Downloaded from www.dramaonlinelibrary.com on Sun Aug 02 2020 15:05:13 India Standard Time. Access provided by Presidency University.

IP address: 112.79.112.179. Subject to the Drama Online terms of use,

Bickley, Pamela , and Jenny Stevens. Essential Shakespeare: The Arden Guide to Text and
Interpretation. London: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare, 2013. Arden Shakespeare. Arden
Shakespeare. Drama Online. Web. 2 Aug. 2020.
<http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781408174692>.

Accessed from: www.dramaonlinelibrary.com

Accessed on: Sun Aug 02 2020 15:05:13 India Standard Time

Access provided by: Presidency University

available at www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/terms-and-conditions.
 Essential Shakespeare
Volume : The Arden Guide to Text and
Interpretation
Downloaded from www.dramaonlinelibrary.com on Sun Aug 02 2020 15:05:13 India Standard Time. Access provided by Presidency University. IP address: 112.79.112.179. Subject to the Drama Online terms of use,

by Pamela Bickley and Jenny Stevens

Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare, 2013

DOI: 10.5040/9781408174692

ISBN: 978-1-4081-7469-2 (online)

978-1-4081-5873-9 (paperback)

978-1-4725-2027-2 (hardback)

978-1-4081-7066-3 (epub)

978-1-4725-3584-9 (epdf)

Edition: First Edition

Place of Publication: London

Published Online: 2017

Series Title: Arden Shakespeare

BOOK SUMMARY / ABSTRACT

An introductory critical study for first year undergraduates which bridges the gap
between A Level and university study. The book offers an accessible overview of key
critical perspectives, early modern contexts, and methods of close reading, as well as
screen and stage performances spanning several decades. Organised around the
discussion of fourteen major plays, it introduces readers to the diverse theoretical
approaches typical of today’s English studies. This is a go-to resource that can be
available at www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/terms-and-conditions.

consulted thematically or by individual play or genre.

Critical approaches can overwhelm students who are daunted by the quantity and
complexity of current scholarship; Bickley and Stevens are experienced teachers at both
A and university level and are thus uniquely qualified to show how a mix of critical ideas
can be used to inform ways of thinking about a play.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Front matter
Introduction 1–8
1. A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Transformations, illusions, festivity 9–32
 2. Much Ado About Nothing: Exploring language and gender 33–52
3. Twelfth Night: Disguises and desires 53–76
4. Measure for Measure (and its problems …) 77–98
Downloaded from www.dramaonlinelibrary.com on Sun Aug 02 2020 15:05:13 India Standard Time. Access provided by Presidency University. IP address: 112.79.112.179. Subject to the Drama Online terms of use,

5. Hamlet: A play of ‘perpetual modernity’ 99–118

6. Othello: Sex, race and suggestibility 119–140
7. King Lear: ‘That things might change, or cease’ 141–164
8. Macbeth: Kingship and witchcraft 165–188
9. Antony and Cleopatra: The legendary on stage 189–210
10. King Richard II: The performance of majesty 211–232
11. Richard III: History’s monster or charismatic villain? 233–254
12. Cymbeline: ‘An experimental romance’? 255–276
13. The Winter’s Tale: Tyranny, trials, time 277–300
14. The Tempest: Where ‘Thought is free’ 301–324
Back matter
available at www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/terms-and-conditions.