The Tempest (Arden Shakespeare)

Book Description

The Tempest has long dazzled readers and audiences with its intricate blend of magic, music, humour, intrigue and tenderness, its vibrant but ambiguous central characters. As Virginia and Alden Vaughan show, in their wide-ranging new edition of this established favourite, such antithetical extremes exemplify the play's endlessly arguable nature, its appeal to diverse eras and cultures. The Vaughans situate The Tempest at the centre of changing cultural attitudes towards colonialism, power politics and patriarchal hierarchies, and demonstrate how the play both shaped and reflected those changing attitudes. Informed by the concerns of a post-colonial international community, their edition emphasizes the play's world-wide cultural appropriation, and includes an extensive discussion of the play's after-life as well as an appendix of selected appropriations. The interdisciplinary editorial approach contributes a distinctively blended cultural and historical focus. `The Vaughans have provided a valuable new edition of the play, one whose expanded contextualisation, especially, will contribute to The Tempest's lively and varied afterlife both within and beyond the classroom.' Barbara Fuchs, University of Washington, Seattle, Shakespeare Quarterly

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This joyous play, the last comedy of Shakespeare's career, sums up his stagecraft with a display of seemingly effortless skill. Prospero, exiled Duke of Milan, living on an enchanted island, has the opportunity to punish and forgive his enemies when he raises a tempest that drives them ashore--as well as to forestall a rebellion, to arrange the meeting of his daughter, Miranda, with an eminently suitable young prince, and, more important, to relinquish his magic powers in recognition of his advancing age. Richly filled with music and magic, romance and comedy, the play's theme of love and reconciliation offers a splendid feast for the senses and the heart.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent activity based edition.......2007-02-02

The Tempest is rightly regarded as being one of the Bard's greatest works, containing some of his deepest thoughts on the nature of power and the relationship between rational man as controller of nature, and the animal man always to be at the mercy of the passions both of himself, others, and the world around him. In fact, this play could be thought of as representing Shakespeare's final and definitive statement on topics that he had explored throughout his cannon. But profound as the philosophy is, and despite the beauty of the poetry and the many magical elements contained within the play, the fact is that as far as the average attention lacking teenager is concerned, not a lot happens. This is why this Cambridge schools edition scores over most others. It is almost entirely activity focused, the expressed aim being to 'bring the play to life'. With at least one suggested activity beside each page of Shakespeare's text (as well as a decent amount of background notes and interpretation), every teacher armed with this book should be able to enthuse his charges with the very real relevance of this play to the world which we have bequeathed them.

Wonderful play, but no line numbers in Dover Thrift Edition........2007-02-02

Of course Shakespeare's TEMPEST is an enchanting--and enchanted--play, but my comments here concern the DOVER THRIFT EDITION of the play. Dover is to be commended for making texts such as these affordable for readers on a budget. However, students and teachers alike should note that the Dover edition does not supply line numbers. Students who are considering this text for a class and may have to write about it will not be able to cite specific line numbers as is convention (Act.scene.lines; e.g., 3.1.34-47). Professors and teachers should also be aware of this limitation and weigh it against the affordability of this text.

helpful.......2007-01-15

I have my degree in English... I like reading and teaching with this version as "help" not as a substitution. It gives a clearer understanding to Shakespeare for people who have difficulty with it.

Excellent edition for students........2006-11-09

I bought this copy admittedly because the magical artwork on the cover drew me towards this edition. I admit that it is shallow but I am very glad I ended up picking this one because it contains a wealth of information that is so perfect for helping students understand the context, background, themes and ideas contained within this beautifully written play.

Shakespeare is always difficult for us young people, but I can easily promise anyone that this edition does a fine job of explaining the play and it definately helps the reader to gain a better understanding of the play so you are prepared to go into an exam and write about it for two hours with the conviction that you will yield good results.

The storms that lead us to "ourselves.".......2006-08-20

I recently re-read THE TEMPEST prior to attending The Colorado Shakespeare Festival's performance of this play under the summer stars here in Boulder. Shakespeare (1552-1616) produced this emotionally-moving, poetic romance at the end of his career, in 1611, and published it in the First Folio in 1623. In fact, it was his last play.

It tells the story of Prospero, the exiled duke of Milan, and his beautiful daughter, Miranda, who have been stranded for twelve years on a desert island with two servants, the airy sprite Ariel (who Prospero rescued from being imprisonment in a tree) and the savage Caliban. Upon learning that his usurping brother Antonio is sailing near the island with the Neopolitan King Alonso's party, he uses his magic powers to conjure a sea storm that not only leaves the ship and its passengers wrecked on the island, but which also sparks a courtship between his daughter and the king's son, Ferdinand. The survivors of the wreck are separated into several groups, believing one another dead. Three subplots then alternate through the play. In one, Caliban befriends two drunken crew members, whom he believes to have come from the moon, and drunkenly attempts to raise is own rebellion against Prospero. In another, Prospero works to establish the romantic relationship between Ferdinand and Miranda. In the third subplot, Ariel thwarts a murder plot at Prospero's command.

