A dynamic new study in literary and dramatic influence, Misreading Shakespeare defines and explores the relation between two modern plays-Edward Bond's Lear and Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead-and Shakespeare's King Lear and Hamlet. While some see the modern plays as derivative, others claim that they are as original as the Shakespearean plays. The effort to define and explore this relationship is a challenge for critics and readers alike. Here, Wagdi Zeid, a playwright and professor of Shakespeare and drama, puts forth a theoretical perspective derived from W. Jackson Bate and Harold Bloom's theories of influence.

Zeid's study manages to defi ne and explore not only this intriguing and ambiguous relationship but the concept of originality itself. Furthermore, while theorists like Bate and Bloom are wholly concerned with just general statements and concepts, Misreading Shakespeare goes inside the dramatic texts themselves, and this practical aspect makes a big difference. Also, neither Bate nor Bloom has tried to apply his theory to dramatic texts.

Misreading Shakespeare offers readers both theory and practice. Misreading Shakespeare was written for an eclectic audience, including scholars of drama, theatre, Shakespeare, and literary theory and criticism; playwrights and other writers striving for originality; and theatrical artists and audiences alike.

Akhnaton, a pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty, is about to challenge everything his people and culture hold dear in The Last Pharaoh. Before his rule, Egyptians lived a life of slavery under their rulers, who demanded abject submission. In a culture where rulers are revered as gods, change comes slowly, if at all. The pharaoh's grand vision of sweeping social reform is met with violent hostility by the priesthood and every other power player in the kingdom. When Akhnaton announces that he is, in fact, as mortal and fallible as his subjects, his proclamation inspires rivalries that would enthusiastically put his new mortality to the test. Neighbors struggle with questions of faith, morality, and the social order in Winter Dreams, a two-act play that could take place in any small town in America. When a child preacher stirs up old drama and rivalries, more questions than answers arise. Is he really the voice of God, or are other forces at work? The New Odyssey explores a darker future for humanity. In 1999-as the flames of the disastrous Third World War cool, and the fourth apocalyptic global war looms-a college professor summons Hesiod, Homer, and Shakespeare. He argues passionately to enlist their help in a bold plan to save humanity from its eventual destruction-at the hand of womankind. If he can get these three minds from humanity's past in on his scheme, there may be hope for mankind's future yet.

Akhnaton, a pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty, is about to challenge everything his people and culture hold dear in The Last Pharaoh. Before his rule, Egyptians lived a life of slavery under their rulers, who demanded abject submission. In a culture where rulers are revered as gods, change comes slowly, if at all. The pharaoh's grand vision of sweeping social reform is met with violent hostility by the priesthood and every other power player in the kingdom. When Akhnaton announces that he is, in fact, as mortal and fallible as his subjects, his proclamation inspires rivalries that would enthusiastically put his new mortality to the test. Neighbors struggle with questions of faith, morality, and the social order in Winter Dreams, a two-act play that could take place in any small town in America. When a child preacher stirs up old drama and rivalries, more questions than answers arise. Is he really the voice of God, or are other forces at work? The New Odyssey explores a darker future for humanity. In 1999-as the flames of the disastrous Third World War cool, and the fourth apocalyptic global war looms-a college professor summons Hesiod, Homer, and Shakespeare. He argues passionately to enlist their help in a bold plan to save humanity from its eventual destruction-at the hand of womankind. If he can get these three minds from humanity's past in on his scheme, there may be hope for mankind's future yet.

A dynamic new study in literary and dramatic influence, Misreading Shakespeare defines and explores the relation between two modern plays-Edward Bond's Lear and Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead-and Shakespeare's King Lear and Hamlet. While some see the modern plays as derivative, others claim that they are as original as the Shakespearean plays. The effort to define and explore this relationship is a challenge for critics and readers alike. Here, Wagdi Zeid, a playwright and professor of Shakespeare and drama, puts forth a theoretical perspective derived from W. Jackson Bate and Harold Bloom's theories of influence.

Zeid's study manages to defi ne and explore not only this intriguing and ambiguous relationship but the concept of originality itself. Furthermore, while theorists like Bate and Bloom are wholly concerned with just general statements and concepts, Misreading Shakespeare goes inside the dramatic texts themselves, and this practical aspect makes a big difference. Also, neither Bate nor Bloom has tried to apply his theory to dramatic texts.

Misreading Shakespeare offers readers both theory and practice. Misreading Shakespeare was written for an eclectic audience, including scholars of drama, theatre, Shakespeare, and literary theory and criticism; playwrights and other writers striving for originality; and theatrical artists and audiences alike.