Shakespeare Saved My Life

Shakespeare Saved My Life
Author: Laura Bates
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2013-04-02
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1402273150

A female professor, a super maximum security prisoner, and how Shakespeare saved them both Shakespeare professor and prison volunteer Laura Bates thought she had seen it all. That is, until she decided to teach Shakespeare in a place the bard had never been before—supermax solitary confinement. In this unwelcoming place, surrounded by inmates known as the worst of the worst, is Larry Newton. A convicted murderer with several escape attempts under his belt and a brilliantly agile mind on his shoulders, Larry was trying to break out of prison at the same time Laura was fighting to get her program started behind bars. A testament to the power of literature, Shakespeare Saved My Life is a remarkable memoir. Fans of Orange is the New Black (Piper Kerman), A Place to Stand (Jimmy Baca) and I Couldn't Help Myself (Wally Lamb) will be be inspired by the story of the most unlikely friendship, one bonded by Shakespeare and lasting years—a friendship that would, in the end, save more than one life. What readers are saying about Shakespeare Saved My Life: "I was tremendously moved by both the potential impact of Shakespeare and learning on human beings and the story of this one man." "This is one of the most extraordinary books I've ever read." "I have never read a book that touched me as much as this memoir." "It is a challenging and remarkable story." "I loved this book so much. It changed my life." What reviewers are saying about Shakespeare Saved My Life: "You don't have to be a William Shakespeare fan, a prisoner, or a prison reformer to appreciate this uplifting book. "Shakespeare Saved My Life" also reveals many important truths ... about the meaning of empathy in our dealings with others"—Finger Lake Times "Shakespeare Saved My Life touches on the search for meaning in life, the struggles that complicate the path to triumph and the salvation that can be found in literature's great works ... An inspiring account."—Shelf Awareness "Opening the mind's prison proves enormously gratifying, not to mention effective ... brave, groundbreaking work"—Publishers Weekly "An eye-opening study reiterating the perennial power of books, self-discipline, and the Bard of Avon."—Kirkus "A powerful testament to how Shakespeare continues to speak to contemporary readers in all sorts of circumstances."—Booklist

Public and Private Man in Shakespeare

Public and Private Man in Shakespeare
Author: J. M. Gregson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2021-03-30
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1000350134

The potential duality of human character and its capacity for dissembling was a source of fascination to the Elizabethan dramatists. Where many of them used the Machiavellian picture to draw one fair-faced scheming villain after another, Shakespeare absorbed more deeply the problem of the tensions between the public and private face of man. Originally published in 1983, this book examines the ways in which this psychological insight is developed and modified as a source of dramatic power throughout Shakespeare’s career. In the great sequence of history plays he examines the conflicting tensions of kingship and humanity, and the destructive potential of this dilemma is exploited to the full in the ‘problem plays’. In the last plays power and virtue seem altogether divorced: Prospero can retire to an old age at peace only at the abdication of all his power. This theme is central to the art of many dramatists, but in the context of Renaissance political philosophy it takes on an added resonance for Shakespeare.

Shakespeare and the Classical Tradition

Shakespeare and the Classical Tradition
Author: Lewis Walker
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 920
Release: 2019-05-24
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1317943376

This bibliography will give comprehensive coverage to published commentary in English on Shakespeare and the Classical Tradition during the period from 1961-1985. Doctoral dissertations will also be included. Each entry will provide a clear and detailed summary of an item's contents. For pomes and plays based directly on classical sources like Antony and Cleopatra and The Rape of Lucrece, virtually all significant scholarly work during the period covered will be annotated. For other works such as Hamlet, any scholarship that deals with classical connotations will be annotated. Any other bibliographies used in the compiling of this volume will be described with emphasis on their value to a student of Shakespeare and the Classics.

The Oxford Shakespeare: Timon of Athens

The Oxford Shakespeare: Timon of Athens
Author: William Shakespeare
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2004-03-18
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 0198129386

Timon of Athens is a bitterly intriguing study of a fabulously rich man who wastes his wealth on his friends, and, when he is finally impoverished, learns to despise humanity with a hatred that drives him to his grave. This edition offers an up-to-date commentary on the play that is more detailed and more thorough than any previously published, as well as a detailed discussion of Thomas Middleton's collaboration with Shakespeare.

Timon of Athens: The Oxford Shakespeare

Timon of Athens: The Oxford Shakespeare
Author: William Shakespeare
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2008-08-14
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 0191623083

The Oxford Shakespeare General Editor: Stanley Wells The Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative texts from leading scholars in editions designed to interpret and illuminate the plays for modern readers - A new, modern-spelling text, collated and edited from all existing printings - On-page commentary and notes explain meaning, staging, language, and allusions - Detailed introduction provides a full account of the play's performance history and explores issues of gender, gift-theory, and ecology - Appendices include source materials and a chronology of major productions worldwide - Illustrated with production photographs and related art - Full index to introduction and commentary - Durable sewn binding for lasting use 'not simply a better text but a new conception of Shakespeare. This is a major achievement of twentieth-century scholarship.' ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Shakespeare Survey

Shakespeare Survey
Author: Stanley Wells
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2002-11-28
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 9780521523738

The first fifty volumes of this yearbook of Shakespeare studies are being reissued in paperback.

The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare's Tragedies

The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare's Tragedies
Author: Janette Dillon
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 147
Release: 2007-03-08
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1139462431

Macbeth clutches an imaginary dagger; Hamlet holds up Yorick's skull; Lear enters with Cordelia in his arms. Do these memorable and iconic moments have anything to tell us about the definition of Shakespearean tragedy? Is it in fact helpful to talk about 'Shakespearean tragedy' as a concept, or are there only Shakespearean tragedies? What kind of figure is the tragic hero? Is there always such a figure? What makes some plays more tragic than others? Beginning with a discussion of tragedy before Shakespeare and considering Shakespeare's tragedies chronologically one by one, this 2007 book seeks to investigate such questions in a way that highlights both the distinctiveness and shared concerns of each play within the broad trajectory of Shakespeare's developing exploration of tragic form.

Deep Wisdom from Shakespeare’s Dramas

Deep Wisdom from Shakespeare’s Dramas
Author: Arjan Plaisier
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 173
Release: 2012-06-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1630875384

Arjan Plaisier believes audiences who view Shakespeare performances and readers who study the plays deserve better than some of the recent interpretations of the Bard's work. In their attempt to be "modern," these interpreters commit historical amnesia by slighting the Christian ethos of the early Renaissance period in which Shakespeare wrote and by riding roughshod over the religious underpinnings of his plays. This neglect skews the playwright's intentions, confuses the audience, and diminishes the full effect of the play. Plaisier, too, is modern--and in a more profound sense. He sets forth how Shakespeare shapes his plots to conform at an ultimate level to timeless biblical narrative patterns (like Northrop Frye, he regards the Bible as a "code book"), so that there is a "right" ending to the work. And in an Appendix, Plaisier provides some kindly advice to his fellow pastors. You do well, he says to them, to enrich your noble calling with attention to literature. To do this, he says, you will find Shakespeare most helpful. Yes, and Plaisier's perceptive essays point to the deep wisdom in Shakespeare by which we can all live.