Folio text and challenges conventional thinking about the nature and relationship of the earliest texts. It contributes substantial new evidence about Shakespeare's revision of the plays and the introduction and commentary focus on stage-oriented discussions of the play's meaning and reception.
£7.59
Oxford University Press Henry IV Part 2 The Oxford Shakespeare
Book SynopsisThis new edition of one of Shakespeare's greatest history plays offers a freshly considered text fully alert to its intense theatrical aspects. A helpful Introduction discusses the play's structure, language, and performance history, and the notes provide an illuminating commentary on details of the text.Trade ReviewThe text pages clearly differentiate text, collation, and notes; the documentation is full but inconspicuous; and it has been well proof-read ... Dr Weis provides an economical but illuminating discussion of Shakespeare's sources ... The annotations throughout are lucid and economical, responsive to both levels of plot. ... Rene Weis's edition can be recommended as a thoughtful and sensitive response to the play, which ranks alongside the outstanding 1966 New Arden edition by R A Humphreys. * Brian Vickers, ROES, vol 50 no 200 (1999) *Table of ContentsLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS; INTRODUCTION; EDITORIAL PROCEDURES; TEXT; INDEX
£7.59
Oxford University Press The Alchemist and Other Plays
Book SynopsisThis edition brings together Jonson''s four great comedies in one volume. Volpone, which was first performed in 1606, dramatizes the corrupting nature of greed in an exuberant satire set in contemporary Venice. The first production of Epicene marked the end of a year long closure of the theatres because of an epidemic of the plague in 1609; its comedy affirms the consolatory power of laughter at such a time. The Alchemist (1610) deploys the metaphors of alchemical transformation to emphasize the mutability of the characters and their relationships. In Bartholomew Fair (1614) Jonson embroils the visitors to the fair in its myriad tempations, exposing the materialistic impulses beneath the apparent godliness of Jacobean Puritans. Under the General Editorship of Michael Cordner of the University of York the texts of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. Stage directions hvae been added to facilitate the reconstruction of the plays'' Table of ContentsVolpone, or The Fox ; Epicene, or The Silent Woman ; The Alchemist ; Bartholemew Fair
£9.49
Oxford University Press Henry VI Part Two The Oxford Shakespeare
Book SynopsisShakespeare's Henry VI plays dramatize contemporary as much as Elizabethan issues: the struggle for power, the manoeuvres of politicians, social unrest, civil war. This edition draws on experience of the play in rehearsal and performance to focus on both its theatricality and contemporary relevance in a wide-ranging introduction and detailed commentary.
£7.99
Oxford University Press King Henry VIII
Book SynopsisThis is the first fully annotated modern-spelling edition of King Henry VIII to appear for over a decade and includes up-to-date scholarship on all aspects of the play, including dating authorship, printing, sources and stage history. The editor accepts the view that the play is a collaboration between Shakespeare and Fletcher. Unique to this edition is the frequent reference to Cavendish''s biography of Wolsey, neglected in earlier editions. This edition includes a fully detailed commentary and a selective collation of major variant readings appear immediately beneath the text. Special attention has been paid to the frequent allusion to scripture and proverb law. An index to all words glossed and authorities cited appears at the end of the volume.Trade ReviewHalio gives a useful historical summary of the split from Rome * Years Work in English Studies *Textual apparatus is of a high standard . . . the commentary provides succinct notes on chronological and historical detail, pointed reference to sources used and works that supplement the playwrights' sources, and a comprehensive gloss to problematic words and phrases usefully keyed to a separate index. This is an excellent edition for undergraduate study: the introduction works to consolidate previous critical approaches without itself ever offering restrictive pronouncements on how to read the play, while the text and commentary are set out in a clear, uncrowded manner. Attention to the working needs of the student is evident throughout * Matthew Woodcock, University College, Oxford, Sixteenth Century Journal XXXII/1 (2001) *Table of ContentsLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS; INTRODUCTION; EDITORIAL PROCEDURES; KING HENRY VIII, OR ALL IS TRUE; INDEX
£9.93
Oxford University Press Timon of Athens The Oxford Shakespeare
