Description: This lively and innovative introduction to Shakespeare promotes active engagement with the plays, rather than recycling factual information. Covering a range of texts, it is divided into seven subject-based chapters: Character; Performance; Texts; Language; Structure; Sources and History, and it does not assume any prior knowledge. Instead, it develops ways of thinking and provides the reader with resources for independent research through the 'Where next?' sections at the end of each chapter. The book draws on scholarship without being overwhelmed by it, and unlike other introductory guides to Shakespeare it emphasizes that there is space for new and fresh thinking by students and readers, even on the most-studied and familiar plays.
Brief description: Emma Smith is Fellow and Tutor in English at Hertford College, University of Oxford.
Review Quotes: "I'll be entirely happy to recommend this to students. It's accessible, it's divided up by topic in a way that reflects the different approaches one might take to Shakespeare in class (e.g. structure/genre, historical context), the suggestions for further reading are realistic and helpful and include well-chosen online materials, and it's framed in a way that invites further discussion either in the classroom or in the study."
- Dr. Tom Rutter, Sheffield Hallam University