THE GREENHAVEN PRESS TO BRITISH LITERATURE 1 J David Bender, Publisher Bruno Leone, Executive Editor Scott Barbour, Managing Editor Bonnie Szumski, Series Editor Clarice Swisher, Book Editor Greenhaven Press, San Diego, CA
COIWENTS Foreword 10 Introduction 12 William Shakespeare: A Biography 13 Chapter One: The Spirit and Development of Shakespeare's Comedies 1. Shakespeare's Comedies Are Playful by John Jay Chapman 30 In his comedies, Shakespeare captures a spirit of freedom and happiness that influenced the great English writers who followed him. As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, and The Taming of the Shrew have an especially lighthearted playfulness that challenges actors and reminds audiences and readers of the innocence of childhood. 2. Shakespeare's Comedies Are Progressively More Masterful by G.B. Harrison 34 Shakespeare's comedies develop artistically from wellconstructed plots hampered by overly elaborate language and superficial characters to mature works whose characters' motives are clearer and feelings are deeper. In the final plays, language and meaning are in balance. 5. Shakespeare's Comedies Show Women as Equal Partners with Men by Germaine Greer 39 Shakespeare's comedies promote equality in marriage by portraying happy couples who are equals, sexually faithful, and constant in their commitment. 4. Strong Women Prevail in Shakespeare's Comedies by Angela Pitt 46 In Shakespeare's comedies, women characters are stronger and more numerous than men. Since Elizabethans expected women to be society's peacekeepers, Shakespeare created humorous social dilemmas and showcased strong women resolving them. 5. Shakespeare's Comedies Combine Convention and Personal Style by George Gordon 54 Shakespeare's poetic, romantic comedies are too goodnatured to fit any of the established theories of comedy. Yet,
Shakespeare employs the traditional comic conventions, such as stage tricks, stock characters, love stories, and happy endings, but he gives them his own personal stamp. 6. Imagery Establishes Atmosphere and Background in the Comedies by Caroline F.E. Sturgeon 62 Imagery creates atmosphere for the plays and background for the players and their actions. Images in A Midsummer Night's Dream and As You Like It give the audience a sense of a woods and the country. In Twelfth Night images set the tone for fun and festival, and in The Taming of the Shrew they add humor to Petruchio's taming. Chapter Two: Shakespeare's Early Comedies 1. The Comedy of Errors Is a Farce by Francis Fergusson 73 In The Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare modifies the form of an old Roman comedy, but he adds a second set of identical twins. A weeping wife and a long-lost reunited family add sentimentalism. To evoke the most laughter, this comedy must be played straight and serious. 2. Serious Themes in The Comedy of Errors byka.foakes 79 Beneath the confusions and dislocations of mistaken identity in The Comedy of Errors lie serious themes that might easily be overlooked. Amid laughter, there is sympathy for distraught characters and, to explain the family and community disruption, there are suggestions of witchcraft and evil. 3. The Taming of the Shrew Is a Farce by Mark Van Doren 87 As a farce, The Taming of the Shrew insulates the audience from Petruchio's mistreatment of Ratherina by diverting the audience's attention away from the characters and directing it toward exaggerated, unexpected devices and vigorous, outrageous language. 4. An Understanding of Elizabethan Medicine Enlightens The Taming of the Shrew by John W. Draper 92 The Taming of the Shrew can be viewed as a medical case of the imbalance of bodyfluids ofbad humors one of which is choler. Katherina has too much choler, and Petruchio plans and successfully effects a cure. 5. Shakespeare Constructs Two Interacting Worlds in A Midsummer Night's Dream by David Young 100 The lack of a central character and the presence of four groups of characters make the plot of A Midsummer Night's Dream difficult to follow. The world of the fairies and the
world of humans is made clear, however, when diagramed with a series of circles, triangles, and quadrangles. 6. Four Worlds Merge in A Midsummer Night's Dream by Madeleine Doran 110 The plot of A Midsummer Night's Dream has four sets of characters: Theseus and Hippolyta represent the court; young lovers Lysander, Demetrius, Hermia, and Helena have left the city for the woods; the fairy world is ruled by Ring Oberon and Queen Titania; and Bottom and the craftsmen rehearse for a play in the forest. These groups of characters mingle during the play and come together at the end. 7. A Midsummer Night's Dream as Entertainment for a Wedding by Paul N. Siegel 117 A Midsummer Night's Dream may have been written for an Elizabethan wedding, and the play parallels that event. A play-within-a-play, prepared in a midsummer night's dream, celebrates the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. A Midsummer Night's Dream, created in the poet's imagination, celebrates a real wedding. Chapter Three: Shakespeare's Popular Romantic Comedies 1. As You Like It as Romance by Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. LaMar 126 Several elements come together to make As You Like It a romance. The Forest of Arden provides a pastoral setting for spirited young lovers. Traditional comic devices enliven the plot, while the language sets a tone that makes love virtuous and serious. 2. As You Like It: A Comedy of Discovery by Helen Gardner. 132 By testing one another in the Forest of Arden, Shakespeare's characters in As You Like It discover happiness and truth along with imperfection and sorrow. Happiness, however, triumphs in a final festive celebration. 3. Creative Devices Make Twelfth Night a Great Comedy by Harold Jenkins 140 In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare endows his devoted romantic lover with more imagination than most characters of his type have. Shakespeare uses music as a metaphor to enrich love. And he puts new creative touches on traditional devices to make this play his greatest romantic comedy. 4. Morality Lessons in Twelfth Night by John Hollander 147 The action in Twelfth Night illustrates how indulgence in pleasure leads to a moral end. Characters tire of merry-
making and excessive eating and drinking to discover greater satisfaction in reality and the fulfillment of their natural selves. Chapter Four: Shakespeare's Final Plays 1. Shakespeare's Mastery Is Evident in the Last Plays by Edward Dowden 156 Of the last plays, The Tempest exemplifies the mastery Shakespeare achieved in his art. The character Prospero best represents Shakespeare's achievements in language and moral philosophy. 2. Similarities Between Measure for Measure and The Tempest by Harold S. Wilson 162 Shakespeare uses many elements of Measure for Measure again in the later play The Tempest. The action of both ; plays is directed by a duke, but neither has the power to control the choices of those around him. Instead, both must try to influence others' choices to bring about moral good. 3. Three Themes in The Tempest by Northrop Frye 167 The Tempest has mysterious qualities that relate to three major themes in the play. First, time works within the play to speed and slow events; second, nature is the order in which transformations occur. Third, reality is sometimes an illusion, and illusion is the real art that causes characters to change. Glossary 175 Chronology 178 Works by William Shakespeare 183 For Further Research 184 Index 187