Dieter Mehl - Böcker

First published in English in 1965, this book discusses the roots and development of the dumb show as a device in Elizabethan drama. The work provides not only a useful manual for those who wish to check the occurrence of dumb shows and the uses to which they are put; it also makes a real contribution to a better understanding of the progress of Elizabethan drama, and sheds new light on some of the lesser known plays of the period.

First published in English in 1968, this book provides a critical guide to the wide field of the Middle English Romances and gives a helpful survey of the contemporary state of scholarship. Dr Mehl traces the development of Middle English Romances from thee thirteenth to the end of the fourteenth century, and interprets a number of these romances. The emphasis is literary, on their form and dominant themes rather than source-material or language.

First published in English in 1965, this book discusses the roots and development of the dumb show as a device in Elizabethan drama. The work provides not only a useful manual for those who wish to check the ocurrence of dumb shows and the uses to which they are put; it also makes a real contribution to a better understanding of the progress of Elizabethan drama, and sheds new light on some of the lesser known plays of the period.

First published in English in 1968, this book provides a critical guide to the wide field of the Middle english Romances and gives a helpful survey of the contemporary state of scholarship. Dr Mehl traces the development of Middle English Romances from thee thirteenth to the end of the fourteenth century, and interprets a number of these romances. The emphasis is literary, on their form and dominant themes rather than source-material or language.

D. H. Lawrence wrote these three 'novelettes' between November 1920 and December 1921; they were enthusiastically received by his English publisher and his readers. The ending of the first version of 'The Fox', written in December 1918, is given in an appendix; Lawrence added a 'long tail' two years later, expanding the story to about three times its original length. 'The Ladybird' also started out as a short story, but was completely rewritten; two manuscript pages omitted by the typist are here included for the first time. The characters and the setting of 'The Captain's Doll' arose out of Lawrence's visit to Austria in summer 1920. Dieter Mehl gives all three composition histories including Lawrence's wish to have them published together, problems with typists and in publication. There is also an appendix on the models for the two main characters and the setting of 'The Fox'.

D. H. Lawrence wrote his last novel, Lady Chatterley's Lover, three times in 1926-7, and it is the third version that has become famous. The three versions are in fact three different novels, varying greatly in length, a significant number of episodes, and even some of the main characters. This 1999 book contains a critical edition of the two early versions of the novel: the first in some ways the most realistic and spontaneous version, the second the longest and to many readers and critics the most successful version. The text is printed from its manuscript source, including numerous, sometimes extensive deletions and variations from the first printed editions. An introduction traces the genesis of the novel and gives an account of its publication and reception. There are also notes, explaining literary, historical and geographical names and allusions, and particular problems of manuscript transmission.

The thirteen short stories in this volume were written between 1924 and 1928, and are set in Europe and America. Eleven were collected in The Woman Who Rode Away (1928), though 'The Man Who Loved Islands' appeared in the American edition only and the other two in The Lovely Lady (1933). An unpublished fragment 'A Pure Witch' is also included here. The stories reflect Lawrence's experiences in New Mexico, Mexico, Italy, Germany and England in the post-war period. Many were considerably revised by Lawrence after he first wrote them; some were completely rewritten and subsequently published in different versions. The editors give composition histories and discuss publication difficulties, including Compton Mackenzie's objections to 'The Man Who Loved Islands'. Appendices record manuscript revisions for three stories and give complete, unpublished early versions of four. Explanatory notes elucidate literary allusions and give topographical and biographical information.

This book introduces the students and the general reader to Shakespeare's tragedies and to the problems of interpreting them. Traditional questions and answers regarding the texts, as well as their realization in performance, are examined, and it is shown how the plays do not offer easy of final solutions to the tragic dilemmas presented, but engage the reader and spectator in a debate with more than one possible outcome. Each of the tragedies is examined separately, with discussions of its provenance, its stage history and critical history, and of the problems associated with its categorization as part of the 'tragic' genre. He refers widely to a representative body of Shakespearian criticism, and provides a useful bibliography which indicates the best sources for a reader wishing to pursue individual themes further. The book is carefully written and should serve as a valuable introduction for anyone wanting to gain a sense of the richness of the plays and the diversity of debate and interpretation that has surrounded them.

This book introduces the students and the general reader to Shakespeare's tragedies and to the problems of interpreting them. Traditional questions and answers regarding the texts, as well as their realization in performance, are examined, and it is shown how the plays do not offer easy of final solutions to the tragic dilemmas presented, but engage the reader and spectator in a debate with more than one possible outcome. Each of the tragedies is examined separately, with discussions of its provenance, its stage history and critical history, and of the problems associated with its categorization as part of the 'tragic' genre. He refers widely to a representative body of Shakespearian criticism, and provides a useful bibliography which indicates the best sources for a reader wishing to pursue individual themes further. The book is carefully written and should serve as a valuable introduction for anyone wanting to gain a sense of the richness of the plays and the diversity of debate and interpretation that has surrounded them.

D. H. Lawrence wrote his last novel, Lady Chatterley's Lover, three times in 1926-7, and it is the third version that has become famous. The three versions are in fact three different novels, varying greatly in length, a significant number of episodes, and even some of the main characters. This 1999 book contains a critical edition of the two early versions of the novel: the first in some ways the most realistic and spontaneous version, the second the longest and to many readers and critics the most successful version. The text is printed from its manuscript source, including numerous, sometimes extensive deletions and variations from the first printed editions. An introduction traces the genesis of the novel and gives an account of its publication and reception. There are also notes, explaining literary, historical and geographical names and allusions, and particular problems of manuscript transmission.

