Shakespeare Matters: History, Teaching, Performance

"Shakespeare Matters: History, Teaching, Performance is a collection of original essays which addresses three significant areas in contemporary Shakespeare studies: interpretations of the plays in their historical and social contexts; the varying roles of Shakespeare's work in educational practices and traditions; and performance conventions and textual issues from the sixteenth century to the present. The authors discuss a range of issues by applying and debating key critical approaches to Shakespeare, including new historicism, cultural materialism, feminism, and postcolonialism. In this sense the volume makes a unique contribution to Shakespeare studies by focusing on the diverse values and uses assumed by his work in particular contexts and institutions and in relation to specific practices from acting to editing to teaching. The essays are unified by the collective thesis that Shakespeare continues to "matter in important ways to vast numbers of people in many spheres of historical and cultural life. Lloyd Davis is a Reader in English at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.