"Merry Wives of Windsor" (Critical Introduction to Shakespeare S.) - Softcover

Inhaltsangabe

Despite a consistent record of attracting appreciative audiences to the theatre, "The Merry Wives of Windsor" has not been a favourite with critics. By concentrating almost exclusively on what they see as a weak Falstaff, commentators have missed the structural strengths and the coherent design of the play which stem from the civically minded citizens regarding Falstaff, along with other "outsider" figures, as dangerous interlopers and fortune-hunters. At the same time, Falstaff comically mirrors attributes of the town dwellers - acquisitive capitalism, treatment of women as property and marriage capital, and a general conflict between men and women. The English language itself in its most imperialistic and jingoistic guises, is also a subject in its own right. R.S.White draws on recent theories of literature, especially feminist, reader response and reception theories, to illuminate and revalue this relatively neglected play.

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