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Informationen zum Autor Douglas King , PhD, is associate professor of English at Gannon University, USA, teaching courses on Shakespeare, film, and drama. Klappentext This analysis of primary documents allows readers to understand Shakespeare's tragedies within the context of historical issues of Renaissance England. Comprising dozens of primary source documents, this book explores Early Modern historical issues reflected in four of Shakespeare's tragedies most commonly taught in secondary schools and universities around the world: Romeo and Juliet , Julius Caesar , Hamlet , and Macbeth .Primary source documents relating to Romeo and Juliet deal with subjects such as dueling, breast-feeding, and the Black Plague. Background discussion of Julius Caesar addresses the influence of Roman culture on Renaissance England; the nature of monarchy; and warfare in Renaissance England, including the defeat of the Spanish Armada. The backdrop for Hamlet includes the nature of spirits; heaven, hell, and purgatory; the history of revenge tragedy beginning with ancient Greece; and debates over the theater in Shakespeare's time. Macbeth brings the reader into the reign of King James and examines ongoing debates over the dangers of witchcraft; the crime of the century, the Gunpowder Plot of 1605; and the "Macbeth curse" that has plagued productions of the Scottish Play since its premiere. Inhaltsverzeichnis Series Foreword , Acknowledgments , Introduction: The Renaissance in England , A Note on Sources , Chronology of the English Renaissance , 1 Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare, ca. 1597), Synopsis of Romeo and Juliet , Historical Background of Romeo and Juliet : The Burgeoning Theater Scene of Elizabethan England, About William Shakespeare, Why We Read Romeo and Juliet , Historical Explorations of Romeo and Juliet , Documenting Romeo and Juliet , Marriage in Renaissance England, Document: John Jewel, Homily on the State of Matrimony , 1571, Document: Mary Tattle-Well and Joan Hit-Him-Home, The Women's Sharp Revenge , 1640, Document: Henry Swinburne, Treatise of Spousals , 1686, Elizabethan/Jacobean Diseases, Medicines, Potions, and Poisons, Document: John Securis, A Detection and Querimonie of the Daily Enormities and Abuses Committed in Physic, 1566, Document: John Gerard, Herbal: General History of Plants , 1597, Document: Samuel Pepys, The Diary of Samuel Pepys , 1664-1665 (published 1825), Role Models for the Young in Renaissance England, Document: Vincentio Saviolo, His Practice, in Two Books , 1595, Document: Sir William Wentworth, Advice to His Son , 1606, Document: Elizabeth Clinton, The Countess of Lincoln's Nursery , 1622, Suggested Readings, 2 Julius Caesar (William Shakespeare, ca. 1599), Synopsis of Julius Caesar , Historical Background: Ancient Rome and Renaissance England: The Humanist Connection, Why We Read Julius Caesar , Historical Explorations of Julius Caesar , Documenting Julius Caesar , Julius Caesar as Seen by Renaissance Britons, Document: "The Deification of Caesar," Ovid, Metamorphoses (ca. ad 8), Document: Plutarch, Parallel Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans. Trans. John Dryden (ca. ad 75), Document: John Higgins, The Mirror for Magistrates , 1559, The Nature of Monarchy in Renaissance England, Document: Thomas Elyot, The Book Named the Governor , 1531, Document: George Buchanan, De Jure Regni apud Scotos: A Dialogue Concerning the Rights of the Crown in Scotland , 1579, Document: James VI and I, The True Law of Free Monarchies , 1603, Warfare in Renaissance England, Document: Elizabe...
