The Bedford Companion to Shakespeare

An Introduction with Documents

Second Edition

Publication Date: February 20, 2001

Paperback ISBN: 9780312248802

Pages: 480

Providing a unique combination of well-written, up-to-date background information and intriguing selections from primary documents, The Bedford Companion to Shakespeare introduces students to the topics most important to the study of Shakespeare in their full historical and cultural context.

Paperback

Read and study in the print textbook.

Paperback

ISBN: 9780312248802
The Bedford Companion to Shakespeare

$51.95

Preface
  To the Reader

  Introduction
    Shakespeare in Our Time
    The Uses of a Companion
    The Illustrations and Documents
    Three Troublesome Topics: Terminology, Modernization, and Money
    A Final Word

  Chapter 1. Shakespeare, "Shakespeare," and the Problem of Authorship
    Early Life
    London: The First Decade
    London: Maturity
    Retirement
    The Anti-Stratfordians
    What Is an Author?
    Illustrations and Documents
       The House Known as Shakespeares Birthplace
       Record of Shakespeares Baptism
       Map of Stratford-upon-Avon (Eighteenth Century)
       Francis Meres, From Palladis Tamia: Wits Treasury
       *A Plague Bill
       The Royal License for Shakespeares Company
       Detail from the "Agas" Map of London (With Shakespeares Lodging Indicated)
       John Ward, Vicar of Stratford, From His Diary

  2. "To What End Are All These Words?": Shakespeares Dramatic Language
    Early Modern English
    Rhetoric
    Wordplay
    The Forms of Dramatic Language
    Language as Theme
    Illustrations and Documents
      *Erasmus, From the Foreword to the Third Edition of the Latin New Testament
       Thomas Wilson, From The Art of Rhetoric
       *Samuel Daniel, From Musophilis
       Roger Ascham, From The Schoolmaster
      *Ralph Lever, From The Art of Reason
       George Puttenham, From The Art of English Poesy
       Baldassare Castiglione, From The Book of the Courtier
      *Montaigne, Of the Vanity of Words (Tr. John Florio)
        Chart of the Relative Proportions of Poetry and Prose in Shakespeares Plays

  3. Theater à la Mode: Shakespeare and the Kinds of Drama
    Comedy
    Tragedy
    History
    Romance
    Mixed Modes
    Illustrations and Documents
       Sir Philip Sidney, From The Defense of Poesy
      *Elizabeth Cary, From Mariam
       Aristotle, From Poetics
       Title Page of Richard III (First Quarto)
       William Lambarde, From His Notes of a Conversation with Queen Elizabeth I about Richard II
       John Fletcher, From His Preface to The Faithful Shepherdess
       Thomas Rymer, From A Short View of Tragedy

  4. Performances, Playhouses, and Players
    Going to a Play, Circa 1595
    The Playhouses
    The Companies
    The Theater and the Authorities
    Illustrations and Documents
       Map Showing the Playhouses in Shakespeares Time
       Henry Peacham, Sketch of Titus Andronicus
       Inventory of Theatrical Costumes (From Henslowes Papers)
       Two Plans of the Rose Playhouse
       Remains of the Rose Playhouse
       C. Walter Hodges, Illustration of the Second Globe
       Copy of De Witts Sketch of the Swan Playhouse
       Wenceslas Hollar, Detail from Long View of London
       Philip Henslowe, Log of Plays from His Diary
       Testimony about a Performance of Richard II
       Record of King Jamess Payment to the Kings Men
      *Thomas Heywood, From An Apology for Actors
       Edward Alleyn, Letter to His Wife

  5. "What Is Your Text?"
    What Is a Shakespearean Text?
    From Pen to Press: The Printing of Renaissance Plays
       Illustration of the Folding and Printing Process
    Shakespeares Plays in Print
    Some Examples of Textual Instability
    Shakespeares Texts and the General Reader
    Illustrations and Documents
       Facsimile of a Part of the Play Script of Sir Thomas More
       Title Page of Titus Andronicus (First Quarto)
       Title Page and Catalogue of the First Folio
      *Illustration of a Seventeenth-Century Printing Shop
       Facsimile of the Last Page of King Lear (First Quarto)
       Facsimile of "To be or not to be" from Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (First Quarto)
       Facsimile of "To be or not to be" from Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1623 Folio)
       A Comparison of the Work of Compositors A and B on the 1623 Folio

