Book Review: The Bedford Companion to Shakespeare: An Introduction with Documents by Russ McDonald. Boston and New York: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1996

The first three chapters provide the reader with an introduction to Shakespeare; an analysis of his career as a playwright, a shareholder in a highly successful theatrical company, and a housekeeper of the Globe; a broad view of the theater world and its relationship with court and religious authori...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Medieval & Renaissance Drama in England 1998, Vol.10
Format:	Review
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Authorship Bibliographic literature Culture Drama English literature Libraries Literary characters Literary criticism Literary devices Literary influences Marriage Multiculturalism & pluralism Patriarchy Politics Readers Shakespeare plays Teaching Theater Women Writers
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	The first three chapters provide the reader with an introduction to Shakespeare; an analysis of his career as a playwright, a shareholder in a highly successful theatrical company, and a housekeeper of the Globe; a broad view of the theater world and its relationship with court and religious authorities; and an examination of the long road each play travels from the author's pen to print. Most university libraries carry one or more versions of The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare Studies, all of which provide a collection of essays on Shakespeare's background, sources for the plays, theatrical conventions, Renaissance history and culture, Shakespeare's language, textual problems, and critical approaches. A passage from Sir Robert Filmer's historical treatise Patriarcha, or The Natural Power of Kings and biblical verses from St. Paul help illustrate how the patriarchal tradition was appropriated in the Renaissance: God ordains a leader over his tribe, a husband over his wife, a father over his family, a king over his subjects. [...]major political figures or particular social practices are seen as contributing to the creation of the literary text whether any direct relation to that text can be demonstrated or not. [...]an author becomes something of a channel for a flood of cultural
ISSN:	0731-3403