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This book considers the plays by Shakespeare produced during the reign of Elizabeth and discusses some of the key issues of the day in their historical context. Using a comparative method that seeks to move away from the division of Shakespeare's works into categories of tragedies, comedies and histories, plays are compared and contrasted for the purpose of analysing wider contextual questions. This is a useful book for students and, with its companion volume - Shakespeare: The Jacobean Plays which examines the plays written after the accession of James I in 1601, it provides an overview of the work of a great dramatist in his own time.
List of contents
Introduction.- Sexuality and Power in the Three Parts of King Henry VI.- A Range of Voices: Titus Andronicus and Love's Labour's Lost.- The Prison and the World: Richard II.- Wayward Sons and Daughters: Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry IV.- Part 1 The Boundaries of Comedy: The Taming of the Shrew and The Merchant of Venice.- England, the World's Best Garden: Henry IV.- Part 2 and Henry V .-The Play's the Thing: The Merry Wives of Windsor.- Love and Disillusionment: As You Like It and Twelfth Night.-The Rotten State: Hamlet and Julius Caesar.- The Fairy-tale in Crisis: Much Ado About Nothing, Troilus and Cressida.- All's Well That Ends Well.- Index.
