Der krankhaft liebesbedürftige König Lear, der allzu ehrgeizige Königsmörder Macbeth und der hasserfüllte Timon von Athen – alle drei sind von fragwürdiger Moral und leben in einer kranken Welt, in der die Naturordnung gestört ist. Ein tief pessimistischer Zug geht durch die drei Tragödien Shakespeares.
The Tempest, die Geschichte von dem entmachteten und vertriebenen Herzog von Mailand, der im Exil auf einer Insel im Meer eine neue Herrschaft errichtet und durch Magie alle seine Feinde in seine Gewalt bringt, ist eines der faszinierendsten und vieldeutigsten Dramen Shakespeares. Es ist wechselweise als romantisches Märchen- und Zauberstück, als persönliche Abschiedsbotschaft des Dichters in seinem letzten großen Werk, als Parabel von Großmut und Vergebung und als Lehrstück über das Unrecht der Kolonialherrschaft gedeutet und inszeniert worden. Es reizt immer noch zu neuen Interpretationen und Aufführungsweisen.
The essential lyric works of the great Elizabethan playwright newly revised and updated Though best known for his plays and for courting danger as a homosexual, a spy, and an outspoken atheist Christopher Marlowe was also an accomplished and celebrated poet. This long-awaited updated and revised edition of his poems and translations contains his complete lyric works from his translations of Ovidian elegies to his most famous poem, The Passionate Shepherd to His Love, to the impressive epic mythological poem Hero and Leander.
Exploring the transition of Shakespeare's works from performance to literature, Stephen Orgel investigates the editorial efforts that have aimed to create a definitive text since the 1623 folio. He highlights the dynamic nature of theatrical performances, which varied across venues and audiences, and examines the implications of this evolution on the perception and preservation of Shakespeare's plays as literary texts.
The book explores the dynamic interplay between Christian values and classical traditions during the Renaissance, highlighting how this conflict fostered a vibrant creative environment. Stephen Orgel examines the resulting tension that led to a remarkable blossoming of English drama, lyric poetry, and the arts, offering insights into the cultural shifts that shaped this pivotal period in literature.
Exploring the complexities of Shakespearean texts, this collection of twelve essays delves into the errors and confusions found within his works. Stephen Orgel examines the editorial and interpretive strategies used to address these challenges in commentary and performance. He critiques the notion of returning to an authentic version of Shakespeare's writings, emphasizing that modern interpretations often involve clarifying and correcting the original, which was inherently difficult to read. The essays reveal the ongoing struggle to present a coherent and accessible representation of Shakespeare's genius.
In this new addition to the Oxford Textual Perspectives series, Stephen Orgel considers the idea of the book not simply as a container for written work, but as an essential element in its creation.
How did the popular drama of Shakespeare's age become literature? Editorial efforts since the first folio of 1623 have attempted to establish a correct, final text of Shakespeare's plays. Yet the text in the theater changed constantly in front of different venues and audiences. Stephen Orgel examines what happens to plays when they become books.