The Disintegration Of Shakespeare

In Revising Shakespeare Grace Ioppolo addresses the question of Shakespeare's integrity. Through analysis of variant texts spanning the history of the plays, she arrives at an interpretation of Shakespeare as author and reviser. Ioppolo stars with the physical text. As textual studies of King Lear have shown, the text of Shakespeare is not as given. The text is nearly always a revision of another text. Critics can no longer evaluate plots, structure, and themes, nor can scholars debate what constitutes (or how to establish) a copy-text that stands as the most authoritative version of a Shakespeare play, without reconsidering the implications of revision for traditional and modern interpretations.

The first fifty volumes of this yearbook of Shakespeare studies are being reissued in paperback.

David Margolies provides a new and accessible way for teachers and students of Shakespeare to understand the immediacy of the plays for a contemporary audience.