A dynamic new study in literary and dramatic influence, Misreading Shakespeare defines and explores the relation between two modern plays-Edward Bond's Lear and Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead-and Shakespeare's King Lear and Hamlet. While some see the modern plays as derivative, others claim that they are as original as the Shakespearean plays. The effort to define and explore this relationship is a challenge for critics and readers alike. Here, Wagdi Zeid, a playwright and professor of Shakespeare and drama, puts forth a theoretical perspective derived from W. Jackson...

A dynamic new study in literary and dramatic influence, Misreading Shakespeare defines and explores the relation between two modern plays-Edward Bond's Lear and Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead-and Shakespeare's King Lear and Hamlet. While some see the modern plays as derivative, others claim that they are as original as the Shakespearean plays. The effort to define and explore this relationship is a challenge for critics and readers alike. Here, Wagdi Zeid, a playwright and professor of Shakespeare and drama, puts forth a theoretical perspective derived from W. Jackson...