Citizen Shakespeare - Freemen and Aliens in the Language of the Plays

Shakespeare was not a citizen of London. But the language of his plays is shot through with the concerns of London 'freemen' and their wives, the diverse commercial class that nevertheless excluded adult immigrants from country towns and northern Europe alike. This book combines London historiography, close reading, and recent theories of citizen subjectivity to demonstrate for the first time that Shakespeare's plays embody citizen and alien identities despite their aristocratic settings. Through three chapters, the book points out where the city shadows the country scenes of the major comedies, shows how London's trades animate the 'civil butchery' of the history plays, ans explains why England's metropolis becomes the fractured Rome of tragedy,

List of contents

Introduction Comedy: Civil Sayings History: Civil Butchery Tragedy: What Rome?

About the author

John Michael Archer is Professor of English at New York University, USA.

Summary

Shakespeare was not a citizen of London. But the language of his plays is shot through with the concerns of London 'freemen' and their wives, the diverse commercial class that nevertheless excluded adult immigrants from country towns and northern Europe alike. This book combines London historiography, close reading, and recent theories of citizen subjectivity to demonstrate for the first time that Shakespeare's plays embody citizen and alien identities despite their aristocratic settings. Through three chapters, the book points out where the city shadows the country scenes of the major comedies, shows how London's trades animate the 'civil butchery' of the history plays, ans explains why England's metropolis becomes the fractured Rome of tragedy,

Product details

• Authors: J Archer, J. Archer
• Publisher: Palgrave UK
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 17.03.2016
• EAN: 9781349529704
• ISBN: 978-1-349-52970-4
• No. of pages: 223
• Series: Early Modern Cultural Studies; Early Modern Cultural Studies 1500-1700; Early Modern Cultural Studies 1500-1700; Early Modern Cultural Studies; Early Modern Cultural Studies 1500–1700; Early Modern Cultural Studies 1500–1700
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; Literaturtheorie, B, Kulturwissenschaften, TIME, Literaturwissenschaft, allgemein, Cultural Studies, Cultural Theory, Poetry, auseinandersetzen, Literary studies: general, Tragedy, Literary theory, Culture—Study and teaching, Poetry and Poetics, Early Modern/Renaissance Literature, Literature—Philosophy, Early Modern and Renaissance Literature, Literature, Modern, Palgrave Literature & Performing Arts Collection