Elaborates on the theory that celebrated English playwright Christopher Marlowe staged his own death and subsequently became known as William Shakespeare, in a speculative biography that describes Elizabethan political intrigue.

Publisher Description (unedited publisher data) Shakespeare's history plays have been performed more in recent years than ever before, in Britain, North America, and in Europe. This volume provides an accessible, wide-ranging and informed introduction to Shakespeare's history and Roman plays. It is attentive throughout to the plays as they have been performed over the centuries since they were written. The first part offers accounts of the genre of the history play, of Renaissance historiography, of pageants and masques, and of women's roles, as well as comparisons with history plays in Spain and the Netherlands. Chapters in the second part look at individual plays as well as other Shakespearean texts which are closely related to the histories. The Companion offers a full bibliography, genealogical tables, and a list of principal and recurrent characters. It is a comprehensive guide for students, researchers and theatre-goers alike.

Comedy and Tragedy--Collected here in one binding are All's Well That Ends Well Measure for Measure and The History of Troilus and Cressida. Collectively they are known as Shakespeare's Problem Plays. While the first two are usually placed with the comedies and the later with the tragedies none of them fit neatly into either classification. Their structure subject matter and resolutions create problems for those who want simple classifications. The term was coined by critic F. S. Boas who believed that these plays each explored a moral dilemma and social problem through their main characters giving the term a layered meaning. O it is excellentTo have a giant's strength;But it is tyrannousTo use it like a giant.

Compares the historical kings with their portrayal in Shakespeare's plays.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1875.

Shakespeare is manifest in the continued staging of these history plays, which first came into vogue thanks to the post-Armada nationalism that swept Tudor England. Through historical dramas such as Henry IV and Richard III, Shakespeare addressed the political, social, and religious needs of an entire nation. In William Shakespeare: The History Plays, E. Pearlman provides an indispensable tool for identifying the source of the timeless excitement provided by.