The shipwrecked passengers are eventually reunited by island spirits to discover the marriage of Miranda and Ferdinand. In the end, as its title suggests, THE TEMPEST is as much about the opening scene's violent storm, as the journey that brought Prospero to the island and the psychological storm--"the sea change"--leading him to quit his magic and his remote island to return to Milan.

G. Merritt

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Othello: A Contextual History
Virginia Mason Vaughan
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521587085

Book Description

Shakespeare's Othello has exercised a powerful fascination over audiences for centuries with its intense portrayal of passionate love and destructive jealousy. This study is a major exercise in the historicization of Othello. Initially the author examines the early Jacobean context of the play, and the discourses which formed its writing. Circulating simultaneously in late Renaissance London were accounts of Mediterranean clashes between Turks and Venetians, treatises on the professionalization of England's military forces, depictions of North Africans and blackamoors, and narratives of jealous husbands who murdered their wives. In the centuries after 1604, productions of Othello stressed the contextual discourse that best reflected current cultural concerns. The first section examines these four sets of contemporary writings and demonstrates how they were embedded in the text of Othello. The following chapters trace Othello's history on stage or in film in England and the United States from the Restoration to the late 1980s. Each chapter highlights particular productions or performers to demonstrate how and why elements from Shakespeare's text were emphasized or repressed. In the Restoration, for example, Othello was a gentleman and an officer, his characterization shaped by actors who had served in King Charles' army. During the Victorian period, in contrast, the Moor's private role of devoted husband was privileged over his occupation. When Paul Robeson performed Othello in 1930 and 1943-44, race was highlighted as the play's central issue. Othello is thus revealed as a significant shaper and major reflector of cultural meanings, as it participated in a complex negotiation betweenactors, critics, audiences, and the culture at large.

Shakespeare's Caliban: A Cultural History

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An excellent historical survey from various disciplines.

Shakespeare's Caliban: A Cultural History
Alden T. Vaughan , and Virginia Mason Vaughan
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 052145817X

Book Description

Shakespeare's Caliban examines The Tempest's "savage and deformed slave" as a fascinating but ambiguous literary creation with a remarkably diverse history in criticism and on stage, in art, poetry, and film, and, during the twentieth century, in sociopolitical writings, especially by Caribbean and African authors.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent historical survey from various disciplines........1998-07-10

This book is an excellent, and largely unbiased, discussion of CALIBAN (the character from Shakespeare's The Tempest) and traces the evolution of his perception as reflected in literary criticism, culture/politics, theatrical performance (stage and film), poetry, and visual art. An actor myself, when doing research on Shakespeare roles, the most efficient technique I've found is investigation of stage history. Most of the relevant literary criticism has at one time or another been reflected in stage history. Also, stage history is something I find more easily applicable to performance than literary criticism--for obvious reasons. In light of this bias, the only disappointment I had in the book is that I would have liked a longer chapter on stage history. Nonetheless, as the book surveys CALIBAN's history from so many perspectives, one comes away with a strong appreciation of the wide range of exploration available in playing CALIBAN. The numerous black & white figures are an added plus. Finally, any actor playing CALIBAN and hard-pressed to find research time would do well to at least read the chapter on scriptural analysis relevant to CALIBAN and the final chapter, which summarizes the entire book. Directors and designers would benefit from perusal of this text; however, the book does stick fairly close to its subject of CALIBAN, specifically, rather than The Tempest, in general. To close, Shakespearean actors would certainly benefit from more character-specific surveys like this book.

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A Case for the Case Study
Joe R. Feagin
Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0807843210

Book Description

Since the end of World War II, social science research has become increasingly quantitative in nature. A Case for the Case Study provides a rationale for an alternative to quantitative reserach: the close investigation of single instances of social phenomena.

The first section of the book contains an overview of the central methodological issues involved in the use of the case study method. Then, well-known scholars describe how they undertook case study research in order to undersand changes in church involvement, city life, gender roles, white-collar crimes, family structure, homelessness, and other types of social experience. Each contributor contronts several key questions: What does the case study tell us that other approaches cannot? To what extent can one generalize from the study of a single case or of a highly limited set of cases? Does case study work provide the basis for postulating broad principles of social structure and behavior? The answers vary, but the consensus is that the opportunity to examine certain kinds of social phenomena in depth enables social scientists to advance greatly our empirical understanding of social life.

Book Description

Unlike the fathers of the nineteenth-century English musical renaissance, who slavishly paid homage to the German masters, composers Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) and his friend Gustav Holst threw off the shackles of the Teutonic school and drew their inspiration from the neglected tradition of folk-song.

The result was the creation of a distinctly English musical voice that evoked the cultural heritage of a nation. In particular, the sheer beauty, vitality, and aesthetic force of Vaughan Williams' works, which include The Lark Ascending, Greensleeves, the Tallis Fantasia, and nine symphonies, connected listeners to a timeless past and gave them a common national spirit, especially during turbulent, war-torn times.

