Rory Loughnane – författare

'How beauteous mankind is! O brave new worldThat has such people in't!'Performed variously as escapist fantasy, celebratory fiction, and political allegory, The Tempest is one of the plays in which Shakespeare's genius as a poetic dramatist found its fullest expression. Significantly, it was placed first when published in the First Folio of 1623, and is now generally seen as the playwright's most penetrating statement about his art.The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

'I see a man's life is a tedious one.'Set in Ancient Britain, Cymbeline is a play of deceit, disguise, banishment, and fidelity against the backdrop of a Roman invasion. When the King of Britain Cymbeline discovers his daughter's secret marriage, he banishes her husband to Rome, who then accuses Innogen of being unfaithful. Innogen must evade deadly plots and homicidal jealousy to restore her name. Long recognised as a response to James VI and I's project to unite England and Scotland, the play conjures ancient British history at a moment when that history was eroding, revealed as a medieval invention. This sense of historical endings is entangled with Cymbeline as a late play, and its numerous apparent callbacks across Shakespeare's career.The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

''How beauteous mankind is! O brave new worldThat has such people in''t!''Performed variously as escapist fantasy, celebratory fiction, and political allegory, The Tempest is one of the plays in which Shakespeare''s genius as a poetic dramatist found its fullest expression. Significantly, it was placed first when published in the First Folio of 1623, and is now generally seen as the playwright''s most penetrating statement about his art.The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare''s works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare''s work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare''s work.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

''How beauteous mankind is! O brave new worldThat has such people in''t!''Performed variously as escapist fantasy, celebratory fiction, and political allegory, The Tempest is one of the plays in which Shakespeare''s genius as a poetic dramatist found its fullest expression. Significantly, it was placed first when published in the First Folio of 1623, and is now generally seen as the playwright''s most penetrating statement about his art.The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare''s works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare''s work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare''s work.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

'I see a man's life is a tedious one.' Set in Ancient Britain, Cymbeline is a play of deceit, disguise, banishment, and fidelity against the backdrop of a Roman invasion. When the King of Britain Cymbeline discovers his daughter's secret marriage, he banishes her husband to Rome, who then accuses Innogen of being unfaithful. Innogen must evade deadly plots and homicidal jealousy to restore her name. Long recognised as a response to James VI and I's project to unite England and Scotland, the play conjures ancient British history at a moment when that history was eroding, revealed as a medieval invention. This sense of historical endings is entangled with Cymbeline as a late play, and its numerous apparent callbacks across Shakespeare's career. The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

'I see a man's life is a tedious one.' Set in Ancient Britain, Cymbeline is a play of deceit, disguise, banishment, and fidelity against the backdrop of a Roman invasion. When the King of Britain Cymbeline discovers his daughter's secret marriage, he banishes her husband to Rome, who then accuses Innogen of being unfaithful. Innogen must evade deadly plots and homicidal jealousy to restore her name. Long recognised as a response to James VI and I's project to unite England and Scotland, the play conjures ancient British history at a moment when that history was eroding, revealed as a medieval invention. This sense of historical endings is entangled with Cymbeline as a late play, and its numerous apparent callbacks across Shakespeare's career. The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

'Born in a tempest when my mother died! This world to me is as a lasting storm.'Pericles, Prince of Tyre is a tale of adventure, fateful journeys, true love, and marvels. The play recycles a millennia-old story of a prince who sails around a mythic Mediterranean, starts a family, loses his wife and daughter, and is miraculously reunited with them years later. It packs in exciting incidents, from shipwreck to storms to murder, and a colourful cast of characters including knights, assassins, pirates, brothelkeepers, and the goddess of chastity. Written by Shakespeare and George Wilkins, Pericles capitalises on the seventeenth-century vogue for tragicomic romance and it proved to be a hit on the stage and in print. In the twenty-first century, Pericles has again surged in popularity. Inspiring novels by bestselling writers and theatrical adaptations around the globe, this ancient story is used to explore contemporary concerns such as displacement, the treatment of women, the abuse of authority, and the persistence of hope in the face of tragedy. The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and Early Modern Authorship draws together leading and emerging scholars of Shakespeare and early modern literature to consider anew how authorship worked in the time in which Shakespeare wrote, and to interrogate the construction of the Shakespeare-as-author figure. Composed of four main sections, it offers fresh analysis of the literary and cultural influences and forces that 'formed' authors in the period; the 'mechanics' of early modern authorship; the 'mediation' of Shakespeare and others' works in performance, manuscript, and print; and the critical and popular reimagining across times of Shakespeare as an author figure. Diving into modern debates about early modern authorship, authority, and identity politics, contributors supply rich new accounts of the wider scene of professional authorship in early modern England, of how Shakespeare's writings contributed to it, and of what made him distinctive within it. Looking beyond Shakespeare, the Handbook seeks to provide a vital testing ground for new research into early modern literature and culture more broadly.

'Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand,Blood and revenge are hammering in my head.'In Shakespeare's first tragedy, Titus Andronicus, the Roman general Titus incurs the wrath of the Queen of the Goths when he enslaves her and kills one of her sons. The shocking violence of her revenge and his retaliation earn Titus its reputation as Shakespeare's bloodiest play. This New Oxford Shakespeare edition offers a range of critical approaches to the play, considering its initial popularity in the theatre, the authors' engagement with narrative sources and Roman history, and the ongoing problems scholars and theatremakers have had with the play's presentation of violence, rape, and racial difference. Throughout, it incorporates up-to-date scholarship and close readings of a number of landmark productions to consider the play's place in Shakespeare's canon and to illustrate Titus Andronicus's enduring value in interrogating some of wider culture's darkest and most challenging concerns.The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

'Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand,Blood and revenge are hammering in my head.'In Shakespeare's first tragedy, Titus Andronicus, the Roman general Titus incurs the wrath of the Queen of the Goths when he enslaves her and kills one of her sons. The shocking violence of her revenge and his retaliation earn Titus its reputation as Shakespeare's bloodiest play. This New Oxford Shakespeare edition offers a range of critical approaches to the play, considering its initial popularity in the theatre, the authors' engagement with narrative sources and Roman history, and the ongoing problems scholars and theatremakers have had with the play's presentation of violence, rape, and racial difference. Throughout, it incorporates up-to-date scholarship and close readings of a number of landmark productions to consider the play's place in Shakespeare's canon and to illustrate Titus Andronicus's enduring value in interrogating some of wider culture's darkest and most challenging concerns.The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

'Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand,Blood and revenge are hammering in my head.'In Shakespeare's first tragedy, Titus Andronicus, the Roman general Titus incurs the wrath of the Queen of the Goths when he enslaves her and kills one of her sons. The shocking violence of her revenge and his retaliation earn Titus its reputation as Shakespeare's bloodiest play. This New Oxford Shakespeare edition offers a range of critical approaches to the play, considering its initial popularity in the theatre, the authors' engagement with narrative sources and Roman history, and the ongoing problems scholars and theatremakers have had with the play's presentation of violence, rape, and racial difference. Throughout, it incorporates up-to-date scholarship and close readings of a number of landmark productions to consider the play's place in Shakespeare's canon and to illustrate Titus Andronicus's enduring value in interrogating some of wider culture's darkest and most challenging concerns.The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

'How far that little candle throws his beams!So shines a good deed in a naughty world.'With racial and religious hatred at its core, The Merchant of Venice has sparked more controversy than any of Shakespeare's plays. And yet, the play has arguably given us one of Shakespeare most passionate pleas for a universal humanity, as well as the radical example of a woman triumphing in an exclusively male arena, while detailing the ways that the law functions to maintain the status quo. Brett Greatley-Hirsch's highlights the role of the play's Venetian setting and the centrality of language to understanding its complex treatment of race, religion, gender, and sexuality, and reflecting on how adaptations have responded to the gaps and silences of the original.The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

'The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.'Henry VI, Part II opens with a wedding and ends with a civil war, cycling through witchcraft, adultery, multiple murders, pirates, and an entire popular rebellion across its five acts. Its characters are larger-than-life, wielding curses as easily as they do swords or daggers, conjuring demons to seek prophetic knowledge, and transforming a struggle for the English throne into a cosmic blood feud between the houses of York and Lancaster. The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

'The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.'Henry VI, Part II opens with a wedding and ends with a civil war, cycling through witchcraft, adultery, multiple murders, pirates, and an entire popular rebellion across its five acts. Its characters are larger-than-life, wielding curses as easily as they do swords or daggers, conjuring demons to seek prophetic knowledge, and transforming a struggle for the English throne into a cosmic blood feud between the houses of York and Lancaster. The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

'The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.'Henry VI, Part II opens with a wedding and ends with a civil war, cycling through witchcraft, adultery, multiple murders, pirates, and an entire popular rebellion across its five acts. Its characters are larger-than-life, wielding curses as easily as they do swords or daggers, conjuring demons to seek prophetic knowledge, and transforming a struggle for the English throne into a cosmic blood feud between the houses of York and Lancaster. The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

The Ends of Shakespeare investigates the provenance and transmission of the play-texts of Shakespeare we read, analyse, perform, and teach today. Divided into two parts, the book first assesses the evidence for the production, circulation, and publication of Shakespeare's works in his own lifetime, and, by focusing on the latter half of the poet-dramatist's career, offers an original account of the factors affecting the demand for, and supply of, Shakespeare's creative labour during this period. The second part offers the first study of the other 'lost years' in Shakespeare studies: the ten years that passed between Shakespeare's retirement from writing plays, c. 1613–14, and the publication of the First Folio collection in late 1623 that preserved so many of his plays. This part is ordered chronologically, with the study tracing and tracking what happens to Shakespeare's scripts from 1613/14 to late 1623 and situating such activities in the context of an evolving theatrical scene left behind in Shakespeare's wake. The Ends of Shakespeare seeks to reassess, in a comprehensive way, the versions of Shakespeare's plays preserved through print by analysing the contexts and conditions in which such acts of preservation occurred. More broadly, the book aims to shift how readers of Shakespeare think about issues related to textual authenticity, authority, and the formation of the Shakespearean canon.

