This book ascertains what sources Shakespeare used for the plots of his plays and discusses the use he made of them; and secondly illustrates how his general reading is woven into the texture of his work. The plays are examined in approximately
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This book ascertains what sources Shakespeare used for the plots of his plays and discusses the use he made of them; and secondly illustrates how his general reading is woven into the texture of his work. The plays are examined in approximately
Read Less
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Seller's Description:
New Haven. 1978. Yale University Press. 1st American Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket. 0300022123. 320 pages. hardcover. keywords: Shakespeare Literary Criticism. FROM THE PUBLISHER-The purpose of this book is, first, to ascertain where possible what sources Shakespeare used for the plots of his plays and to discuss the use he made of them; and, secondly, to illustrate how his general reading is woven into the texture of his work. Few Elizabethan dramatists took such pains as Shakespeare in the collection of source-material. His usual custom was to read all the accessible works relevant to his theme and to use one book to amplify another, complicating his original fable by using incidents, ideas, phrases, and even words from a variety often of the most unlikely places. Frequently the sources were apparently incompatible, but he was stimulated to his greatest efforts by the sheer difficulties confronting him. As Professor Muir shows, the way in which he could combine, for example, a chronicle play, one or two prose chronicles, two poems and a pastoral romance without any sense of incongruity, was masterly. The plays are examined individually in approximately chronological order and Shakespeare's developing skill in the transmutation of his material becomes evident. From Professor Muir's brilliant analysis it becomes clear that however great our admiration for the art with which a play is constructed, its superiority to all its sources is displayed most obviously in the greater skill in characterization, in the humour of the prose scenes, and above all in the poetic structure of the plays as a whole. The present volume includes, in substantially revised form, the material of Professor Muir's earlier book, and incorporates completely new sections on the Histories. As a whole it provides the student and general reader with a vivid account of Shakespeare's craftsmanship and a well-balanced interpretation of the plays. inventory #5786.
