Twelfth Night (Arden Shakespeare, Third Series)

by William Shakespeare, Keir Elam (Editor), Ann Thompson (Editor), David Scott Kastan (Editor), H. R. Woudhuysen (Editor)

Overview

Critically acclaimed as one of Shakespeare's most complex and intriguing plays, Twelfth Night is a classic romantic comedy of mistaken identities. In recent years it has returbaned to the centre of critical debate surrounding gender and sexuality. The Introduction explores the multiple factors that make up the play's rich textual, theatrical, critical and cultural history. Keir Elam surveys the play's production and reception, emphasising the role of the spectator both within the comedy and the playhouse.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781903436981
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/12/2008
Series:	The Arden Shakespeare Third Series , #20
Edition description:	Third Edition
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Keir Elam is a Professor of English Literature at the University of Bologna, where he is Head of the Department of Modern Languages.

Date of Death:

2018

Place of Birth:

Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

Place of Death:

Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
General Editor's preface
Preface
Introduction
Ay, That's the Theme: Topics in Twelfth Night
Endings and Beginnings
Or What You Will: The Pleasures and Trials of Spectatorship
We Three: The Interpretation Compulsion
Around Twelfth Night
A Very Opal: The Play of Perspective
'Tis My Picture: Deciphering Visual Images
Changeable Taffeta: Materials and Materiality
In What Chapter of his Bosom?: Reading the Body
Sicken and So Die: Disease, Contagion and Death
As an Eunuch: Castration, Civility, and Intertextuality
This is Illyria, Lady: Space and Place
The Whirligig of Time: Levels of Temporality
Words are Very Rascals: Language and Discourse
Make a Good Show On't: Twelfth Night in Performance
If This Were Played Upon a Stage: Performances Virtual and Actual
First Night
Later Nights: Adaptations and Rearrangements
Our Shows Are More than Will: Victorian Special Effects and Modernist Experiments
Seasonal Nights
Illyrian Variations
The Mettle of Your Sex: Gender and Homoeroticism
Show You the Picture: Twelfth Night on Film
Are You A Comedian?: Players and Parts
Art Any More Than a Steward?: Malvolio
Your Drunken Cousin: Sir Toby
An Ass-head and a Coxcomb and a Knave: Sir Andrew
An Allowed Fool: Feste
A Noble Duke: Orsino
Here Comes the Countess: Olivia
I Am Not That I Play: Viola
Twelfth Night, or What You Will
Appendix 1: The Text and Editorial Procedures
Appendix 2: Casting
Appendix 3: Music
Abbreviations and References
Abbreviations Used in Notes
Works By and Partly By Shakespeare
Editions of Shakespeare Collated
Other Works Cited
Index

Editorial Reviews

The editorial goals of the Arden project are ably met in this edition. Elam's...astounding knowledge of elements of performance make this edition a mustread...Brings together into one volume a wealth of textual, bibliographical, and critical scholarship; a variety of background materials; helpful images and charts; and information and analysis concerning stage and film performances.The introduction exemplifies scholarly achievement...Magisterial footnotes.” —Shakespeare Quarterly

From the Publisher

The editorial goals of the Arden project are ably met in this edition. Elam's...astounding knowledge of elements of performance make this edition a mustread...Brings together into one volume a wealth of textual, bibliographical, and critical scholarship; a variety of background materials; helpful images and charts; and information and analysis concerning stage and film performances.The introduction exemplifies scholarly achievement...Magisterial footnotes.

Shakespeare Quarterly