The Shakespearean Comic and Tragicomic: French Inflections

Description

Richard Hillman's latest book on the French connections of early modern English drama shows that Shakespeare regularly inflected the models provided by Italian comedy and tragicomedy by evoking French material, dramatic and non-dramatic. Such inflection especially bears on the tragic overtones that menace or complicate comic resolutions. -- .

Richard Hillman is Professor Emeritus in Renaissance Literature at the Universite de Tours, Centre d'Etudes Superieures de la Renaissance, Tours, France -- .

'In sum, Hillman's The Shakespearean Comic and Tragicomic is a masterly study of intertextuality. It will become an important model for comparative literature specialists owing to its astute demonstration of evolving French and English theatrical forms and tastes. We are given a rich tapestry of ideas about narrative and dramatic romance circulating between France and England in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Given the density of the argument deployed, the book should be savored over several sittings.' H-France Review 'This book provides valuable material for scholars interested in wide-ranging associations and influences. Its recalibration of French works in relation to Shakespeare's textual production (and Hillman's term 'inflections' is important in this respect) also makes the book an important intervention in comparative literary studies.' The Modern Language Review -- .