A revelatory portrait of Shakespeare’s life before he achieved fameShakespeare at Thirty offers an original account of Shakespeare’s early career by returning to a moment before his fame was assured: the spring of 1594, when he turned thirty amid plague closures, censorship, social upheaval, financial insecurity, and professional uncertainty. Instead of reading Shakespeare’s beginnings through the lens of later achievement, Rory Loughnane reconstructs the precarious world in which a young actor-writer learned his craft and forged a path through a rapidly developing theatre scene.Drawing on recent advances in textual scholarship, biography, and theatre history, the book sets Shakespeare’s early plays and poems within the collaborative literary networks and volatile theatre world of late-Elizabethan London. It examines the forms of co-authorship underlying many of Shakespeare’s early works; the pressures that plague, censorship, and the authorities put on those working in the theatre; the economics of patronage; and the emerging commercial structures that enabled the repertory system. Above all, it describes a young author who was talented but far from secure, shaped by peers, circumstance, and contingency as much as by innate genius.By offering a rare biographical and critical portrait of the dramatist before he became a cultural icon, Shakespeare at Thirty restores uncertainty to Shakespeare’s twenties, revealing how he had to grapple with questions of direction, opportunity, and ambition that confront all young artists, and challenging the narratives of inevitability that dominate many Shakespeare biographies. The result sheds new light on his early career—and reminds us that Shakespeare, too, had to become himself.

Editing Archipelagic Shakespeare is a study of the power of names; more specifically, it is about the power of naming, asking who gets to choose names, for what reason, and to what effect. Shakespeare assigns names to over 1,200 characters and countless more sites and places, and these names, or versions of these names, have become familiar to generations of playgoers and play-readers. And because of their familiarity, Shakespeare's names, most frequently anglicized versions of non-English names, have been accepted and repeated without further consideration. Approaching names from an archipelagic perspective, and focusing upon how Irish, Scottish, and Welsh characters and places are written by Shakespeare and treated by editors, this Element offers an expansive, and far-reaching, case study for non-anglophone and global studies of Shakespeare, textual scholarship, and early modern drama.

In fourteen specially commissioned chapters by leading Shakespeare scholars from around the globe, Late Shakespeare, 1608-1613 provides an essential reappraisal of the final phase of Shakespeare's writing life. Arranged for the first time in the best-established chronological sequence, Shakespeare's last seven extant plays are discussed in detail in dedicated chapters, from Pericles to the other late co-authored works, King Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen. The plays are situated in the context of Shakespeare's financial investments, his focus on the practice of reading, the changing nature of his acting company and the pressing issues of contemporary politics and urban life. The book also goes on to explore the relationship between Shakespeare and his audience and considers the dominant themes in his final works. Analysing and responding to the latest criticism in the field, this volume brings to light a vital re-examination of what it means to discuss 'late Shakespeare'.

This is the first critical anthology of writings about memory in Renaissance England. Drawing together excerpts from more than seventy writers, poets, physicians, philosophers and preachers, and with over twenty illustrations, the anthology offers the reader a guided exploration of the arts of memory. The introduction outlines the context for the tradition of the memory arts from classical times to the Renaissance and is followed by extracts from writers on the art of memory in general, then by thematically arranged sections on rhetoric and poetry, education and science, history and philosophy, religion, and literature, featuring texts from canonical, non-canonical and little-known sources. Each excerpt is supported with notes about the author and about the text's relationship to the memory arts, and includes suggestions for further reading. The book will appeal to students of the memory arts, Renaissance literature, the history of ideas, book history and art history.

This is the first critical anthology of writings about memory in Renaissance England. Drawing together excerpts from more than seventy writers, poets, physicians, philosophers and preachers, and with over twenty illustrations, the anthology offers the reader a guided exploration of the arts of memory. The introduction outlines the context for the tradition of the memory arts from classical times to the Renaissance and is followed by extracts from writers on the art of memory in general, then by thematically arranged sections on rhetoric and poetry, education and science, history and philosophy, religion, and literature, featuring texts from canonical, non-canonical and little-known sources. Each excerpt is supported with notes about the author and about the text's relationship to the memory arts, and includes suggestions for further reading. The book will appeal to students of the memory arts, Renaissance literature, the history of ideas, book history and art history.

