Shakespeare's Festive Comedy

Description:

In this classic work, acclaimed Shakespeare critic C.L. Barber argues that Elizabethan seasonal festivals such as May Day and Twelfth Night are the key to understanding Shakespeare's comedies. Brilliantly interweaving anthropology, social history, and literary criticism, Barber traces the inward journey--psychological, bodily, spiritual--of the comedies: from confusion, raucous laughter, aching desire, and aggression, to harmony. Revealing the interplay between social custom and dramatic form, the book shows how the Elizabethan antithesis between everyday and holiday comes to life in the comedies' combination of seriousness and levity.

subjects: Social life and customs,  Manners and customs in literature,  Literature and society,  Literary form,  Komödie,  History and criticism,  Humorous plays,  Festivals in literature,  Manners and customs,  English drama (Comedy),  Comedies,  History,  Shakespeare, william, 1564-1616, comedies,  English drama, history and criticism,  England, social life and customs

People: William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Places: England

Times: 16th century