Here, Simon Heffer charts the course of Williams' remarkable life and career. Heffer traces Williams' privileged upbringing, his years of painstaking studies with Hubert Parry, Max Bruch, and Maurice Ravel, his promotion of folk-song and editorship of the English Hymnal, his close association with Holst and George Butterworth, and his emergence as the leader of English musical life.

Williams was a genius of musical invention who is still beloved and admired in Britain and around the world.

Customer Reviews:

true to oneself.......2005-04-13

In one of his last utterances, shortly before his death, Vaughan Williams said: "Modernism and conservatism are irrelevant. What matters it to be true to oneself." Simon Heffer's accomplished 150page biography of Vaughan Williams ably proves the verity of the great composer's personal creed with distinctive prose that luckily also includes a skilled overview (and some cherished details) of his musical works.

Heffer secures the essential threads between VW's family (his father, at his son's birth, was the Vicar of Down Ampney and his mother was a Wedgewood, and neice of Charles Darwin) and his lifelong output of quintessentially English music. The author wisely allows this bucolic picture of gentle privilege to continuously and subtly inform the dialogue of Vaughan Williams' life and work, gradually creating a full look on firm ground of a thoroughly cosmopolitan composer.

The discussions of VW's compositions are exceptionally competent and always evocative. Heffer' reach is impressive - from VW's undramatic beginnings as a composer, his constant affection for and lavish attention to the English hymn tune, his musical study with Ravel and its effect on his work, through to the daring influence of blues and jazz found in his symphonies, notably the use of vibraphones that inform the beguiling Eighth.

This book is a great deal like VW's music itself - profound and gentle, inspiring and intimate. Recommended over other more lengthy biographies of VW, length not always equalling depth of treatment in these matters. In this important little book, the two aspects combine in perfect conformity to the living testament that is VW's music itself. This book is a full, revealing look at a composer who spent his creative life conjuring manifold beauty and nurturing his unique gifts with the uncommon genius of steady, humane purpose. The appendix of select discography with incisive commentary is also useful especially for those not that familiar with VW's music.

German Romantic Painting: Second Edition (Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in Britis)

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The most insightful selection and commentary on the subject.
The most insightful selection and commentary on the subject.

German Romantic Painting: Second Edition (Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in Britis)
William Vaughan
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Romantic | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0300060475

Customer Reviews:

The most insightful selection and commentary on the subject........1999-11-10

Vaughan's keen eye and impeccable scholarship provide a superb overview of German Romantic painting for newcomers and seasoned scholars alike.

This volume is a seminal addition to any art refrence library.

The most insightful selection and commentary on the subject........1999-11-10

Vaughan's keen eye and impeccable scholarship provide a superb overview of German Romantic painting for newcomers and seasoned scholars alike.

Book Description

A firm favourite with choirs for many years, this is a classic collection of traditional carols.

Customer Reviews:

Size Matters.......2007-01-11

I love this comprehensive, informative and well-made book of carols, many with alternative music and words. As a pianist I personally prefer A4 size to A5. However this is largely overcome by the quality of both the paper, print and binding.

Great Resource.......2007-01-09

We purchased this edition because it includes the music. We have used it at home and in our Church with the children. I would recommend it.

The historical research is worth the purchase alone.......2005-09-21

This book is an excellent read. The depth of the historical research and wealth of fascinating information on the development and use of the carols is invaluable.

This book would be worth the purchase if it did not contain any music at all. As it is, the collecting of carols for this book had saved many pieces from being lost forever.

The musical arrangements are very singable and allow the words to shine through wonderfully. Some are challenging others are simple. All are thoroughly enjoyable.

The carols and text are a true part of the folk history of northern Europe.

This book is a delightful collection of carols........1999-04-11

Perfect for madrigal or four-part singing, this book contains many familiar carols, and some that are less familiar, including Easter and Harvest carols. I became familiar with this book when we used it as a backbone for our Christmas Caroling group several years ago, it was fun to sing from, and the music was enjoyed by the listeners.

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Symphony No.2 -"A London Symphony"

A London Symphony in Full Score
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486292630

Book Description

The composer’s first large-scale orchestral composition, profoundly original, rich and picturesque in scoring, classical and balanced in structure. First performed in 1914, it is reprinted here from the authoritative Stainer & Bell edition (1920). Instrumentation.

Customer Reviews:

Symphony No.2 -"A London Symphony".......2000-07-27

Simply wonderful! One of best works written for orchestra. All Vaughn Williams fans needs to check this one out.

Artistic Brotherhoods in the Nineteenth Century

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Artistic Brotherhoods in the Nineteenth Century
Assistant Professor of Art Edited by Laura Morowitz
Manufacturer: Ashgate Pub Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0754600149

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Concerto in F Minor: Study Score

Manufacturer: Eulenburg London (Schott)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 3795767946

Book Description

For bass tuba and orchestra.

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