Reading Shakespeare

by Michael Alexander

Overview

An essential introductory text that provides students with a lively and enjoyable tour of Shakespeare's life, his writing career and the theatre of his time. Concise yet comprehensive, the guide examines the texts of twenty widely-studied plays, and the Sonnets, illuminating both their original contexts and their later reception. Lucidly written, with no jargon, this is an invaluable overview of Shakespeare's life and works for students who may be studying Shakespeare for the first time.

This is an ideal set text for modules on Shakespeare, Jacobean Drama or Renaissance/ Early Modern Literature which may be offered at all levels of an undergraduate Literature degree. In addition it is a helpful resource for students who may be studying Shakespeare's plays as part of a taught postgraduate degree in Literature.

New to this Edition:
- New material on politics and history
- Clearer chapter titles and explanation of the scope and rationale of the book
- Updated and expanded bibliography with more on gender, performance, politics and history

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350316829
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	10/31/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	184
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

MICHAEL ALEXANDER is Emeritus Professor of English Literature, University of St Andrews, UK. He is a poet and translator and has international experience of teaching English literature, both medieval and modern. He is the author of Palgrave's bestselling A History of English Literature, now in its third edition, and his Penguin translations of Beowulf and other Old English poems have sold a million copies.
Michael Alexander was Emeritus Professor of English Literature, University of St Andrews, UK.

Table of Contents

Preface
First Things
Career in brief
Authorship
Play and page
Printed Books
Posthumous Publication
The Recorded Life
Stratford and Family
Education
Plays
Shake-scene
What kind of Scene?
Immediate Predecessors
First Plays
Language
Verse
Dramatist
Love's Labour's Lost
Romeo and Juliet
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Histories
Richard II
Henry IV
Henry V
Comprehensiveness
Versatilty
The Merchant: Changing Contexts
To the Globe
Much Ado About Nothing
Julius Caesar
As You Like It
Twelfth Night
Shake-speare's Sonnets
Horatio's Question: Hamlet
Taken to Extremes
Problem plays
Measure for Measure
Tragedies
Othello
King Lear
Macbeth
Antony and Cleopatra
Late Romances
The Winter's Tale
The Tempest
Retrospect
His supposed point of view
'Read him therefore'
Order of Composition
Chronology of Publication
Further Reading
Abbreviations and References
Notes
Index.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

An astonishing feat. Alexander distills a well-crafted lecture series into a single slim tour de force of exposition. Calm, wise, straightforward, reliable, up-to-date, and surprisingly comprehensive. – Patrick Gray, University of Durham, UK

Reading Shakespeare is a splendid introduction to the works, life, and times of Stratford-upon-Avon’s finest. Written with insight and a lightness of touch, Michael Alexander’s study is of great value to all readers of Shakespeare. – Rory Loughnane, University of Kent, UK

The perfect introduction to Shakespeare’s life, reception, and writing - admirably comprehensive in its scope, yet sharply focused in its attention to individual works. – James Kuzner, Brown University, USA

Infinite riches in a little room. – Times Literary Supplement (in praise of the first edition)

Those who study and teach Shakespeare for a living, as I have, will find this book very useful for their work. Alexander appreciates the plays and sonnets in ways I have never before encountered. – John W. Mahon, The Shakespeare Newsletter

Editorial Reviews

An astonishing feat. Alexander distills a well-crafted lecture series into a single slim tour de force of exposition. Calm, wise, straightforward, reliable, up-to-date, and surprisingly comprehensive.” —Patrick Gray, University of Durham, UK

“Reading Shakespeare is a splendid introduction to the works, life, and times of Stratford-upon-Avon's finest. Written with insight and a lightness of touch, Michael Alexander's study is of great value to all readers of Shakespeare.” —Rory Loughnane, University of Kent, UK

“The perfect introduction to Shakespeare's life, reception, and writing - admirably comprehensive in its scope, yet sharply focused in its attention to individual works.” —James Kuzner, Brown University, USA

“Infinite riches in a little room.” —Times Literary Supplement (in praise of the first edition)

“Those who study and teach Shakespeare for a living, as I have, will find this book very useful for their work. Alexander appreciates the plays and sonnets in ways I have never before encountered.” —John W. Mahon, The Shakespeare Newsletter

From the Publisher