Shakespeare on Page and Stage: Selected Essays

by Stanley Wells, Paul Edmondson (Editor)

This volume presents a winning selection of the very best essays from the long and distinguished career of Stanley Wells, one of the most well-known and respected Shakespeare scholars in the world. Wells's accomplishments include editing the entire canon of Shakespeare plays for the ground-breaking Oxford Shakespeare and over his lifetime, Wells has made significant contributions to debates over literary criticism of the works, genre study, textual theory, Shakespeare's afterlife in the theatre, and contemporary performance. The volume is introduced by Peter Holland and its thirty chapters are divided into themed "Shakespearian Influences," "Essays on Particular Works," "Shakespeare in the Theatre," and "Shakespeare's Text." An afterword by Margreta de Grazia concludes the volume.

Genres: Nonfiction

496 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 2016

About the author

Stanley William Wells, CBE, is a Shakespeare scholar and Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Reviews

[Roman Clodia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stanley Wells is a kind of grande dame of Shakespearean studies but while he's a knowledgeable and accomplished editor, he's weak as a scholarly reader of Shakespeare's texts. This volume demonstrates that: here we find Wells using uninterrogated terms like 'genius' liberally, and informing us that, for example, the moment when Gloucester in King Lear is literally blinded is the moment that he begins to 'see' truly for the first time... I remember, and am sure I'm not alone, discovering that for myself as an A level student of 16 so it's hardly the insightful revelation he seems to consider it. The critical essays are all like this: loose, fairly superficial, undoubtedly well-read in terms of the critical literature but merely skimming the surface of the plays: great as after-dinner speeches or as pre-performance lectures/essays for a general audience but really adding nothing to the scholarly debate.

Far better as the essays where Wells works with hard research, fact based rather than interpretative: for example, his essay on prose tales of Shakespeare show him uncovering the histories and details of the various volumes of Shakespearean stories and this is clearly where his talents lie - enabling research rather than readings. The same skills are exactly what make him such a fine editor.

The essays on performances are interesting and certainly capture Wells' own enthusiasm and passion, and may serve as a good record of past performances captured for a contemporary audience.

Overall, then, a mixed bag here (and even the 'page to stage' in the title is a well-worn Shakespearean cliché and the title of a whole host of undergrad modules): part of it plays to Wells' strengths, other parts simply highlight what he's not so good at. This may well prove interesting to general readers and younger students but it's disconnected from and outside modern academic Shakespearean studies.

ARC from Netgalley

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 3.25 of 5

There is no end to the number of books one can find on the works or study of William Shakespeare. The name 'Stanley Wells' is certainly familiar to anyone who's read critical essays on Shakespeare. This book, Shakespeare On Page and Stage, is a collection of some of Wells' essays on the Bard, his work, and performances of his work.

And mostly we're left with: meh.

Some of these essays were interesting and from some I learned a thing or two, but the bulk of them really didn't add anything to my knowledge or appreciation of Shakespeare's plays. The book collects essays in four basic themes: 1) Shakespearian Influences, 2) Essays on Particular Works, 3) Shakespeare in the Theatre, and 4) Shakespeare's Text.

While most of this is not new information, I confess I did enjoy the 'Influences' section. For some reason I am extremely interested in reading some of the source material for Shakespeare. Was it inspiring, or convenient? We'll never know.

I also happened to be reading the essay "Staging Shakespeare's Ghosts" at about the same time that I saw a production of Richard III in which the ghost were featured quite prominently, and so this particular essay really stood out for me. I hadn't really thought about it before, but the supernatural definitely plays a big role in many of Shakespeare's plays.

There were a few essays that dealt with particular performances which held no fascination or interest for me. A live performance is a fleeting thing, meant to be observed in the moment. All the reports, the talk, the writings after the fact won't make me appreciate what someone once did on the stage.

The entire last section, dealing heavily with Wells and his work as an editor, more-so than with Shakespeare's work, held no appeal at all.

There's a lot of material here in this book, and there's bound to be something that will appeal to someone who has an interest in Shakespeare, but over-all this just doesn't stand up to some of the other Shakespeare criticism I've read over the years.