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- On-page commentary and notes explain meaning, staging, language, and allusions- Detailed introduction provides a full account of the play''s performance history and explores issues of gender, gift-theory, and ecology- Appendices include source materials and a chronology of major productions worldwide- 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. This is a major achievement of twentieth-century scholarship.''ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volTrade Review...highly recommended * Dieter Mehl, Archiv *
£14.48
Oxford University Press The Two Noble Kinsmen
Book SynopsisThe Royal Shakespeare Company''s choice of The Two Noble Kinsmen to open the Swan Theatre in 1986 demonstrated that this long-neglected play has at last come into its own as a stageworthy, humorous, and moving dramatization of the conflicting claims of love and friendship. It was first published in 1634 as `by the memorable worthies of their time, Mr John Fletcher, and Mr William Shakespeare, Gent'' and was probably first performed soon after the wedding of Princess Elizabeth, daughter of the company''s patron James I, to the Elector Palatine in February 1613. The exceptionally full introduction to this edition explains the relevance to the play of ideas of chivalry and of the classical idea of friendship. The edition (which is illuminatingly illustrated) also offers a discussion of the centuries-long debate about the play''s authorship and a clarification of its stage action.Trade Review'This is an important scholarly edition and will obviously be indispensable for advanced study of the play.' Ann Thompson, Liverpool University'The Oxford Shakespeare is an admirably scholarly edition, immaculately presented, offering close attention to possibilities of staging as well as meaning.' Dr D. Sedge, Exeter University'An excellent edition, with a good introduction.' Roger Prior, Queen's University, Belfast'Professional edition with introduction which states clearly the case for collaborative composition. R. N. Alexander, Queen Mary Westfield, London'Stanley Wells' OUP Complete Works of Shakespeare is now eight years old and has spawned a new Oxford Shakespeare which appears now in splendidly affordable volumes in that nonpareil of libraries of good reading The World's Classics.' The Oxford Times
£8.54
Oxford University Press Women Beware Women and Other Plays
Book SynopsisThis volume contains the four plays by Thomas Middleton which have most impressed the modern world: A Chaste Maid in Cheapside is the most complex amd effective of the city comedies; Women Beware Women and The Changeling (with William Rowley) are two of the most powerful Jacobean tragedies outside of Shakespeare -- studies in lust, power, violence, and self-delusive psychology; A Game at Chess was the single most popular play of the whole Shakespearean era, a satirical exposé of Jesuit plotting and Anglo-Spanish politics which played tp pacifist houses at the Globe until King James and his ministers banned it. The best-value collection available with the most officially up-to-date introduction; all the play texts are newly edited with richly informative annotation. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most aTrade ReviewDutton presents an accessible and balanced assessment of the particular difficulties which Middleton poses for a modern audience (and critics) * Years Work in English Studies *Table of ContentsA Chaste Maid in Cheapside ; Women Beware Women ; The Changeling ; A Game at Chess
£11.39
Oxford University Press The Rover and Other Plays
Book SynopsisAphra Behn (1640-89) was both successful and controversial in her own lifetime; her achievements are now recognized less equivocally and her plays, often revived, demonstrate wit, compassion and remarkable range. This edition brings together her most important comedies in a single volume: The Rover, her best-known play; The Feigned Courtesans, a lively comedy of intrigue; The Lucky Chance, a comedy with a bitter edge, which takes a satirical look at marriage customs; and the dazzling and popular farce, The Emperor of the Moon. Under the General Editorship of Michael Cordner of the University of York, the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. Detailed annotation helps the reader to visualize the plays in performance and the Introduction argues for the importance of Behn''s skilful stagecraft and her great success as an entertainer. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of litTable of ContentsThe Rover ; The Feigned Courtesans ; The Lucky Chance ; The Emperor of the Moon
£8.99
Oxford University Press Four Revenge Tragedies
Book SynopsisThe Revenge Tragedy flourished in Britain in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Thomas Kyd''s The Spanish Tragedy helped to establish the popularity of the genre, and it was followed by The Revenger''s Tragedy, published anonymously and ascribed first to Cyril Tourneur and then to Thomas Middleton. George Chapman''s The Revenge of Bussy D''Ambois and Tourneur''s The Atheist''s Tragedy appeared soon after. Each of the four plays printed here defines the problems of the revenge genre, often by exploiting its conventions in unexpected directions. All deal with fundamental moral questions about the meaning of justice and the lengths to which victimized individuals may go to obtain it, while registering the strains of life in a rigid but increasingly fragile social hierarchy. Under the General Editoriship of Dr Michael Cordner, of the University of York, the texts of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. In addition, Table of ContentsThe Spanish Tragedy ; The Revenger's Tragedy ; The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois ; The Atheist's Tragedy
