Reading Shakespeare Through Drama

Reading Shakespeare through Drama arises out of case study research which focuses on reading as a socio-cultural practice. Underpinned by theories of reading, learning, drama and play, it is, nevertheless, rooted in the everyday work of secondary English classrooms. Utilising the dialogic ambiguities inherent in Shakespeare's playscripts, this collaborative approach to reading pays particular attention to adolescent readers as meaning-makers and cultural producers. The authors examine different iterations of 'active Shakespeare' pedagogies in the UK, the USA and Australia, drawing a distinction between 'reading through drama' as an approach and the theatre inflected practices promoted by well-known arts-based institutions. Observational and interview data highlight the importance of addressing issues concerning identity and representation that are inevitably raised by the study of canonical literature. Importantly, this Element situates teachers' practice within broader ideological contexts at institutional and national policy level, particularly from the perspective of England's highly regulated system of schooling.

An essential introductory text that provides students with a lively and enjoyable tour of Shakespeare's life, his writing career and the theatre of his time. Concise yet comprehensive, the guide examines the texts of twenty widely-studied plays, and the Sonnets, illuminating both their original contexts and their later reception. Lucidly written, with no jargon, this is an invaluable overview of Shakespeare's life and works for students who may be studying Shakespeare for the first time. This is an ideal set text for modules on Shakespeare, Jacobean Drama or Renaissance/ Early Modern Literature which may be offered at all levels of an undergraduate Literature degree. In addition it is a helpful resource for students who may be studying Shakespeare's plays as part of a taught postgraduate degree in Literature. New to this Edition: - New material on politics and history - Clearer chapter titles and explanation of the scope and rationale of the book - Updated and expanded bibliography with more on gender, performance, politics and history

The first in an occasional series of student guides to be published by the Arden Shakespeare, this interdisciplinary volume addresses a fundamental need in education in language, literature and drama. Many of today's students lack the grammatical and linguistic skills to enable them to study Shakespearean and other Renaissance texts as closely as their courses require. This practical guide should help them to understand and use the structures and strategies of written and dramatic language. Eleven short essays on aspects of literary criticism and performance by an eminent team of contributors are followed by a more detailed exploration of the history of language use, grammar and spelling, plus a glossary of terms offering definitions, contexts and examples. Together these provide an informed historical understanding of dramatic language in the early modern period.

Reading Shakespeare through Philosophy advocates that the beauty of Shakespearean drama is inseparable from its philosophical power. Shakespeare's plays make demands on us even beyond our linguistic attention and historical empathy: they require thinking, and the concepts of philosophy can provide us with tools to aid us in that thinking. This volume examines how philosophy can help us to re-imagine Shakespeare's treatment of individuality, character, and destiny. It draws upon a variety of thinkers including Plato, Aristotle, Leibniz and Kant, in search of a revitalized philosophical criticism of Julius Caesar, Love's Labor's Lost, Timon of Athens, and Twelfth Night.

'Now I am alone,' says Hamlet before speaking a soliloquy. But what is a Shakespearean soliloquy? How has it been understood in literary and theatrical history? How does it work in screen versions of Shakespeare? What influence has it had? Neil Corcoran offers a thorough exploration and explanation of the origin, nature, development and reception of Shakespeare's soliloquies. Divided into four parts, the book supplies the historical, dramatic and theoretical contexts necessary to understanding, offers extensive and insightful close readings of particular soliloquies and includes interviews with eight renowned Shakespearean actors providing details of the practical performance of the soliloquy. A comprehensive study of a key aspect of Shakespeare's dramatic art, this book is ideal for students and theatre-goers keen to understand the complexities and rewards of Shakespeare's unique use of the soliloquy.

Reading Shakespeare Historically is a passionate, provocative book by one of the most renowned and popular Renaissance scholars writing today. Charting ten years of critical development, these challenging, witty essays shed new light on Renaissance studies. It also raises intriguing questions about how the culture and history of the past illuminates the key social and political issues of today. Lisa Jardine re-reads Renaissance drama in its historical and cultural context, from laws of defamation in Othello to the competing loyalties of companionate marriage and male friendship in The Changeling. In doing so she reveals a wealth of new insights, sometimes surprising but always original and engrossing. At the same time, these essays also provide a fascinating account of the rise of feminist scholarship since the 1980s and the diversifying of `new historicist' approaches over the same period. Reading Shakespeare Historically will fascinate and provoke students of shakespeare and his historical age, and general readers with an urge to understand how the culture and history of our past illuminates the key scoial and political issues of today.

Many guides dictate the meanings of Shakespeare's scenes and translate his rich language into more ordinary speech. But A Guide to Reading Shakespeare's Macbeth gives readers the tools to understand the play for themselves. The greater part of the guide is comprised of a sequence of carefully designed questions for each scene of the play. These questions give readers needed guidance to parse the play's sometimes complex and obscure language and to begin to grasp its larger themes. Before these scene-by-scene questions to guide close reading, four brief chapters provide information key to understanding the play: a description of how modern editions of Macbeth adapt the 1623 First Folio text alerts readers to what editors may introduce; an introduction to meter provides the essentials needed to hear how Shakespeare composes differently for witches than for kings; an introduction to figurative language offers techniques to comprehend Shakespeare's abundant imagery; and an outline of the play's core topics prepares readers to consider its key motifs. A Guide to Reading Shakespeare's Macbeth gives readers the methods and the confidence to arrive at their own interpretations of Shakespeare's great tragedy.

Teaching Reading Shakespeare is warmly and clearly communicated, and gives ownership of ideas and activities to teachers by open and explicit discussion. John Haddon creates a strong sense of community with teachers, raising many significant and difficult issues, and performing a vital and timely service in doing so. - Simon Thomson, Globe Education, Shakespeare’s Globe John Haddon offers creative, systematic and challenging approaches which don’t bypass the text but engage children with it. He analyses difficulty rather than ignoring it, marrying his own academic understanding with real sensitivity to the pupils’ reactions, and providing practical solutions. - Trevor Wright, Senior Lecturer in Secondary English, University of Worcester, and author of 'How to be a Brilliant English Teacher', also by Routledge. Teaching Reading Shakespeare is for all training and practising secondary teachers who want to help their classes overcome the very real difficulties they experience when they have to ‘do’ Shakespeare. Providing a practical and critical discussion of the ways in which Shakespeare’s plays present problems to the young reader, the book considers how these difficulties might be overcome. It provides guidance on: confronting language difficulties, including ‘old words’, meaning, grammar, rhetoric and allusion; reading the plays as scripts for performance at Key Stage 3 and beyond; using conversation analysis in helping to read and teach Shakespeare; reading the plays in contextual, interpretive and linguistic frameworks required by examinations at GCSE and A Level. At once practical and principled, analytical and anecdotal, drawing on a wide range of critical reading and many examples of classroom encounters between Shakespeare and young readers, Teaching Reading Shakespeare encourages teachers to develop a more informed, reflective and exploratory approach to Shakespeare in schools.