Shakespeare and the Confines of Art

Shakespeare and the Confines of Art
Author: Bidyut Chakrabarty
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2004
Genre: Assam (India)
ISBN: 9780415352826

This book is a balanced account of the complex processes that finally culminated in the fragmentation of South Asia following decolonization.

Shakespeare's Artists

Shakespeare's Artists
Author: B. J. Sokol
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 341
Release: 2018-01-25
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1350021946

This study of the many poets, musicians and visual artists portrayed or described in Shakespeare's plays and poems reveals a fascination with art and its makers that continued to influence Shakespeare's work throughout his career. It also uncovers unexpected aspects of an enthusiastic Elizabethan consumption of artworks, an enthusiasm that had significant bearing on the quite new profession that Shakespeare himself followed. A high valuation placed on art and artists, and at the same time certain fears of these and fears for these, made for a very complex reception of the figure of the artist, and Shakespeare's treatments were equal to that complexity.

Shakespeare's Pluralistic Concepts of Character

Shakespeare's Pluralistic Concepts of Character
Author: Imtiaz H. Habib
Publisher: Susquehanna University Press
Total Pages: 264
Release: 1993
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 9780945636373

The presentation of a complex character such as Shylock bears resemblance to the technique of anamorphic portraiture and trick perspective in the sense that, seen one way he appears a villain, but seen another way he appears a persecuted victim. The clashing and merging of opposed frames of ideological reference that cannot be held apart or resolved and that remain in a kind of uneasy balance may be a technique of comic characterization that exploits relativism and ambiguity in the presentation of human personality and self on stage. A similar technique can be seen at work in the Histories in the characters of Richard and Bolingbroke, who, as has long been noted, compete contrarily for the audience's ideological sympathies over the course of the play.

Commentary on Shakespeare's Richard III

Commentary on Shakespeare's Richard III
Author: Wolfgang Clemen
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2013-10-11
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1136559361

First published in 1968. Providing a detailed and rigorous analysis of Richard III, this Commentary reveals every nuance of meaning whilst maintaining a firm grasp on the structure of the play. The result is an outstanding lesson in the methodology of Shakespearian criticism as well as an essential study for students of the early plays of Shakespeare.

The Sources of Shakespeare's Plays

The Sources of Shakespeare's Plays
Author: Kenneth Muir
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2014-04-04
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1317833414

First published in 1977. This book ascertains what sources Shakespeare used for the plots of his plays and discusses the use he made of them; and secondly illustrates how his general reading is woven into the texture of his work. Few Elizabethan dramatists took such pains as Shakespeare in the collection of source-material. Frequently the sources were apparently incompatible, but Shakespeare's ability to combine a chronicle play, one or two prose chronicles, two poems and a pastoral romance without any sense of incongruity, was masterly. The plays are examined in approximately chronological order and Shakespeare's developing skill becomes evident.

The Development of Shakespeare's Imagery

The Development of Shakespeare's Imagery
Author: Wolfgang Clemen
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 213
Release: 2013-04-15
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1135032858

First published in 1951. The edition reprints the second, updated, edition, of 1977. When first published this book quickly established itself as the standard survey of Shakespeare's imagery considered as an integral part of the development of Shakespeare's dramatic art. By illustrating, through the use of examples the progressive stages of Shakespeare's use of imagery, and in relating it to the structure, style and subject matter of the plays, the book throws new light on the dramatist's creative genius. The second edition includes a new preface and an up-to-date bibliography.

Shakespeare's Theory of Drama

Shakespeare's Theory of Drama
Author: Pauline Kiernan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 236
Release: 1998-07-23
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 9780521633581

Why did Shakespeare write drama? Did he have specific reasons for his choice of this art form? Did he have clearly defined aesthetic aims in what he wanted drama to do - and why? Pauline Kiernan opens up a new area of debate for Shakespearean criticism in showing that a radical, complex defence of drama which challenged the Renaissance orthodox view of poetry, history and art can be traced in Shakespeare's plays and poems. This study, first published in 1996, examines different stages in the canon to show that far from being restricted by the 'limitations' of drama, Shakespeare consciously exploits its capacity to accommodate temporality and change, and its reliance on the physical presence of the actor. This lively, readable book offers an original and scholarly insight into what Shakespeare wanted his drama to do and why.

Shakespeare and Visual Culture

Shakespeare and Visual Culture
Author: Armelle Sabatier
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2016-11-17
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1472568079

Statues coming to life and lively portraits ready to breathe in Shakespeare? This new volume re-assesses the key role played by visual culture in his drama and poetry by providing readers with an up-to-date guide to the main publications on the subject as well as offering a synthesis on the main literary and historical sources for inspiration. While scrutinising the complex issue of image on an Elizabethan stage and exploring the codification of colours in Shakespeare's poetry, this dictionary highlights the fierce rivalry between the poet, the dramatist and the visual artist. This volume will be of great interest and value to students of Shakespeare, students of art history or anyone working on the interdisciplinary subject of literature and art.

The Moral Universe of Shakespeare's Problem Plays

The Moral Universe of Shakespeare's Problem Plays
Author: Vivian Thomas
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2021-03-30
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 100035010X

What is it that makes Shakespeare’s problem plays problematic? Many critics have sought for the underlying vision or message of these puzzling and disturbing dramas. Originally published in 1987, the key to Viv Thomas’s new synthesis of the plays is the idea of fracture and dissolution in the universe. From the collapse of ‘degree’ in Troilus and Cressida to the corruption at the heart of innocence in Measure for Measure, to the puzzling status of virtue and valour in All’s Well, the most obvious feature of these plays in their capacity to prompt new questions. In a detailed discussion of each play in turn, the author traces the dominant themes that both distinguish and unite them, and provides numerous insights into the sources, background, texture and morality of the plays.