Shakespeare: Text, Stage and Canon

Arden Shakespeare Library

by Richard Proudfoot

Based on three lectures given by Professor Richard Proudfoot in October 1999 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of The Globe, The Arden Shakespeare's centenary and Professor Proudfoot's retirement from King's College; this enjoyable volume aims to give a general and non-specialist audience some sense of what scholarship has achieved in three critical areas of Shakespeare studies at the end of the twentieth century. Freshly and engagingly written, this lively volume will appeal to all those with an interest in Shakespeare studies.

Genres: Shakespeare

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Ilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one for the sickos – three lectures from Arden third series general editor Richard Proudfoot largely circling around the job of editing the Arden third series. Except that Proudfoot is a comendably sane and witty guide through the material. As someone who has spent a lot of this year reading Arden editions, this was an absolute joy to read. Most interesting for me was the account of the different ways the series treats plays with alternative versions – particularly Lear where the Quarto and Folio texts are meshed together, and Hamlet where the Folio sections are confined to an appendix. Like I said – for sickos only. I inhaled it in a day.

[Michael P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a thoroughly enjoyable and very readable introduction to these discrete subjects. Warning: do not read it on an airplane. Annoying people will ask if you think that Shakespeare was a writer.