Shakespeare: Three Problem Plays (Analysing Texts)

293 Pages·2003·0.58 MB·English

by  Nicholas Marsh

Shakespeare:
Three Problem Plays
Nicholas Marsh
Shakespeare: Three Problem Plays
ANALYSING TEXTS
General Editor: Nicholas Marsh
Published
Chaucer:The Canterbury Tales Gail Ashton
Webster: The Tragedies Kate Aughterson
John Keats John Blades
Shakespeare: The Comedies R. P. Draper
Charlotte Brontë: The Novels Mike Edwards
E. M. Forster: The Novels Mike Edwards
Shakespeare: The Tragedies Nicholas Marsh
Shakespeare: Three Problem Plays Nicholas Marsh
Jane Austen: The Novels Nicholas Marsh
Emily Brontë: Wuthering Heights Nicholas Marsh
Virginia Woolf: The Novels Nicholas Marsh
D. H. Lawrence: The Novels Nicholas Marsh
William Blake: The Poems Nicholas Marsh
John Donne: The Poems Joe Nutt
Thomas Hardy: The Novels Norman Page
Marlowe: The Plays Stevie Simkin
Analysing Texts
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Shakespeare:
Three Problem Plays
NICHOLAS MARSH
© Nicholas Marsh 2003
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Contents
General Editor’s Preface x
A Note on Editions xi
Introduction: Looking at Plays and Studying Poetry 1
Why These Three Plays? 1
Studying Plays 3
Shakespeare’s Poetry 4
Part 1: Analysing Shakespeare’s Problem Plays
1 Openings 11
Analysis:All’s Well that Ends Well, 1, i, 23–68 11
Analysis:Measure for Measure, 1, i, 1–52 22
Analysis:Troilus and Cressida, 1, i, 1–38 29
Conclusions 34
Methods of Analysis 36
Suggested Work 41
2 Young Men 44
Analysis:All’s Well that Ends Well, 4, ii, 27–66 44
Analysis:Measure for Measure, 3, i, 94–150 51
Analysis:Troilus and Cressida, 3, ii, 153–78 62
Conclusions 69
Methods of Analysis 79
Suggested Work 80
3 Women 82
Analysis:All’s Well that Ends Well, 1, i, 212–25 82
Analysis:Measure for Measure, 2, ii, 100–43 94
Analysis:Troilus and Cressida, 1, ii, 249–86 103
Conclusions 111
Methods of Analysis 114
Suggested Work 114
vii
viii Contents
4 Politics and Society 116
Analysis:All’s Well that Ends Well, 4, iii, 1–35 116
Analysis:Measure for Measure, 3, i, 231–70 122
Analysis:Troilus and Cressida, 1, iii, 312–92 126
Dissolving or Changing Societies 134
Political Actions in All’s Well that Ends Well 139
Political Actions in Measure for Measure 141
Political Actions in Troilus and Cressida 145
Conclusions 149
Methods of Analysis 152
Suggested Work 153
5 Fools and fools 156
Analysis:All’s Well that Ends Well, 4, iii, 319–28 156
Analysis:Measure for Measure, 3, ii, 89–117 158
Analysis:Troilus and Cressida, 2, i, 1–48 164
The fools 171
Dissident Voices 175
Conclusions 182
Methods of Analysis 184
Suggested Work 185
6 Drama 187
Time and Space 187
A Table Analysing All’s Well that Ends Well 188
A Table Analysing Measure for Measure 192
A Table Analysing Troilus and Cressida, Act 5, scene ii 207
Conclusions 216
Methods of Analysis 218
Suggested Work 219
Conclusions to Part 1 220
Part 2: The Context and the Critics 223
7 The Problem Plays in Shakespeare’s Works 225
Texts 225
Classification 226
Contents ix
8 The Context 243
Society 243
Religion 249
Ways of Thinking 252
Conclusion 254
9 A Sample of Critical Views 256
E. M. W. Tillyard 257
Harold Bloom 260
Kathleen McLuskie 263
Thomas G. West 266
David McCandless 268
Further Reading 272
Index 277