  6. "I Loved My Books": Shakespeares Reading
    Shakespeare and the Classics
    Major Influences
    Indirect Sources
    Shakespeares Favorites
    Illustrations and Documents
       Edward Hall, From The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancaster and York
       From A Mirror for Magistrates
       Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio, From Gli Hecatommithi (The Principal Source for Othello)
      *From the Geneva Bible (Genesis)
      * Amelia Lanyer, From Salve Deus Rex Judeorum
      *From The Book of Common Prayer
       John Foxe, From Acts and Monuments
       A Moralized Ballad
       Sir William Strachey, From A True Reportory of the Wreck and Redemption of Sir Thomas Gates (A Source for The Tempest)
       Christopher Marlowe, From Tamburlaine the Great
       Sir Philip Sidney, Two Sonnets from Astrophil and Stella
      * Lady Mary Wroth, From Urania
       Raphael Holinshed, From The Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland
       Plutarch, From Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans (Translated by Sir Thomas North)
       Ovid, From Metamorphoses (Translated by Arthur Golding)

  7. Town and Country: Life in Shakespeares England
    London
    The Suburbs
    The Countryside
    Rural Life
    The Daily Routine
    Clothing
    Getting and Spending
    Illustrations and Documents
       William Harrison, From The Description of England (The Conditions of English Inns and Overnight Travel)
       John Stow, From Survey of London (The Location of Tradesmen in London)
        Thomas Platter, From Travels in England (The Thames River)
       Lupold von Wedel, From Journey through England and Scotland (A Visit to the Bearbaiting Arena)
      * Richard Mulcaster, From Positions Concerning the Training Up of Children (Ch. 27, The Ball)
       John Stow, From Survey of London (Ordinances Concerning Brothels)
       Thomas Nashe, From Christs Tears over Jerusalem (The Brothels of Suburban London)
      *Isabella Whitney, From "To the Maids of London"
       Gervase Markham, From The English Husbandman (Rural Domestic
    Architecture and Interior Design)
       Fynes Moryson, From An Itinerary (The Enclosure of Farmlands)
       Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, From The Book of Husbandry (What Works a Wife Should Do)
      * John Murrell, From A Delightful Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen
      * John Murrell, From A Book of Cookery
      * Thomas Elyot, From The Castle of Health
       William Harrison, From The Description of England (Fashion)

  8. Men and Women: Gender, Family, Society
    The Situation of Women
    Patriarchy
    Primogeniture
    Marriage and Money
    Family Life
    The Social Structure
    Conclusion: The Body Politic
    Illustrations and Documents
       Aristotle, From Historia Animalium
       Sir Robert Filmer, From Patriarcha, or The Natural Power of Kings
       An Homily of the State of Matrimony
       William Gouge, From Of Domestical Duties: Eight Treatises
      * Elizabeth Clinton, From The Countess of Lincolns Nursery
       Sir Thomas Smith, From De Republica Anglorum: The Manner of Government or Policy of the Realm of England (Of Children)
       George Whetstone, From An Heptameron of Civil Discourses (Household Laws to Keep the Married in Love, Peace, and Amity)
      * Arbella Stuart, From Her Letters
       Ben Jonson, "On My First Son"
      * Dorothy Leigh, From A Mothers Blessing
       Excerpts from Conduct Books
       Sir Edward Coke, From The Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England (Of Buggery or Sodomy)
      * Richard Barnfield, From The Affectionate Shepherd
      * Samuel Rowlandson, From ‘Tis Merry When Gossips Meet
       Queen Elizabeth I, Royal Proclamation against Vagabonds and Unlawful Assemblies
       Queen Elizabeth I, Edict Arranging for the Expulsion from England of Negroes and Blackamoors

