Shakespeare and Sexuality

by Catherine M. S. Alexander (Editor), Stanley Wells (Editor)

Overview

This volume draws together ten important essays which use a variety of approaches and materials to explore the significance of sexuality in Shakespeare's work. Some consider the erotic effect of Shakespeare's language; others are concerned with expressions of desire (male, female, inter-racial, homosexual and heterosexual) in performance as well as text. Many are reprinted from Shakespeare Survey. They are introduced by Ann Thompson's survey of the topic in recent criticism, and conclude with a new essay by Celia Daileader on nudity in Shakespeare films.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521800310
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/20/2001
Pages:	218
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

Catherine M. S. Alexander is Lecturer in Shakespeare Studies, Shakespeare Centre, Stratford-upon-Avon and Research Fellow, University of Birmingham. She has written on eighteenth-century appropriations of Shakespeare and is the co-editor with Stanley Wells of Shakespeare and Race (Cambridge, 2000).

Stanley Wells is Emeritus Professor, University of Birmingham and Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. He is General Editor of the Oxford Shakespeare, co-author of William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion (1987), author of Shakespeare: A Dramatic Life (1995), co-editor with Catherine M. S. Alexander of Shakespeare and Race (Cambridge, 2000) and co-editor with Margreta de Grazia of The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare (Cambridge, 2001).

Table of Contents

1. Shakespeare and sexuality Ann Thompson; 2. Language and sexuality in Shakespeare William C. Carroll; 3. Death and desire in Romeo and Juliet Lloyd Davis; 4. The legacy of Juliet's desire in comedies of the early 1600s Mary Bly; 5. Love in Venice Catherine Belsey; 6. Male sexuality and misogyny Michael Hattaway; 7. Consummation, custom and law in All's Well that Ends Well Subha Mukherji; 8. The scandal of Shakespeare's Sonnets Margreta de Grazia; 9. Representing sexuality in Shakespeare's plays John Russell Brown; 10. Nude Shakespeare in film and nineties popular feminism Celia R. Daileader.

Editorial Reviews

"...this volume should appeal to scholars because of its diverse critical methodologies and range of discussed plays." Sixteenth Century Journal

"...all [of the essays] are stimulating." Ben Jonson Journal

From the Publisher