In this text students are introduced to three of Shakespeare's best known plays - "Henry V", "Othello" and "As You Like It" - and a Restoration comedy, Aphra Behn's "The Rover". The aim is to explore the concept of the literary canon and the complex process by which certain authors and works are accorded a high cultural status. Shakespeare personifies the canonical author, while Aphra Behn (the first professional woman writer, whose work was tremendously popular and controversial in the 17th century) has been largely ignored until her recent rediscovery by feminist critics. No previous knowledge of either Shakespeare or Aphra Behn is assumed: both authors are introduced and their works are placed in context. Each chapter offers practical exercises in analyzing key passages of text and criticism, followed by detailed discussion. The text of "The Rover" is included here, fully modernized and with explanatory notes.

Literature and Gender combines an introduction to and an anthology of literary texts which powerfully demonstrate the relevance of gender issues to the study of literature. The volume covers all three major literary genres - poetry, fiction and drama - and closely examines a wide range of themes, including: feminity versus creativity in women's lives and writing the construction of female characters autobiography and fiction the gendering of language the interaction of race, class and gender within writing, reading and interpretation. Literature and Gender is also a superb resource of primary texts, and includes writing by: Sappho Emily Dickinson Sylvia Plath Tennyson Elizabeth Bishop Louisa May Alcott Virginia Woolf Jamaica Kincaid Charlotte Perkins Gilman Susan Glaspell Also reproduced are essential essays by, amoung others, Maya Angelou, Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, Toni Morrison, Elaine Showalter, and Alice Walker. No other book on this subject provides an anthology, introduction and critical reader in one volume. Literature and Gender is the ideal guide for any student new to this field.

First published in 1999, 'Women, Politics and Performance in South African Theatre Today' is an important contribution to Performance.

This title available in eBook format. Click here for more information.Visit our eBookstore at: www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk.

The Routledge Reader in Politics and Performance brings together for the first time a comprehensive collection of extracts from key writings on politics, ideology, and performance.
Taking an interdisciplinary approach to the subject, and including new writings from leading scholars, the book provides material on:
* post-coloniality and performance theory and practice
* critical theories and performance
* intercultural perspectives
* power, politics and the theatre
* sexuality in performance
* live arts and the media
* theatre games.

The Routledge Reader in Politics and Performance brings together for the first time a comprehensive collection of extracts from key writings on politics, ideology, and performance.
Taking an interdisciplinary approach to the subject, and including new writings from leading scholars, the book provides material on:
* post-coloniality and performance theory and practice
* critical theories and performance
* intercultural perspectives
* power, politics and the theatre
* sexuality in performance
* live arts and the media
* theatre games.

This title available in eBook format. Click here for more information.
Visit our eBookstore at: www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk.

This title available in eBook format. Click here for more information.
Visit our eBookstore at: www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk.

'What is valuable about this volume is its diversity and eclecticism. The book will be a useful resource, particularly for the teaching of feminist theatre and performance.' - New Theatre Quarterly

Contemporary Feminist Theatres is a major evaluation of the forms feminism has taken in the theatre since 1968. Lizbeth Goodman provides a provocative and interdisciplinary study of the development of feminist theatres in Britain. She examines the treatment of key issues such as gender, race, sexuality, language and power in performance. Based on original research and fresh data, Contemporary Feminist Theatres is a fully comprehensive and admirably clear analysis of a flourishing field of practice and inquiry.

The contributers to this volume draw on feminist ideas and discuss the importance of feminist scholarship in developing an approach to literature that focuses on gender. It covers all three major literary genres - prose fiction, poetry and drama (including performance) - and examines a wide range of themes, including: the conflict between "feminity" and creativity in women's lives and writing; the construction of female characters; autobiography and fiction; the gendering of language; spheres of influence among women writers; the importance of "a room of one's own"; and the intersection of race, class and gender within writing, reading and interpretation. Works discussed include a range of poetry by women and men; and works of fiction by Louise May Alcott, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Jamaica Kincaid, Virginia Woolf, Susan Glaspell, Caryl Churchil, Alice Walker and Henrik Ibsen. A selection of key critical texts is included (extracts from the work of, among others, Maya Angelou, Sandra Gilbert, Susan Gubar, Toni Morrison and Elaine Showlater).

Series Information:
Gender in Performance

Feminist Stages draws together the voices of more than fifty women currently working in the theatres of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
It asks provocative questions: What is Feminism? Does gender matter in the theatre? Is there a "female" or "feminist" way of working in the theatre? Are things changing for women in the theatre today?
These women speak across generations, sometimes at cross purposes. They speak from individual positions with regard to race, class, sexuality and regional identity, and approaches to performance.
About the Author and Researcher
Lizbeth Goodman is Lecturer (Theatre Studies/Gender Studies specialist) at the Open University. She also produces and directs comedy at the Gate Theatre, London.
Jane de Gay is a Research Assistant working on the Gender, Politics, Performance Research Project (chaired by Lizbeth Goodman for the Open University). She is also completing at Ph.D. study about the work of Virginia Woolf.

Feminist Stages draws together the voices of more than fifty women currently working in the theatres of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
It asks provocative questions: What is Feminism? Does gender matter in the theatre? Is there a "female" or "feminist" way of working in the theatre? Are things changing for women in the theatre today?
These women speak across generations, sometimes at cross purposes. They speak from individual positions with regard to race, class, sexuality and regional identity, and approaches to performance.
About the Author and Researcher
Lizbeth Goodman is Lecturer (Theatre Studies/Gender Studies specialist) at the Open University. She also produces and directs comedy at the Gate Theatre, London.
Jane de Gay is a Research Assistant working on the Gender, Politics, Performance Research Project (chaired by Lizbeth Goodman for the Open University). She is also completing at Ph.D. study about the work of Virginia Woolf.