King Henry V: Shakespeare: The Critical Tradition

Description

With its depiction of the victorious English king, Henry V has divided critical opinion and remains one of the more controversial of Shakespeare's histories. This new volume in Shakespeare: The Critical Tradition increases our knowledge of how Shakespeare's plays were received and understood by critics, editors and general readers. The volume offers, in separate sections, both critical opinions about the play across the centuries and an evaluation of their positions within and their impact on the reception of the play. The chronological arrangement of the text-excerpts engages the readers in a direct and unbiased dialogue, whereas the introduction offers a critical evaluation from a current stance, including modern theories and methods. Thus the volume makes a major contribution to our understanding of the play and of the traditions of Shakespearean criticism surrounding it as they have developed from century to century.

Joseph Candido is Professor of English at the University of Arkansas, USA, where he teaches Shakespeare and Renaissance drama.

Edited by Joseph Candido, the book covers criticism of the play from 1790 to 1945. Candido's wonderfully informative introduction goes further, offering a brisk survey of the earliest criticism to the present day. * The Times Literary Supplement *