Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #258747 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-04
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Introducing Shakespeare is part of a series that originated in the US and includes Introducing Aristotle and Introducing Quantum Theory. It presents the man, a historical account of how his texts have arrived in the 21st century and a glance at the multifarious interpretations of, and responses to, the plays and poems during their 400-year lifespan. If you've ever wondered why Shakespeare is the only compulsory author on the National Curriculum or why he has spawned so many films and spin-offs, here are some answers.

It's a slim book, whose topic-to-a-page format carries brief information paragraphs under headings such as "Romantic and Modernist Hamlets", "18th-century Miscellany" and "The Sonnets as Autobiography". Underneath are opinions spoken by comic strip-type caricatures of, for example, Margaret Thatcher, Samuel Johnson and Kit Marlowe, as well as the Bard himself, making statements in speech balloons. But it isn't reductive or trivial because the key word is "Introducing". In fact, anyone--perhaps a new A-Level student or adult "returner"--who wants a starting point for finding out who Shakespeare was and why his writing is now so universally revered will find Introducing Shakespeare useful. It is also surprisingly and pleasingly uncompromising in its succinct definitions of quite difficult branches of thought such as new historicism, psychoanalytic criticism and cultural materialism.

Introducing Shakespeare's strength is its emphasis on the potentially tricky concept for newcomers to the plays that there is nothing definitive about reading them. There are no rules. Shakespeare's words can be--and are--read in different ways by different people at different times. Neither should we fall into the trap of forgetting that the words are spoken by characters in role. They're not necessarily the playwright's views. --Susan Elkin

Synopsis
William Shakespeare's absolute pre-eminence in contemporary Western culture and society is simply unparalleled. His plays pack theatres and provide Hollywood blockbusters with scripts; his works are considered fundamental to the teaching of English literature. He has given us many of our words, and defined much of how we think. How did this happen? Who decided that Shakespeare deserved such adoration? Can an Elizabethan playwright really be so relevant today, or are there other forces at work? Introducing Shakespeare looks at how 'The Bard' has been worshipped at different times and in different places, demonstrating to what cultural and political ends Shakespeare has been put, and explaining the intensity of current critical disputes. After centuries Shakespeare still remains the battlefield on which our very comprehension of humanity is fought out.