Shakespeare on Page and Stage: Selected Essays by Stanley Wells (PDF)

Description

This volume presents a winning selection of the very best essays from the long and distinguished career of Stanley Wells, one of the most well-known and respected Shakespeare scholars in the world. Wells’s accomplishments include editing the entire canon of Shakespeare plays for the ground-breaking Oxford Shakespeare, and over his lifetime he has made significant contributions to debates over literary criticism of the works, genre study, textual theory, Shakespeare’safterlife in the theatre, and contemporary performance. The volume is introduced by Peter Holland, and its thirty chapters are divided into themed sections: ‘Shakespearian Influences’, ‘Essays on Particular Works’, ‘Shakespeare in the Theatre’, and ‘Shakespeare’s Text’. An afterword by Margreta deGrazia concludes the volume.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Rated 3.25 of 5There is no end to the number of books one can find on the works or study of William Shakespeare. The name ‘Stanley Wells’ is certainly familiar to anyone who’s read critical essays on Shakespeare. This book, Shakespeare On Page and Stage, is a collection of some of Wells’ essays on the Bard, his work, and performances of his work.And mostly we’re left with: meh.Some of these essays were interesting and from some I learned a thing or two, but the bulk of them really didn’t add anything to my knowledge or appreciation of Shakespeare’s plays. The book collects essays in four basic themes: 1) Shakespearian Influences, 2) Essays on Particular Works, 3) Shakespeare in the Theatre, and 4) Shakespeare’s Text.While most of this is not new information, I confess I did enjoy the ‘Influences’ section. For some reason I am extremely interested in reading some of the source material for Shakespeare. Was it inspiring, or convenient? We’ll never know.I also happened to be reading the essay “Staging Shakespeare’s Ghosts” at about the same time that I saw a production of Richard III in which the ghost were featured quite prominently, and so this particular essay really stood out for me. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but the supernatural definitely plays a big role in many of Shakespeare’s plays.There were a few essays that dealt with particular performances which held no fascination or interest for me. A live performance is a fleeting thing, meant to be observed in the moment. All the reports, the talk, the writings after the fact won’t make me appreciate what someone once did on the stage.The entire last section, dealing heavily with Wells and his work as an editor, more-so than with Shakespeare’s work, held no appeal at all.There’s a lot of material here in this book, and there’s bound to be something that will appeal to someone who has an interest in Shakespeare, but over-all this just doesn’t stand up to some of the other Shakespeare criticism I’ve read over the years.This volume contains the following:Introduction by Peter HollandI. SHAKESPEARIAN INFLUENCES1. Shakespeare: Man of the European Renaissance2. Tales from ShakespeareII. ESSAYS ON PARTICULAR WORKS3. The Failure of The Two Gentlemen of Verona4.The Taming of the Shrew and King Lear: A Structural Comparison5. The Integration of Violent Action in Titus Andronicus6. The Challenges of Romeo and Juliet7. Juliet’s Nurse: The Uses of Inconsequentiality8. The Lamentable Tale of Richard II9. A Midsummer Night’s Dream Revisited10. Translations in A Midsummer Night’s Dream11. The Once and Future King Lear12. Problems of Stagecraft in The Tempest13.‘My Name is Will’: Shakespeare’s Sonnets and Autobiography4. Shakespeare Without Sources15. Shakespeare and RomanceIII. SHAKESPEARE IN THE THEATRE16. Boys Should be Girls: Shakespeare’s Female Roles and the Boy Players17. Staging Shakespeare’s Ghosts18. Staging Shakespeare’s Apparitions and Dream Visions19. Shakespeare in Planché’s Extravaganzas20. Shakespeare in Max Beerbohm’s Theatre Criticism21. Shakespeare in Leigh Hunt’s Theatre Criticism22. Shakespeare in Hazlitt’s Theatre Criticism23. Peter Hall’s CoriolanusIV. SHAKESPEARE’STEXT24. On Being a General Editor25. Editorial Treatment of Foul-Paper Texts: Much Ado About Nothing as Test Case26. Money in Shakespeare’s Comedies27. To Read a Play: The Problem of Editorial Intervention28. The First Folio: Where Should We be Without it?29. The Limitations of the First FolioAfterword by Margreta de GraziaNotesA Select BibliographyAcknowledgementsIndexLooking for a good book? Stanley Wells is a noted Shakespeare scholar and his collection of essays, Shakespeare On Page and Stage, provides some insight into the playwright and his work, but nothing here is too earth-shattering or revelatory but instead is a rehash of knowledge but with Wells’ take on it.I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

⭐A very interesting read.

Keywords

Free Download Shakespeare on Page and Stage: Selected Essays in PDF format
Shakespeare on Page and Stage: Selected Essays PDF Free Download
Download Shakespeare on Page and Stage: Selected Essays 2016 PDF Free
Shakespeare on Page and Stage: Selected Essays 2016 PDF Free Download
Download Shakespeare on Page and Stage: Selected Essays PDF
Free Download Ebook Shakespeare on Page and Stage: Selected Essays