  9. Politics and Religion: Early Modern Ideologies
    An Absolute Monarchy?
    Councillors
    The Monarchs
       The "Ermine Portrait" of Elizabeth I
       Portrait of James I, by Paul van Somer
    The Church
    The Ideology of Order
    Shakespeares Theater and the Problem of Authority
    The Stage and Its Opponents
    Illustrations and Documents
    Sir Thomas Smith, From De Republica Anglorum: The Manner of Government or Policy of the Realm of England (Of Parliament and the Monarchy)
    King James I, From A Speech to the Lords and Commons of the Parliament at Whitehall
   * Niccolò Machiavelli, From The Prince
    King James I, Secret Letter to Sir Robert Cecil
    King James I, Letter to George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham
    Sir John Harington, Letter Describing the Revels at King Jamess Court
   * Queen Elizabeth I, From the Golden Speech
    Simon Forman, From His Diary (On a Dream about an Encounter with Queen Elizabeth)
    John Field and Thomas Wilcox, From An Admonition to the Parliament
    From An Homily against Disobedience and Willful Rebellion
    Sir Thomas Elyot, From The Book Named the Governor
   *From The Catholic Supplication
   * Christopher Muriel, From An Answer Unto the Catholics Supplication
   * Richard Hooker, From The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity
    Philip Stubbes, From The Anatomy of Abuses

  10. From Betterton to Branagh: Shakespeare in Performance
    Innovations, Textual and Theatrical
    Actors and their Roles
    Early American Shakespeare
    Twentieth-Century Stages: Modern and Post
    Film (Silents, Talkies, Hollywood, Adaptations, Video)
    Illustrations and Documents
      *"Smock Alley" Prompt Book for Othello (Dublin, late 17th Century)
      *Nineteenth-Century Playbill for Julius Caesar (with the Booth brothers)
      *Prompt Book from Barrymores Production of Hamlet
      *Photograph from Granville-Barkers Production of Twelfth Night at the Savoy Theatre
      *Photograph of Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth
      *Oscar Wilde, From His Review of Macbeth (with Ellen Terry)
      *Photograph from Nineteenth-Century Production of A Midsummer Nights Dream
      *Photograph from Peter Brooks Production of A Midsummer Nights Dream
      *Kenneth Tynan, From He That Plays the King
      *Photograph from Kenneth Branaghs Film of Hamlet

  Bibliography
  Index

This ideal introduction to Shakespeare is designed to engage todays students with a colorful and informative narrative enriched by abundant historical documents.

Unique sets of primary documents in each chapter give students firsthand knowledge of early modern culture, including maps and illustrations, excerpts from conduct books, sermons, playhouse records, facsimiles from quartos and the First Folio, passages from Shakespeares sources, dress laws, popular ballads, and more.

Covers the major topics essential to the study of Shakespeare including Shakespeares life and work, the theater in Shakespeares time, early modern social structures (family, class, and gender), the historical and political contexts of the plays, and everyday life in early modern England.

Thorough bibliography provides students with a convenient resource for locating additional materials and serves as an introduction to the most significant Shakespeare criticism.

A rich selection of new documents and illustrations. Chosen with the help of instructors from across the country who used the first edition, the second edition features more documents by women and other marginalized voices from the early modern period and a new set of documents on Shakespeare in performance.

New chapter on Shakespeare in performance introduces students to the great variety of productions of Shakespeares works over the centuries and includes a selection of evocative performance photographs that help bring the history of performance to life.

Revised chapter on Shakespeares language makes this difficult subject even more accessible to todays students and includes a rich variety of examples drawn from Shakespeares most widely taught plays.

Annotated appendix of the most useful Shakespeare Web sites helps students find additional documents and illustrations and aids their research.

The Bedford Shakespeare Series Web Site includes links to the Web sites listed in the appendix, sample documents from the text, an index keying documents to Shakespeares plays and sample syllabi and writing assignments.

Russ McDonald

Russ McDonald is Professor of English Literature at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Having taught at five American universities, he is the winner of multiple awards for distinguished teaching, including North Carolina Professor of the Year. For a decade he helped to direct the NEH-sponsored Teaching Shakespeare Institute for secondary teachers at the Folger Library, and his pedagogical commitment led to his publishing the widely-adopted Bedford Companion to Shakespeare. A specialist in Shakespeare’s poetic language, he has held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the Mellon Foundation. His scholarly works include Shakespeare’s Late Style, Shakespeare and the Arts of Language, and other books and articles on Shakespeare and early modern writing and culture. In 2010-11 he served as President of the Shakespeare Association of America. He also writes regularly for Opera magazine.