This book - for a decade the most highly regarded general introduction to Shakespeare - offers students a clear and practical method of approaching a Shakespeare play. This major new edition has been thoroughly revised and expanded to include five new chapters that illustrate the nature and impact of the new approaches to Shakespeare that have swept through literary studies in recent years: structuralism, poststructuralism, deconstruction, feminism, new historicism and cultural materialism.

Autorentext
Martin Coyle is Professor of English Literature at Cardiff University, UK.John Peck is now retired and was formerly Reader in Victorian Literature at Cardiff University, UK.

Zusammenfassung
This major new edition has been thoroughly revised and expanded to include five new chapters that illustrate the nature and impact of the new approaches to Shakespeare that have swept through literary studies in recent years: structuralism, poststructuralism, deconstruction, feminism, new historicism and cultural materialism.

Inhalt
General Editors' Preface.- Preface.- PART 1 How to Approach a Shakespeare Play.- Studying a History.- Play Studying a Tragedy.- Studying a Comedy.- Discussing an Extract from a Shakespeare Play.- Writing an Essay.- PART 2 New Approaches to Shakespeare.- Structuralism, Poststructuralism and Deconstruction.- Feminist Criticism.- New Historicism and Cultural Materialism.- Conclusion.- Further Reading.- A List of Shakespeare's Plays.