Overview

This book is a fresh examination of the processes of adaptation and fictional world-making in Shakespeare's history plays, using his first tetralogy - Henry VI and Richard III - as specific examples, and demonstrating how he combines elements of historiography, ritual, and epic poetry to create the world(s) of these plays. This book comprises four essays that examine the processes of adaptation and fictional world-making in Shakespeare's history plays, using his first tetralogy - Henry VI and Richard III - as specific examples, and demonstrating how he combines elements of historiography, ritual, and epic poetry to create the world(s) of these plays. The first two essays discuss the creation of counterpart fictional worlds from the raw materials of historical and earlier fictional texts, outlining the decisions authors make in adapting one text into another. The third presents an overview of the genre of the history play and its relationship to epic poetry, and the fourth examines Shakespeare's use of historiography and epic in his first tetralogy to produce simultaneous examples and critiques of these genres.

Full Product Details

9780773443099

Table of Contents

Reviews

...extremely thorough...the author's application of some recent literary-critical theories, including the work of Kripke, Dolezel and Lanier...[makes] it a useful contribution to scholarship. (Dr. Michael Egan Cambridge University)

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available