Shakespeare’s histories and counter-histories

Download or read book Shakespeare’s histories and counter-histories written by Dermot Cavanagh and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2018-07-30 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shakespeare's history plays have always been pivotal to our understanding of his works. This collection renews attention to these crucial plays by exploring official and unofficial versions of the past, histories and counter-histories in the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. By exploring the diversity of Shakespeare’s engagement with history in all its forms, these contributors open up a range of new interpretive possibilities for understanding the way history ‘plays’ with the past. The book is divided into three sections: Memory and mourning, Counter-histories, Identity and performance. In each section, leading theorists, historicists and performance critics offer fresh perspectives on the key issues that are transforming our understanding of Shakespeare. These include: gender and violence, the mapping of Britain, cultural memory and religion. This collection will appeal to all critically engaged readers of Shakespeare. In particular it will command wide-ranging interest from undergraduates, postgraduates, academic researchers and students of early modern theatre, history and culture.