Informationen zum Autor James Ryan has taught at the University of Cincinnati and Dominican College (Orangeburg, New York), and has been awarded the New Jersey State Council of the Arts Fellowship in poetry. His essays on Shakespeare have appeared in The Shakespeare Newsletter and Shakespeare Studies, the English-language journal of the Japan Shakespeare Society. Klappentext The organization of Shakespeare's plays has challenged, even baffled audiences and critics since the 17th century. Cymbeline has been dismissed as ""incoherent."" Hamlet ""is of no clear shape."" And Antony and Cleopatra ""bewilders the mind."" These judgments result from an incomplete understanding of Shakespeare's constructive practice. It is not the narrative arc alone that organizes the plays but a complex structure of interwoven narrative and thematic actions. While the narrative varies from play to play, thematic actions are invariably created in mirroring pairs around the central scene: A-B-C-B-A. This symmetrical pattern, which can be visualized as an arch with a focal keystone, is the foundation of all of Shakespeare's mature work, as shown through an analysis of the 26 plays in this book. This arch illuminates the structure of plays that have long been puzzling, demonstrating that they are thematically organized and rigorously crafted. It also reveals subtleties otherwise invisible. Zusammenfassung The organization of Shakespeare's plays has baffled audiences and critics since the 17th century. It is not the narrative arc alone that organises the plays but a complex structure of interwoven narratives and thematic actions. While the narrative varies from play to play! thematic actions are invariably designed in mirroring pairs around the central scene: A-B-C-B-A. Inhaltsverzeichnis Table of ContentsPrefacePart One: The Chiastic Design1. The Chiastic Design2. Isolating the Chiastic Design3. Shakespeare's Scene Division4. Shakespeare in Nine Scenes5. Richard II: Thematic Arch and Imagery6. The Merchant of Venice: Thematic Arch, Scene Division and ImageryPart Two: Reading the Chiastic Design7. The Thematic Arch of Julius Caesar: Sacrifice8. The Construction (and Catholicism) of King John9. Henry IV: The Structural Similarity of Parts One and Two10. The Thematic Arch of The Merry Wives of Windsor: ­Role-Playing11. Instinct and Artifice in As You Like It12. The Thematic Arch of Henry V13. The Anomalous Arch of Hamlet14. The Stories in Troilus and Cressida15. The Thematic Arch of All's Well That Ends Well: Hubris and Humiliation16. Act Division and Feeding Actions in Othello17. The Thematic Arch of Folio King Lear: Evidence for the Quarto as a Draft18. The Thematic Arch of Macbeth: Reconsidering Hecate19. The Triple Arch of Antony and Cleopatra20. The Thematic Arch of Coriolanus: Action and Eloquence21. The Thematic Arch of Cymbeline: Sacrifice22. The Parallel Plays of The Winter's Tale: Entertainment23. The Thematic Arch of The Tempest: A Hand for ProsperoAppendix: Narrative AnalysesChapter NotesBibliographyIndex...

Autorentext
James Ryan has taught at the University of Cincinnati and Dominican College (Orangeburg, New York), and has been awarded the New Jersey State Council of the Arts Fellowship in poetry. His essays on Shakespeare have appeared in The Shakespeare Newsletter and Shakespeare Studies, the English-language journal of the Japan Shakespeare Society.

Klappentext

The organization of Shakespeare's plays has challenged, even baffled audiences and critics since the 17th century. Cymbeline has been dismissed as ""incoherent."" Hamlet ""is of no clear shape."" And Antony and Cleopatra ""bewilders the mind."" These judgments result from an incomplete understanding of Shakespeare's constructive practice. It is not the narrative arc alone that organizes the plays but a complex structure of interwoven narrative and thematic actions. While the narrative varies from play to play, thematic actions are invariably created in mirroring pairs around the central scene: A-B-C-B-A. This symmetrical pattern, which can be visualized as an arch with a focal keystone, is the foundation of all of Shakespeare's mature work, as shown through an analysis of the 26 plays in this book. This arch illuminates the structure of plays that have long been puzzling, demonstrating that they are thematically organized and rigorously crafted. It also reveals subtleties otherwise invisible.

Zusammenfassung
The organization of Shakespeare's plays has baffled audiences and critics since the 17th century. It is not the narrative arc alone that organises the plays but a complex structure of interwoven narratives and thematic actions. While the narrative varies from play to play, thematic actions are invariably designed in mirroring pairs around the central scene: A-B-C-B-A.

Inhalt

Table of Contents

Preface
Part One: The Chiastic Design

1. The Chiastic Design
2. Isolating the Chiastic Design
3. Shakespeare's Scene Division
4. Shakespeare in Nine Scenes
5. Richard II: Thematic Arch and Imagery
6. The Merchant of Venice: Thematic Arch, Scene Division and Imagery
   Part Two: Reading the Chiastic Design
7. The Thematic Arch of Julius Caesar: Sacrifice
8. The Construction (and Catholicism) of King John
9. Henry IV: The Structural Similarity of Parts One and Two
10. The Thematic Arch of The Merry Wives of Windsor: ­Role-Playing
11. Instinct and Artifice in As You Like It
12. The Thematic Arch of Henry V
13. The Anomalous Arch of Hamlet
14. The Stories in Troilus and Cressida
15. The Thematic Arch of All's Well That Ends Well: Hubris and Humiliation
16. Act Division and Feeding Actions in Othello
17. The Thematic Arch of Folio King Lear: Evidence for the Quarto as a Draft
18. The Thematic Arch of Macbeth: Reconsidering Hecate
19. The Triple Arch of Antony and Cleopatra
20. The Thematic Arch of Coriolanus: Action and Eloquence
21. The Thematic Arch of Cymbeline: Sacrifice
22. The Parallel Plays of The Winter's Tale: Entertainment
23. The Thematic Arch of The Tempest: A Hand for Prospero
    Appendix: Narrative Analyses
    Chapter Notes
    Bibliography
    Index