Twelfth Night (Bedford Shakespeare S.) [Paperback]

William Shakespeare (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 2001 | Series: Bedford Shakespeare S.

This edition of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" reprints the Bevington edition of the play along with seven sets of thematically arranged primary documents and illustrations designed to facilitate many different approaches to Shakespeare's play and the early modern culture out of which the play emerges. The texts include facsimilies of period documents, maps, woodcuts, descriptions of popular customs associated with "Twelfth Night", anti theatrical tracts, and excerpts from Ovid and Montaigne. Besides contextualizing the audience for Shakespeare's play and shedding light on some of his sources, the documents explore the range of sexual desires articulated in the play, competing ideas about music in early modern culture, religious controversy and the controversial place of laughter in early modern culture.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

BRUCE R. SMITH lectures in English at Georgetown University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (March 23, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0333947142
• ISBN-13: 978-0333947142
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,400,579 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a merchant of some standing in his community. William probably went to the King's New School in Stratford, but he had no university education. In November 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was pregnant with their first child, Susanna. She was born on May 26, 1583. Twins, a boy, Hamnet ( who would die at age eleven), and a girl, Judith, were born in 1585. By 1592 Shakespeare had gone to London working as an actor and already known as a playwright. A rival dramatist, Robert Greene, referred to him as "an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers." Shakespeare became a principal shareholder and playwright of the successful acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later under James I, called the King's Men). In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain's Men built and occupied the Globe Theater in Southwark near the Thames River. Here many of Shakespeare's plays were performed by the most famous actors of his time, including Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare had a hand in others, including Sir Thomas More and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and he wrote poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. His 154 sonnets were published, probably without his authorization, in 1609. In 1611 or 1612 he gave up his lodgings in London and devoted more and more time to retirement in Stratford, though he continued writing such plays as The Tempest and Henry VII until about 1613. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. No collected edition of his plays was published during his life-time, but in 1623 two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, put together the great collection now called the First Folio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Twelfth Night plus helpful notes, September 9, 2008

By 

A. Villegas "Busy Mom" (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Twelfth Night: Texts and Contexts (Bedford Shakespeare) (Paperback)

Although I have yet to read this book, I purchased it for an MA Shakespeare course. It is a dense book with lots of information. I have begun reading it, but there is a lot of material and information. It does provide helpful information on Twelfth Night.