The essays in this volume read the Shakespeare films of the 1990s as key instruments with which western culture confronts the anxieties attendant upon the transition from one century to another. Such films as Hamlet, Love's Labour's Lost, Othello, Shakespeare in Love and William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet , the contributors maintain, engage with some of the most pressing concerns of the present, apocalyptic condition - familial crisis, social estrangement, urban blight, cultural hybridity, literary authority, the impact of technology and the end of history. The volume includes an exclusive interview with Kenneth Branagh.

Shakespeare and Ireland examines the complex relationship between the most celebrated icon of the British establishment and Irish literary and cultural traditions. Addressing Shakespearean representations of Ireland as well as Irish writers' responses to the dramatist, it ranges widely across theatrical performances, pedagogical practices, editorial undertakings and political developments. The writings of Joyce, Heaney and Yeats are considered, in addition to recent nationalist discourses. In so doing, the collection establishes the multiple 'Shakespeares' and competing 'Irelands' that inform the Irish imagination.

Shakespeare and Ireland examines the complex relationship between the most celebrated icon of the British establishment and Irish literary and cultural traditions. Addressing Shakespearean representations of Ireland as well as Irish writers' responses to the dramatist, it ranges widely across theatrical performances, pedagogical practices, editorial undertakings and political developments. The writings of Joyce, Heaney and Yeats are considered, in addition to recent nationalist discourses. In so doing, the collection establishes the multiple 'Shakespeares' and competing 'Irelands' that inform the Irish imagination.

Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen of Jewry is a Jacobean closet drama by Elizabeth Tanfield Cary. First published in 1613, it was the first work by a woman to be published under her real name. Never performed during Cary's lifetime, and apparently never intended for performance, the Senecan revenge tragedy tells the story of Mariam, the second wife of Herod. The play exposes and explores the themes of sex, divorce, betrayal, murder, and Jewish society under Herod's tyrannous rule. The comprehensive, illustrated introduction discusses the play in the context of closet drama, female dramatists and in terms of the religious issues it explores, seeing Mariam as a martyr figure. The on-page commentary notes provide further close analysis and explanation, creating an ideal edition for study and teaching.

A substantial reference work that supersedes existing studies, the Companion, explores the place of Shakespeare in relation to a wide range of artistic practices and activities, past and present. The 'arts' are defined broadly as cultural processes that take in publishing, exhibiting, performing, reconstructing and disseminating. The 30 newly commissioned chapters are divided into 6 sections: Shakespeare and the Book; Shakespeare and Music; Shakespeare on Stage and in Performance; Shakespeare and Youth Culture; Shakespeare, Visual and Material Culture; and Shakespeare, Media and Culture. Each chapter provides both a synthesis and a discussion of a topic, informed by current thinking and theoretical reflection. Key Features * Addresses Shakespeare in terms of a global frame of reference * Chapters consider chronology and overview, critical history and analysis * Responds to a growing critical and pedagogical interest in the relations between Shakespeare, the arts, film, performance and mass media more generally

This bold new collection offers an innovative discussion of Shakespeare on screen after the millennium. Cutting-edge, and fully up-to-date, it surveys the rich field of Bardic film representations, from Michael Almereyda's Hamlet to the BBC 'Shakespea(Re)-Told' season, from Michael Radford's The Merchant of Venice to Peter Babakitis' Henry V. In addition to offering in-depth analyses of all the major productions, Screening Shakespeare in the Twenty-First Century includes reflections upon the less well-known filmic 'Shakespeares', which encompass cinema advertisements, appropriations, post-colonial reinventions and mass media citations, and which move across and between genres and mediums. Arguing that Shakespeare is a magnet for negotiations about style, value and literary authority, the essays contend that screen reinterpretations of England's most famous dramatist simultaneously address concerns centred upon nationality and ethnicity, gender and romance, and 'McDonaldisation' and the political process, thereby constituting an important intervention in the debates of the new century. As a result, through consideration of such offerings as the Derry Film Initiative Hamlet, the New Zealand The Maori Merchant of Venice and the television documentary In Search of Shakespeare, this collection is able to assess as never before the continuing relevance of Shakespeare in his local and global screen incarnations. Features * Only collection like it on the market, bringing the subject up to date. * Twenty-first century focus and international coverage. * Innovative discussion of a wide range of films and television. * Accessibly written for students and general readers.

Great Shakespeareans offers a systematic account of those figures who have had the greatest influence on the interpretation, understanding and cultural reception of Shakespeare, both nationally and internationally.
In this volume, leading scholars assess the contribution of Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, Grigori Kozintsev and Franco Zeffirelli to the afterlife and reception of Shakespeare and his plays. Each substantial contribution assesses the double impact of Shakespeare on the figure covered and of the figure on the understanding, interpretation and appreciation of Shakespeare, provide a sketch of their subject's intellectual and professional biography and an account of the wider cultural context, including comparison with other figures or works within the same field. >

Like most girls at Rosemound High School, seventeen-year-old Lily Crane is acutely aware of Ryder Kingscott. Hands down the cutest guy in school, Ryder is cool, mysterious, and utterly untouchable...especially for Lily. For when she touches someone, Lily instantly learns all about their lives. And while such a skill might seem nifty, in truth it is wrecking Lily's life. So she is shocked when Ryder asks her out - and even more shocked to discover he has a rival. Lucian Bell is the gorgeous new kid who can't take his eyes off of Lily. Being pursued by two hotties should make a girl happy, but Lily is skeptical. The boys act as if they've met before, hating each other with a passion that could only be rooted in a dark, dangerous past. A past full of terrible secrets. The kind of secrets that could get a girl killed.

In this volume, leading scholars assess the contribution of four major film directors to the afterlife and reception of Shakespeare and his plays. Focusing on the work of Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, Grigori Kozintsev and Franco Zeffirelli, each essay assesses the double impact of Shakespeare on the film director covered and of the film director on the understanding, interpretation and appreciation of Shakespeare.

Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen of Jewry is a Jacobean closet drama by Elizabeth Tanfield Cary. First published in 1613, it was the first work by a woman to be published under her real name. Never performed during Cary's lifetime, and apparently never intended for performance, the Senecan revenge tragedy tells the story of Mariam, the second wife of Herod. The play exposes and explores the themes of sex, divorce, betrayal, murder, and Jewish society under Herod's tyrannous rule. The comprehensive, illustrated introduction discusses the play in the context of closet drama, female dramatists and in terms of the religious issues it explores, seeing Mariam as a martyr figure. The on-page commentary notes provide further close analysis and explanation, creating an ideal edition for study and teaching.

Wray argues that women participated in many kinds of literary discourse, such as poetry, drama, fiction, autobiography, advice books and religio-politico treatises. Covering the work of all the important women writers of the period it introduces readers to a range of women's writing across the breadth of the 17th century.

The last two decades have transformed the field of Renaissance studies, and Reconceiving the Renaissance: A Critical Reader maps this difficult terrain. Attending to the breadth of fresh approaches, the volume offers a theoretical overview of current thinking about the period.
Collecting in one volume the classic and cutting-edge statements which define early modern scholarship as it is now practiced, this book is a one-stop indispensable resource for undergraduates and beginning postgraduates alike. Through a rich array of arguments by the world's leading experts, the Renaissance emerges wonderfully invigorated, while the suggestive shorter extracts, boxed questions and engaged editorial introductions give students the wherewithal and encouragement to do some reconceiving themselves.