Shakespeare and the Drama of his Time by Martin Wiggins

Shakespeare and the Drama of his Time by Martin Wiggins

Oxford Shakespeare Topics provides students, teachers, and interested readers with short books on important aspects of Shakespeare criticism and scholarship. Each book is written by an authority in its field, and combines accessible style with original discussion of its subject. Notes and a critical guide to further reading equip the interested reader with the means to broaden research. William Shakespeare lived and worked during an extraordinary quarter-century in the history of English drama, which saw the development of new kinds of tragedy and comedy, and the birth of the entirely new genre of tragicomedy. Beginning with the institutional foundations that were laid with the emergence of the commercial theatre business in 1570s London, Shakespeare and the Drama of His Time describes the principal audience fashions, artistic conventions, and professional circumstances which defined, and enabled, his plays and those of his colleagues: plays of a range and sophistication undreamed of by earlier generations, and rarely equalled since. Throughout, Shakespeare's plays are shown to be intimately associated with those of his contemporaries, notably Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Kyd, George Chapman, Ben Jonson, John Marston, and John Fletcher.

Extremely informative.. There are some nice touches here, and Wiggins is good on the effects of the cultural shifts that he describes, making telling comparisons such as: 'To the Elizabethans, Marlowe's plays must have had all the aural impact of a symphony orchestra taking over from a barrel-organ'. * Modern Language Review *
Oxford University Press offer a mix of engagingly written introductions to a variety of Topics intended largely for undergraduates. Each author has clearly been reading and listening to the most recent scholarship, but they wear their learning lightly. * Ruth Morse, Times Literary Supplement *
Provides a superb, concise, and approachable overview of Shakespeare's contextual place among the plays and playwrights of early modern London. * Sixteenth Century Journal *

Martin Wiggins is a Senior Professor and Fellow at the University of Birmingham's Shakespeare Institute, as well as a Tutor for Research. He earned a Junior Research Fellowship at Keble College from 1987 to 1990. He has also spoken at the University of Reading, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College in London, as well as The Roehampton Institute. His research interests include both commercial and literary plays, masques and entertainments, and drama in Latin, Greek, Cornish, and Welsh written in the British Isles between the English Reformation and the English Revolution. He was awarded the Calvin and Rose G.

Hoffman Award for outstanding contributions to Christopher Marlowe's work. He also contributes to the Globe's magazine, Around the Globe, on a regular basis on historical topics.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780198711605
ISBN 10	0198711603
Title	Shakespeare and the Drama of his Time
Author	Martin Wiggins
Series	Oxford Shakespeare Topics
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Year published	2000-09-07
Number of pages	158
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.