King Edward III - Softcover

Shakespeare, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521596734 ISBN 13: 9780521596732

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1998

Synopsis

Edward III is a major new addition to the Shakespearean canon. Melchiori claims that Shakespeare is the author of a significant part of the play, the extent of which is discussed in detail. The introduction explores the play's historical background and its relationship to the early cycle of history plays. The commentary examines in depth the play's linguistic and poetic features, while an extensive appendix on the use of sources explains the stages of its composition.

About this title

Book Description

Edward III is a major addition to the Shakespearean canon, being included for the first time in an authoritative edition of Shakespeare's works. Melchiori claims that Shakespeare is the author of a significant part of the play, the extent of which is discussed in detail. The introduction explores the play's historical background and its relationship to the early cycle of history plays. The commentary examines in depth the play's linguistic and poetical features, while an extensive appendix on the use of sources explains the stages of its composition.

About the Author

William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) – 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, the authorship of some of which is uncertain. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613 at age 49, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others. Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories and these works remain regarded as some the best work produced in these genres even today. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. In 1623, John Heminges and Henry Condell, two friends and fellow actors of Shakespeare, published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare's. It was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as "not of an age, but for all time." Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the 19th century.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521596734
• ISBN 13: 9780521596732
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 236
• Editor: Melchiori Giorgio