Shakespeare: Three Problem Plays (Analysing Texts) - Softcover

Nicholas Marsh

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0333973682 ISBN 13: 9780333973684

Publisher: Red Globe Press, 2002

Synopsis

Written in 1602-4, between Hamlet and the other great tragedies, Shakespeare's three Problem Plays are so called because they do not fit easily into the other groups of plays. They are awkward dramas, full of unresolved controversies, which leave audiences and readers unsettled by contradictory responses.
Nicholas Marsh uses close analysis of extracts from the plays to explore how Shakespeare maintains competing discourses within a single text. In the first part of his study, Marsh highlights the multiple interpretations these plays provoke and provides useful sections on methods of analysis to encourage readers to develop their views independently. The second part of the book discusses the Problem Plays in relation to the playwright's other works, and examines their cultural and historical contexts. A comparison of five modern critical views and helpful suggestions for further reading provide a bridge to continuing study. In this essential guide to a complex set of plays, Marsh does not seek to reconcile the thorny issues these dramas leave open: rather, he equips the reader with the necessary critical tools to fashion their own synthesis.

About this title

Synopsis

Focussing on All's Well that Ends Well, Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida, Nicholas Marsh uses close analysis of extracts from the plays to build the reader's confidence when approaching Shakespeare's Problem Plays, and exploring the unresolved competing discourses they dramatise. In the first part of the text, chapters on Openings, Young Men, Women, Politics and Society, Fools and fools, and Drama highlight the multiple interpretations these plays provoke. In the second part, discussion of where the Problem Plays stand in relation to Shakespeare's life and works, a chapter about the historical and cultural context, and a comparison of five critical views, with suggestions for further reading, provide a bridge towards further study.

About the Author

NICHOLAS MARSH teaches English at Francis Holland School, Regent's Park, London, and is Fellow of the English Association. He is author of the popular How to Begin Studying English Literature, now in its third edition, the Master Guide of The Wife of Bath's Tale, and many titles in the Analysing Texts series, of which he is also the General Editor.

Edition details

• Publisher: Red Globe Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0333973682
• ISBN 13: 9780333973684
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 280