Shakespeare and the Victorian Stage

The contributions to this book constitute a concerted account of the place of Shakespeare in the Victorian theatre and the cultural life of the country in the nineteenth century. They explore the changing styles of acting and staging used for Shakespeare's plays by Macready, Charles Kean, the Irvings, Ellen Terry and Beerbohm Tree, and examine Shakespeare's influence on Victorian dramatists (Sheridan Knowles, Albery and W.S. Gilbert) and the relationship between the stage and the allied arts of painting (David Scott, the Pre-Raphaelites and Alma-Tadema) and music (Sullivan). During Queen Victoria's reign Shakespeare's plays attracted new audiences from the court at Windsor to such rapidly expanding conurbations as Leicester and Sheffield. In France, Germany, Italy and the New World, Shakespeare effectively became an ambassador of Britain's growing power and influence. The book develops a fascinating and well-illustrated account of these changes.

Part I. Shakespeare in the Picture Frame: 1. Artists and Stage Designers W. Moelwyn Merchant; 2. David Scott's Queen Elizabeth Viewing the Performance of the 'Merry Wives of Windsor' in the Globe Theatre James Fowler; 3. Charles Kean's King Richard II: A Pre-Raphelite drama Richard Foulkes; 4. Stage Costume: Historical Verisimilitude and Stage Convention Marion Jones; Part II. Shakespeare and the Lyceum Dynasty: 5. Pictorial Acting and Ellen Terry Michael R. Booth; 6. Mercutio as Romeo: William Terriss in Romeo and Juliet George Rowell; 7. 'Weirdness that lifts and colours all': The Secret Self of Henry Irving Peter Thompson; 8. The Criminal as Actor: H. B. Irving as Criminologist and Shakespearean Cary M. Mazer; Part III. Shakespeare Ancient and Modern: 9. The Lear of Private Life: Interpretations of King Lear in the Nineteenth Century J. S. Bratton; 10. Macready's Production of Cymbeline Carol J. Carlisle; 11. The Imperial Theme Ralph Berry; Part IV. Shakespeare as a Contemporary: 12. James Sheridan Knowles: The Victorian Shakespeare? Christopher Murray; 13. Victorian Imitations of and Variations on A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest Jane W. Stedman; 14. Sullivan and Shakespeare Arthur Jacobs; Part V. Shakespeare as a Foreign Dramatist: 15. The 'Shakespeare-Stage' in Nineteenth-Century Germany Simon Williams; 16. Shakespeare on French Stages in the Nineteenth Century Christopher Smith; 17. Shakespeare and the Italian Players in Victorian London Kenneth Richards; Part VI. Shakespeare in the provinces: 18. Shakespeare in a Victorian Provincial Stock Company Arnold Hare; 19. The Popular Audience for Shakespeare in Nineteenth-Century Leicester Jeremy Crump; 20. Charles Dillon: A Provincial Tragedian Kathleen Barker.

The contributions to this book constitute a concerted account of the place of Shakespeare in the Victorian theatre and the cultural life of the country in the nineteenth century.