Shakespeare Up Close : Reading Early Modern Texts
Author(s):
This landmark collection of newly-commissioned essays by leading international scholars, offers expert close readings of Shakespeare and other early modern authors. The book is an intervention into current critical methodology as well as an invaluable tool for all students of the literature of the period, exemplifying the possibilities of close reading in the hands of a range of gifted practitioners. Chapters cover a range of key texts from Shakespeare and other major writers of the period such as Milton, Donne, Jonson and Sidney.
This is a unique collection as no other book offers such a rich variety of self-contained, short-form close readings. As such it can be used in the undergraduate classroom as well as by scholars and post-graduates and will also appeal to literary readers with an enthusiasm for Shakespeare. Contributors include leading Shakespeareans Stanley Wells, Stanley Fish, Coppelia Kahn and Lukas Erne.
Review(s):
“Shakespeare Up Close: Reading Early Modern Texts warmly convey the authors' faith that close textual readings unlock greater pleasure in his work...Shakespeare Up Close is a more scholarly collection, clearly meant for the classroom use, with the majority of essays by academics engaged in detailed textual analysis. But this sort of analysis ca be extremely useful in performing Shakespeare... It's a brilliant example of how close reading can inspire staging that reinforces Shakespeare's themes...A number of these academic essays suggest stimulating possibilities for performance...Highly intellectual.” —Wendy Smith, American Theatre
ISBN: 9781408158784