Shakespeare's Early Tragedies

by Nicholas Brooke

Overview

First published in 1968.

Shakespeare's Early Tragedies contains studies of six plays: Titus Andronicus, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, Julius Caesar and Hamlet. The emphasis is on the variety of the plays, and the themes, a variety which has been too often obscured by the belief in a single 'tragic experience'. The kind of experience the plays create and their quality as dramatic works for the stage are also examined.

These essays develop an understanding of Shakespeare's use of the stage picture in relation to the emblematic imagery of Elizabethan poetry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415353205
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/23/2004
Series:	Routledge Library Editions: Shakespeare
Pages:	226
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 Titus Andronicus, 1593?]1Although there is evidence to date Titus Andronicus in 1593–4, a general belief that it should be Shakespeare’s earliest play has led to arguments for an earlier date. I shall argue that it is close to Lucrece in poetic as well as in Ovidian reference, and see no reason why it should not have been also close in time. But see J. C. Maxwell’s discussion in Titus Andronicus, 1953.; Chapter 3 Richard III, 1593?; Chapter 4 Romeo and Juliet, 1595; Chapter 5 Richard II, 1595; Chapter 6 Julius Caesar, 1599; Chapter 7 Hamlet, 1600–1;