Shakespeare S Other Language

Shakespeare’s last plays, the tragicomic Romances, are notoriously strange plays, riddled with fabulous events and incredible coincidences, magic and dream. These features have sometimes been interpreted as the carelessness of an of an aging dramatist weary of his craft, or justified as folklore motifs, suitable to the romance tale. But neither view explains the fascination and power these plays still exert. Originally published in 1987, Ruth Nevo’s book offers a reading of the plays which invokes the findings and methods of post-psychoanalytic semiotics. Drawing on a Lacanian model of the "textual unconscious", she embarks on searching analyses of Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest, brilliantly illuminating their apparent absurdities and anomalies, their bizarre or preposterous events and obscurely motivated actions, their often puzzling syntax. Her investigation of the plays’ informing fantasies produces unified and enriched readings which serve both to rehabilitate those plays which have been less than highly thought of, and to disclose new significance in the acknowledged masterpieces.

The contribution of the present work is to present in organized detail essentially complete the general theory of composition current during the Renaissance (as contrasted with special theories for particular forms of composition) and the illustration of Shakespeare’s use of it. It is organized as follows: Part One: Introduction I. The General Theory of Composition and of Reading in Shakespeare’s England 1. The Concept of Art in Renaissance England 2. Training in the Arts in Renaissance England 3. The English Works on Logic and Rhetoric 4. The Tradition 5. Invention and Disposition Part Two. Shakespeare’s Use of the Theory II. Shakespeare’s Use of the Schemes of Grammar, Vices of Language, and Figures of Repetition 1. The Schemes of Grammar 2. The Vices of Language 3. The Figures of Repetition III. Logos: The Topics of Invention 1. Inartificial Arguments or Testimony 2. Definition 3. Division: Genus and Species, Whole and Parts 4. Subject and Adjuncts 5. Contraries and Contradictories 6. Similarity and Dissimilarity 7. Comparison: Greater, Equal, Less 8. Cause and Effect, Antecedent and Consequent 9. Notation and Conjugates IV. Logos: Argumentation 1. Syllogistic Reasoning 2. Fallacious Reasoning 3. Disputation V. Pathos and Ethos 1. Pathos 2. Ethos Part Three. The General Theory of Composition and Reading as Defined and Illustrated by Tudor Logicians and Rhetoricians VI. Schemes of Grammar, Vices of Language, and Figures of Repetition 1. The Schemes of Grammar 2. Vices of Language VII. Logos: The Topics of Invention 1. Inartificial Arguments or Testimony 2. Definition 3. Division: Genus and Species, Whole and Parts 4. Subject and Adjuncts 5. Contraries and Contradictories 6. Similarity and Dissimilarity 7. Comparison: Greater, Equal, Less 8. Cause and Effect, Antecedent and Consequent 9. Notation and Conjugates 10. Genesis or Composition 11. Analysis or Reading VIII. Logos: Argumentation 1. Syllogistic Reasoning 2. Fallacious Reasoning 3. Disputation IX. Pathos and Ethos 1. Pathos 2. Ethos

The true biography of Shakespeare - and the only one we really need to care about - is in the plays. Sir Frank Kermode, Britain's most distinguished literary critic, has been thinking about them all his life. This book is a distillation of that lifetime's thinking. The great English tragedies were all written in the first decade of the seventeenth century. They are often in language that is difficult to us, and must have been hard even for contemporaries. How and why did Shakespeare's language develop as it did? Kermode argues that the resources of English underwent major change around 1600. The originality of Kermodes's writing, and the intelligence of his discussion, make this book a landmark.

'Russ McDonald... offers an initiation into Shakespeares English.... Like a good musician leading us beyond merely humming the tunes, he helps us hear Shakespearean unclarity, revealing just how expression in late Shakespeare sometimes transcends ordinary verbal meaning.... particularly recommendable.' -Ruth Morse, Times Literary Supplement '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 SupplementOxford Shakespeare Topics (General Editors Peter Holland and Stanley Wells) provide students and teachers 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. For the modern reader or playgoer, English as Shakespeare used it - especially in verse drama - can seem alien. Shakespeare and the Arts of Language offers practical help with linguistic and poetic obstacles. Written in a lucid, nontechnical style, the book defines Shakespeare's artistic tools, including imagery, rhetoric, and wordplay, and illustrates their effects. Throughout, the reader is encouraged to find delight in the physical properties of the words: their colour, weight, and texture, the appeal of verbal patterns, and the irresistible affective power of intensified language.

A vital resource for scholars, students and actors, this book contains glosses and quotes for over 14,000 words that could be misunderstood by or are unknown to a modern audience. Displayed panels look at such areas of Shakespeare's language as greetings, swear-words and terms of address. Plot summaries are included for all Shakespeare's plays and on the facing page is a unique diagramatic representation of the relationships within each play.

Publisher Description

This book provides an accessible guide to the linguistic environment of Shakespeare, his use of vocabulary, grammar and sentence construction. Although Shakespeare's plays are familiar to us, the language in them is not always easy to understand or translate. Not only does Shakespeare use difficult and seemingly archaic words, but also constructs his sentences and makes use of grammar in a very different way to modern writers. This book is an introduction to the various aspects of the language of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Professor Blake has provided an accessible guide to the linguistic environment of Shakespeare, his use of vocabulary, grammar and sentence construction. By understanding Shakespeare's language students can avoid misinterpretation, recognise the possibilities of linguistic meaning and so fully appreciate Shakespeare's formidable artistry.

Shakespeare in Modern English breaks the taboo about Shakespeare’s texts, which have long been regarded as sacred and untouchable while being widely and freely translated into foreign languages. It is designed to make Shakespeare more easily understood in the theatre without dumbing down or simplifying the content. Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’, ‘Coriolanus’ and ‘The Tempest’ are presented in Macdonald’s book in modern English. They show that these great plays lose nothing by being acted or read in the language we all use today. Shakespeare’s language is poetic, elaborately rich and memorable, but much of it is very difficult to comprehend in the theatre when we have no notes to explain allusions, obsolete vocabulary and whimsical humour. Foreign translations of Shakespeare are normally into their modern language. So why not ours too? The purpose in rendering Shakespeare into modern English is to enhance the enjoyment and understanding of audiences in the theatre. The translations are not designed for children or dummies, but for those who want to understand Shakespeare better, especially in the theatre. Shakespeare in Modern English will appeal to those who want to understand the rich and poetical language of Shakespeare in a more comprehensible way. It is also a useful tool for older students studying Shakespeare.