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The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare

Michael Dobson & Stanley Wells 2001


E-Book: 575 English pages

Publisher: OUP

Download: The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare (Dobson & Wells 2001). FREE DOWNLOAD


From the conjectured identity of the Dark Lady of the Sonnets to misprints in the First Folio, from Shakespeare’s favorite figures of speech to the staging of Othello in South Africa, The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare offers the most comprehensive coverage available on all aspects of Shakespeare’s life and works.
Illustrated with more than 100 photographs and boasting contributions from a team of internationally renowned scholars (including such noted Shakespeare authorities as Helen Vendler, Park Honan, and Jonathan Bate), theCompanion has more than 3,000 entries that offer succinct, stimulating, and authoritative commentary on Shakespeare’s life and times, his plays and poems, and their interpretation around the world over the last four centuries. All Shakespeare’s plays–from As You Like It and All’s Well that Ends Well to King Lear and Hamlet–are covered in major articles. There are concise descriptions of allusions in Shakespeare (Ajax, Agamemnon), well-known critics (Samuel Johnson, John Dryden), great Shakespearian actors (Richard Burbage, Lawrence Olivier, Kenneth Branagh), characters in the plays (Mercutio, Ophelia), figures of speech (metaphor, metonymy, oxymoron), and much more. Longer articles explore topics such as Shakespeare’s birthplace, censorship, the Chamberlain’s Men, film, and Shakespeare’s reception in such countries as China, Italy, and the United States.
Bringing its readers up to date not only with the latest in Shakespearian scholarship and controversy but with the plays’ most recent incarnations on stage, film, and in international popular culture, this is the perfect companion to Shakespeare’s works, covering everything from Aaron to Zeffirelli, and from Shakespeare in schools toShakespeare in Love.


Review

Companions to Shakespeare are ubiquitous, coming bound with various editions of the plays, in A-to-Z companions, and in many other manifestations. The Oxford Companion enters into this crowded field with both rigor and authority. Following in the very large footsteps of The Oxford Shakespeare (2001), this companion has the same formatting (from text lines to play names and character spellings) and is of the same stellar quality. Comprising more than 3000 entries, it covers topics such as Shakespeare’s biography, legend, works, literary features and terms, individuals (both real and fictional), and a host of topics such as Elizabethan and Jacobean literature and theater, which help put in context both the times and the works. Of particular note are the entries on each play, which include scene-by-scene explanations as well as examinations of the play’s particular artistic features, critical history, and stage and screen history, and a listing of recent editions and selected criticism. There is enough in each play summary to aid students from middle school to college. The attention paid to the poetic work of Shakespeare is also noteworthy. From “Venus and Adonis,” “The Rape of Lucrece,” and “Lover’s Complaint” right through to a general section on the sonnets, the treatment is as in-depth and as helpful as that of the plays. Enlivened by photos and illustrations and an excellent map keyed to the history plays, this work is highly recommend for all libraries. Neal Wyatt, Chesterfield Cty. P.L., VA