Why Shakespeare [Paperback]

Why is Shakespeare as highly regarded now as he ever has been? This book's answer to this question counters claims that Shakespeare's iconic status is no more than an accident of history. The plays, Belsey argues, entice us into a world we recognize by retelling traditional fairy tales with a difference, each chapter providing a detailed reading.

Why is Shakespeare as highly regarded now as he ever has been? This book's answer to this question counters claims that Shakespeare's iconic status is no more than an accident of history. The plays, Belsey argues, entice us into a world we recognize by retelling traditional fairy tales with a difference, each chapter providing a detailed reading.

Preface.- Shakespeare's Singularity.- As You Like It?and?The Golden Goose.- King Lear?and the Missing Salt.- The Exiled Princes in?The Winter's Tale?.- Fairy Tales for Grown-ups in?A Midsummer Night's Dream.- Hamlet?and the Reluctant Hero.- Twelfth Night?and the Riddle of Gender.- Cultural Difference as Conundrum in?The Merchant of Venice.- Happily Ever After?.- Further Reading.- Abbreviations and References.- Notes.- Index.CATHERINE BELSEY is Research Professor of English at the University of Wales, Swansea, UK. Her books include Critical Practice, The Subject of Tragedy and Shakespeare and the Loss of Eden.This exciting new introduction to Shakespeare provides students and general readers with a new approach to reading the plays
Belsey provides a completely new way into the plays via traditional fairy tales, making an important contribution to Shakespeare scholarship