Shakespeare as Literary DramatistIn this groundbreaking study, Lukas Erne argues that Shakespeare, apart from being a playwright who wrote theatrical texts for the stage, was also a literary dramatist who produced reading texts for the page. The usual distinction that has been set up between Ben Jonson on the one hand, carefully preparing his manuscripts for publication, and Shakespeare the man of the theatre, writing for his actors and audience, indifferent to his plays as literature, is questioned in this book. Examining the evidence from early published playbooks, Erne argues that Shakespeare wrote many of his plays with a readership in mind and that these 'literary' texts would have been abridged for the stage because they were too long for performance. The variant early texts of Romeo and Juliet, Henry V, and Hamlet are shown to reveal important insights into the different media for which Shakespeare designed his plays. |
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Page 8
... argue that , while the influence of the printing press had spread by the late sixteenth and early seventeenth ... argument that " the modern idea of copyright as a right of the author " did not develop until the eighteenth century is ...
... argue that , while the influence of the printing press had spread by the late sixteenth and early seventeenth ... argument that " the modern idea of copyright as a right of the author " did not develop until the eighteenth century is ...
Page 11
... argued that " plays were not regarded as ' literature ' but as relatively ephemeral entertainment reading on no higher plane than , say , a novel made from the script of a popular moving picture . " 27 In order to support the claim that ...
... argued that " plays were not regarded as ' literature ' but as relatively ephemeral entertainment reading on no higher plane than , say , a novel made from the script of a popular moving picture . " 27 In order to support the claim that ...
Page 14
... argue that this view needs to be reconsidered . In a sense , what is particular about the time of Shakespeare's active involvement with the theater in London is that plays stopped having a public existence that was confined to the stage ...
... argue that this view needs to be reconsidered . In a sense , what is particular about the time of Shakespeare's active involvement with the theater in London is that plays stopped having a public existence that was confined to the stage ...
Page 15
... Arguing that " The reign of Elizabeth saw a solid improvement in literacy among tradesmen and craftsmen in all parts of England , " David Cressy has tried to measure and describe in considerable detail the " surge toward literacy " in ...
... Arguing that " The reign of Elizabeth saw a solid improvement in literacy among tradesmen and craftsmen in all parts of England , " David Cressy has tried to measure and describe in considerable detail the " surge toward literacy " in ...
Page 23
... argue , by how Shakespeare intended them to exist . In his commendatory poem to his collaborator John Fletcher prefacing their Faithful Shepherdess ( n.d. , c . 1610 ) , Francis Beaumont refers to the prin- ted play as a " second ...
... argue , by how Shakespeare intended them to exist . In his commendatory poem to his collaborator John Fletcher prefacing their Faithful Shepherdess ( n.d. , c . 1610 ) , Francis Beaumont refers to the prin- ted play as a " second ...
Contents
The legitimation of printed playbooks in Shakespeares time | 31 |
The making of Shakespeare | 56 |
Shakespeare and the publication of his plays I the late sixteenth century | 78 |
Shakespeare and the publication of his plays II the early seventeenth century | 101 |
The players alleged opposition to print | 115 |
TEXTS | 129 |
Why size matters the two hours traffic of our stage and the length of Shakespeares plays | 131 |
Editorial policy and the length of Shakespeares plays | 174 |
Bad quartos and their origins Romeo and Juliet Henry V and Hamlet | 192 |
Theatricality literariness and the texts of Romeo and Juliet Henry V and Hamlet | 220 |
The plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries in print 15841623 | 245 |
Heminge and Condells Stolne and surreptitious copies and the Pavier quartos | 255 |
Shakespeare and the circulation of dramatic manuscripts | 259 |
262 | |
278 | |
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Common terms and phrases
abridgement acted actors Andrew Gurr anonymous appeared argued argument Beaumont and Fletcher Bibliography Blayney Cambridge University Press chapter Clarendon Press comedies copy dramatist Edward England evidence extant Folio text Greg Gurr Hamlet hath haue Heminge and Condell Henry Heywood Ibid John Jonson King Lear King's King's Men length Library lines literary London long texts Lord Chamberlain's Lord Chamberlain's Men Love's Labour's Lost manuscript playbooks memorial reconstruction Merry Wives modern omitted Oxford University Press passages Pavier play's players playhouse playtexts playwrights poems printed playbooks printer private transcripts Publication of Playbooks quarto of Hamlet quarto of Romeo quote readers revision Richard Richard III Robert Romeo and Juliet scene scholars script second quarto seems seventeenth century Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare's plays Shrew sixteenth Sonnets Spanish Tragedy Stationers Studies suggests Tamburlaine Textual Companion theater Thomas title pages Troilus and Cressida W. W. Greg William Shakespeare written
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