What Was Tragedy? reflects recent interest in reception studies, as some of its chapters diligently consider the performance history and success of a variety of theatrical texts, some now forgotten (as is the case of Stefonio's Crispus), some relegated to a secondary position within the corpus of extremely canonical authors (as is the case of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra).
... Read moreMarta Albalá Pelegrín, Bulletin of the Comediantes
Ranging from classical theory and drama to Renaissance English, Italian, and French drama (principally Racine), German romantic philosophy, and modern literary criticism, Blair Hoxby argues brilliantly and compellingly what we can now deduce was a different meaning drama held in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Arthur F. Kinney, Renaissance Quarterly
This is an important book, and Hoxby's call to attend to and describe what was actually performed as tragedy in the period restores vitality and variation to the canon. Ultimately, he affords us a much clearer view of the masterwork over which the period labored.
Alex Eric Hernandez, Modern Philology
One of this year's greatest scholarly achievements ... Combining literary and intellectual history, philosophy, and formal analysis, Hoxby recovers a largely lost early modern poetics of tragedy ... What Was Tragedy? has many implications not just for how we understand tragedy in our period, but also for how we conceive of early modern selfhood, how we understand the history of emotions, and how we go about the business of literary periodization. It's a major piece of scholarship.
Kevin Curran, Studies in English Literature 1500-1900
Hoxby exhibits a powerful disciplinary, linguistic, and chronological reach, and asks fundamental questions about secular and sacred drama, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, and early modern and post-Romantic thought. For its combination of imaginative, omnivorous research and an argument that has already caused excited discussion here at RSA, the committee found this an extraordinary piece of work.
The Phyllis Goodhart Gordan Book Prize of the Renaissance Society of America Honorable Mention
Hoxby (Stanford Univ.) has written an intriguing work that attempts to establish what the genre of tragedy meant before idealists such as Schelling, Schlegel, and Hegel created the definition now accepted.
J. D. Sharpe, CHOICE
This is an important book, and Hoxbys call to attend to and describe what was actually performed as tragedy in the period restores vitality and variation to the canon. Ultimately, he affords us a much clearer view of the masterwork over which the period labored.
Alex Eric Hernandez, Modern Philology
Hoxby makes a very compelling case for attending more carefully to works that might answer to the name of tragedy produced in Europe between 1515 and 1795 ... Hoxbys book is a superb achievement, and treats us to nuanced and sensitive readings
Paul A. Kottman
In this densely learned book, Blair Hoxby sets himself the worthy and formidable task of scraping away the mores of German Idealists so that early modern tragedy might be read on its own terms ... it will be a valuable reference for years to come.
Feisal G. Mohamed, Milton Quarterly
The sweep of the book is its greatest recommendation in many respects. Hoxby's deep knowledge of music and music history, world philosophy, and theatre practice provide a worthwhile and perhaps even indispensable addition to the body of work on the nature of tragedy. For the music and theatre scholar, Hoxby's work in answering his past-tense question should prove invaluable for those seeking to answer the same question in the here and now.
Michael Schwartz, Text & Presentation
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