The Two Noble Kinsmen

Presenting an interesting approach to this once marginalized play, this edition addresses issues including collaboration, performance history, craftsmanship and sources.

William Shakespeare (Author), Robert Kean Turner (Edited by), Patricia Tatspaugh (Edited by)

9780521432702, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 April 2012

248 pages, 10 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.5 x 1.5 cm, 0.51 kg

The New Cambridge Shakespeare appeals to students worldwide for its up-to-date scholarship and emphasis on performance. The series features line-by-line commentaries, textual notes on the plays and poems and an extensive Introduction. Since the late twentieth century, when scholarly attention began to focus on sexuality, collaboration and Shakespeare's late plays, The Two Noble Kinsmen has become an essential script. Turner and Tatspaugh's edition presents a strong case for taking the play more seriously now than ever before. A lively introduction discusses Shakespeare's craftsmanship in adapting a medieval tale for the Jacobean stage, the extent of co-authorship with John Fletcher, the rhetorical complexity of Shakespeare's late style, the themes of sexuality and friendship, and contemporary critical responses to the play. The edition demonstrates the theatrical vitality of The Two Noble Kinsmen and confirms it as a play for today.

Introduction: authorship
Date
Sources
Craftsmanship
Critical reception
Shakespeare's late style
The Two Noble Kinsmen in performance
Note on text
List of characters
The play
Supplementary notes
Textual analysis
Appendix: The Two Noble Kinsmen: a performance chronology
Reading list.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: plays & playwrights [DSG], Shakespeare plays [DDS], Literature & literary studies [D]