Bringing together the discrete fields of appropriation and performance studies, this collection explores pivotal intersections between the two approaches to consider the ethical implications of decisions made when artists and scholars appropriate Shakespeare. The essays in this book, written by established and emerging scholars in subfields such as premodern critical race studies, gender and sexuality studies, queer theory, performance studies, adaptation/appropriation studies and fan studies, demonstrate how remaking the plays across time, cultures or media changes the nature both of what Shakespeare promises and the expectations of those promised Shakespeare. Using examples such as rap music, popular television, theatre history and twentieth-century poetry, this collection argues that understanding Shakespeare at different intersections between performance and appropriation requires continuously negotiating what is signified through Shakespeare to the communities that use and consume him.
Bringing together the discrete fields of appropriation and performance studies, this collection explores pivotal intersections between the two approaches to consider the ethical implications of decisions made when artists and scholars appropriate Shakespeare. The essays in this book, written by established and emerging scholars in subfields such as premodern critical race studies, gender and sexuality studies, queer theory, performance studies, adaptation/appropriation studies and fan studies, demonstrate how remaking the plays across time, cultures or media changes the nature both of what Shakespeare promises and the expectations of those promised Shakespeare. Using examples such as rap music, popular television, theatre history and twentieth-century poetry, this collection argues that understanding Shakespeare at different intersections between performance and appropriation requires continuously negotiating what is signified through Shakespeare to the communities that use and consume him.
Making an important new contribution to rapidly expanding fields of study surrounding the adaptation and appropriation of Shakespeare, Shakespeare and the Ethics of Appropriation is the first book to address the intersection of ethics, aesthetics, authority, and authenticity.
'Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.' Can one life be measured against another? Can a woman's body be measured against a man's life? Can consensual sex be measured against rape? Measure for Measure explores these questions through a series of substitutions: Angelo deputises for the Duke, who disguises himself to spy on his subjects; corrupt Angelo demands that almost-nun Isabella gives her body in exchange for her brother's life; and the Duke substitutes living bodies and decapitated heads to bring about a 'happy ending' in this problematic comedy. Exploring corrupt power, state surveillance, and the silencing of women by powerful men, Measure for Measure continues to resonate today. The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
[headline]Redefines the ways in which performance studies and appropriation theory can be used to approach Shakespeare Bringing together the discrete fields of appropriation and performance studies, this collection explores pivotal intersections between the two approaches to consider the ethical implications of decisions made when artists and scholars appropriate Shakespeare. The essays in this book, written by established and emerging scholars in subfields such as premodern critical race studies, gender and sexuality studies, queer theory, performance studies, adaptation/appropriation studies and fan studies, demonstrate how remaking the plays across time, cultures or media changes the nature both of what Shakespeare promises and the expectations of those promised Shakespeare. Using examples such as rap music, popular television, theatre history and twentieth-century poetry, this collection argues that understanding Shakespeare at different intersections between performance and appropriation requires continuously negotiating what is signified through Shakespeare to the communities that use and consume him. [bios]Louise Geddes is Professor of English at Adelphi University, USA. Kathryn Vomero Santos is Assistant Professor of English and co-director of the Humanities Collective at Trinity University, USA. Geoffrey Way is the Manager of Publishing Futures for the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and ACMRS Press, where he serves as the Managing Editor for The Sundial and Borrowers and Lenders.
This fascinating collection of original essays show how writer's efforts to intimate, contradict, compete with, and reproduce Shakespeare keep him in the cultural conversation.
Iago’s ‘I am not what I am’ epitomises how Shakespeare’s work is rich in philosophy, from issues of deception and moral deviance to those concerning the complex nature of the self, the notions of being and identity, and the possibility or impossibility of self-knowledge and knowledge of others. Shakespeare’s plays and poems address subjects including ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and social and political philosophy. They also raise major philosophical questions about the nature of theatre, literature, tragedy, representation and fiction. The Routledge Companion to Shakespeare and Philosophy is the first major guide and reference source to Shakespeare and philosophy. It examines the following important topics: What roles can be played in an approach to Shakespeare by drawing on philosophical frameworks and the work of philosophers? What can philosophical theories of meaning and communication show about the dynamics of Shakespearean interactions and vice versa? How are notions such as political and social obligation, justice, equality, love, agency and the ethics of interpersonal relationships demonstrated in Shakespeare’s works? What do the plays and poems invite us to say about the nature of knowledge, belief, doubt, deception and epistemic responsibility? How can the ways in which Shakespeare’s characters behave illuminate existential issues concerning meaning, absurdity, death and nothingness? What might Shakespeare’s characters and their actions show about the nature of the self, the mind and the identity of individuals? How can Shakespeare’s works inform philosophical approaches to notions such as beauty, humour, horror and tragedy? How do Shakespeare’s works illuminate philosophical questions about the nature of fiction, the attitudes and expectations involved in engagement with theatre, and the role of acting and actors in creating representations? The Routledge Companion to Shakespeare and Philosophy is essential reading for students and researchers in aesthetics, philosophy of literature and philosophy of theatre, as well as those exploring Shakespeare in disciplines such as literature and theatre and drama studies. It is also relevant reading for those in areas of philosophy such as ethics, epistemology and philosophy of language.
How does Shakespeare represent war? This volume reviews scholarship to date on the question and introduces new perspectives, looking at contemporary conflict through the lens of the past. Through his haunting depiction of historical bloodshed, including the Trojan War, the fall of the Roman Republic, and the Wars of the Roses, Shakespeare illuminates more recent political violence, ranging from the British occupation of Ireland to the Spanish Civil War, the Balkans War, and the past several decades of U. S. military engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Can a war be just? What is the relation between the ruler and the ruled? What motivates ethnic violence? Shakespeare’s plays serve as the frame for careful explorations of perennial problems of human co-existence: the politics of honor, the ethics of diplomacy, the responsibility of non-combatants, and the tension between idealism and Realpolitik.
Cavendish and Shakespeare, Interconnections explores the relationship between the plays of William Shakespeare and the writings of Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623-1673). Cavendish wrote 25 plays in the 1650s and 60s, making her one of the most prolific playwrights”man or woman”of the seventeenth century. The essays contained in this volume fit together as studies of various sorts of influence, both literary and historical, setting Cavendish's appropriation of Shakespearean characters and plot structures within the context of the English Civil Wars and the Fronde. The essays trace Shakespeare's influence on Cavendish, explore the political implications of Cavendish's contribution to Shakespeare's reputation, and investigate the politics of influence more generally. The collection covers topics ranging from Cavendish's strategic use of Shakespeare to establish her own reputation to her adaptation of Shakespeare's martial imagery, moral philosophy, and marriage plots, as well as the conventions of cross dressing on stage. Other topics include Shakespeare and Cavendish read aloud; Cavendish's formally hybrid appropriation of Shakespearean comedy and tragedy; her transformation of Shakespearean women on trial; and her re-imagining of Shakespearean models of sexuality and pleasure.
Shakespeare’s plays have a long and varied performance history. The relevance of his plays in literary studies cannot be understated, but only recently have scholars been looking into the presence and significance of animals within the canon. Readers will quickly find—without having to do extensive research—that the plays are teeming with animals! In this Handbook, Karen Raber and Holly Dugan delve deep into Shakespeare’s World to illuminate and understand the use of animals in his span of work. This volume supplies a valuable resource, offering a broad and thorough grounding in the many ways animal references and the appearance of actual animals in the plays can be interpreted. It provides a thorough overview; demonstrates rigorous, original research; and charts new frontiers in the field through a broad variety of contributions from an international group of well-known and respected scholars.
