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The Arden Guide to Renaissance Drama: An Introduction with Primary Sources
The Arden Guide to Renaissance Drama is a single critical and contextual resource for students embarking on an in-depth exploration of early modern drama, providing both critical insight and accessible contextual information. This companion equips students with the information needed to situate the plays in their socio-political, intellectual and literary contexts. Divided into two parts, it introduces students to the major authors and significant dramatic texts of the period and emphasises the importance of both a historicist and close-reading approach to better engage with these works.The Guide · primary texts from key early modern scholars such as Machiavelli, Heywood and Sidney· contextual information vital to a full understanding of the drama of the period· close readings of 14 of the most widely studied play texts by Shakespeare and his contemporaries· a single resource to accompany any study of early modern dramaThis is an ideal companion for students of Renaissance drama, offering students and teachers a range of primary contextual sources to illuminate their understanding alongside close critical readings of the major plays of the period.
Kindle Edition
Published October 19, 2017
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About the author
Brinda Charry
11 books109 followersBorn in India, Brinda Charry has lived in the USA for over two decades. She has published fiction in India and the UK and won several awards and prizes for her work. THE EAST INDIAN, a historical novel set in colonial America, is her American debut to be published by Scribner USA, Scribe UK, and Harper Collins-India in May 2023. Brinda is also a specialist in Shakespeare and other writers of the English Renaissance and has published numerous books and articles in that field. She considers herself a novelist-turned-academic- re-turned novelist. She lives in Keene, New Hampshire.
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August 29, 2018
'Renaissance plays are among the world’s most valuable literary artifacts. They are also historical documents, ideological statements, philosophical reflections and theatrical scripts.'
Brinda Charry has produced a relatively accessible and comprehensive overview of the period and its drama, split into two distinct sections.
In the first, she comprehensively surveys the different contextual features which led to the emergence and evolution of the drama. This section is clearly written in an accessible style, with a satisfying focus on cause and effect, and a host of references to contemporary sources and other critics.
By playing kings on stage, actors actually drew spectators’ attention to the fact that a large component of power was successful performance. In doing so, they stripped kingship of its sacred aura.
The title makes much of the inclusion of 'Primary Sources'. These are mostly carefully curated, and helpfully embedded in the text. To an extent, their usefulness will depend on the reader's area(s) of interest.
In the second section, Charry writes short critical essays providing an introductory overview of fourteen plays from the period, including three by Shakespeare and two by Marlowe: my main concern here is that my own experience of an English Literature degree, heavily leaning towards the literature of the period, took in only six of the titles she covers.
The book concludes with a fairly broad bibliography.
So far, so good. But who's this book for?
Overall, it's a bit 'pick-and-mix'. For most people, therefore, I'd recommend borrowing it from your library rather than paying nearly twenty pounds for it. Whilst the language and style is accessible, enthusiastic A Level students, and indeed first year undergrads could do better with Hopkins and Steggle's Renaissance Literature and Culture (Continuum: London, 2006) ISBN 978-0826485632. It's shorter, a little cheaper, and that little bit clearer. Given the text choices currently available for study in the UK, A Level students will find little value in the second half of the book.
Second or third year University students might find it more helpful, but the danger here is that much of it could be broadly redundant, albeit that it is usefully collected here. Anyone 'majoring' in the period will probably already have familiarity with the selected works beyond these introductory essays, and the background material will likely have been covered before.
Four stars, therefore - well written and comprehensive, but almost looking for an audience that might not exist?
You can find other short reviews/recommendations of over 80 Shakespeare / Early Modern books link: here.
Brinda Charry has produced a relatively accessible and comprehensive overview of the period and its drama, split into two distinct sections.
In the first, she comprehensively surveys the different contextual features which led to the emergence and evolution of the drama. This section is clearly written in an accessible style, with a satisfying focus on cause and effect, and a host of references to contemporary sources and other critics.
By playing kings on stage, actors actually drew spectators’ attention to the fact that a large component of power was successful performance. In doing so, they stripped kingship of its sacred aura.
The title makes much of the inclusion of 'Primary Sources'. These are mostly carefully curated, and helpfully embedded in the text. To an extent, their usefulness will depend on the reader's area(s) of interest.
In the second section, Charry writes short critical essays providing an introductory overview of fourteen plays from the period, including three by Shakespeare and two by Marlowe: my main concern here is that my own experience of an English Literature degree, heavily leaning towards the literature of the period, took in only six of the titles she covers.
The book concludes with a fairly broad bibliography.
So far, so good. But who's this book for?
Overall, it's a bit 'pick-and-mix'. For most people, therefore, I'd recommend borrowing it from your library rather than paying nearly twenty pounds for it. Whilst the language and style is accessible, enthusiastic A Level students, and indeed first year undergrads could do better with Hopkins and Steggle's Renaissance Literature and Culture (Continuum: London, 2006) ISBN 978-0826485632. It's shorter, a little cheaper, and that little bit clearer. Given the text choices currently available for study in the UK, A Level students will find little value in the second half of the book.
Second or third year University students might find it more helpful, but the danger here is that much of it could be broadly redundant, albeit that it is usefully collected here. Anyone 'majoring' in the period will probably already have familiarity with the selected works beyond these introductory essays, and the background material will likely have been covered before.
Four stars, therefore - well written and comprehensive, but almost looking for an audience that might not exist?
You can find other short reviews/recommendations of over 80 Shakespeare / Early Modern books link: here.
Displaying 1 of 1 review