In fourteen specially commissioned chapters by leading Shakespeare scholars from around the globe, Late Shakespeare, 1608-1613 provides an essential reappraisal of the final phase of Shakespeare's writing life. Arranged for the first time in the best-established chronological sequence, Shakespeare's last seven extant plays are discussed in detail in dedicated chapters, from Pericles to the other late co-authored works, King Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen. The plays are situated in the context of Shakespeare's financial investments, his focus on the practice of reading, the changing nature of his acting company and the pressing issues of contemporary politics and urban life. The book also goes on to explore the relationship between Shakespeare and his audience and considers the dominant themes in his final works. Analysing and responding to the latest criticism in the field, this volume brings to light a vital re-examination of what it means to discuss 'late Shakespeare'.

The first-ever critical anthology of the death arts in Renaissance England, this book draws together over 60 extracts and 20 illustrations to establish and analyse how people grappled with mortality in the 16th and 17th centuries. As well as providing a comprehensive resource of annotated and modernized excerpts, this engaging study includes commentary on authors and overall texts, discussions of how each excerpt is constitutive and expressive of the death arts, and suggestions for further reading. The extended Introduction takes into account death's intersections with print, gender, sex, and race, surveying the period's far-reaching preoccupation with, and anticipatory reflection upon, the cessation of life. For researchers, instructors, and students interested in medieval and early modern history and literature, the Reformation, memory studies, book history, and print culture, this indispensable resource provides at once an entry point into the field of early modern death studies and a springboard for further research.

Early Shakespeare, 1588-1594 draws together leading scholars of text, performance, and theatre history to offer a rigorous re-appraisal of Shakespeare's early career. The contributors offer rich new critical insights into the theatrical and poetic context in which Shakespeare first wrote and his emergence as an author of note, while challenging traditional readings of his beginnings in the burgeoning theatre industry. Shakespeare's earliest works are treated on their own merit and in their own time without looking forward to Shakespeare's later achievements; contributors situate Shakespeare, in his twenties, in a very specific time, place, and cultural moment. The volume features essays about Shakespeare's early style, characterisation, and dramaturgy, together with analysis of his early co-authors, rivals, and influences (including Lyly, Spenser and Marlowe). This collection provides essential entry points to, and original readings of, the poet-dramatist's earliest extant writings and shines new light on his first activities as a professional author.

The first-ever critical anthology of the death arts in Renaissance England, this book draws together over 60 extracts and 20 illustrations to establish and analyse how people grappled with mortality in the 16th and 17th centuries. As well as providing a comprehensive resource of annotated and modernized excerpts, this engaging study includes commentary on authors and overall texts, discussions of how each excerpt is constitutive and expressive of the death arts, and suggestions for further reading. The extended Introduction takes into account death's intersections with print, gender, sex, and race, surveying the period's far-reaching preoccupation with, and anticipatory reflection upon, the cessation of life. For researchers, instructors, and students interested in medieval and early modern history and literature, the Reformation, memory studies, book history, and print culture, this indispensable resource provides at once an entry point into the field of early modern death studies and a springboard for further research.

The first-ever critical anthology of the death arts in Renaissance England, this book draws together over 60 extracts and 20 illustrations to establish and analyse how people grappled with mortality in the 16th and 17th centuries. As well as providing a comprehensive resource of annotated and modernized excerpts, this engaging study includes commentary on authors and overall texts, discussions of how each excerpt is constitutive and expressive of the death arts, and suggestions for further reading. The extended Introduction takes into account death''s intersections with print, gender, sex, and race, surveying the period''s far-reaching preoccupation with, and anticipatory reflection upon, the cessation of life. For researchers, instructors, and students interested in medieval and early modern history and literature, the Reformation, memory studies, book history, and print culture, this indispensable resource provides at once an entry point into the field of early modern death studies and a springboard for further research.

Early Shakespeare, 1588-1594 draws together leading scholars of text, performance, and theatre history to offer a rigorous re-appraisal of Shakespeare's early career. The contributors offer rich new critical insights into the theatrical and poetic context in which Shakespeare first wrote and his emergence as an author of note, while challenging traditional readings of his beginnings in the burgeoning theatre industry. Shakespeare's earliest works are treated on their own merit and in their own time without looking forward to Shakespeare's later achievements; contributors situate Shakespeare, in his twenties, in a very specific time, place, and cultural moment. The volume features essays about Shakespeare's early style, characterisation, and dramaturgy, together with analysis of his early co-authors, rivals, and influences (including Lyly, Spenser and Marlowe). This collection provides essential entry points to, and original readings of, the poet-dramatist's earliest extant writings and shines new light on his first activities as a professional author.