ENGL 2210 - Early British Literature - Essay 2: Books and eBooks

Although scholars have long considered the material conditions surrounding the production of early modern drama, until now, no book-length examination has sought to explain what was worn on the period's stages and, more importantly, how articles of apparel were understood when seen by contemporary audiences. Robert Lublin's new study considers royal proclamations, religious writings, paintings, woodcuts, plays, historical accounts, sermons, and legal documents to investigate what Shakespearean actors actually wore in production and what cultural information those costumes conveyed. Four of the chapters of Costuming the Shakespearean Stage address 'categories of seeing': visually based semiotic systems according to which costumes constructed and conveyed information on the early modern stage. The four categories include gender, social station, nationality, and religion. The fifth chapter examines one play, Thomas Middleton's A Game at Chess, to show how costumes signified across the categories of seeing to establish a play's distinctive semiotics and visual aesthetic.

Inspired by new approaches in performance studies, theatre history, research in material culture and dress history, a rich discussion of the many aspects of costume in Shakespearean performance has begun. Shakespeare and Costume furthers this research, bringing together varied and stimulating essays by leading scholars that consider costume from literary, dramatic, design, performative and theatrical perspectives, as well as interviews with renowned theatre practitioners Jane Greenwood and Robert Morgan. The volume amply demonstrates how an analysis of the meaning of costume enriches our understanding of Shakespeare's plays. Beginning with an overview of the stage history of Shakespeare and costume, the volume looks at the historical context of clothing in the plays, considering topics such as royal self-fashioning, festive livery practices, and conceptions of race and gender exhibited in clothing choice, as well as costume in performance. Drawing on documentary evidence in designers' renderings, illustrations in periodicals, paintings, photographs, newspaper reviews and actors' memoirs, the volume also explores costume designs in specific Shakespeare productions from the re-opening of the London theatres in 1660 to the present day.

This book examines the ways in which costumes were acquired and used in conjunction with the repertory of the principal London acting companies, mainly during the years 1594-1621.

Read "Death and the Afterlife: Vikings" pages 462-464

We build our lives on essential but seemingly mundane things: Food, Shelter, Families, Neighbors, Work, and Play. The unremembered details of people's everyday struggles and successes have shaped history and continue to drive the world we know. This exciting new resouce offers an unprecedented look at human history's living heart: the billions of anonymous men and women often forgotten by historical studies, but without whose lives human history would be meaningless. Perfect for general readers and students of world history, U.S. history, literature, drama, social studies, anthropology, religion, and more, this award-winning resource offers an unprecedented look at how people lived, ate, dressed, worshipped, toiled, played, married and died, and much much more. Organized by timeframe (each volume covers a finite period) and then by topic (Historical Overview,then Domestic, Economic,Intellectual, Material, Political, Recreational, and Religious Life, followed by primary sources), this set will meet the needs of a vast perecentage of library patrons for both curricular studies as well as personal interest areas.

Why did theatre audiences laugh in Shakespeare's day? Why do they still laugh now? What did Shakespeare do with the conventions of comedy that he inherited, so that his plays continue to amuse and move audiences? What do his comedies have to say about love, sex, gender, power, family, community, and class? What place have pain, cruelty, and even death in a comedy? Why all those puns? In a survey that travels from Shakespeare's earliest experiments in farce and courtly love-stories to the great romantic comedies of his middle years and the mould-breaking experiments of his last decade's work, this book addresses these vital questions. Organised thematically, and covering all Shakespeare's comedies from the beginning to the end of his career, it provides readers with a map of the playwright's comic styles, showing how he built on comedic conventions as he further enriched the possibilities of the genre.