William Shakespeare | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 31 pages of analysis & critique of William Shakespeare.
This section contains 8,944 words
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Buy the Critical Essay by Bernard Beckerman

SOURCE: “Shakespeare Closing,” in The Kenyon Review, Vol. VII, n.s., No. 3, Summer 1985, pp. 79-95.

In the following essay, Beckerman surveys the final scenes of Shakespeare's comedies, tragedies, and histories. In his analysis of these, he distinguishes between the resolution (how the narrative is unraveled) and the closing (the particular way the playwright conveys the sense of an ending.) Beckerman emphasizes that with regard to each of the dramatic genres, Shakespeare transformed the principles of accepted dramatic conventions even as he ostensibly observed them.

By 1970, a remarkable change had come over theater audiences in New York. For the first time in the experience of regular playgoers, audiences became extraordinarily demonstrative. I recall precisely the first time I encountered this new behavior. It was at a performance of the revival of No, No, Nanette with Ruby Keeler. The wild reaction may have been a campy tribute to Ruby or...

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This section contains 8,944 words
(approx. 30 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Essay by Bernard Beckerman
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Critical Essay by Bernard Beckerman from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.