Exploring the transition of Shakespeare's works from performance to literature, Stephen Orgel investigates the editorial efforts that have aimed to create a definitive text since the 1623 folio. He highlights the dynamic nature of theatrical performances, which varied across venues and audiences, and examines the implications of this evolution on the perception and preservation of Shakespeare's plays as literary texts.
How did the popular drama of Shakespeare's age become literature? Editorial efforts since the first folio of 1623 have attempted to establish a correct, final text of Shakespeare's plays. Yet the text in the theater changed constantly in front of different venues and audiences. Stephen Orgel examines what happens to plays when they become books.
Exploring the complexities of Shakespearean texts, this collection of twelve essays delves into the errors and confusions found within his works. Stephen Orgel examines the editorial and interpretive strategies used to address these challenges in commentary and performance. He critiques the notion of returning to an authentic version of Shakespeare's writings, emphasizing that modern interpretations often involve clarifying and correcting the original, which was inherently difficult to read. The essays reveal the ongoing struggle to present a coherent and accessible representation of Shakespeare's genius.
In this new addition to the Oxford Textual Perspectives series, Stephen Orgel considers the idea of the book not simply as a container for written work, but as an essential element in its creation.
The book explores the dynamic interplay between Christian values and classical traditions during the Renaissance, highlighting how this conflict fostered a vibrant creative environment. Stephen Orgel examines the resulting tension that led to a remarkable blossoming of English drama, lyric poetry, and the arts, offering insights into the cultural shifts that shaped this pivotal period in literature.
The Reader in the Book examines the history, archaeology, and sociology of the use of margins and other blank spaces in early modern books to shed light on reading practices, how books were read, and what early modern readerse wanted texts to tell them.
Essays on theatre, imagery, books, and selves in Early Modern England
Exploring the interplay between costume, identity, and representation, this book delves into the theatricality of historical figures like Queen Elizabeth I and Ben Jonson's portrayal of Queen Anne. It examines the significance of fashion and disguise in self-presentation and the literary world, while also addressing the role of illustrated books in shaping authorship. Additionally, it investigates the connections between visual art and literature, as well as the motivations behind the art collections of the early seventeenth century.
Exploring the multifaceted interpretations of Shakespeare, this beautifully illustrated work delves into performance and textual history as well as visual arts, with a notable chapter on portraiture. Stephen Orgel, a leading Shakespearean scholar, showcases the cultural versatility and elegance inherent in Shakespeare's legacy. His engaging style, characterized by lucidity and wit, invites readers to appreciate how Shakespeare has been reimagined across different eras and artistic mediums.
Focusing on the Renaissance stage, this illustrated collection features influential essays that reshape our understanding of Shakespeare's era. It explores the theater's role as a social and cultural institution, the evolution of stage architecture, and the significance of setting and costume. Additionally, it examines the acting profession's changing status and the theater's intricate relationship with contemporary politics. Central to the work is the examination of how modern interpretations construct the past, transforming Elizabethan performances into today's Renaissance drama.
This manga version of King Lear is set during the era of the Last of the Mohicans - circa 1759, during a crucial time of invasion and displacement along the American frontier. Lear is a venerated Mohican chieftain entering his final days. His elder daughters, Regan and Goneril - the evil pairing - are the more Westernised; Cordelia, with the looks of an Indian princess, is the traditionalist. In this unique interpretation of Shakespeare's tragic tale, a mountaintop snowstorm makes for a dramatic backdrop where savage torture and plentiful scalpings make for bloody action.