ENGLISH

William Empson: Essays on Shakespeare

By William Empson , David Pirie (editor)

Book information

Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Year
1986
ISBN
9780511627491, 9780521255776, 9780521311502
DOI
10.1017/CBO9780511627491
Google Books ID
PQCmN87p-0EC
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
3 MB (3481436 bytes)
Edition
1
Pages
256\256
Orientation
yes
Scanned
yes
Time added
2011-08-31 04:54:40

Description

At the time of his death in 1984, the poet and critic William Empson was preparing and revising a collection of his essays on Shakespeare. This collection edited by David Pirie, is a book which the literary world has wanted for over half a century. Here, in a single volume, are major readings of Hamlet and Macbeth; a witty and sometimes impassioned defence of Falstaff, and a new piece on the architecture of the Globe theatre and other Renaissance playhouses, in which Empson explores the problems that the design of contemporary stages posed for a working playwright; there are also essays on the narrative poems, A Midsummer Night's Dream and the last plays. The essays demonstrate the subtlety and agility of Empson's mind, as well as his remarkable breadth of knowledge, while the almost racy wit of his informal prose style argues for a literary criticism which should never become solemn if it is to be truly serious.

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