On Shakespeare and Early Modern Literature

John Kerrigan is one of the foremost critics of English literature. This richly informed collection brings together his essays on such major figures as Sir Philip Sidney and Milton, but also less celebrated writers, including Thomas Carew and - in a new piece - William Drummond, to reconfigure the familiar and help extend the canon. Shakespeare looms large; his plays and poems, and his influence on Keats, are the subject of half the book. But themes and issues arepursued from the 1580s to the late Restoration. Kerriganacutely reassesses the nature of early modern texts-their production and reconstruction by writers, printers, theatre companies, andreaders-and their relationship with socio-political circumstance. This original and eloquent book shows what criticism can do when closely engaged with verbal fabric and form. Always alert to the scholarly and theoretical debates that have raged within literary studies, it concentrates on drawing out the distinctive qualities of poems and plays.

“'Though elegantly written, Kerrigan's essays are densely argued andformidably erudite ... The quality of Kerrigan's work sets a standard for othersto aim at.'Neil Rhodes, Around the Globe”

Though elegantly written, Kerrigan's essays are densely argued and formidably erudite ... The quality of Kerrigan's work sets a standard for others to aim at.'Neil Rhodes, Around the GlobeThese essays consolidate Kerrigan's position as one of the outstanding scholars of the English Renaissance of his generation'E. A. J. Honigmann, Times Literary Supplement

John Kerrigan was born and brought up in Liverpool, educated at Oxford, and now teaches at Cambridge. He has published extensively on early modern literature, especially Shakespeare, on Romantic poetry, and on contemporary writing. His edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets and A Lover's Complaint
(1986, often reprinted) was widely acclaimed, and his study of Revenge Tragedy: Aeschylus to Armageddon (1996) won the Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism. In addition to editions and monographs, he has written numerous articles for the (London) Times Literary Supplement and the London Review

John Kerrigan is one of the foremost critics of English literature. This richly informed collection brings together his essays on such major figures as Sir Philip Sidney and Milton, but also less celebrated writers, including Thomas Carew and - in a new piece - William Drummond, to reconfigure the familiar and help extend the canon. Shakespeare looms large; his plays and poems, and his influence on Keats, are the subject of half the book. But themes and issues are pursued from the 1580s to the late Restoration. Kerriganacutely reassesses the nature of early modern texts-their production and reconstruction by writers, printers, theatre companies, and readers-and their relationship with socio-political circumstance. This original and eloquent book shows what criticism can do when closely engaged with verbal fabric and form. Always alert to the scholarly and theoretical debates that have raged within literary studies, it concentrates on drawing out the distinctive qualities of poems and plays.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.