Shakespeare's Late Work

Lyne, Raphael

ISBN 10: 019926595X / ISBN 13: 9780199265954

Published by Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2007

Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Seller Inventory # GRP78467067

Synopsis:

Shakespeare's Late Work is a detailed reading of the plays written at the end of Shakespeare's career, centering on Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest. Unlike many previous studies it considers all the late work, including Henry VIII, The Two Noble Kinsmen, the revised Folio version of King Lear, and even what can be ascertained about the lost Cardenio. From this broadened canon emerge signs of a distinct identity for the late work. Lyne explores how Shakespeare sets great store in grand principles--faith in God, love of family, reverence for monarchs, and belief in theatrical representations of truth. However, there is also a ubiquitous and structuring irony whereby such principles are questioned and doubted. Audiences and readers are left with a difficult but empowering decision whether to believe, or to question, or to accommodate both faith and skepticism. Alongside this interest in the new and characteristically "late" qualities of this phase in Shakespeare's career, Shakespeare's Late Work puts it in a wider cultural context. A chapter on the collaborations and broader dramatic relationships with John Fletcher and Thomas Middleton illuminates how Shakespeare's canon interacts with other writing of its time. A chapter on how the late work revisits and reconsiders themes from earlier plays shows that continuity needs to be remembered alongside novelty. Overall this is an introduction to the key works of this period which advances a new reading of them. They emerge as fascinating and dazzling explorations of their potential and their limitations.

About the Author: Raphael Lyne is a University Lecturer in the Faculty of English, and a Fellow of New Hall at the University of Cambridge.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Shakespeare's Late Work
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
Publication Date: 2007
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: Good
Edition: 1st Edition.