A new type of study aid which combines lively critical insight with practical guidance on the critical writings skills students need to develop in order to engage fully with Shakespeare's texts The book's core focus is on language both understanding & enjoying Shakespeare's complex dramatic language & expanding the student's own critical vocabulary as they respond to the play The book explores several different approaches to Shakespeare's language It looks at how the subtleties of Shakespeare's language reveal the thought processes & motivations of his characters often in ways those characters themselves don't recognise; it analyses how Shakespeare's language works within or sometimes against various historical contexts the contexts of stage performance of genre & of discourses of his day (of religion law commerce & friendship); & it explores how the peculiarities of Shakespeare's language often point to broad issues themes or ways of thinking that transcend any one character or line of action Each chapter
Includes:: a " Writing Matters" section giving students ideas & guidance for building their own critical response to the play & the skills to articulate it with confidence