In the hands of many of the great writers, the unravelling of mystery is only one strand within a complex project. Other things get unravelled, too - the belief in a rationally explicable world, in the beneficent, ordering force of culture and civilization. Constantly the detective story delights in muddying the waters, in acknowledging the omnipresent possibilities of anarchy and carnage. As a genre, it is supremely able to combine popular appeal with the ability to disturb, provoke and challenge the reader. The essays in this volume all pay tribute to, and seek to account for, the...
In the hands of many of the great writers, the unravelling of mystery is only one strand within a complex project. Other things get unravelled, too - ...
Shakespeare's history plays, as fresh today as when they were written, are based upon the assumption that time is not simply a destroyer but a preserver, and that 'examples past' might enable us to understand the present and anticipate the future. This lively 2007 study examines the continuing tradition of Shakespeare's history plays in stage and film productions as well as giving an account of the critical debate on these plays. Following two introductory chapters giving essential background on the genre, the English history plays are discussed in turn, bringing out the distinctive...
Shakespeare's history plays, as fresh today as when they were written, are based upon the assumption that time is not simply a destroyer but a preserv...
Shakespeare's history plays, as fresh today as when they were written, are based upon the assumption that time is not simply a destroyer but a preserver, and that 'examples past' might enable us to understand the present and anticipate the future. This lively 2007 study examines the continuing tradition of Shakespeare's history plays in stage and film productions as well as giving an account of the critical debate on these plays. Following two introductory chapters giving essential background on the genre, the English history plays are discussed in turn, bringing out the distinctive...
Shakespeare's history plays, as fresh today as when they were written, are based upon the assumption that time is not simply a destroyer but a preserv...
The portrayal of a Jewish money-lender in "The Merchant of Venice", who is full of bitterness and hatred, unrelenting in his pursuit of revenge against his enemies, can stir up feelings of unease in Jews and non-Jews alike. This book shows how directors, a
The portrayal of a Jewish money-lender in "The Merchant of Venice", who is full of bitterness and hatred, unrelenting in his pursuit of revenge agains...
No play by Shakespeare is more problematical and subject to controversy than "The Merchant of Venice". Its portrayal, in its most memorable figure, of a Jewish money-lender who is full of bitterness and hatred, unrelenting in his pursuit of revenge against those he considers his enemies, can stir up feelings of unease and guilt in Jews and non-Jews alike, confronted in performance or in the printed text with this threatening embodiment of the Other. By examining the critical and stage history of the play, this study shows how directors, actors, and literary critics have sought by various...
No play by Shakespeare is more problematical and subject to controversy than "The Merchant of Venice". Its portrayal, in its most memorable figure, of...
This book unites the disciplines of literature and history in an attempt to set the writings of Andrew Marvell in their seventeenth-century context of revolutionary upheaval and counter-revolution. Marvell is seen as a representative figure, illustrating the problems the intellectual inevitably faces when he enters the political arena. Dr Chernaik traces the evolution of Marvell's writings from impartiality to political engagement under the pressure of events. He shows in the earlier part of the book how both 'An Horatian Ode' and 'Upon Appleton House', two of the greatest political poems in...
This book unites the disciplines of literature and history in an attempt to set the writings of Andrew Marvell in their seventeenth-century context of...
