The Comedy of Errors: Third Series

by William Shakespeare, Kent Cartwright (Editor), Richard Proudfoot (Editor), Ann Thompson (Editor), David Scott Kastan (Editor)

Overview

Shakespeare's dextrous comedy of two twin masters and two twin servants continually mistaken for one another is both farce and more than farce. The Comedy of Errors examines the interplay between personal and commercial relationships, and the breakdown of social order that follows the disruption of identity. As well as detailed on-page commentary notes, this new edition has a long, illustrated introduction exploring the play's performance and crtitical history, as well as its place in the comic tradition from Classical to modern times.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781904271239
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	12/15/2016
Series:	The Arden Shakespeare Third Series
Edition description:	3rd Revised ed.
Pages:	424
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.93(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English dramatist, poet, and actor, generally regarded as the greatest playwright of all time.

Professor Richard Proudfoot served as Senior General Editor of the Arden Shakespeare for 35 years, until his retirement from King's in 1999. In 2001 The Arden Shakespeare published Proudfoot's Shakespeare: Text, Stage and Canon a critical overview of the scholarly achievements made in the field of Shakespeare studies by the end of the twentieth century.

ANN THOMPSON is Emeritus Professor in English at King' s College London UK.

David Scott Kastan is the George M. Bodman Professor of English at Yale University, USA.

Henry Woudhuysen is Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, UK.

Date of Death:

2018

Place of Birth:

Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

Place of Death:

Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
General editors' preface
Preface
Introduction
Laughter, Empathy and Memorability
Error and Identity
The Cultural World
Poetic Geography, Travel, Dark Ephesus
Genre
Style: Verse and Prose
Sources and Influences
Staging
Early Performances
Afterlife: Image, Stage and Screen
Editorial Procedures
The Comedy of Errors
Longer Notes
Notes on Verse and Prose
Appendix A: Casting and Doubling
Appendix B: Date of Composition
Appendix C: The Text
Abbreviations and References

Editorial Reviews

The detailed scholarship of Cartwright's thematic introduction suits the Bard's most adaptable play, and unearths the textual gems for any critical reader, enthusiastic performer, or budding newcomer.” —Sixteenth Century Journal

“Cartwright's Introduction and notes make readers appreciate the richness, complexity and depth of a comedy that has often been brushed off as a mechanical "imitation" of Plautus's farcical Menaechmi.” —Sederi Yearbook

“An unapologetic and refreshingly enthusiastic celebration of a play whose disparagement in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries has had a lingering effect despite the more recent revival of its fortunes. While Cartwright gestures towards the play's triumphant theatrical resurgence, he is most interested in its linguistic and structural complexities, unpacked in a rich introduction.” —Shakespeare Survey

From the Publisher