How to Read Shakespeare: 0 - Softcover

Royle, Nicholas; Critchley, Simon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393328392 ISBN 13: 9780393328394

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2005

Synopsis

Approaching the writing of major intellectuals, artists, and philosophers need no longer be daunting. How to Read is a new sort of introduction--a personal master class in reading--that brings you face to face with the work of some of the most influential and challenging writers in history. In lucid, accessible language, these books explain essential topics such as Shakespeare's passion for complexity and his enduring ability to portray the power of love. Nicholas Royle conveys the richness and complexity of Shakespeare's work by focusing, above all, on how to read and enjoy short passages and interpret specific words from the plays and poems themselves. Discussing poetry and the question of reading, to the nature of memory and forgetting, to the power of love, Royle covers many of Shakespeare's most prevalent themes. Attention is also given to important aspects of historical context and critical reception and debate, as well as to the effects of different interpretations and different media (stage, film, the Internet, and more). Royle's primary concern, however, is with letting the reader experience-anew or for the first time-the extraordinary pleasure and stimulation of reading Shakespeare. Extracts are taken from a range of Shakespeare's works including Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Othello, The Winter's Tale, and the Sonnets.

About this title

Review:

'If there is today a Prospero who can conjure up the three ageless magics of Shakespeare...it is the marvellous Royle' -- Hélène Cixous

‘Concise and clear...opens up Shakespeare’s language and demonstrates his word play’ -- Culturewars.org

About the Author:

Nicholas Royle teaches English at the University of Sussex. He is the author of numerous books and the joint editor of the Oxford Literary Review. Simon Critchley is Hans Jonas Professor at the New School for Social Research, and a part-time professor of philosophy at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. His many books include Infinitely Demanding, Ethics-Politics-Subjectivity and, most recently, The Book of Dead Philosophers.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0393328392
• ISBN 13: 9780393328394
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144