| Shakespeare Imitations, Parodies and Forgeries Contributor(s): Kahan, Jeffrey (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0415288576 ISBN-13: 9780415288576 Publisher: Routledge OUR PRICE: $1235.00 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: July 2004 Annotation: In their own day, the works in this collection of now all-but-forgotten plays, composed between 1710 and 1820, enjoyed much critical and commercial success. For example, Nicholas Rowe's "The Tragedy of Jane Shore" (1714) was the most popular new play of the eighteenth century, and the sixth most performed tragedy, following "Hamlet," "Macbeth," "Romeo and Juliet,"" Othello" and "King Lear." Even William Shirley's forgotten play, "Edward the Black Prince" (1750), "was well received with great applause" and had a stage history spanning three decades. This collection includes the performance text to the 1796 Ireland play, "Vortigern." The plays are all reset and, where possible, modernized from original manuscripts, with listed variants, and parallel passages traced to Shakespearean canonical texts. The set includes a new introduction by the editor, and raises important questions about the nature of artistic property and authenticity, a key area of Shakespearean research today. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Drama | Shakespeare - Literary Criticism | English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh - Literary Criticism | Drama |
| Dewey: 822.33 |
| LCCN: 2003063847 |
| Series: Subcultures and Subversions 1750-1850 |
| Physical Information: 1188 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - British Isles |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Shakespeare Imitations is a collection of all-but-forgotten Shakespearean plays, composed between 1710 and 1820. These imitations, parodies and forgeries reveal the biases of eighteenth-century Shakespeare in London theatre. But these plays are far from derivative. Indeed, rather than simply rewriting Shakespeare situations, these playwrights often placed Shakespearean characters in Neoclassical frameworks. Although many of these plays are unfamiliar to many now, within their own day these works enjoyed much critical and commercial success. For example, Nicholas Rowe's The Tragedy of Jane Shore (1714) was the most popular new play of the eighteenth century, and the sixth most performed tragedy, following Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Othello and King Lear. Even William Shirley's forgotten play, Edward the Black Prince (1750), 'was well received with great applause' and had a stage history spanning three decades. This collection includes the performance text to the 1796 Ireland play, Vortigern. The plays are all reset and, where possible, modernised from original manuscripts, with listed variants, and parallel passages traced to Shakespearean canonical texts. The set includes a new introduction by the editor, and raises important questions about the nature of artistic property and authenticity, a key area of Shakespearean research today. |