Shakespeare: The basics

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Aimed squarely at the student new to Shakespeare, this volume provides a through introduction to the plays, based on the exciting new approaches shaping the field of Shakespeare studies. The author offers a refreshingly clear guide to Shakespeare's language; the plays as performance texts; the cultural and political contexts of the plays; early modern theatre practice; new understandings of the major genres.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of illustrations (p. xiii)
• Acknowledgements (p. xv)
• Introduction (p. 1)
• Part I Understanding the text (p. 9)
• 1 Shakespeare's language (1) (p. 11)
• Shakespeare wrote for theatre-goers, not readers (p. 11)
• Box 1 Shakespeare's audiences (p. 12)
• Another problem: vocabulary changes over time (p. 14)
• Isn't it all hard going? Registers of language (p. 19)
• How to read Shakespeare (p. 22)
• Box 2 Playtexts in Shakespeare's time (p. 25)
• Comparisons, images and analogies (p. 28)
• Box 3 The Great Chain of Being and radical politics (p. 34)
• 2 Shakespeare's language (2) (p. 37)
• Verse and prose (p. 37)
• Verse (p. 40)
• Box 4 Kings and queens (p. 48)
• Rhetoric (p. 51)
• Box 5 Social mobility (p. 52)
• 3 Types of stage action (p. 59)
• Estrangement (p. 62)
• Box 6 Early modern views on theatre (p. 63)
• Reflexivity (p. 64)
• Box 7 Women and sex (p. 69)
• 4 What the plays mean in performance (p. 77)
• Performance then (p. 82)
• Box 8 Playhouses (p. 88)
• Box 9 Homosexuality in Shakespeare's time (p. 90)
• Performance now (p. 96)
• Part II The genres (p. 117)
• 5 What is genre? (p. 119)
• Box 10 Theatre companies (p. 120)
• Classification by genre (p. 121)
• 6 Understanding comedy: The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Merchant of Venice (p. 125)
• Comedy and gender: The Taming of the Shrew (p. 129)
• Comedy and power: A Midsummer Night's Dream (p. 137)
• Comedy and utopia: The Merchant of Venice (p. 142)
• 7 Understanding history: King Richard II, King Henry IV Part I and King Henry V (p. 151)
• History and history (p. 153)
• Box 11 Religion (p. 155)
• History and power (p. 176)
• History and women
• 8 Understanding tragedy: Hamlet, King Lear and Othello (p. 183)
• Tragedy and history (p. 185)
• Tragedy and power (p. 194)
• Tragedy and gender (p. 205)
• 9 Understanding the mixed-genre plays: Measure For Measure and Troilus and Cressida (p. 213)
• The language of love (p. 214)
• Rulers and ruled (p. 228)
• Box 12 London (p. 229)
• Idols and ideals (p. 236)
• 10 Understanding romance: The Winter's Tale and The Tempest (p. 241)
• Romance and gender (p. 243)
• Romance and utopia (p. 256)
• Conclusion (p. 267)
• Appendix Chronology (p. 269)
• References (p. 273)
• Index (p. 279)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

McEvoy (English and drama, Vardean Coll., UK) provides an up-to-date introduction to Shakespeare. He covers all of the basics, even explaining how to find a line citation. Part 1 concentrates on the text and covers Shakespeare's language, stage action in the 16th century, and the plays as performance pieces. Part 2 covers five play genres, including romance and mixed-genre plays. McEvoy clearly identifies his critical approach as new historicism and cultural materialism influenced by feminist ideas. Yet he does not exclude traditional, psychoanalytical, or performance study approaches from his discussion, emphasizing that there is more than one way to study and enjoy Shakespeare's works. The book effectively summarizes the current status of Shakespeare masterpieces, meets McEvoy's goal of preparing students for college-level courses, and covers more ground than Shakespeare for Dummies (LJ 7/99). Suggestions for additional study are included. This is recommended for all public and academic libraries.--Shana C. Fair, Ohio Univ. Lib., Zanesville (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

McEvoy, a British professor of drama and English, offers graduating high school seniors a concise and even-handed view of the Bard the way they'll be expected to see him in college English classes. Every school of modern thought seems to have found a way to draw Shakespeare into its arsenal of argumentation; in particular, the Marxists and the feminists have found much to say about A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Taming of the Shrew. McEvoy is refreshing in that he takes no sides and instead presents these and other (more traditional) views of the greatest English playwright's work with grace and finesse. His goal is to prepare the high school student, who has been forced to read these plays as mere books--ripe for extraction of plot and character--for a university-level analysis of Shakespearean drama. McEvoy makes a nuanced, multifaceted argument for the plays as theater, not literature, emphasizing the importance to Shakespeare of stage directions, the physical orientation of the playhouse, and interaction with the audience. He presents each controversial aspect of textual meaning through several different ideological prisms, with particular attention (but not favoritism) given to feminist critique. Sidebars in each chapter build a sturdy cultural context, surveying the historical evolution of gender roles, social mobility, theater companies, playhouses, and more. The second half of McEvoy's study tracks the principal features of each Shakespearean genre, suggesting (but not insisting) that certain overarching themes tie histories, tragedies, comedies, and romances together in a coherent, if not neat, bundle. A minor criticism could be lodged against this American edition for stubbornly refusing to adapt to the idiom of its new audience: US college freshmen are likely to be nonplussed by references to `A-levels,` professional soccer, and British popular culture. A strong, systematic, and ideologically unbiased introduction to Shakespeare, bound to deepen any reader's appreciation for the great playwright, and particularly suited to prepare college freshmen for deeper reading of Elizabethan drama. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.