Dympna Callaghan

"Shakespeare Without Women is a controversial study of female impersonation and the connections between dramatic and political representation in Shakespeare's plays. In this book, Callaghan argues that all Shakespeare's actors were, of historical necessity, (white) males which meant that the portayal of women and racial others posed unique problems for his theatre. What is important, Shakespeare Without Women claims, is not to bemoan the absence of women, Africans, or the Irish, but to determine what such absences meant in their historical context and why they matter today."--Jacket.

"A new study of Shakespeare's life and times, which illuminates our understanding and appreciation of his works. This book: Combines an accessible fully historicised treatment of both the life and the plays, suited to both undergraduate and popular audiences ; Looks at 24 of the most significant plays and the sonnets through the lens of various aspects of Shakespeare's life and historical environment ; Addresses four of the most significant issues that shaped Shakespeare's career: education, religion, social status, and theatre ; Examines theatre as an institution and the literary environment of early modern London ; Explains and dispatches conspiracy theories about authorship."--Publisher's website.

"This volume marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death by reflecting on the unrivalled work of the Shakespeare Association of America and offering a unique collection of leading Shakespeare scholars outlining key developments in Shakespeare studies over the last two decades. These essays are complemented by younger scholars who respond and look forward to new fields of study and debate. As such the book offers a "state of the nation" look at Shakespeare criticism, covering all the key areas of research and study including gender, text, performance, the body, history, religion and biography. This is a must-read, comprehensive introduction to the key critical ideas surrounding Shakespeare's work and a stimulating exploration of where Shakespeare studies will go next."--Publisher's website.

How did the events of the early modern period affect the way gender and the self were represented? This collection of essays attempts to respond to this question by analyzing a wide spectrum of cultural concerns -- humanism, technology, science, law, anatomy, literacy, domesticity, colonialism, erotic practices, and the theatre -- in order to delineate the history of subjectivity and its relationship with the postmodern fragmented subject. The scope of this analysis expands the terrain explored by feminist theory, while its feminist focus reveals that the subject is always gendered -- although the terms in which gender is conceived and represented change across history. "Feminist Readings of Early Modern Culture" not only explores the representation of gendered subjects, but in its commitment to balancing the productive tensions of methodological diversity, also speaks to contemporary challenges facing feminism. -- From publisher's description.

A collection of six critical essays on the sonnets of Shakespeare, arranged in chronological order of original publication.

Passion, politics, love and death combine in a novel of the legendary love triangle between the three leaders of the Roman era: Cleopatra, Mark Antony and Octavian, from the bestselling author of The Thorn BirdsMark Antony, famous warrior and legendary lover, expected that he would be Julius Caesar's successor. But after Caesar's murder it was his 18-year old nephew, Octavian, who was named in the will. No-one, least of all Antony, expected him to last but his youth and slight frame concealed a remarkable determination and a clear strategic sense. Antony was the leader of the fabulously rich East. Barely into his campaigning, he met Cleopatra, Pharaoh of Egypt. Bereft by the loss of Julius Caesar, her lover, father of her only son, she saw Antony as another Roman who could support her and provide more heirs. His fascination for her, his sense that she knew the way forward where he had lost his, led to the beginning of their passionate, and very public affair. The two men, twin rulers of Rome, might have found a way to live with each other but not with Cleopatra between them. This is a truly epic story of power and scandal, battle and passion, political spin and inexorable fate with a rich historical background and a remarkable cast of characters, all brought brilliantly to life by Colleen McCullough. It is hard to leave the world she has created.

In this volume on Othello, Laurie Maguire examines the use and misuse of language, the play's textual and performance histories and how critics and directors have responded to the language of sexual jealousy.

An adaptation of Shakespeare's play in which Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, is urged by his father's ghost to avenge his murder by his wife and his brother who has seized the throne.

A prose retelling of Shakespeare's play in which a jealous general is duped into thinking that his wife has been unfaithful, with tragic consequences.

"The question is not whether Shakespeare studies needs feminism, but whether feminism needs Shakespeare. The all-women team of contributors to A Feminist Companion to Shakespeare argues that not only is Shakespeare important for women, his works are specifically important for feminism.". "The collected essays address issues vital to feminist inquiry such as race, sexuality, the body, queer politics, and the advent of capitalism, but also appropriate ground that has hitherto been regarded as terrain hostile to feminism, such as textual editing and theater history."--BOOK JACKET.