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Shakespeare, Sex, and Love
Stanley Wells
€ 16.99
€ 14.19
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Description for Shakespeare, Sex, and Love
Paperback. How does Shakespeare's treatment of human sexuality relate to the sexual conventions and language of his times? Looking at both plays and poetry, this lively and informative book explores Shakespeare's portrayal of desire, jealousy, and same-gender relationships, as well as how sex becomes a source of humour in his comedies. Num Pages: 304 pages, 25 black-and-white halftones. BIC Classification: 2AB; DSBD; DSGS; JHBK5. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational; (UP) Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly; (UU) Undergraduate. Dimension: 137 x 216 x 24. Weight in Grams: 384.
How does Shakespeare's treatment of human sexuality relate to the sexual conventions and language of his times? Pre-eminent Shakespearean critic Stanley Wells draws on historical and anecdotal sources to present an illuminating account of sexual behaviour in Shakespeare's time, particularly in Stratford-upon-Avon and London. He demonstrates what we know or can deduce of the sex lives of Shakespeare and members of his family. He also provides a fascinating account of depictions of sexuality in the poetry of the period and suggests that at the time Shakespeare was writing most of his non-dramatic verse a group of poets catered especially for readers with homoerotic tastes. The second part of Shakespeare, Sex, and Love focuses on the variety of ways in which Shakespeare treats sexuality in his plays and at how he relates sexuality to love. Wells shows that Shakespeare's attitude to sex developed over the course of his writing career, and devotes whole chapters to 'The Fun of Sex' - to how he raises laughter out of the matter of sex in both the language and the plotting of some of his comedies; portrayals of sexual desire; to Romeo and Juliet as the play in which Shakespeare focuses most centrally on issues relating to sex, love, and the relationship between them; to sexual jealousy, traced through four major plays; 'Sexual Experience'; and 'Whores and Saints'. A final chapter, 'Just Good Friends' examines Shakespeare's rendering of same-gender relationships.
Product Details
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Number of pages
304
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2012
Condition
New
Weight
384g
Number of Pages
296
Place of Publication
Oxford, United Kingdom
ISBN
9780199643974
SKU
V9780199643974
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 4 to 8 working days
Ref
99-1
About Stanley Wells
Stanley Wells is Honorary President of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Emeritus Professor of Shakespeare Studies of the University of Birmingham, and Honorary Emeritus Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. He has an extensive record of publications, mostly concerned with Shakespeare and his contemporaries.
Reviews for Shakespeare, Sex, and Love
This eloquent, humane and balanced book wears its erudition lightly. In doing so it rescues its subject from the overbearing weight of cultural, political and theoretical baggage with which it has often been loaded in the past few decades.
Rob Maslen, TLS
Well's subtly and systematically illuminates Shakespeare's acknowledgement of the glory and horror of what it is to be fully human.
Simon Callow, The Guardian
Concise and elegantly written book.
Simon Callow, The Guardian
Advance Praise: 'From bawdy and bed-tricks to same-sex love and the pangs of sexual jealousy, Shakespeare, Sex, and Love offers a magisterial account
by the leading Shakespeare authority of our day
of the subject at the very heart of the plays and poems. Its also a terrific read.
James Shapiro, author of 1599
This eloquent, humane and balanced book wears its erudition lightly.
Times Literary Supplement
He treads a precise and delicate path through Shakespeare's works
Rob Maslen,TLS
Well-paced and informative book.
John Stubbs, Literary Review
[He] captures a great deal of the diversity and freshness of Shakespeare's writing.
John Stubbs, Literary Review,
He is an expert and highly readable guide to the highways and byways of Shakespearean sexuality.
Charles Nicholl, Financial Times
This is not a long book, but it draws on Well's decades of close-focus research as a Shakespeare scholar and editor.
Charles Nicholl, Financial Times
Deeply versed in the period, urbane and unflappable in tone, refreshingly free of ideological agendas.
Charles Nicholl, Financial Times
Wells is an expert modern guide in terms of literary criticism and biography.
The Times
Rob Maslen, TLS
Well's subtly and systematically illuminates Shakespeare's acknowledgement of the glory and horror of what it is to be fully human.
Simon Callow, The Guardian
Concise and elegantly written book.
Simon Callow, The Guardian
Advance Praise: 'From bawdy and bed-tricks to same-sex love and the pangs of sexual jealousy, Shakespeare, Sex, and Love offers a magisterial account
by the leading Shakespeare authority of our day
of the subject at the very heart of the plays and poems. Its also a terrific read.
James Shapiro, author of 1599
This eloquent, humane and balanced book wears its erudition lightly.
Times Literary Supplement
He treads a precise and delicate path through Shakespeare's works
Rob Maslen,TLS
Well-paced and informative book.
John Stubbs, Literary Review
[He] captures a great deal of the diversity and freshness of Shakespeare's writing.
John Stubbs, Literary Review,
He is an expert and highly readable guide to the highways and byways of Shakespearean sexuality.
Charles Nicholl, Financial Times
This is not a long book, but it draws on Well's decades of close-focus research as a Shakespeare scholar and editor.
Charles Nicholl, Financial Times
Deeply versed in the period, urbane and unflappable in tone, refreshingly free of ideological agendas.
Charles Nicholl, Financial Times
Wells is an expert modern guide in terms of literary criticism and biography.
The Times