Beginning Shakespeare

Beginning Shakespeareintroduces students to the study of Shakespeare, and grounds their understanding of his work in theoretical discourses. After an introductory survey of the dominant approaches of the past, seven chapters examine the major current critical approaches to Shakespeare; psychoanalysis, New Historicism, cultural materialism, gender studies, queer theory, postcolonial criticism and performance criticism. A further chapter looks at the growing roles of biography, attribution studies and textual studies. Each chapter analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of a particular perspective, allowing students to gain a clear critical purchase on the respective approaches, and to make informed choices between them. Each chapter ends with a list of suggested further reading and interactive exercises based on the key issues raised.

Lisa Hopkins is Professor of English at Sheffield Hallam University.

Introduction * Critical Histories * 1598-1741: A bumpy ride * 1741-1904: Enter Shakespear * Enshrinement * A.C.Bradley and character study * The Thirties: images and patterns * Tillyard and the 'Elizabethan world picture' * Jan Kott: Shakespeare our contemporary * Psychoanalysis * Freud and his early followers * C.G. Jung and the theory of "types and archetypes" * Jacques Lacan and the theory of the subject * Post-Lacanian psychoanalytical approaches * New Historicism * Stephen Greenblatt: 'invisible bullets' * Louis Montrose: New Historicism meets psychoanalysis * Leonard Tennenhouse and the interests of power * Later developments: New Historicism * Cultural Materialism * Political Shakespeare: a landmark text * Dollimore and Sinfield: literature and power * Terence Hawkes and the politics of meaning * New factualisms * The "new biography" * Attribution studies * Editing * Gender studies and queer theory * Boy actors * Political feminisms * Queer theory * Postcolonial criticism * The Tempest * Postcolonial Tempests * Othello * Shakespeare in performance * Henry V in performance * The Olivier version * Stratford-upon-Avon * Political performance criticism?
Introduction * Critical Histories * 1598-1741: A bumpy ride * 1741-1904: Enter Shakespear * Enshrinement * A.C.Bradley and character study * The Thirties: images and patterns * Tillyard and the 'Elizabethan world picture' * Jan Kott: Shakespeare our contemporary * Psychoanalysis * Freud and his early followers * C.G. Jung and the theory of "types and archetypes" * Jacques Lacan and the theory of the subject * Post-Lacanian psychoanalytical approaches * New Historicism * Stephen Greenblatt: 'invisible bullets' * Louis Montrose: New Historicism meets psychoanalysis * Leonard Tennenhouse and the interests of power * Later developments: New Historicism * Cultural Materialism * Political Shakespeare: a landmark text * Dollimore and Sinfield: literature and power * Terence Hawkes and the politics of meaning * New factualisms * The "new biography" * Attribution studies * Editing * Gender studies and queer theory * Boy actors * Political feminisms * Queer theory * Postcolonial criticism * The Tempest * Postcolonial Tempests * Othello * Shakespeare in performance * Henry V in performance * The Olivier version * Stratford-upon-Avon * Political performance criticism?