Kate Aughterson

Shakespeare and Gender guides students, educators, practitioners and researchers through the complexities of the representation of gender and sexuality in Shakespeare’s work. Informed by contemporary and early modern debates and insights into gender and sexuality, including intersectionality, feminist geography, queer and performance studies and fourth-wave feminism, this book provides a lucid and lively discussion of how gender and sexual identity are debated, contested and displayed in Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets. Using close textual analysis hand-in- hand with diverse contextual materials, the book offers an accessible and intelligent introduction to how gender debates are integral to the plays and poems, and why we continue to read and perform them with this in mind. Topics and themes discussed include gendering madness, paternity and the patriarchy, sexuality, anxious masculinity, maternal bodies, gender transgression, and kingship and the male body politic.

Shakespeare and Gender guides students, educators, practitioners and researchers through the complexities of the representation of gender and sexuality in Shakespeare’s work. Informed by contemporary and early modern debates and insights into gender and sexuality, including intersectionality, feminist geography, queer and performance studies and fourth-wave feminism, this book provides a lucid and lively discussion of how gender and sexual identity are debated, contested and displayed in Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets. Using close textual analysis hand-in- hand with diverse contextual materials, the book offers an accessible and intelligent introduction to how gender debates are integral to the plays and poems, and why we continue to read and perform them with this in mind. Topics and themes discussed include gendering madness, paternity and the patriarchy, sexuality, anxious masculinity, maternal bodies, gender transgression, and kingship and the male body politic.

An Anthology of Sources and Documents. This comprehensive anthology collects together primary texts and documents relevant to the literature, culture, and intellectual life in England between 1550 and 1660.

What makes Shakespeare's late plays so special? Through detailed analyses of key passages, Kate Aughterson shows how these plays portray a world of political intrigue, familial chaos and crisis, which teeters continually into tragedy: a world we can recognise today. Part I of this engaging study:- Provides stimulating close readings of extracts from The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, Cymbeline and Pericles- Examines major topics such as openings, endings, familial roles, stage properties, spectacle and song- Offers suggestions for further work and summarizes the methods of analysisPart II supplies essential background material, including:- Detailed accounts of Shakespeare's literary and historical contexts- Samples from important critical works and performancesWith a helpful Further Reading section, this illuminating volume is ideal for anyone who wishes to appreciate and explore Shakespeare's late plays for themselves.

What makes Shakespeare's late plays so special? Through detailed analyses of key passages, Kate Aughterson shows how these plays portray a world of political intrigue, familial chaos and crisis, which teeters continually into tragedy: a world we can recognise today. Part I of this engaging study:- Provides stimulating close readings of extracts from The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, Cymbeline and Pericles- Examines major topics such as openings, endings, familial roles, stage properties, spectacle and song- Offers suggestions for further work and summarizes the methods of analysisPart II supplies essential background material, including:- Detailed accounts of Shakespeare's literary and historical contexts- Samples from important critical works and performancesWith a helpful Further Reading section, this illuminating volume is ideal for anyone who wishes to appreciate and explore Shakespeare's late plays for themselves.

Provides students with an approachable analysis of Behn's dramaturgical abilities, showing how she uses comic and dramatic conventions to radical ends. Aughterson shows how Behn forces her audience to engage with issues of gender and sexuality, whilst continuing to write witty and accessible plays.