Shakespeare and the Classics
Charles Martindale editor A B Taylor editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Published:24th Feb '11
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This book demonstrates that the classics are of central importance in Shakespeare's plays and in the structure of his imagination.
Shakespeare and the Classics demonstrates that the classics are of central importance in Shakespeare's plays and in the structure of his imagination. Written by an international team of Shakespeareans and classicists, this book investigates Shakespeare's classicism and shows how he used a variety of classical books to explore crucial areas of human experience such as love, politics, ethics and history. The book focuses on Shakespeare's favourite classical authors, especially Ovid, Virgil, Seneca, Plautus and Terence, and, in translation only, Plutarch. Attention is also paid to the humanist background and to Shakespeare's knowledge of Greek literature and culture. The final section, from the perspective of reception, examines how Shakespeare's classicism was seen and used by later writers. This accessible book offers a rounded and comprehensive treatment of Shakespeare's classicism and will be a useful first port of call for students and others approaching the subject.
'This enriching book furnishes foundational knowledge that Shakespeare students must know. It belongs in every library's core Shakespeare holdings.' Choice
'Shakespeare and the Classics is a rich volume of essays and a valuable successor to Charles and Michelle Martindale's Shakespeare and the Uses of Antiquity (1990), and to many more specialized studies …' The Times Literary Supplement
'The volume as a whole is superbly innovative and serves as an encouraging call to other scholars - both classical and Shakespearean - to continue the work it has so auspiciously begun.' Joanna A. Giuttari, Renaissance Quarterly
'If you think that a book called Shakespeare and the Classics cannot be original or challenging, you are wrong. Charles Martindale and A. B. Taylor edit essays by various scholars, some established, some just starting out, that will set you to rethinking Seneca, Plutarch, Plautus, and others on whom Shakespeare relied … Stimulating.' Bibliotheque d'Humanisme et Renaissance
'This volume is a welcome addition to the Shakespearian shelf.' Dana F. Sutton, The Classical Bulletin
'Charles Martindale and A. B. Taylor's new collection of essays on Shakespeare and the classics is a welcome contribution to this new wave of scholarship by a group of critics well-known in the field … The essays … help capture the truly original characteristic of Shakespeare's imagination as it interacts with the past that nourished it. The tradition that emerges through these essays is itself a living and growing force, a conversation that continues today.' Maggie Kilgour, International Journal of the Classical Tradition
ISBN: 9780521175012
Dimensions: 228mm x 152mm x 16mm
Weight: 530g
334 pages