Listen free for 30 days

Preview

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Love Story in Shakespearean Comedy

Written by: Anthony J. Lewis
Narrated by: Gregory T Luzitano
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $25.00

Buy Now for $25.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

In this fascinating study, Anthony J. Lewis argues that it is the hero himself, rejecting a woman he apprehends as a threat, who is love's own worst enemy. Drawing upon classical and Renaissance drama, iconography, and a wide range of traditional and feminist criticism, Lewis demonstrates that in Shakespeare the actions and reactions of hero and heroine are contingent upon social setting - father-son relations, patriarchal restrictions on women, and cultural assumptions about gender-appropriate behavior. This compelling analysis shows how Shakespeare deepened the familiar love stores he inherited from New Comedy and Greek romance.

Beginning with a penetrating analysis of the hero's contradictory response to sexual attraction, Lewis's discussion traces the heroine's reaction to abandonment and slander, and the lover's subsequent parallel descents into versions of bastardy and death. In arguing that comedy's happy ending is the product of the gender role reversals brought on by their evolving relationship itself, Lewis shows in meticulous detail how sexual stereotypes influence attitudes and restrict behavior.

Lewis's persuasive argument, that Shakespeare's heroes and heroines are, from the first, three-dimensional figures far removed from the stock types of Plautus, Terence, and his continental sources, will prove a valuable contribution to the ongoing feminist reappraisal of Shakespeare.

The book is published by The University Press of Kentucky. The audiobook will be published by University Press Audiobooks.

"This is a meaty book, one which sets out its arguments clearly and displays its evidence honestly. It is worth considering and arguing with." (Notes and Queries)

"Establishes a new starting point for future studies of the subject." (Sewanee Review)

©1992 The University Press of Kentucky (P)2020 Redwood Audiobooks
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about The Love Story in Shakespearean Comedy

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.