Shakespeare's Dramatic GenresThe history of genres, or kinds, of drama is one of contradictory traditions and complex cultural assumptions. The divisions established by the original edition of Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies (the First Folio, 1623) give shape to whole curricula; but, as Lawrence Danson reminds us in this lively book, there is nothing inevitable, and much unsatisfying, about that tripartite scheme. Yet students of Shakespeare cannot avoid thinking about questions of genre; often they are the unspoken reason why classrooms full of smart people fail to agree on basic interpretive issues. Danson's guide to the kinds of Shakespearean drama provides an accessible account of genre-theory in Shakespeare's day, an overview of the genres on the Elizabethan stage, and a provocative look at the full range of Shakespeare's comedies, histories, and tragedies. |
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Page 68
... seem all too easy ; in later plays the mysteries are deeper , the explanations more difficult , and the narrative ... seems well ' , the king says , but his grammar is troubled by a conditional clause : ' and if it end so meet , | The ...
... seem all too easy ; in later plays the mysteries are deeper , the explanations more difficult , and the narrative ... seems well ' , the king says , but his grammar is troubled by a conditional clause : ' and if it end so meet , | The ...
Page 114
... seems it , as Gertrude asks Hamlet about his father's death , so particular to him ? Why should certain presentations of the ' common ' fact of human mortality seem so utterly remarkable , so searingly ' particular ?? Gertrude's ...
... seems it , as Gertrude asks Hamlet about his father's death , so particular to him ? Why should certain presentations of the ' common ' fact of human mortality seem so utterly remarkable , so searingly ' particular ?? Gertrude's ...
Page 125
... seems to summon Hamlet to his destiny . Yet Hamlet questions that destiny almost as tenaciously as he embraces it ; and his sweeping to it ' with wings as swift | As meditation or the thoughts of love ' ( 1. 5. 29–30 ) is blocked by the ...
... seems to summon Hamlet to his destiny . Yet Hamlet questions that destiny almost as tenaciously as he embraces it ; and his sweeping to it ' with wings as swift | As meditation or the thoughts of love ' ( 1. 5. 29–30 ) is blocked by the ...
Contents
The Genres Staged | 30 |
Mr William Shakespeares Comedies | 57 |
History | 86 |
Copyright | |
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