In the interpretation of Shakespeare, wordplay has often been considered inconsequential, frequently reduced to a decorative "quibble." But in Shakespeare from the Margins: Language, Culture, Context, Patricia Parker, one of the most original interpreters of Shakespeare, argues that attention to Shakespearean wordplay reveals unexpected linkages, not only within and between plays but also between the plays and their contemporary culture.
Combining feminist and historical approaches with attention to the "matter" of language as well as of race and gender, Parker's brilliant...

This challenging and lively volume contains essays by Stephen Greenblatt, Elaine Showalter, Jonathan Goldberg, Stanley Cavell, Robert Weimann, Margaret Fergusson, Howard Felperin and many others.

Women, Race, and Writing in the Early Modern Period is edited by two scholars in Renaissance studies.