The Cambridge Introduction to Tragedy
The Cambridge Introduction to Tragedy

Author: Jennifer Wallace

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2007-05-10

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9780521671491

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An introductory study into tragedy in drama and literature, and in the real world.

A History of English Drama 1660-1900
A History of English Drama 1660-1900

Author: Allardyce Nicoll

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2009-06-25

Total Pages: 688

ISBN-13: 9780521109314

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Nicoll's History, which tells the story of English drama from the reopening of the theatres at the time of the Restoration right through to the end of the Victorian period, was viewed by Notes and Queries (1952) as 'a great work of exploration, a detailed guide to the untrodden acres of our dramatic history, hitherto largely ignored as barren and devoid of interest'.

The Cambridge Introduction to Samuel Beckett
The Cambridge Introduction to Samuel Beckett

Author: Ronan McDonald

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2007-12-19

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 0511345887

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This is an eloquent and accessible introduction to one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. This book provides biographical and contextual information, but more fundamentally, it also considers how we might think about an enduringly difficult and experimental novelist and playwright who often challenges the very concepts of meaning and interpretation. It deals with his life, intellectual and cultural background, plays, prose, and critical response and relates Beckett's work and vision to the culture and context from which he wrote. McDonald provides a sustained analysis of the major plays, including Waiting for Godot, Endgame, and Happy Days and his major prose works including Murphy, Watt and his famous 'trilogy' of novels (Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable). This introduction concludes by mapping the huge terrain of criticism Beckett's work has prompted, and it explains the turn in recent years to understanding Beckett within his historical context.

The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare's Comedies
The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare's Comedies

Author: Penny Gay

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2008-04-07

Total Pages: 197

ISBN-13: 1139469770

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Why did theatre audiences laugh in Shakespeare's day? Why do they still laugh now? What did Shakespeare do with the conventions of comedy that he inherited, so that his plays continue to amuse and move audiences? What do his comedies have to say about love, sex, gender, power, family, community, and class? What place have pain, cruelty, and even death in a comedy? Why all those puns? In a survey that travels from Shakespeare's earliest experiments in farce and courtly love-stories to the great romantic comedies of his middle years and the mould-breaking experiments of his last decade's work, this book addresses these vital questions. Organised thematically, and covering all Shakespeare's comedies from the beginning to the end of his career, it provides readers with a map of the playwright's comic styles, showing how he built on comedic conventions as he further enriched the possibilities of the genre.

The Cambridge Introduction to Theatre and Literature of the Absurd
The Cambridge Introduction to Theatre and Literature of the Absurd

Author: Michael Y. Bennett

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2015-10-29

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1316395359

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Michael Y. Bennett's accessible Introduction explains the complex, multidimensional nature of the works and writers associated with the absurd - a label placed upon a number of writers who revolted against traditional theatre and literature in both similar and widely different ways. Setting the movement in its historical, intellectual and cultural contexts, Bennett provides an in-depth overview of absurdism and its key figures in theatre and literature, from Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter to Tom Stoppard. Chapters reveal the movement's origins, development and present-day influence upon popular culture around the world, employing the latest research to this often challenging area of study in a balanced and authoritative approach. Essential reading for students of literature and theatre, this book provides the necessary tools to interpret and develop the study of a movement associated with some of the twentieth century's greatest and most influential cultural figures.

The Cambridge Introduction to Byron
The Cambridge Introduction to Byron

Author: Richard Lansdown

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-03-29

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 0521111331

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A clear, jargon-free and comprehensible survey of a diverse and voluminous canonical British author.