Shakespeare and Carnival (Early Modern Literature in History)

This collection of essays is the first to reassess a range of Shakespeare's plays in relation to carnivalesque theory. The plays discussed include: 2 Henry VI; Romeo and Juliet; A Midsummer Night's Dream; 1 & 2 Henry IV; The Merry Wives of Windsor; Hamlet; Measure for Measure; The Winter's Tale; Henry VIII. Contributors re-historicize the carnivalesque in different ways, offering both a developed application, or critique of, Bakhtin's thought. This volume makes an original contribution to the study of change and continuity in Shakespeare and the Early Modern period.