Rhythm and Meaning in Shakespeare: A Guide for Readers and Actors

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Rhythm and Meaning in Shakespeare: A Guide for Readers and Actors
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Peter Groves
Foreword by John Bell
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:224
Dimensions(mm): Height 234,Width 153
Category/GenreDrama
Shakespeare plays
ISBN/Barcode 9781921867811
ClassificationsDewey:822.33
Audience
General
Illustrations black & white tables

Publishing Details

Publisher Monash University Publishing
Imprint Monash University Publishing
Publication Date 1 July 2013
Publication Country Australia

Description

This book explores the rhythmical organisation of Shakespeare's verse and how it creates and reinforces meaning both in the theatre and in the mind of the reader. Because metrical form in the pentameter is not passively present in the text but rather something that the performer must co-operatively re-create in speaking it, pentameter is what John Barton calls stage-direction in shorthand, a supple instrument through which Shakespeare communicates valuable cues to performance. This book is thus an essential guide for actors wishing to perform in his plays, as well as a valuable resource for anyone wishing to enhance their understanding of and engagement with Shakespeare's verse.

Author Biography

Dr Peter Groves was educated at the universities of Exeter and Cambridge in the United Kingdom and teaches poetry, Shakespeare and Renaissance English literature in the School of English, Communications and Performance Studies at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of a series of articles on poets from Chaucer to Philip Larkin and the theoretical monograph Strange Music: The Metre of the English Heroic Line.