£9.49
Oxford University Press The Country Wife and Other Plays
Book SynopsisWycherley''s four comedies are admired for their satirical wit, farcical humour, vivid characterization, and social criticism.Love in a Wood, a lively comedy of intrigue, established him as a brilliant new dramatist.The Gentleman Dancing-Master, in contrast, disappointed contemporary audiences, but the central relationship between Hippolyta and Gerrard features an original and sympathetic study of a young woman''s attitudes and feelings. The Country Wife is a sharp but also highly amusing attack on social and sexual hypocrisy. The Plain Dealer, a powerful dramatic satire loosely based on Moliere''s Le Misanthrope, continues and enlarges Wycherley''s assault on greed and corruption.Under the General Editorship of Michael Cordner of the University of York, the texts of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. In addition, there is a scholarly introduction, a note on staging, and detailed annotation. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Table of ContentsLove in a Wood ; The Gentleman Dancing-Master ; The Country Wife ; The Plain Dealer
£10.44
Oxford University Press A Mad World My Masters and Other Plays
Book SynopsisThomas Middleton (1580-1627) was a writer of great versatility, and his career as a London dramatist spans the most productive, innovative, and exciting period of theatrical activity in the history of English drama. Best known for his tragedies, he also wrote many successful comedies of city life. This volume brings together the greatest among them: A Mad World, My Masters, Michaelmas Term, A Trick to Catch the Old One, and No Wit, No Help Like a Woman''s. The first three plays, written between 1604 and 1606, are witty and rambunctious satires on the predatory life of the aspiring London citizen. Sex and money are the characters'' obsessions; their caustic exposure Middleton''s. In the later play, No Wit (1612), satire shades into romance, prose into verse. Together the four plays reveal the range and exuberance of Middleton''s writing for the comic stage. Under the General Editorship of Michael Cordner of the University of York, the plays have been newly edited and are presented witTable of ContentsA Mad World, My Masters ; Michaelmas Term ; A Trick to Catch the Old One ; No Wit, No Help Like a Woman's
£11.39
Oxford University Press Birds and Other Plays Oxford Worlds Classics
Book SynopsisAristophanes is the only surviving representative of Greek Old Comedy, the exuberant, satirical form of festival drama which flourished during the heyday of classical Athenian culture in the fifth century BC. His plays are characterized by extraordinary combinations of fantasy and satire, sophistication and vulgarity, formality and freedom. Birds is an escapist fantasy in which two dissatisfied Athenians, in defiance of men and gods, bring about a city of birds, the eponymous Cloudcuckooland. In Lysistrata the heroine of the play organizes a sex-strike and the wives of Athens occupy the Akropolis in an attempt to restore peace to the city. The main source of comedy in the Assembly-Women is a similar usurpation of male power as the women attempt to reform Athenian society along utopian-communist lines. Finally, Wealth is Aristophanes'' last surviving comedy, in which Ploutos, the god of wealth is cured of his blindness and the remarkable social consequences of his new discrimination are exemplified. This is the first complete verse translation of Aristophanes'' comedies to appear for more than twenty-five years and makes freshly available one of the most remarkable comic playwrights in the entire Western tradition, complete with an illuminating introduction including play by play analysis and detailed notes. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Trade ReviewI readily endorse the opinion that the general introduction (ix-lxvi) is 'superb' and the introductions to the individual comedies 'excellent'. The rock-bottom price suggests extensive sales are anticipated and rightly so. * P. Walcot, Greece & Rome *Table of ContentsBirds ; Lysistrata ; Assembly - Women ; Wealth
£10.44
Oxford University Press The Comedies
