Shakespeare's Pictures

Highly nuanced in its close readings of key moments ... Equally adept in his use of historical sources and his deployment of modern theories of 'performativity', Elam is a stylish guide through the Shakespearean picture gallery. * Times Literary Supplement *
[Elam's] book offers a number of interesting readings, an astute account of relevant artistic and literary developments, together with a lively sense of early modern history. * The Review of English Studies *
Elam’s monograph is lucid and insightful; its scholarship and presentation combine to make it a highly informative and enjoyable read. * The Year's Work in English Studies *
Offers sharply focused observations about the workings of picture in each individual play, especially the construction of pictures via characters’ imaginations. * Shakespeare Studies *
Elam’s textured, historically informed, jargon-free readings will persuade his readers of the serious pragmatic and semiotic functions of pictures in Shakespeare’s plays. * Sederi *
Original, engaging, highly innovative and richly researched, this book makes a valuable contribution to the field as the first interdisciplinary study which provides a concentrated and sustained focus on the use of physical "pictures" in Shakespeare's drama. The readings of the individual plays are breathtakingly deft, a tour de force interweaving of image theory, material culture, performance practice and textual analysis. The depth of the research, the illuminating illustrations and a handy glossary of "Shakespeare's Iconographic Lexicon", make this book a bejewelled cabinet of wonders for the discerning reader, from undergraduate level upwards. -- Dr Chris Laoutaris, Lecturer at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon