Aspects of Shakespeare's "Problem Plays" : All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida

by Edited by Kenneth Muir , Stanley Wells

• ISBN13: 9780521283717
• ISBN10: 052128371X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1982-04-30
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

These articles, reprinted from various volumes of Shakespeare Survey, concern three plays which have gradually become appreciated by critics and in the theatre. Since the early years of this century they have been seen as an interrelated group, with a peculiarly twentieth-century appeal. Measure for Measure, concerned as it is with adolescents' first encounters with sex, love and death, has a special appeal for young people; Troilus and Cressida, set in the Trojan War, has been found deeply relevant to our own war-troubled times; and All's Well That Ends Well, sharing these preoccupations, is a necessary companion piece. John Barton, who has directed all three plays, is interviewed in one of the articles, which together illustrate the often heated controversy about the plays. Reviews and photographs of post-war productions at Stratford are also included. The book as a whole is designed as a stimulating introduction to these plays and to conflicting interpretations of them.

Table of Contents

List of plates

Preface

Directing problem plays

All's Well That Ends Well

The design of All's Well That Ends Well

Why does it end well? Helena, Bertram and the Sonnets

The Renaissance background of Measure for Measure

The unfolding of Measure for Measure

'The devil's party': Virtue and vices in Measure for Measure

Troilus and Cressida

'Sons and daughters of the game': An essay on Shakespeare's Troilus

The problem plays, 1920-1970: A retrospect

Reviews

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