The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare's Poetry

Description

This Companion provides a full introduction to the poetry of William Shakespeare through discussion of his freestanding narrative poems, the Sonnets, and his plays. Fourteen leading international scholars provide accessible and authoritative chapters on all relevant topics: from Shakespeare's seminal role in the development of English poetry, the wide-ranging practice of his poetic form, and his enigmatic place in print and manuscript culture, to his immersion in English Renaissance politics, religion, classicism, and gender dynamics. With individual chapters on Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, The Passionate Pilgrim, 'The Phoenix and the Turtle', the Sonnets, and A Lover's Complaint, the Companion also includes chapters on the presence of poetry in the dramatic works, on the relation between poetry and performance, and on the reception and influence of the poems. The volume includes a chronology of Shakespeare's life, a note on reference works, and a reading list for each chapter.

Patrick Cheney is Professor in the Department of English at Pennsylvania State University.

'The volume is rounded out with useful reference material , including an introductory chronology and a list of reference works...This volume will appeal to the advanced student who needs greater insight into the poems, but also the mature student will find it refreshing in its willingness to acknowledge the integrity of the poetic works as they fit into Shakespeare's entire oeuvre." -A. Robin Bowers, Plymouth State University, Renaissance Quarterly '...should provide an important supplementary source for beginning and advanced students." -Catherine Gimelli Martin, University of Memphis, Studies in English Literature