History of English Literature, Volume 2: Shakespeare

420 Pages·2018·2.766 MB·English

by  Franco Marucci

Volume 2
History of English Literature
H
‘Franco Marucci’s History of English Literature is unique in its field. There
is no other book that combines such erudition and authority in such a i
s
compact format. An indispensable work of reference.’ t
o
— J. B. Bullen, Visiting Fellow, Kellogg College, Oxford
r
y
History of English Literature is a comprehensive, eight-volume survey of
o
English literature from the Middle Ages to the early twenty-first century.
f
This reference work provides insightful and often revisionary readings of
S E
core texts in the English literary canon. Richly informative analyses are h
a n
framed by the biographical, historical and intellectual context for each k
g
e
author. s l
p
i
e
a s
Volume 2 offers a general assessment of all of Shakespeare’s works, re h

summarizes the critical reception since its onset, traces a tentative L
biography of the playwright, discusses the youthful poems and the sonnets, i
t
and analyses the plays one by one. The plays are divided into the traditional e
thematic and chronological subsets – such as historical dramas, comedies, r
a
tragedies and romances – but they are further assessed in terms of their
t
‘experimental’ or ‘mature’ characteristics. u
r
e
Franco Marucci is a former Professor of English at the Universities of
Siena, Florence and Venice Ca’ Foscari. His publications include Il senso
interrotto. Autonomia e codificazione nella poesia di Dylan Thomas (1976),
The Fine Delight that Fathers Thought: Rhetoric and Medievalism in Gerard
Manley Hopkins (1994), L’inchiostro del mago. Saggi di letteratura inglese
Shakespeare
dell’Ottocento (2009) and Joyce (2013). His Storia della letteratura inglese
F
in eight volumes was published by Le Lettere / Editoriale Srl, 2003–2018. As r
a
a creative writer he is the author of Pentapoli (2011), followed by Il Michelin n
c
del sacro (2012). He runs the blog <http://francomarucci.wordpress.com>, o

with comments and features on literature and music, and a weekly sports M
page. a
r
u Franco Marucci Volume 2
c
c
i
ISBN 978-3-0343-2229-4
www.peterlang.com Peter Lang
History of English Literature

History of
English Literature
Volume 2
Shakespeare
Franco Marucci
Translated from the Italian by J. Patricia Kennan,
Sarah Suella Darkins and Elizabeth Harrowell
PETER LANG
Oxford • Bern • Berlin • Bruxelles • New York • Wien
Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. Die Deutsche
Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche National-bibliografie; detailed
bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Marucci, Franco, 1949- author.
Title: Shakespeare / Franco Marucci.
Other titles: Shakespeare. English
Description: Oxford; New York : Peter Lang, [2018] | Series: History of
English literature; volume 2 | Translation of Shakespeare, volume 1, tome
2 of Storia della letteratura inglese. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018008608 | ISBN 9783034322294 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 – Criticism and
interpretation.
Classification: LCC PR2894 .M346 2018 | DDC 822.3/3 – dc23 LC record available at
https://lccn.loc.gov/2018008608
Cover image: Edwin Henry Landseer, Scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Titania
and Bottom (1848).
Cover design by Brian Melville.
ISBN 978-3-0343-2229-4 (print) • ISBN 978-1-78874-223-8 (ePDF)
ISBN 978-1-78874-224-5 (ePub) • ISBN 978-1-78874-225-2 (mobi)
© Peter Lang AG 2018
Published by Peter Lang Ltd, International Academic Publishers,
52 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3LU, United Kingdom
[email protected], www.peterlang.com
Franco Marucci has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as Author of this Work.
All rights reserved.
All parts of this publication are protected by copyright.
Any utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without
the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution.
This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming,
and storage and processing in electronic retrieval systems.
This publication has been peer reviewed.
Printed in Germany
Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. Die Deutsche
Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche National-bibliografie; detailed
bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Marucci, Franco, 1949- author.
Title: Shakespeare / Franco Marucci.
Other titles: Shakespeare. English
Description: Oxford; New York : Peter Lang, [2018] | Series: History of
English literature; volume 2 | Translation of Shakespeare, volume 1, tome Patterned by that the poet here describes
2 of Storia della letteratura inglese. | Includes bibliographical
(Titus Andronicus, IV.1.157)
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018008608 | ISBN 9783034322294 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 – Criticism and
interpretation.
Classification: LCC PR2894 .M346 2018 | DDC 822.3/3 – dc23 LC record available at
https://lccn.loc.gov/2018008608
Cover image: Edwin Henry Landseer, Scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Titania
and Bottom (1848).
Cover design by Brian Melville.
ISBN 978-3-0343-2229-4 (print) • ISBN 978-1-78874-223-8 (ePDF)
ISBN 978-1-78874-224-5 (ePub) • ISBN 978-1-78874-225-2 (mobi)
© Peter Lang AG 2018
Published by Peter Lang Ltd, International Academic Publishers,
52 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3LU, United Kingdom
[email protected], www.peterlang.com
Franco Marucci has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as Author of this Work.
All rights reserved.
All parts of this publication are protected by copyright.
Any utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without
the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution.
This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming,
and storage and processing in electronic retrieval systems.
This publication has been peer reviewed.
Printed in Germany

Volumes of this work will be cited as follows:
Volume 1 F. Marucci, History of English Literature, vol. 1, Oxford 2018.
Volume 3 F. Marucci, History of English Literature, vol. 3, Oxford 2018.
Volume 4 F. Marucci, History of English Literature, vol. 4, Oxford 2019.
Volume 5 F. Marucci, History of English Literature, vol. 5, Oxford 2019.
Volume 6 F. Marucci, History of English Literature, vol. 6, Oxford 2019.
Volume 7 F. Marucci, History of English Literature, vol. 7, Oxford 2019.
Volume 8 F. Marucci, History of English Literature, vol. 8, Oxford 2019.
Note. For all other bibliographical references, made by author and year of publication
followed by page number, see the general bibliography at the end of § 1 and the specific
bibliographies for single dramas and poetical works.

Contents
§§ 1–4. Introduction 1
§ 1. Getting oriented in Shakespeare, p. 3. § 2. Shakespeare
and his critics, p. 14. § 3. Organizing the dramatic canon,
p. 28. § 4. Biography, p. 32.
5–7. The Poems and the Sonnets 39
§ 5. The narrative poems, p. 41. §§ 6–7. The sonnets
(§ 6. Norm and anti-norm, p. 47. § 7. Irradiation, p. 58).
8–16. The History Plays 69
§ 8. The history plays, p. 71. § 9. Henry VI, p. 73. § 10. King
Richard III, p. 83. § 11. King Richard II, p. 92. § 12. King John,
p. 99. § 13. Henry IV Part 1, p. 103. § 14. Henry IV Part 2,
p. 109. § 15. Henry V, p. 117. § 16. Henry VIII, p. 126.
17–22. The Euphuistic Comedies 135
§ 17. The euphuistic comedies, p. 137. § 18. The Comedy of
Errors, p. 137. § 19. The Taming of the Shrew, p. 143. § 20. The
Two Gentlemen of Verona, p. 148. § 21. Love’s Labour’s Lost,
p. 154. § 22. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, p. 159.
23–28. The Roman Plays 169
§ 23. The Roman plays, p. 171. § 24. Titus Andronicus, p. 172.
§ 25. Julius Caesar, p. 183. § 26. Troilus and Cressida, p. 192.
§ 27. Antony and Cleopatra, p. 201. § 28. Coriolanus, p. 210.