Shakespeare’s Theater: A Sourcebook brings together in one volume the most significant Elizabethan and Jacobean texts on the morality of the theater. A collection of the most significant Elizabethan and Jacobean texts on the morality of the theater. Includes attacks on the stage by moralists, defences by actors and playwrights, letters by magistrates, mayors and aldermen of London, and extracts from legislation. Demonstrates just how heated debates about the theater became in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. A general introduction and short prefaces to each piece situate the writers and debates in the literary, social, political and religious history of the time. Brings together in one volume texts that would otherwise be hard to locate. Student-friendly – uses modern spelling and includes vocabulary glosses and annotation.
This book provides a boldly original account of Middle English literature from the Norman Conquest to the beginning of the sixteenth century. It argues that these centuries are, in fundamental ways, the momentous period in our literary history, for they are the long moment in which the category of literature itself emerged as English writing began to insist, for the first time, that it floated free of any social reality or function. This book also charts the complex mechanisms by which English writing acquired this power in a series of linked close readings of both canonical and more obscure texts. It encloses those readings in five compelling accounts of much broader cultural areas, describing, in particular, the productive relationship of Middle English writing to medieval technology, insurgency, statecraft and cultural place, concluding with an in depth account of the particular arguments, emphases and techniques English writers used to claim a wholly new jurisdiction for their work. Both this history and its readings are everywhere informed by the most exciting developments in recent Middle English scholarship as well as literary and cultural theory. It serves as an introduction to all these areas as well as a contribution, in its own right, to each of them.
This book introduces and discusses the works of leading feminist postcolonialist Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, by exploring the key concepts and themes to emerge from them. Focuses on the key themes to emerge from Spivak’s work, such as ethics, literature, feminism, pedagogy, postcoloniality, violence, and war Assesses Spivak’s often contentious relationship with feminist and postcolonial studies Considers the significance of her work for other fields, such as ethnography, history, cultural studies and philosophy
This anthology presents a series of texts in which major twentieth-century thinkers engage in dialogue with their predecessors. Presents a series of texts in which major twentieth-century thinkers engage in dialogue with their predecessors. Offers an innovative way into understanding modern critical thought. Spans the period from Marx to the present day. A conversation of ideas emerges between one generation and the next. Editorial material defines key terms and maps out contested terrain. Each piece is prefaced by contextualising notes and suggestions for further reading.
Helen of Troy: From Homer to Hollywood is a comprehensive literary biography of Helen of Troy, which explores the ways in which her story has been told and retold in almost every century from the ancient world to the modern day. Takes readers on an epic voyage into the literary representations of a woman who has wielded a great influence on Western cultural consciousness for more than three millennia Features a wide and diverse variety of literary sources, including epic, drama, novels, poems, film, comedy, and opera, and works by Homer, Euripides, Chaucer, Shakespeare Includes an analysis of a radio play by the prize-winning author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and a Faust play by a contemporary Scottish playwright Explores themes such as narrative difficulties in portraying Helen, how legal history relates to her story, and how writers apportion blame or exculpate her Considers the aesthetic and narrative difficulties that ensue when literature translates myth
Rome, Season One: History Makes Television examines the first season of the HBO-BBC collaboration, Rome, in a collection of thought-provoking essays by some of the world’s most influential scholars in the fields of classical antiquity and popular culture. Examines the first season of the HBO-BBC collaboration, Rome, in a collection of 17 thought-provoking essays by some of the world’s most influential scholars in the fields of classical antiquity and popular culture Focuses on the award-winning first season’s historical framework, visual and narrative style, contemporary thematic overtones, and influence on popular culture Addresses the artistic values, and roles of the script, sets, and actors Reveals how the series Rome ‘makes history’ in terms of representing the past on screen and producing innovative and influential television.
Big Screen Rome is the first systematic survey of the most important and popular films from the past half century that reconstruct the image of Roman antiquity. The first systematic survey of the most important and popular recent films about Roman antiquity. Shows how cinema explores, reinvents and celebrates the spectacle of ancient Rome. Films discussed in depth include Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator and Terry Jones’s Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Contributes to discussions about the ongoing relevance of the classical world. Shows how contemporary film-makers use recreations of ancient history as commentaries on contemporary society. Structured in a way that makes it suitable for course use, and features issues for discussion and analysis, and reference to further bibliographic resources. Written in an energetic and engaging style.
Written by eminent scholar David O. Ross, this guide helps readers to engage with the poetry, thought, and background of Virgil’s great epic, suggesting both the depth and the beauty of Virgil’s poetic images and the mental images with which the Romans lived. Guides readers through the complexity of Virgil’s poetic style and imagery All extracts are translated, with original Latin given when necessary Provides useful historical and social context in which to understand the poem as it was viewed in its time Includes short introductions to important topics such as Roman religion and the Roman concept of ‘character’ Features a helpful appendix which clarifies how to read and hear the poem's Latin hexameter
This essential guide to modernist poetry enables readers to make sense of a literary movement often regarded as difficult and intimidating. Provides close examinations of key poems by T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, W. B. Yeats, and others Considers key techniques employed to orient and disorient the reader, such as diction, rhythm, and allusion Explores the ideological implications of subject matter and the literary forms and structures of modernist poetry Places modernist poetry in relation to its Victorian and Romantic predecessors Encourages readers to engage with the texts and make their own interpretations, moving away from the question of what the poem says in favour of considering the effect of the poem on its reader
The Novel Now is an intelligent and engaging survey of contemporary British fiction. Discusses familiar names such as Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie, and Angela Carter and compares them with more recent authors, including David Mitchell, Ali Smith, A.L. Kennedy, Matt Thorne, Nicola Barker, and Toby Litt Incorporates original coverage of subgenres such as chick lit, lad lit, gay fiction, crime fiction, and the historical novel Discusses the ways in which notions of regional identity and tribalist views have surfaced in UK and Irish fiction, and how post-Imperial sensibility has become a feature of the ‘British’ novel Situates contemporary fiction within its socio-cultural and literary contexts.