Adrian Poole examines the Victorian's obsession with Shakespeare, his impact upon the era's consciousness, and the expression of this in their drama, novels and poetry. The book features detailed discussion of the interpretations and applications of Shakespeare by major figures such as Dickens and Hardy, Tennyson and Browning, as well as those less well-known.

Shakespeare and the Victorians explores the place of Shakespeare in Victorian culture, and shows how the plays and the man became central to all levels of Victorian life and thought.

'Shakespeare Studies' is an international volume containing essays & studies by critics & cultural historians from both hemispheres. Volume 33 continues the series in which specialists in theatrical traditions in the time of Shakespeare discuss the state of scholarly study in their areas.

Based on extensive archival research, Shakespeare in the Victorian Periodicals offers an entirely new perspective on popular Shakespeare reception by focusing on articles published in Victorian periodicals. Shakespeare had already reached the apex of British culture in the previous century, becoming the national poet of the middle and upper classes, but during the Victorian era he was embraced by more marginal groups. If Shakespeare was sometimes employed as an instrument of enculturation, imposed on these groups, he was also used by them to resist this cultural hegemony.

This book explores the revivals of Shakespeare's history plays during the Victorian period, as staged by the famous actor-manager Charles Kean. Between 1852 and 1859, Kean produced celebrated productions of Henry V, Henry VIII, King John, Macbeth and Richard II, renowned for their unprecendented attention to antiquarian detail in sets, costumes, and properties (many of which are shown in the book's illustrations). These productions provided audiences with an unparalleled opportunity to participate in the Victorian obsession with history, especially of the medieval period. Using valuable primary sources, including promptbooks, scenic designs, costume sketches and contemporary reviews, Richard Schoch places mid-Victorian attitudes towards the theatre in the context of major intellectual and political movements of the age. The book will be of interest to scholars and students of theatre history, Shakespeare studies and Victorian culture.

How and why did Victorian culture make Shakespeare into a literary deity and his work into a secular Bible?

Features actors who were significant in their development of new and innovative ways of performing Shakespeare. This title contains extracts from diaries, memoirs, private letters, and obituaries that present a contemporary account of their acting achievements and personal lives.

This collection of new essays is the first to explore the rich afterlife of one of Shakespeare's most recognizable characters. With contributions from an international group of established and emerging scholars, The Afterlife of Ophelia moves beyond the confines of existing scholarship and forges new lines of inquiry beyond Shakespeare studies.

"Like the artists studied here, we pick and choose our Shakespeares, and through that labor another story emerges. Frozen in time on the page or screen, some of those collaborations continue to speak, but denuded of their immediate moment and surroundings; we are left to supplement the traces. In recovering that past, the present takes on greater clarity and contrast. But the proof must be in the telling. A writer lifts a pen. Enter the multiple forces—political and economic, psychological, formal, and technical—that serendipitously transform imagination into memory. Let the collaborative play begin."—from the IntroductionFocusing on key writers, actors, theater directors, and filmmakers who have kept Shakespeare at the center of their endeavors over the past two hundred years, Collaborations with the Past illuminates not only the playwright's work but also the choices and responsibilities involved in re-creating culture, and the ingenuity and peril of the artistic process. By concentrating on rich yet problematic instances of Shakespeare's reanimation in such quintessentially modern forms as the novel and film, from Sir Walter Scott's Kenilworth to Kenneth Branagh's Henry V, Diana E. Henderson sketches a complex history of the pleasures and difficulties that ensue when Shakespeare and modern artists collaborate.Working with texts across the entire range of Shakespeare's career, Henderson demonstrates—through detailed analyses of novels including Jane Eyre and Mrs. Dalloway as well as filmed, televised, and staged performances—that art (even in the newest media) cannot avoid collaborating with the past. Only by studying that collaborative process can we comprehend Shakespeare and Anglo-American culture.

`Professor Mahood's book has established itself as a classic in the field, not so much because of the ingenuity with which she reads Shakespeare's quibbles, but because her elucidation of pun and wordplay is intelligently related both to textual readings and dramatic significance.' - Revue des Langues Vivantes