Based on the original and authoritative Revels texts, "Plays on Women" brings together four plays that dramatize the lives of women in Shakespeare's England. Presenting both domestic tragedy and city comedy, the anthology depicts women as witty tricksters and heart-breaking victims, adulteresses and faithful wives. In each play, the women break out of familiar roles, challenging both theatrical and social convention to offer the pleasures of laughter, pathos and suspense. McLuskie's introduction uses the latest interdisciplinary research to explore the dynamic relationship between women, the theatre and the social world. The annotation unravels the complexities of language and performance that sustain the plays' stunning theatrical power.

Shakespeare's works are now performed for an increasingly diversified cultural market. At the start of the twenty-first century, film, video and live performance have overtaken the printed book as the main ways in which people are introduced to Shakespeare. Therefore, is there any reason to ask people to read Shakespeare's plays anymore?
The essays in this volume explore this question and the institutional practices that shape contemporary performances of Shakespeare's plays. The book gathers together a particularly strong line-up of contributors from across the literary-performative divide to examine the relationship between Shakespeare, the 'culture industries', modernism and live performance.

Shakespeare's works are now performed for an increasingly diversified cultural market. At the start of the twenty-first century film, video and live performance have overtaken the printed book as the main ways in which people are introduced to Shakespeare. Therefore, is there any reason to ask people to read Shakespeare's plays anymore?
The essays in this volume explore this question and the institutional practices that shape contemporary performances of Shakespeare's plays. The book gathers together a particularly strong line-up of contributors from across the literary-performative divide to examine the relationship between Shakespeare, the 'culture industries', modernism and live performance.