The Shakespeare Revolution

This is a succinct and finest history of Shakespeare studies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

J. L. Styan (Author)

9780521273282, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 29 April 1983

304 pages
21.6 x 13.8 x 2.6 cm, 0.4 kg

'J. L. Styan's 'revolution' is the recognition, first, that Shakespeare knew his stuff as a dramatist, and second, that the stage itself is the place to grasp the meaning of Shakespeare's plays. The parallel account given of the growth of the respect of critics for the theatre, and of the respect of directors for the play, is fruitful and interesting … Professor Styan has given us a fluent and succinct history of Shakespearean production and criticism in this century which should be useful to many readers, including students.' Philip Edwards, The Times Higher Education Supplement

How do our ways of perceiving and producing Shakespeare differ from those of the nineteenth century, and how interrelated has the work of scholars and directors become over this century? Professor Styan's purpose in this book is to discuss the 'revolution' in Shakespeare studies implied by these questions.

List of illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introductory
1. Victorian Shakespeare
2. Scholars and actors
3. Mr Poel's Hamlet
4. The advent of stage-centred criticism
5. Barker at the Savoy
6. Granville-Barker's early criticism
7. Stylized Shakespeare and Nigel Playfair
8. Barry Jackson and dizzy modernity
9. Criticism: retreat and advance
10. Guthrie and the open stage
11. Shakespeare, Peter Brook and non-illusion
12. Conclusion: the critical revolution
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Theatre studies [AN]