Impressive Shakespeare: Identity, Authority and the Imprint in Shakespearean Drama (Material Readings in Early Modern Culture)

Book Details

• Publisher: Routledge

• Author: Harry Newman

• Language: English

• Edition: 1

• ISBN: 9781472465320

• Pages: 200

• Cover: Hardcover

• Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches

About the Book

Impressive Shakespeare offers a groundbreaking exploration of Shakespeare's engagement with "print culture" through his plays' interaction with the language and material culture of early modern technologies: wax sealing, coining, and typographic printing. By focusing on these "impressing technologies," Harry Newman provides a fresh perspective on how Shakespeare’s works were designed to "imprint" audiences with ideas, morals, and memories.

Newman examines four of Shakespeare's plays—Coriolanus, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Measure for Measure, and The Winter’s Tale—to demonstrate how the playwright strategically used the concept of the imprint as a self-reflexive trope. This not only highlighted the value of his plays to his audiences and readers but also influenced the language and legacy of his works, shaping Shakespeare’s critical afterlife in profound ways.

By redefining the boundaries of "print culture" and challenging assumptions about the formation of concepts like characterisation, poetic transformation, and literary fatherhood, this book offers a deep, material reading of Shakespeare’s creative poetics. Newman’s interpretation of Measure for Measure is particularly original, providing an insightful analysis of the play’s exploration of authorial legitimacy and counterfeiting, offering an innovative take on Shakespeare’s authorship that moves beyond traditional literary analysis.

Impressive Shakespeare is a scholarly debut that reshapes our understanding of Shakespeare’s use of language and material culture, making a lasting contribution to Shakespeare studies and literary theory.