The Merry Wives of Windsor (Arden Shakespeare, Third Series)

by William Shakespeare, Giorgio Melchiori (Editor), Richard Proudfoot (Editor), Ann Thompson (Editor), David Scott Kastan (Editor)

Overview

"A significant and substantive edition, in that nothing has been taken for granted, everything has been opened to reconsideration. The commentary is exceptionally detailed and attentive to questions of language and meaning." - Shakespeare Quarterly

The Merry Wives of Windsor, Shakespeare's only thoroughly English comedy, created an archetypal literary figure in the shape of the devious, irrepressible John Falstaff. This stimulating edition celebrates the play as a joyous exploration of language, but also places elements of its plot firmly in a continental, specifically Italian, tradition of romantic comedy. It draws out the complexities of Merry Wives as a multi-plot play, and takes a fresh and challenging look at both textual and dating issues; a facsimile of the first Quarto is included as an appendix. The play's extensive performance history, both dramatic and operatic, is fully explored and discussed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781904271123
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	12/09/1999
Series:	Arden Shakespeare Series , #17
Edition description:	Third Edition
Pages:	362
Product dimensions:	5.15(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.85(d)

About the Author

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

Giorgio Melchiori is Emeritus Professor of La Sapienza at the University of Rome.

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 and acknowledgements INTRODUCTION The English comedy and the comedy of English The comedy of language(s) and the Latin lesson Translating: Italian into English: Falstaffs ancestry and the comedy of humours Garter comedy: date, occasion and Falstaffs metamorphosis Quarto and Folio: memorial reconstruction and acting version Unconformities and comical satire Structural unconformities and time gaps: three versions of Merry Wives Time and structure in the Folio Time and structure in the Quarto The third narrative strand Critical attitudes and stage life: the music of Merry Wives Casting and doubling Early performance and adaptation The emergence of Falstaffs music The late nineteenth century Falstaff in the twentieth century This text: editorial procedures and conventions SIR JOHN FALSTAFF AND THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR Appendix: The First Quarto (1602) Abbreviations and references Index

Editorial Reviews

A significant and substantive edition, in that nothing has been taken for granted, everything has been opened to reconsideration. The commentary is exceptionally detailed and attentive to questions of language and meaning.” —Shakespeare Quarterly

“Shakespeare genially celebrates his own middle class English provincial background and seeks to do nothing more than entertain - which he does, splendidly.” —Daily Telegraph

From the Publisher

This is a significant and substantive edition, in that nothing has been taken for granted, everything has been opened to reconsideration. The commentary is exceptionally detailed and attentive to questions of language and meaning.

Shakespeare Quarterly