- Hardcover: 312 pages
- Publisher: OUP Oxford (25 Aug 2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0198186428
- ISBN-13: 978-0198186427
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.5 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,560,067 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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The Oxford Shakespeare: Richard II (Oxford World's Classics)
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invigorating and essential new edition (Times Literary Supplement )
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Written in 1595, Richard II occupies a significant place in the Shakespeare canon. It marks the transition from the earlier history plays dominated by civil war and stark power to a more nuanced representation of the political conflicts of England's past where character and politics are inextricably intertwined. Deftly combining history with tragedy, its tale of bad government and usurpation had great political immediacy for its first audiences in late Elizabethan England and continues to resonate today. This scholarly but student-friendly edition features a freshly edited version of the text based on the early quartos and first Folio of 1623. The thorough set of textual notes and full commentary are designed to aid the modern reader to better understand and appreciate the language, the characters, and the dramatic action. The introduction places the play squarely in its own time, describing its topical significance and its political perspectives, and showing how carefully Shakespeare positioned his play within an ongoing political conversation. Together with this historical perspective, the introduction focuses as well on the play's richly poetic language and its great success over the centuries as a play for the stage.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Having the last word is often an advantage and this Oxford edition of Richard II, coming after its main rivals (Cambridge, 1984) and Arden (Arden, 2002), is consequently able to draw upon more recent research and performance. Its mention of a 2009 Vancouver production of the play (in the Commentary) and its discussion of recent books and articles (in the Introduction) make this volume very much up-to-the-minute. (Interestingly, one such book mentioned, by James Siemon, includes an ingenious interpretation of the allegorical 'garden scene', in which 'bushy' and 'green' excrescences are cut off! Two of Richard's favourites, Bushy and Green, of course, meet a similar fate under Bolingbroke.)
This Introduction is especially strong on the study of history and on Shakespeare's contribution to it. Shakespeare's Richard II is often noted for its conservatism - citizens are called 'subjects' throughout and commoners are much less conspicuous than in source texts. To the Oxford authors, however, Shakespeare's play is radical. As well as being encouraged to judge sceptically for themselves, spectators are made to feel involved in England's past and, from their vantage-point in the playhouse, part of a political community. (But to suggest that the play 'makes the audience a party to the regicide' is, perhaps, to overstate the extent of audience involvement.)
Section headings on, for example, language, character and stage history, make for a more conventional approach than some, but there is rewarding material in each: how the play's supposed 'stylistic unity' needs careful qualification; and how John Barton's 1973 RSC production, although 'one of the defining productions of the play of the twentieth century', continues a long tradition of rewriting and adapting - initiated by the same Nahum Tate that gave King Lear a happy ending. Several pages are devoted to Barton's often controversial interpretation which, like the Introduction itself, is concerned with how the dual identity of individual and role creates 'twinning'.
In the Commentary, the authors provide accessible notes. With refreshing candour, they occasionally show that some of Richard's more extravagant metaphors are beyond the comprehension even of scholars - as with the well and two buckets image (in IV.1), described as 'somewhat confused'.
This Introduction is especially strong on the study of history and on Shakespeare's contribution to it. Shakespeare's Richard II is often noted for its conservatism - citizens are called 'subjects' throughout and commoners are much less conspicuous than in source texts. To the Oxford authors, however, Shakespeare's play is radical. As well as being encouraged to judge sceptically for themselves, spectators are made to feel involved in England's past and, from their vantage-point in the playhouse, part of a political community. (But to suggest that the play 'makes the audience a party to the regicide' is, perhaps, to overstate the extent of audience involvement.)
Section headings on, for example, language, character and stage history, make for a more conventional approach than some, but there is rewarding material in each: how the play's supposed 'stylistic unity' needs careful qualification; and how John Barton's 1973 RSC production, although 'one of the defining productions of the play of the twentieth century', continues a long tradition of rewriting and adapting - initiated by the same Nahum Tate that gave King Lear a happy ending. Several pages are devoted to Barton's often controversial interpretation which, like the Introduction itself, is concerned with how the dual identity of individual and role creates 'twinning'.
In the Commentary, the authors provide accessible notes. With refreshing candour, they occasionally show that some of Richard's more extravagant metaphors are beyond the comprehension even of scholars - as with the well and two buckets image (in IV.1), described as 'somewhat confused'.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Up to the minute
28 Nov 2011
Format:Paperback
Having the last word is often an advantage and this Oxford edition of Richard II, coming after its main rivals (Cambridge, 1984) and Arden (Arden, 2002), is consequently able to draw upon more recent research and performance. Its mention of a 2009 Vancouver production of the play (in the Commentary) and its discussion of recent books and articles (in the Introduction) make this volume very much up-to-the-minute. (Interestingly, one such book mentioned, by James Siemon, includes an ingenious interpretation of the allegorical 'garden scene', in which 'bushy' and 'green' excrescences are cut off! Two of Richard's favourites, Bushy and Green, of course, meet a similar fate under Bolingbroke.)
This Introduction is especially strong on the study of history and on Shakespeare's contribution to it. Shakespeare's Richard II is often noted for its conservatism - citizens are called 'subjects' throughout and commoners are much less conspicuous than in source texts. To the Oxford authors, however, Shakespeare's play is radical. As well as being encouraged to judge sceptically for themselves, spectators are made to feel involved in England's past and, from their vantage-point in the playhouse, part of a political community. (But to suggest that the play 'makes the audience a party to the regicide' is, perhaps, to overstate the extent of audience involvement.)
Section headings on, for example, language, character and stage history, make for a more conventional approach than some, but there is rewarding material in each: how the play's supposed 'stylistic unity' needs careful qualification; and how John Barton's 1973 RSC production, although 'one of the defining productions of the play of the twentieth century', continues a long tradition of rewriting and adapting - initiated by the same Nahum Tate that gave King Lear a happy ending. Several pages are devoted to Barton's often controversial interpretation which, like the Introduction itself, is concerned with how the dual identity of individual and role creates 'twinning'.
In the Commentary, the authors provide accessible notes. With refreshing candour, they occasionally show that some of Richard's more extravagant metaphors are beyond the comprehension even of scholars - as with the well and two buckets image (in IV.1), described as 'somewhat confused'.
This Introduction is especially strong on the study of history and on Shakespeare's contribution to it. Shakespeare's Richard II is often noted for its conservatism - citizens are called 'subjects' throughout and commoners are much less conspicuous than in source texts. To the Oxford authors, however, Shakespeare's play is radical. As well as being encouraged to judge sceptically for themselves, spectators are made to feel involved in England's past and, from their vantage-point in the playhouse, part of a political community. (But to suggest that the play 'makes the audience a party to the regicide' is, perhaps, to overstate the extent of audience involvement.)
Section headings on, for example, language, character and stage history, make for a more conventional approach than some, but there is rewarding material in each: how the play's supposed 'stylistic unity' needs careful qualification; and how John Barton's 1973 RSC production, although 'one of the defining productions of the play of the twentieth century', continues a long tradition of rewriting and adapting - initiated by the same Nahum Tate that gave King Lear a happy ending. Several pages are devoted to Barton's often controversial interpretation which, like the Introduction itself, is concerned with how the dual identity of individual and role creates 'twinning'.
In the Commentary, the authors provide accessible notes. With refreshing candour, they occasionally show that some of Richard's more extravagant metaphors are beyond the comprehension even of scholars - as with the well and two buckets image (in IV.1), described as 'somewhat confused'.
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