Book contents
- Shakespeare and Lost Plays
- Shakespeare and Lost Plays
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on Conventions for the Titles of Lost Plays
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Charting the Landscape of Loss
- Chapter 2 Early Shakespeare: 1594–1598
- Chapter 3 Shakespeare at the Turn of the Century: 1599–1603
- Chapter 4 Courting Controversy – Shakespeare and the King’s Men
- Chapter 5 Late Shakespeare: 1609–1613
- Chapter 6 Loose Canons
- Conclusion
- Index
Chapter 5 - Late Shakespeare: 1609–1613
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 March 2021
- Shakespeare and Lost Plays
- Shakespeare and Lost Plays
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on Conventions for the Titles of Lost Plays
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Charting the Landscape of Loss
- Chapter 2 Early Shakespeare: 1594–1598
- Chapter 3 Shakespeare at the Turn of the Century: 1599–1603
- Chapter 4 Courting Controversy – Shakespeare and the King’s Men
- Chapter 5 Late Shakespeare: 1609–1613
- Chapter 6 Loose Canons
- Conclusion
- Index
Summary
In the first section of this chapter, I focus on the romance intertexts of two of Shakespeare’s late plays, Cymbeline and The Tempest, in order to prompt reconsideration of how they relate to other dramatic offerings of the period. Subsequently, I revisit the series of plays performed at court in 1612–1613 by Shakespeare’s company and others, paying particular attention to what this season looks like if we reassess the dramatic output of the repertory companies without privileging the distorting effect that Shakespeare exerts on our perception of the theatrical marketplace. ‘Cardenio’ necessarily plays a significant part in this discussion. Almost all of the scholarship on this lost play is fixated on attempts to recover the play-text itself; Rather than adding to this abundance of critical energy devoted to recovering or reanimating the play-text, I ask a different question about ‘Cardenio’: How did this play relate to other commercial plays being performed in London? By attempting to answer this, and by understanding ‘Cardenio’ in relation to the other plays performed in repertory with it at court, I clarify the picture of the company’s commercial offerings during the final phase of Shakespeare’s career.
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- Shakespeare and Lost PlaysReimagining Drama in Early Modern England, pp. 150 - 184Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021