Book Synopsis''I thought you''d do what the common run of slaves normally do, cheating and tricking me because my son''s having an affair.''Terence''s comedies have provided plots and characters for comic drama from classical times to the present; the outstanding comic playwright of his generation at Rome, he has influenced authors from Molière and Wycherley to P. G. Wodehouse. Scheming slaves, parasites, prostitutes, pimps, and boastful soldiers populate his plays, which show love triumphing over obstacles of various kinds, and the problems that arise from ignorance, misunderstanding, and prejudice. Although they reflect contemporary tensions in Roman society, their insights into human nature and experience make them timeless in their appeal. Peter Brown''s lively new translation does full justice to Terence''s style and skill as a dramatist. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Table of ContentsThe Girl from Andros ; The Mother-in-Law ; The Self-Tormentor ; The Eunuch ; Phormio ; The Brothers
£11.39
Oxford University Press (UK) Antigone on the Contemporary World Stage
Book SynopsisAntigone on the Contemporary World Stage is the first book to analyse what happens to Sophocles'' play as it is adapted and (re)produced around the world, and the first to focus specifically on Antigone in performance. The essays, by an international gathering of noted scholars from a wide range of disciplines, highlight the numerous ways in which social, political, historical, and cultural contexts transform the material, how artists and audiences in diverse societies including Argentina, The Congo, Finland, Haiti, India, Japan, and the United States interact with it, and the variety of issues it has been used to address.Table of ContentsI. ANTIGONE IN ANTIQUITY ; II. AN ANCIENT GREEK PLAY? ; III. CULTURAL FREEDOM ; IV. ANTIGONE AND HUMAN RIGHTS ; V. INDIVIDUAL VS. COLLECTIVE ; VI. ANTIGONE AS DISSIDENT ; VII. CULTURAL MEMORY ; VIII. SOPHOCLES VS. ANOUILH
£114.00
Oxford University Press The Agamemnon of Aeschylus
Book SynopsisThis commentary discusses Aeschylus'' play Agamemnon (458 BC), which is one of the most popular of the surviving ancient Greek tragedies, and is the first to be published in English since 1958. It is designed particularly to help students who are tackling Aeschylus in the original Greek for the first time, and includes a reprint of D. L. Page''s Oxford Classical Text of the play.The introduction defines the place of Agamemnon within the Oresteia trilogy as a whole, and the historical context in which the plays were produced. It discusses Aeschylus'' handling of the traditional myth and the main ideas which underpin his overall design: such as the development of justice and the nature of human responsibility; and it emphasizes how the power of words, seen as ominous speech-acts which can determine future events, makes a central contribution to the play''s dramatic momentum. Separate sections explore Aeschylus'' use of theatrical resources, the role of the chorus, and the solo charactersTrade ReviewDavid Raeburn and Oliver Thomas have made a difficult but rewarding play accessible to students with this the first commentary on Aeschylus' Agamemnon to be published in English since 1958. It offers an impressively wide-ranging introduction to the play that also sets it in the broader context of the Oresteia as a whole. Raeburn and Thomas prove to be dependable guides who offer judicious readings of difficult passages; they are even-handed in presenting variant readings or interpretations, and provide the resources necessary for readers to engage with scholarly debate. * Eric Dugdale, Classical Journal *Table of ContentsABBREVIATIONS; INTRODUCTION; TEXT; COMMENTARY; APPENDIX: SOUND AND RHYTHM; WORKS CITED; INDEX
£132.75
Oxford University Press The Agamemnon of Aeschylus
Book SynopsisThis commentary discusses Aeschylus'' play Agamemnon (458 BC), which is one of the most popular of the surviving ancient Greek tragedies, and is the first to be published in English since 1958. It is designed particularly to help students who are tackling Aeschylus in the original Greek for the first time, and includes a reprint of D. L. Page''s Oxford Classical Text of the play.The introduction defines the place of Agamemnon within the Oresteia trilogy as a whole, and the historical context in which the plays were produced. It discusses Aeschylus'' handling of the traditional myth and the main ideas which underpin his overall design: such as the development of justice and the nature of human responsibility; and it emphasizes how the power of words, seen as ominous speech-acts which can determine future events, makes a central contribution to the play''s dramatic momentum. Separate sections explore Aeschylus'' use of theatrical resources, the role of the chorus, and the solo charactersTrade ReviewRaeburn and Thomas have provided a comprehensive and reliable guide to the Agamemnon that will be of use to students and scholars alike. * Eric Dugdale, CJ-Online *Table of ContentsABBREVIATIONS; INTRODUCTION; TEXT; COMMENTARY; APPENDIX: SOUND AND RHYTHM; WORKS CITED; INDEX
£23.99
Oxford University Press Modern Drama A Very Short Introduction Very Short
