All's Well That Ends Well - Hardcover
""A young man married is a man that's marr'd.""--All's Well That Ends Well Eminent Shakespearean scholars Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen provide a fresh new edition of this classic play about gender, desire, and sexual love. THIS VOLUME ALSO INCLUDES MORE THAN A HUNDRED PAGES OF EXCLUSIVE FEATURES: - an original Introduction to "All's Well That Ends Well"- incisive scene-by-scene synopsis and analysis with vital facts about the work- commentary on past and current productions based on interviews with leading directors, actors, and designers- photographs of key RSC productions- an overview of Shakespeare's theatrical career and chronology of his plays Ideal for students, theater professionals, and general readers, these modern and accessible editions from the Royal Shakespeare Company set a new standard in Shakespearean literature for the twenty-first century.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
All's Well That Ends Well has generally been considered one of Shakespeare's most difficult and unpopular plays. Labelled a "Problem Comedy", editors believe that the play was written between 1604 and 1605, and exhibits a darkening of Shakespeare's interest in comedy. The play deals with the complicated relationship between Helena, the daughter of a famous physician, and Bertram, the arrogant son of the Countess of Roussillon. Helena is secretly in love with Bertram, and when she miraculously cures the ailing King, she asks for Bertram's hand in marriage, to which the grateful sovereign happily agrees. Bertram bitterly opposes marriage to Helena, who he regards as a social inferior. After reluctantly agreeing to the marriage, Bertram flees to the wars in Italy with his companion Parolles.
Review:
What ensues is Helena's increasingly desperate and complex attempts to retrieve her errant husband, which involves various machinations and a piece of mistaken identity and an infamous "bed-trick" which has never fully convinced audiences or critics. More recently critics have been kinder to the play, seeing its cynical disillusionment with romance as reflecting contemporary social and political anxieties about warfare and commerce, and feminist critics have been keen to celebrate Helena as a particularly complex heroine. The play is also fascinated by language, encapsulated in the character of Parolles (or "words"), and his memorable line for which the play is chiefly remembered: "Simply the thing I am / Shall make me live". --Jerry Brotton
"A remarkable edition, one that makes Shakespeare's extraordinary accomplishment more vivid than ever."--James Shapiro, professor, Columbia University, bestselling author of "A Year in the Life of Shakespeare: 1599" "A feast of literary and historical information.""--The Wall Street Journal"
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherArden Shakespeare
- Publication date1959
- ISBN 10 1903436222
- ISBN 13 9781903436226
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number2
- Number of pages1
- EditorHelen Wilcox
- Rating
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