How to Study a Shakespeare Play PDF
Preview How to Study a Shakespeare Play
HOW TO STUDY LITERATURE General Editors:John Peck and Martin Coyle HOW TO STUDY A SHAKESPEARE PLAY HOW TO STUDY LITERATURE General Editors:John Peck and Martin Coyle HOW TO STUDY A SHAKESPEARE PLAY IN THE SAME SERIES How to Study a Novel John Peck Literary Terms and Criticism John Peck and Martin Coyle IN PREPARATION How to Study English Literature How to Study a Play How to Study Poetry How to Study ajaneAusten Novel How to Study Chaucer How to Study a Thomas Hardy Novel How to Study Marlowe,Jonson and Webster HOW TO STUDY A SHAKESPEARE PLAY John Peck and Martin Coyle M MACMILLAN ©John Peckand MartinCoyle 1985 All rights reserved. Noreproduction, copyortransmission ofthis publicationmay bemadewithoutwritten permission. Noparagraphofthis publicationmay be reproduced, copied or transmittedsavewithwritten permissionorinaccordance with the provisionsoftheCopyrightAct 1956 (asamended). Anyperson whodoes anyunauthorisedact in relation to this publication may beliabletocriminalprosecutionand civilclaimsfordamages. First published 1985 Published by Higherand FurtherEducationDivision MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, HampshireRG2l 2XS and London Companiesand representatives throughout the world Typesetby Wessex Typesetters Frome, Somerset British LibraryCataloguingin PublicationData Peck,John,1947- HowtostudyaShakespeareplay.-(Howto studyliterature) I. Shakespeare,William-Studyandteaching I. Title II. Coyle,Martin III. Series 822'.3'3 PR2987 ISBN978-0-333-38977-5 ISBN978-1-349-07930-8 (eBook) DOl 10.1007/978-1-349-07930-8 Contents Generaleditors'preface VI Acknowledgements Vll I HowtoapproachaShakespeareplay 1 2 Studyingahistoryplay 16 TheEnglishhistoryplays 16 Richard// 16 HenryIVPartOne 32 TheRomanhistoryplays 41 JuliusCaesar 42 AnoteonAntonyandCleopatraandCoriolanus 49 3 Studyingatragedy 53 Thetragedies 53 Hamlet 56 KingLear 71 Othello 79 Macbeth 85 4 Studyingacomedy 92 Theromanticcomedies 92 TwelfthNight 95 Much AdoAboutNothing 109 Theproblemcomedies 119 Theromances 122 5 DiscussinganextractfromaShakespeareplay 130 Examinations 130 Contextquestions 132 Writingaboutalongerextract 138 6 Writinganessay 149 Essay-writing 149 Thequestion 149 Youranswer 154 Furtherreading 163 AlistofShakespeare'splays 167 Index 169 General Editors' Preface Everybodywhostudiesliterature, eitherfor anexaminationor simply for pleasure, experiences the same problem: how to understand and respond to the text. As every student of literatureknows, itisperfectlypossibletoread a bookoverand overagainandyetstillfeel baffledandatalossastowhattosay about it. One answer to this problem, ofcourse, is to accept someoneelse'sviewofthe text, buthowmuch morerewarding itwould beifyou couldworkoutyourowncritical response to any book you choose or are required to study. The aim ofthis series is to help you develop your critical skills by offering practical advice about how to read, understand and analyse literature. Each volume provides you with a clear method ofstudy so that you can see how to set about tackling texts onyour own. While the authors ofeach volumeapproach theproblemin adifferentway, every bookin theseriesattempts toprovideyouwithsomebroadideasabout the kind oftexts you are likely to be studying and some broad ideas about how to think about literature; each volume then showsyouhowtoapply theseideasinawaywhichshouldhelp you construct your own analysis and interpretation. Unlike most critical books, therefore, the books in this series do not simply convey someone else's thinking about a text, but encourage you and show you how to think about a text for yourself. Eachbookiswrittenwithanawarenessthatyouarelikely to be preparing for an examination, and therefore practical advice is given not only on how to understand and analyse literature, butalsoon how toorganise a written response. Our hope is that although these books are intended to serve a practical purpose, they may also enrich your enjoyment of literature by making you a more confident reader, alert to the interest and pleasure to be derived from literary texts. John Peck Martin Coyle Acknowledgements WEare verygrateful to MichaelQuinnfor hisclose readingof thefinaldraftand hismanysuggestionsforimprovements,and alsotoSheilaMorganforherexcellenttypingand manywords ofencouragement. For Matthew and Penny and Steven
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