Metamorphosis in Shakespeare's Plays a Pageant of Heroes, Gods, Maids, and Monsters

Author: 
Year:
Pages:312
ISBN:0-7734-9434-0
978-0-7734-9434-3
Price:$219.95 + shipping
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Images of metamorphosis characterize Shakespeare's drama on every level. Once the image is established by simile, metaphor, or direct allusion, it is then transformed into the stuff of theatre. The images are charged with tension, excitement, and sometimes humor. This is a fresh approach to Shakespeare's use of metamorphosis, using The Taming of the Shrew, Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, A Winter's Tale, and others to demonstrate transformations on several levels. With twenty-five pages of illustrations.

Reviews

"The book is copiously documented, with extensive reference to modern work in this field and to sixteenth-century texts and documents." - The Early Drama, Art, and Music Review

". . . a thoroughly researched book. Its one flaw, and its virtue, is that the writer has so immersed herself in her subject that Shakespeare's plays begin to seem like one vast metamorphosis." - Comparative Drama

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