Written in an engaging and accessible manner, English Literature in the Age of Chaucer serves as both a lucid introduction to Middle English literature for those coming fresh to the study of earlier English writing, and as a stimulating examination of the themes, traditions and the literary achievement of a number of particulary original and interesting authors. In addition to detailed and sensitive treatment of Chaucer's major works, the book includes chapters on his chief contemporaries, such as John Gower, William Langland and the Gawain-poet. It also examines the often underrated contribution to the English literary tradition of his successors John Lydgate and Thomas Hoccleve, as well as the interesting and original work of the Scottish poets, Robert Henryson, William Dunbar and Gavin Douglas, who also claim Chaucer as their model. Apart from the narrative poetry of Chaucer and his followers, the book also contains chapters on the Middle English lyric; Middle English prose, including Mandeville's travels; the most original and imaginative writings of the Middle English mystics, in particular Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe; and Thomas Malory's impressive prose compilation of Arthurian stories.

With the publication of Brian Gibbons's Jacobean City Comedy thirty-five years ago, the urban satires by Ben Jonson, John Marston and Thomas Middleton attained their 'official status as a Renaissance subgenre' that was distinct, by its farcical humour and ironic tone, from 'citizen comedy' or 'London drama' more generally. This retrospective genre-building has proved immensely fruitful in the study of early modern English drama; and although city comedies may not yet rival Shakespeare's plays in the amount of editorial work and critical acclaim they receive, both the theatrical contexts and the dramatic complexity of the genre itself, and its interrelations with Shakespearean drama justly command an increasing level of attention. Looking at a broad range of plays written between the 1590s and the 1630s - master-pieces of the genre like Eastward Ho, A Trick to Catch the Old One, The Dutch Courtesan and The Devil is an Ass, blends of romance and satire like The Shoemaker's Holiday and The Knight of the Burning Pestle, and bourgeois oddities in the Shakespearean manner like The London Prodigal - the twelve essays in this volume re-examine city comedy in the light of recently foregrounded historical contexts such as early modern capitalism, urban culture, the Protestant Reformation, and playhouse politics. Further, they explore the interrelations between city comedy and Shakespearean comedy both from the perspective of author rivalry and in terms of modern adaptations: the twenty-first-century concept of 'popular Shakespeare' (above all in the movie sector) seems to realign the comparatively time- and placeless Shakespearean drama with the gritty, noisy and bustling urban scene that has been city comedy's traditional preserve.

The intellectual scope and cultural impact of British and Irish writers in Europe cannot be assessed without reference to their 'European' fortunes. This collection ofessays, prepared by an international team of scholars, critics and translators, record how D.H. Lawrence's work has been received, translated and interpreted in most European countries with remarkable, though greatly varying, success. Among the topics discussed in this volume are questions arising from the personal and frequently controversial nature of much of Lawrence's writings and the various ways in which translators from across Europe coped with the specific problems that the often regional, but at the same time, cosmopolitan Lawrencean texts pose.

Written in an engaging and accessible manner, English Literature in the Age of Chaucer serves as both a lucid introduction to Middle English literature for those coming fresh to the study of earlier English writing, and as a stimulating examination of the themes, traditions and the literary achievement of a number of particulary original and interesting authors. In addition to detailed and sensitive treatment of Chaucer's major works, the book includes chapters on his chief contemporaries, such as John Gower, William Langland and the Gawain-poet. It also examines the often underrated contribution to the English literary tradition of his successors John Lydgate and Thomas Hoccleve, as well as the interesting and original work of the Scottish poets, Robert Henryson, William Dunbar and Gavin Douglas, who also claim Chaucer as their model. Apart from the narrative poetry of Chaucer and his followers, the book also contains chapters on the Middle English lyric; Middle English prose, including Mandeville's travels; the most original and imaginative writings of the Middle English mystics, in particular Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe; and Thomas Malory's impressive prose compilation of Arthurian stories.

With the publication of Brian Gibbons's Jacobean City Comedy thirty-five years ago, the urban satires by Ben Jonson, John Marston and Thomas Middleton attained their 'official status as a Renaissance subgenre' that was distinct, by its farcical humour and ironic tone, from 'citizen comedy' or 'London drama' more generally. This retrospective genre-building has proved immensely fruitful in the study of early modern English drama; and although city comedies may not yet rival Shakespeare's plays in the amount of editorial work and critical acclaim they receive, both the theatrical contexts and the dramatic complexity of the genre itself, and its interrelations with Shakespearean drama justly command an increasing level of attention. Looking at a broad range of plays written between the 1590s and the 1630s - master-pieces of the genre like Eastward Ho, A Trick to Catch the Old One, The Dutch Courtesan and The Devil is an Ass, blends of romance and satire like The Shoemaker's Holiday and The Knight of the Burning Pestle, and bourgeois oddities in the Shakespearean manner like The London Prodigal - the twelve essays in this volume re-examine city comedy in the light of recently foregrounded historical contexts such as early modern capitalism, urban culture, the Protestant Reformation, and playhouse politics. Further, they explore the interrelations between city comedy and Shakespearean comedy both from the perspective of author rivalry and in terms of modern adaptations: the twenty-first-century concept of 'popular Shakespeare' (above all in the movie sector) seems to realign the comparatively time- and placeless Shakespearean drama with the gritty, noisy and bustling urban scene that has been city comedy's traditional preserve.