Theatre Studies

"Presents a multiplicity of authors, texts and themes gathered together into one authoritative source.
• Entries on writers from Chaucer and Shakespeare to Martin Amis and Caryl Churchill
• Entries on numerous individual works
• Biblical and mythological characters and events
• Literary and critical terms and movements
• Entries describing historical, cultural and social events"

The first dictionary of symbols to be based on literature, rather than “universal” psychological archetypes or myths. Explains and illustrates the literary symbols that we all frequently encounter.

Covers the plays, poems, characters and background to Shakespeare's works. The dictionary includes terms used in the theatre and stagecraft and Elizabethan social and historical information

Under an alphabetical list of relevant terms, names and concepts, the book reviews current knowledge of the character and operation of theatres in Shakespeare's time, with an explanation of their origins. Coverage includes the practices of Elizabethan actors and script writers: methods of characterization; gesture, blocking and choreography, including music, dance and fighting; actors' rhetorical interaction with audiences; and use of costumes, stage props, and make-up.

Coverage of novelists, poets, playwrights, and their works embraces both the established classics of English literature and a wealth of contemporary figures from all over the English-speaking world. Detailed biographical and critical articles, about writers and works of literature, and also about the critics, philosophers, historians, and biographers who have influenced or reacted to literature. Substantial coverage is given to popular genres like children's literature and science fiction.

A comprehensive guide to British literature, including literature in English from the colonial & postcolonial periods in Africa, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, India, and New Zealand.