Book SynopsisThe story of modern drama is a tale of extremes, testing both audiences and actors to their limits through hostility and contrarianism. Spanning 1880 to the present, Kirsten E. Shepherd-Barr shows how truly international a phenomenon modern drama has become, and how vibrant and diverse in both text and performance. This Very Short Introduction explores the major developments of modern drama, covering two decades per chapter, from early modernist theatre through post-war developments to more recent and contemporary theatre. Shepherd-Barr tracks the emergence of new theories from the likes of Brecht and Beckett alongside groundbreaking productions to illuminate the fascinating evolution of modern drama.ABOUT THE SERIES:The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewShepherd-Barr manages to survey over a hundred years of Western drama in this pocket-sized book ... Providing a cursory, but considered, overview that introduces the reader to the richness and diversity of the topic in an engaging and readily comprehensible manner. That is no mean feat. * Adrian Curtin, Studies in Theatre and Performance *an excellent and insightful short introduction to modern drama * Adrian Curtin, Studies in Theatre and Performance *Modern Drama: A Very Short Introduction, is something of a marvel. A clear case is made for each of the eras of modern drama while also demonstrating the lasting influence of directors, playwrights, and styles. * Lee Jacobus, Emeritus Prof. of English, UConn, Storrs *Table of Contents1. 1880-1900: realism, naturalism and symbolism ; 2. 1900-1920: sex, suffrage, and scandal ; 3. 1920-1940: metatheatre and modernity ; 4. 1940-1960: salesmen , southerners, anger and ennui ; 5. 1960-1980: absurdism, protest and commitment ; 6. 1980-2000: bearing witness ; 7. 2000-present: contemporary theatre
£9.49
Oxford University Press Inc The Complete Aeschylus
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.Aeschylus'' Oresteia, the only ancient tragic trilogy to survive, is one of the great foundational texts of Western culture. It begins with Agamemnon, which describes Agamemnon''s return from the Trojan War and his murder at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra, continues with her murder by their son Orestes in Libation Bearers, and concludes with Orestes'' acquittal at a court founded by Athena in Eumenides. The trilogy thus traces the evolution of justice in human society from blood vengeance to the rule of law, Aeschylus'' contribution to a Greek legend steeped in murder, adultery, human sacrifice, cannibalism, and endless intrigue. This new translationTable of ContentsBIBLIOGRAPHY
£11.87
The University of Chicago Press The Eloquent Shakespeare A Pronouncing Dictionary
Book SynopsisAn actor's deepest desire is to be understood. But when asked to pronounce such words as chanson, phantasime, or quaestor, many otherwise unflappable actors can be rendered speechless. This book aims to untie those tongues and help anyone speak Shakespeare's language with ease.Trade Review"Gary Logan has given us a pronouncing dictionary for Shakespeare which surpasses anything previously available in both scope and depth. Thoroughly researched and carefully documented, it clearly indicates pronunciations which are conjectural or matters of debate, as well as laying out in detail the standard of pronunciation adopted for the dictionary." (Ellen O'Brien, head of voice and text, Shakespeare Theatre Company)"
£25.65
The University of Chicago Press Blood Relations
Book SynopsisDrawing on a variety of cultural materials, this title demonstrates that, despite the triumph of its Christians, The Merchant of Venice reflects Christian anxiety and guilt about its simultaneous dependence on and disavowal of Judaism.Trade Review"This book is well-positioned to be the most important book-length study of The Merchant of Venice in all of the available scholarship. No one today is writing more trenchant criticism than Adelman. Her study of this deeply problematic play is fair and judicious while also passionately involved, learned, and wide-ranging while also attuned to painful moral issues." - David Bevington, University of Chicago"
£40.00
The University of Chicago Press This Wide and Universal Theater Shakespeare in
Book SynopsisExplores how Shakespeare's plays were produced both in his own time and in succeeding centuries. This book explains how the Elizabethan playhouse conveyed a sense of place using minimal scenery, from the Forest of Arden in As You Like It to the tavern in Henry IV, Part I.Trade Review"An eminent Shakespeare scholar and author, Bevington offers a concise, lucid, and unique overview of the history of Shakespeare in various modes of performance, from stage to film to television." - Choice "Bevington makes interesting, nuanced and original points about staging and interpretation that reveal the dynamism and complexity of Shakespeare's canon." - Financial Times "Even veteran Shakespeareans will profit from the varied reminders of how important performance and staging have always been to the interpretation of the plays." - Renaissance Quarterly"
£22.80
