The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Tragedy (Cambridge Companions to Literature) [Hardcover]

Claire McEachern (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521790093 | ISBN-13: 978-0521790093 | Publication Date: February 3, 2003

This Companion acquaints the student reader with the forms, contexts, critical and theatrical lives of ten Shakespearean tragedies. It includes the four major tragedies and Titus Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus and Timon of Athens. Chapters on a demanding theatrical genre are clear, concise and informative. They consider how Shakespearean tragedy originated, developed and diversified; and how it has fared in performance.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Wonderfully comprehensive. the essyas her eare uniformly excellent and succeed in maintaining intelligent discussion, incorporating new research while being clear and coherent enough to be understood by undergraduates." Studies in English Literature

"Superb." Choice

Book Description

The Companion acquaints the student reader with the forms, contexts, critical and theatrical lives of ten Shakespearean tragedies. Coverage includes the four major tragedies and, in addition, Titus Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus and Timon of Athens. Shakespearean tragedy is a highly complex and demanding theatre genre, but these chapters, written by acknowledged experts, are clear, concise and informative. They are concerned with how Shakespearean tragedy originated, developed and diversified as well as how it has fared on stage, as text and in criticism.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 292 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (February 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521790093
• ISBN-13: 978-0521790093
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,256,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The dynamics of Shakespeare's tragic masterpieces, June 2, 2003

By 

richardpinneau.com (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Tragedy (Cambridge Companions to Literature) (Paperback)

Although designed with undergraduate students in mind, this collection of essays from thirteen scholars who are excellent teachers and writers guarantees that any intelligent Shakespeare fan will be deeply enriched by engaging with "The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Tragedy." The multidimensional and interdisciplinary explorations evoked by Shakespeare (the works and the man) study are well surveyed here.

Chapter topics (e.g., language, gender, performance history) necessarily overlap with those of volumes such as "Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare," but time and space are claimed here for the special concerns that must be brought to bear most critically regarding the monumental tragic works (and even for the 'minor' plays of tragic genre). Concerns about Elizabethan/Jacobean politics and religion are given extended space.

Traditional areas of study are mined for relevance to tragedy. For example, Russ McDonald's chapter on language explicates how rhetoric and its language are weapons as significant to the development of a Shakespearean tragedy as are swords or poisons. David Bevington tackles the fascinating interface of author/artwork to help us consider how/why Shakespeare's artistry developed across his varied approaches to tragic form. Michael Warren helps the beginner appreciate why (seemingly academic issues such as) 'textuality' and 'early performance' are vitally linked to the what-and-why behind tragic struggles and heroes.

Often a single chapter cannot hope to more than scratch the surface of an enormous complex of issues (e.g., Catherine Belsey on "Gender and Family"). But in surveys these shortcomings are unavoidable, and the chapters give overviews that are fair and effective.

My primary wish for an enhanced edition would concern the appended "Select Bibliography" - it would be more helpful if broken into sections by subject. Better yet, a "Recommended Further Readings" section at the end of each chapter (as in other Cambridge Companions) would be of more help to the student who wished to research in more depth.

All in all, this Companion is a highly recommended starting point for any reflective reader to broaden their perspective to span such disparate works as Titus, Romeo-Juliet, and Hamlet - and broaden their appreciation of the Bard's achievements.