This volume contains the following:

Introduction by Peter Holland
I. SHAKESPEARIAN INFLUENCES
1. Shakespeare: Man of the European Renaissance
2. Tales from Shakespeare
II. ESSAYS ON PARTICULAR WORKS
3. The Failure of The Two Gentlemen of Verona
4.The Taming of the Shrew and King Lear: A Structural Comparison
5. The Integration of Violent Action in Titus Andronicus
6. The Challenges of Romeo and Juliet
7. Juliet’s Nurse: The Uses of Inconsequentiality
8. The Lamentable Tale of Richard II
9. A Midsummer Night’s Dream Revisited
10. Translations in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
11. The Once and Future King Lear
12. Problems of Stagecraft in The Tempest
13.‘My Name is Will’: Shakespeare’s Sonnets and Autobiography
4. Shakespeare Without Sources
15. Shakespeare and Romance
III. SHAKESPEARE IN THE THEATRE
16. Boys Should be Girls: Shakespeare’s Female Roles and the Boy Players
17. Staging Shakespeare’s Ghosts
18. Staging Shakespeare’s Apparitions and Dream Visions
19. Shakespeare in Planché’s Extravaganzas
20. Shakespeare in Max Beerbohm’s Theatre Criticism
21. Shakespeare in Leigh Hunt’s Theatre Criticism
22. Shakespeare in Hazlitt’s Theatre Criticism
23. Peter Hall’s Coriolanus
IV. SHAKESPEARE’STEXT
24. On Being a General Editor
25. Editorial Treatment of Foul-Paper Texts: Much Ado About Nothing as Test Case
26. Money in Shakespeare’s Comedies
27. To Read a Play: The Problem of Editorial Intervention
28. The First Folio: Where Should We be Without it?
29. The Limitations of the First Folio
Afterword by Margreta de Grazia
Notes
A Select Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index

Looking for a good book? Stanley Wells is a noted Shakespeare scholar and his collection of essays, Shakespeare On Page and Stage, provides some insight into the playwright and his work, but nothing here is too earth-shattering or revelatory but instead is a rehash of knowledge but with Wells' take on it.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Eustacia Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read the introduction, the idea that jumped out at me was "readable academic essays." Which seems like a paradox in itself, but as the introduction promised, this is an enjoyable collection of academic analysis on Shakespeare.

The essays are divided into four sections: Shakespearian Influences, Essays on Particular Works, Shakespeare in the Theatre, and Shakespeare's text. It's going to be impossible to summarise all twenty nine essays, but rest assured that this work will give people who are studying Shakespeare plenty to chew upon.

And though this is a readable work, it is still very dense with ideas and analysis and I found that my reading speed slowed considerably while reading it. Which is a good sign, because if it's an academic work, then I expect to read slowly in order to understand what the author is trying to say.

While this isn't the best book for a reader looking to get into the analysis of Shakespeare, readers with a working knowledge of Shakespearian criticism (in this case, I'm defining it as 'if you've studied Shakespeare in school') will probably be able to understand most of what this book says. And I'm sure the academic audience will be delighted to read it.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile

[Osbian Night]

I found the essays overall very interesting even if the edition I read wouldn't let me see numbers.
The essays are divided into three parts - 'Essays on Particular Works' (essays focusing on just one piece of writing by Shakespeare)
- 'Shakespeare in Theatre' (about the staging of certain aspects of the plays)
- 'Shakespeare's Text' (About the words and versions of the plays (Folio, quarto)

The 'Essays on Particular Works' was just ok for me. I didn't feel it brought anything new and just rehashed what others had said on the pieces, and could have been condensed a bit, but it is a good introduction the the literary criticism on some of the plays and sonnets. Also the first essay that talks about King Lear - I don't think - mentions whether he uses the folio or quarto version and they reasonably different - as discussed in a later essay.

'Shakespeare in Theatre' I found the strongest set of essays and brought up things I didn't think of. It talked about the staging of adult female characters in comparison to the younger characters and if they both would both be played by boys. The staging of ghosts I had heard about but Wells gives just the right amount of evidence for the different ways it can happen and still gave his opinions as well.

The last set were just ok again. I liked the essay on money and the bits on the folio versions of Shakespeare's plays but the rest I just found myself skimming because I wasn't interested in them personally.

[Alexia Polasky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and Ocford University Press for the ARC!
A comprehensive collection of essays from one of the most relevant Shakespearean scholars. Due to its variety, there is something for anyone interested in Shakespeare's work. Full review on my blog.
Una colección de ensayos muy completa que recopila lo mejor de uno de los especialistas shakesperianos más relevantes. La vadiedad hace que haya algo para todos los interesados en leer acerca de la obra de Shakespeare.Reseña completa en mi blog.