Shakespeare And Lost Plays

Explores Shakespeare's plays in their most immediate context: the hundreds of plays known to original audiences, but lost to us.

Gregory Doran's account of his quest to re-discover Cardenio, the lost play written by Shakespeare and John Fletcher. A thrilling act of literary detection that takes him from the Bodleian Library in Oxford, via Cervantes' Spain to the stage of the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford. Fully illustrated throughout, Shakespeare's Lost Play tells a fascinating story, which, like the play itself, will engross Shakespeare buffs and theatregoers alike. Doran's much-praised production of Cardenio for the Royal Shakespeare Company marked the culmination of years spent searching for a famously 'lost' play co-authored by William Shakespeare. In this book, Doran takes us with him on his quest to unearth every extant clue and then into the rehearsal room as he pieces together a play unseen since its first performance in 1613. The result, as the Guardian attested, is 'an extraordinary and theatrically powerful piece, one that should both please audiences and keep academic scholars in work for years'.

Lost Plays in Shakespeare's England examines assumptions about what a lost play is and how it can be talked about; how lost plays can be reconstructed, particularly when they use narratives already familiar to playgoers; and how lost plays can force us to reassess extant plays, particularly through ideas of repertory studies.

How should we read a text that does not exist, or present a playthe manuscript of which is lost and the identity of whose authorcannot be established for certain? Such is the enigma posed by Cardenio – a playperformed in England for the first time in 1612 or 1613 andattributed forty years later to Shakespeare (and Fletcher). Itsplot is that of a ‘novella’ inserted into Don Quixote,a work that circulated throughout the major countries of Europe,where it was translated and adapted for the theatre. In England,Cervantes’ novel was known and cited even before it wastranslated in 1612 and had inspired Cardenio. But there is more at stake in this enigma. This was a time when,thanks mainly to the invention of the printing press, there was aproliferation of discourses. There was often a reaction when it wasfeared that this proliferation would become excessive, and manywritings were weeded out. Not all were destined to survive, inparticular plays for the theatre, which, in many cases, were neverpublished. This genre, situated at the bottom of the literaryhierarchy, was well suited to the existence of ephemeral works.However, if an author became famous, the desire for an archive ofhis works prompted the invention of textual relics, the restorationof remainders ruined by the passing of time or, in order to fill inthe gaps, in some cases, even the fabrication of forgeries. Suchwas the fate of Cardenio in the eighteenth century. Retracing the history of this play therefore leads one to wonderabout the status, in the past, of works today judged to becanonical. In this book the reader will rediscover the malleabilityof texts, transformed as they were by translations and adaptations,their migrations from one genre to another, and their changingmeanings constructed by their various publics. Thanks to RogerChartier’s forensic skills, fresh light is cast upon themystery of a play lacking a text but not an author.

Learn the entire works of one of the greatest writers of the English language in The Shakespeare Book. Part of the fascinating Big Ideas series, this book tackles tricky topics and themes in a simple and easy to follow format. Learn about the works of William Shakespeare in this overview guide, great for beginners looking to learn and experts wishing to refresh their knowledge alike! The Shakespeare Book brings a fresh and vibrant take on the topic through eye-catching graphics and diagrams to immerse yourself in. This captivating book will broaden your understanding of Shakespeare, with: - Every play and poem from Shakespeare’s canon, including lost plays and less well-known works of poetry - Packed with facts, charts, timelines and graphs to help explain core concepts - A visual approach to big subjects with striking illustrations and graphics throughout - Easy to follow text makes topics accessible for people at any level of understanding The Shakespeare Book is the perfect introduction to the entire canon of Shakespeare’s plays, sonnets, and other poetry, aimed at adults with an interest in the subject and students wanting to gain more of an overview. Here you’ll discover the complete works, from The Comedy of Errors, to the great tragedies of Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. Your Shakespeare Questions, Simply Explained This is a brilliant, innovative exploration of the entire canon of Shakespeare plays, sonnets, and other poetry with detailed plot summaries and a full analysis of the major characters and themes. If you thought it was difficult to learn about the works of one of the greatest writers in the English language, The Shakespeare Book presents key information in a simple layout. Every work is covered, from the comedies of Twelfth Night and As You Like It to the tragedies of Julius Caesar and Hamlet, with easy-to-understand graphics and illustrations bringing the themes, plots, characters, and language of Shakespeare to life. The Big Ideas Series With millions of copies sold worldwide, The Shakespeare Book is part of the award-winning Big Ideas series from DK. The series uses striking graphics along with engaging writing, making big topics easy to understand.

Shakespeare's authorship of his plays can no longer be in doubt with this book's clear identification of autobiographical passages throughout his work from his legal documents in Stratford and London courts. Shakespeare refers to the loss of his inheritance, by his father mortgaging it to his uncle, from early works such as Taming of the Shrew to the late Lear. His mother is referred to in As You Like It and Coriolanus; his twins in Comedy of Errors and Twelfth Night; and the loss of his son from Merchant of Venice to Macbeth. His daughters, as recipients of his accumulated wealth, are subjects of his concern from Lear to The Tempest. More important, the knowledge of the law in his personal pursuits is revealed as a source for the legal content in his works, which found fit audiences among jurists at the Inns of Court law schools and in King James' Court. Shakespeare pleased the king on these matters enough to have him command his plays to be repeated on an occasion. For himself, Shakespeare learned from his own writing how to deal with the language of law theoretically and conceptually with such concepts as equity and mercy in Chancery. He used his own family life, personal documents, and legal problems to give impetus to his version of borrowed characters, plots, plays, and history. These personal events, from the placement of the references, give his plays, which sometimes end with a fictionalized, wish-fulfillment, or literary compensation, an autobiographical initial compulsion.

“A book for anyone who loves Shakespeare . . . One of the most scandalous and potentially revolutionary theories about the authorship of these immortal works.” —Mark Rylance, First Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre It is perhaps the greatest story never told: the truth behind the most enduring works of literature in the English language, perhaps in any language. Who was William Shakespeare? Critically acclaimed historian Charles Beauclerk has spent more than two decades researching the authorship question, and if the plays were discovered today, he argues, we would see them for what they are—shocking political works written by a court insider, someone with the monarch’s indulgence, shielded from repression in an unstable time of armada and reformation. But the author’s identity was quickly swept under the rug after his death. The official history—of an uneducated merchant writing in near obscurity, and of a virginal queen married to her country—dominated for centuries. Shakespeare’s Lost Kingdom delves deep into the conflicts and personalities of Elizabethan England, as well as the plays themselves, to tell the true story of the “Soul of the Age.” “Beauclerk’s learned, deep scholarship, compelling research, engaging style and convincing interpretation won me completely. He has made me view the whole Elizabethan world afresh. The plays glow with new life, exciting and real, infused with the soul of a man too long denied his inheritance.” —Sir Derek Jacobi