Twelfth Night or What You Will (The New Cambridge Shakespeare) [Paperback]

William Shakespeare (Author), Elizabeth Story Donno (Editor), Penny Gay (Introduction)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 052153514X | ISBN-13: 978-0521535144 | Publication Date: March 15, 2004 | Edition: Updated

Penny Gay has written a new Introduction to this updated edition of Shakespeare's popular comedy. She stresses the play's theatricality, its elaborate linguistic games and its complex use of Ovidian myths. In addition, Gay analyzes its delicate balancing of romance and realism and exploration of gender, sexuality and identity. First Edition Hb (1985): 0-521-22752-6 First Edition Pb (1985): 0-521-29633-1

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

For this updated edition of Twelfth Night, Penny Gay has written a wholly new Introduction to this well-loved Shakespearean comedy. She stresses the play's theatricality, its elaborate linguistic games and it complex use of Ovidian myths. She analyses the play's delicate balance between romance and realism and its exploration of gender, sexuality and identity. In examing the stage history, Professor Gay suggests that contemporary critical theory could have much to offer 21st century directors and actors.

Product Details

• Paperback: 186 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; Updated edition (March 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 052153514X
• ISBN-13: 978-0521535144
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #711,503 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

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Kindle not the complete book, December 4, 2007

By 

John Heron (Cupertino, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Twelfth Night or What You Will (The New Cambridge Shakespeare) (Paperback)

How can you give one star to Shakespeare? You can't. It's the package that's bad. If I were Cambridge I'd be unhappy with the "inaccurate" advertising. And if my job at Amazon was making out the payment to Cambridge, I'd wonder why give them any money at all.

Here again the Kindle version is not what is included in the paper version. Don't get me wrong, I love my Kindle. But to get that 91,000 volumes in the library they must have bought a bunch of e-book classics, and whoever did the scanning and digitizing did NOT copy the entire book. It's too bad that the proofreaders turn out to be the customer.

I looked at both the Folger edition and the Cambridge edition online. Liked the Cambridge intro materials better. So that's what I bought. What I got was the play itself. $3.20 ain't bad for a great play, but it's not what was promised.