This richly annotated edition takes a fresh look at the first part of Shakespeare's second tetralogy of history plays, showing how it relates to the other plays in the sequence. Forker places the play in its political context, discussing its relation to competing theories of monarchy, looking at how it faced censorship because of possible comparisons between Richard II and Elizabeth I, and how Bolingbroke's rebellion could be compared to the Essex rising of the time. This edition also reconsiders Shakespeare's use of sources, asking why he chose to emphasise one approach over another. Forker also looks at the play's rich afterlife, and the many interpretations that actors and directors have taken. Finally, the edition looks closely at the aesthetic relationship between language, character, structure and political import.
ISBN-13: 9781903436332
Media Type: Paperback
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication Date: 03-21-2002
Pages: 616
Product Dimensions: 5.66(w) x 7.92(h) x 1.23(d)
Series: Arden Shakespeare Third #10
Charles R. Forker is Professor of English Emeritus at Indiana University, Bloomington. His many publications include critical editions of Shirley's The Cardinal and Marlowe's Edward II, and a major study of the works of Webster, Skull Beneath the Skin: The Achievement of John Webster. His most recent work is a study of Shakespeare's Richard II, entitled Shakespeare: The Critical Tradition: 'Richard II'.
Table of Contents
List of illustrations General editors preface Preface INTRODUCTION Politics - Historical Context and the Issue of Topicality - The Connection with Essex - Ideology: Competing Conceptions of Monarchy - Characterization: Attitudes towards Richard and Bolingbroke - Politics in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Stagings Language - Style - Imagery, Major Themes, Symbolism, Patterns of Allusion - Rhetoric Afterlife The Date - The Relation to Edward II and Woodstock - Richard II and the Second Tertralogy Probable Venues of Early Performance Sources - Holinshed - Hall - The Mirror for Magistrates - Daniel - Woodstock - Froissart; Créton; Traϊson - Edward II - Minor Sources Text THE TRAGEDY OF KING RICHARD THE SECOND Longer notes Appendices 1) Textual Analysis 2) Doubling Chart 3) Genealogical Tables Abbreviations and References Index
