All's Well, That Ends Well

New Critical Essays

Gary Waller

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2006
• ISBN:
  9781135872076
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literatur
• Subtopic: Literaturkritik

Described as one of Shakespeare's most intriguing plays, All's Well That Ends Well has only recently begun to receive the critical attention it deserves. Noted as a crucial point of development in Shakespeare's career, this collection of new essays reflects the growing interest in the play and presents a broad range of approaches to it, including historical, feminist, performative and psychoanalytical criticisms.

In addition to fourteen essays written by leading scholars, the editor's introduction provides a substantial overview of the play's critical history, with a strong focus on performance analysis and the impact that this has had on its reception and reputation. Demonstrating a variety of approaches to the play and furthering recent debates, this book makes a valuable contribution to Shakespeare criticism.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Shakespeare Criticism
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• General Editor’s Introduction
• List of Figures and Acknowledgments
• Contributors
• Preface
• From “the Unfortunate Comedy” to “this Infinitely Fascinating Play”: The critical and theatrical emergence of All’s Well, That Ends Well
• Revising the Sources: Novella, Romance, and the Meanings of Fiction in All’s Well, That Ends Well
• “As Sweet as Sharp”: Helena and the fairy bride tradition
• Tying the (K)not: The marriage of tragedy and comedy in All’s Well, That Ends Well
• All’s Well, That Ends Well and the Art of Retrograde Motion
• Performing Woman: Female theatricality in All’s Well, That Ends Well
• “To make the ‘not’ eternal”: Female eloquence and patriarchal authority in All’s Well, That Ends Well
• Shakespeare’s Miracle Play?: Religion in All’s Well, That Ends Well
• She is in the Right: Biblical maternity and All’s Well, That Ends Well
• “The credit of your father”: Absent Fathers in All’s Well, That Ends Well
• “’Twas mine, ‘twas Helen’s”: Rings of desire in All’s Well, That Ends Well
• “Sweet Practicer, thy Physic I will try”: Helena and her “Good Receipt” in All’s Well, That Ends Well
• All’s Well, That Ends Well and the 1604 Controversy Concerning the Court of Wards and Liveries
• Playing it Accordingly: Parolles and Shakespeare’s knee-crooking knaves
• All’s Well as Television: The 1980 Moshinsky production
• Appendix
• Select Bibliography