This second edition of Othello has a new, illustrated introduction by leading American scholar Ayanna Thompson, which addresses such key issues as race, religion and gender, as well as looking at ways in which the play has been adapted in more recent times. Othello is one of Shakespeare's great tragedies-written in the same five-year period as Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth. The new introduction attends to the play's different meanings throughout history, while articulating the historical context in which Othello was created, paying particular attention to Shakespeare's source materials and the evidence about early modern constructions of racial and religious difference. It also explores the life of the play in different historical moments, demonstrating how meanings and performances develop, accrue, and metamorphose over time. The volume provides a rich and current resource, making this best-selling play edition ideal for today's students at advanced school and undergraduate level.

In a groundbreaking piece of scholarly detective work, Professor Honigmann - editor of the forthcoming Arden 3 edition of Othello - uncovers in more detail than any previous study the hidden history of the two early texts of Othello, the Quarto and the Folio. He traces the crucial role played by two men in transforming Shakespeare's almost illegible manuscript to print: Thomas Walkley, the publisher of the Quarto, and Ralph Crane, the scribe who prepared the printer's copy for the Folio. Through careful analysis of particular passages Honigmann exposes the extent to which versions of Othello adopted by editors and widely regarded as fundamentally 'Shakespearean' were profoundly influenced by others than Shakespeare himself. Questioning time-honoured editorial procedures the findings of Texts of Othello have implications for many other of the plays of the Shakespeare canon, and more widely for questions of authorship and the doctrine of the 'better text'.

This piece of literary detective work uncovers the hidden history of the two early texts of "Othello", the Quarto and the Folio. It traces the crucial roles played by two people who were closely involved in transforming Shakespeare's almost illegible manuscripts into print: Thomas Walkley, the publisher of Q, whose questionable editoral procedures and shaky finances were involving him in litigation with a printer and another of his authors during the period when Q "Othello" was passing through his hands; and Ralph Crane, the scribe who was responsible for preparing printer's copy for F. New evidence enables the author both to identify the scribe and to look in detail at his working practices. The author argues that many readings in the F text, adopted by almost all editors and long since regarded as fundamentally "Shakespearean", are substitutions highly characteristic of Crane, and not the words written by Shakespeare. Building on this information, and analyzing many passages in detail, the author questions time-honoured editorial procedures - among them the treatment of Shakespeare's verse.

For over 80 years the British Academy Shakespeare Lectures have provided a forum for the leading Shakespeare critics of the day. The lectures delivered in the 1980s addressed subjects of topical interest (Shakespeare's audience and its imaginative participation in the play, Shakespeare as reviser of his own work, plays of disputed authorship), as well as examining major plays at length. All the pieces will appeal to general readers and theatre-goers, as well as Shakespeare specialists.

For over 80 years the British Academy Shakespeare lectures have provided a forum for the leading Shakespeare critics of the day. The lectures delivered in the 1980s addressed subjects of topical interest (Shakespeare's audience and its imaginative participation in the play, Shakespeare as reviser of his own work, plays of disputed authorship), as well as examining major plays at length. All of the pieces will appeal to general readers and theater-goers, as well as Shakespeare specialists. Contributors include E.A.J. Honigmann, R.A. Foakes, Emrys Jones, Inga-Stina Ewbank, Glynne Wickham, Richard Proudfoot, Giorgio Melchiori, Stanley Wells, A.D. Nuttall, and Leo Salingar.

This memorial edition honours the late Harold Jenkins, General Editor of the Arden 2nd Series and editor of the Arden 2 Hamlet, collecting his most valued classic lectures and essays for the first time in one volume. Many of these are now out of print, or have never been formally published, making this a unique tribute edition. Jenkins was a globally respected academic, and his works are still critically current. His most memorable essays have been chosen and edited by Ernst Honigmann to give the reader unique access to the very best of Harold Jenkins' critical work. Featuring in particular his famous essays on Hamlet, this book makes an invaluable companion piece to Jenkins' Arden edition of the play.