The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Comedy

by Alexander Leggatt (Editor)

Overview

First published in 2001, this is an accessible, wide-ranging and informed introduction to Shakespeare's comedies and romances. Rather than taking each play in isolation, the chapters trace recurring issues, suggesting both the continuity and the variety of Shakespeare's practice and the creative use he made of the conventions he inherited. The first section puts Shakespeare in the context of classical and Renaissance comedy and comic theory, the work of his Elizabethan predecessors and the traditions of popular festivity. The second section traces a number of themes through Shakespeare's early and middle comedies, dark comedies and late romances, establishing the key features of his comedy as a whole and illuminating particular plays by close analysis. Individual chapters draw on contemporary politics, rhetoric, and the history of Shakespeare production. Written by experts in the relevant fields, the chapters frequently challenge long-standing critical assumptions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781107485419
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/20/2001
Series:	Cambridge Companions to Literature
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Alexander Leggatt is Professor of English at University College, University of Toronto. Among his books are: Citizen Comedy in the Age of Shakespeare (1973), Shakespeare's Comedy of Love (1974), Ben Jonson: his Vision and his Art (1981), English Drama: Shakespeare to the Restoration, 1590–1660 (1988), Shakespeare's Political Drama (1988), Jacobean Public Theatre (1992), English Stage Comedy 1490–1990: Five Centuries of a Genre (1998) and Introduction to English Renaissance Comedy (1999).

Table of Contents

Preface; Chronology; Part I. Shakespeare and Comic Tradition: 1. Theories of comedy David Galbraith; 2. Roman comedy Robert S. Miola; 3. Italian stories on the stage Louis George Clubb; 4. Elizabethan comedy Janette Dillon; 5. Popular festivity François Laroque; Part II. Shakespearean Comedy: 6. Forms of confusion John Creaser; 7. Love and courtship Catherine Bates; 8. Laughing at 'others' Edward Berry; 9. Comedy and sex Alexander Leggatt; 10. Language and comedy Lynne Magnusson; 11. Sexual disguise and the theatre of gender Barbara Hodgdon; 12. Matters of state Anthony Miller; 13. The experiment of romance Michael O'Connell; Select bibliography.

Editorial Reviews

"13 essays of high quality..." Bibliotheque d'Humanisme & Renaissance

From the Publisher