'Social Shakespeare is a thoughtful and frequently incisive book wabout an important and complex topic.' - Terence Hawkes, Cahiers Elisabethains Shakespeare studies have become increasingly politicised and clashes of opinion amongst scholars are not uncommon. Social Shakespeare, in its enthusiasm for the plays themselves, attempts to bridge the gap between rival approaches, aiming as a distinct refocusing of political criticism upon the Shakespearean text as realised in performance. Modern Shakespeare productions have the potential to make far more political impact than academic studies and yet, until now, critics have been reluctant to recognise this potential. With reference to particular productions, backed up by illustrations, Peter J. Smith integrates critical understanding of the plays with evidence of their political impact on stage.

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Book Title: Social Shakespeare
Book Subtitle: Aspects of Renaissance Dramaturgy and Contemporary Society
Authors: Peter J. Smith
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24225-2
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature & Performing Arts Collection, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Softcover ISBN: 978-0-333-63217-8Published: 10 October 1995
eBook ISBN: 978-1-349-24225-2Published: 13 December 1995
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XI, 242
Topics: Poetry and Poetics, Political Science, Early Modern/Renaissance Literature, History of Britain and Ireland, Social Sciences, general, Theatre and Performance Studies

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Social Shakespeare

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

Front Matter

Introduction

Introduction

Genre and Imagery

Front Matter

Shakespeare’s Comedy of Consensus

The Flaw in the Flaw: Shakespeare’s Tragic Method and a Problem of Criticism

Sexual Geography of the Renaissance: On the Imagery of Antony and Cleopatra

Dramaturgy and Language

Front Matter

Dreaming Drama and Dramatising Dreams: Towards a Reading of Sexuality in Cymbeline

Re(-)fusing the Sign: Linguistic Ambiguity and the Subversion of Patriarchy in Romeo and Juliet and The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Society and Culture

Front Matter

The Eternal Mushroom of Humanity: Racism and Jewishness in The Jew of Malta and The Merchant of Venice

Playing with Boys: Homoeroticism and All-Male Companies in Shakespearean Drama

Shakemyth: The Fabrication of Shakespearean Culture

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

Front Matter

Introduction

Genre and Imagery

Front Matter

Dramaturgy and Language

Front Matter

Society and Culture

Front Matter

Back Matter

About this book

Keywords

Bibliographic Information

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Buy it now

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