Table of Contents
Preface. Introduction: How to Read Shakespeare.
Box: Chapter Overview.
Making an Effort.
Using Your Imagination.
Imagining the World.
Imagining the Stage.
Staying Flexible.
Listening for the Subtext.
Writing or Discussion Assignments.
Further Reading.
1. Shakespeare's Dramatic Language.
Box: Chapter Overview.
Some Preliminary Suggestions.
Test Case #1: Hamlet's Famous Soliloquy.
Initial Reactions.
Shakespeare's Peculiar Language.
“You" and “Thou”.
“Hath" and “Doth”.
Some Other Shakespearean Oddities.
Advice.
Rearranging Word Order.
Advice.
Verse and Prose.
Writing or Discussion Assignments.
Further Reading.
2. Shakespeare's Imagery.
Box: Chapter Overview.
A Definition of Imagery.
Literal Appeals to the Senses.
Appeal to the Sense of Sight.
Appeal to the Sense of Hearing.
Appeal to the Sense of Touch.
Appeal to the Sense of Taste.
Appeal to the Sense of Smell.
Figurative Language: The Major Devices.
Box: Imagery-14 Key Terms.
Analogy.
Hyperbole.
Image Strands.
Irony.
Litotes.
Metaphor.
Metonymy.
Onomatopoeia.
Oxymoron.
Personification.
Pun.
Simile.
Symbol.
Synecdoche.
Test Case #2: The Barge at Cydnus.
Advice.
Writing or Discussion Assignments.
Further Reading.
3. Shakespeare's Rhetoric 116.
Box: Chapter Overview.
The History of Rhetoric.
Shakespeare's Dramatic RhetoricBox: Rhetoric-17 Key Terms.
Adage.
Alliteration.
Anaphora.
Antistrophe.
Aside.
Assonance.
Caesura.
Chiasmus.
Consonance.
Enargia.
Ethos.
Isocolon.
Logos.
Pathos.
Rhyme.
Soliloquy.
Stichomythia.
Pattern, Repetition, Variation.
Pattern.
Repetition.
Variation.
Test Case #3: Portia's Defense of Antonio.
Writing or Discussion Assignments.
Further Reading.
4. Shakespeare's Humor.
Box: Chapter Overview.
Shakespeare's Crude Humor.
Shakespeare's Cultural Humor.
Shakespeare and All Those French Jokes.
Shakespeare and All Those British Jokes.
Shakespeare's Linguistic Humor.
The Malapropism.
Shakespeare's Slapstick Humor.
Shakespeare's Cosmic Humor.
Writing or Discussion Assignments.
Further Reading.
5. Shakespeare's Genres.
Box: Chapter Overview.
Genre and the Folio of 1623.
Genre and the Modern Critic.
The Major Genres.
Comedy.
Origins.
Characteristics.
Box: The Comedies-Major Characteristics.
Sub-genres.
History.
Origins.
Characteristics.
Box: The Histories-Major Characteristics.
Box: Richard II 1.3-History as Mythic Pageant.
Box: Richard III 5.3-5.5-History as Immediate Action.
Tragedy.
Origins.
Characteristics.
Box: The Tragedies-Major Characteristics.
Sub-genres.
Romance.
Origins.
Characteristics.
Box: The Romances-Major Characteristics.
The Minor Genres.
Problem Play.
Roman Play.
Writing or Discussion Assignments.
Further Reading.
Chapter 6: Shakespeare's Stagecraft.
Box: Chapter Overview.
Getting up to Speed.
Handling the Introductions.
Comings and Goings.
Placing Yourself in the Action.
Making Lemonade (from Lemons).
Battle Scenes.
Boys as Women.
Taking Advantage.
The Power of Symbolism.
Hamlet and the Hell beneath the Stage.
Props and the Value of Minimalism.
Threading the Needle.
Varying the Tempo.
Easing up on the Rack.
The Porter in
Macbeth (2.3).
The Clown in Antony and Cleopatra (5.2).
Painting in Chiaroscuro.
The Gravediggers in
Hamlet (5.1).
The Gardener in
Richard II.
Internalizing the Playwright.
Box: Shakespeare's Stagecraft-Major Devices.
“All the World's a Stage”.
“The Play's the Thing”.
The Playwright Front and Center.
Writing or Discussion Assignments.
Further Reading.
7. Shakespeare in Performance: Stage and Screen.
Box: Chapter Overview.
Stage, Film, and Television: Some Preliminary Definitions.
Box: Theatre, Film, and TV: Some Important Distinctions.
Box: Theatre, Film, and TV: Some Important Continuities.
Shakespeare on Stage:
Antony and Cleopatra.
Analysis.
Shakespeare on Stage:
King Lear.
Discussion Questions on Character.
Discussion Questions on Staging.
Discussion Questions on Acting.
Shakespeare on Film:
Hamlet.
Box: Key Terms Used in the Discussion of
Hamlet.
The Olivier Version (1948).
Editing.
Staging.
Cinematography.
Language.
Characterization.
Theme.
The Richardson/Williamson Version (1969).
Editing.
Staging.
Cinematography.
Language.
Characterization.
Theme.
The Bennett/Jacobi Version (1980).
Editing.
Staging.
Cinematography.
Language.
Characterization.
Theme.
The Zeffirelli/Gibson Version (1990).
Editing.
Staging.
Cinematography.
Language.
Characterization.
Theme.
The Branagh Version (1996).
Editing.
Staging.
Cinematography.
Language.
Characterization.
Theme.
Hamlet on Film: Some Final Thoughts.
Writing or Discussion Assignments.
Further Reading.
Shakespeare Resources: Websites, Books, and Journals.
Websites.
Books.
Editions of Shakespeare.
Reference Books.
Background Reading.
Journals.
Works Cited.
Index of Terms and Play References.
