Shakespeare's Margaret the dramatic life of a warrior queen
"Shakespeare's Margaret tells the story of the character who speaks by far the most lines of any woman in Shakespeare's plays, and is the only Shakespearean character (male or female) whose entire life appears on stage (from early childhood to old age). Yet you've most likely never heard of her. Wit...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Books Print Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
W.W. Norton & Company,
2026.
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| Edition: | First edition. |
| Subjects: | |
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| Summary: | "Shakespeare's Margaret tells the story of the character who speaks by far the most lines of any woman in Shakespeare's plays, and is the only Shakespearean character (male or female) whose entire life appears on stage (from early childhood to old age). Yet you've most likely never heard of her. With a dynamic tripartite narrative, scholars Scott Stern and Charles O'Malley weave together a "biography" of Margaret the character, the story of the real life Margaret of Anjou who she is based on, and the ways she has been interpreted and staged, highlighted or diminished - or even cut from her plays - depending on gendered tropes and expectations as they have changed through the centuries. Few books on Shakespeare discuss his earlier plays and none have covered his most prolix and dominant female character. Drawing on a dramaturgical background from the Yale Repertory Theatre (O'Malley) and an extensive track record of narrative nonfiction writing (Stern), the scholarly couple sheds light on Shakespeare's archetypical female villain, who became in so many productions an unapologetic vehicle for misogyny. One of the first evil queens, Margaret fed into a popular trope that inspired the likes of the Queen of Hearts and Cersei Lannister; she was Lady Macbeth before Lady Macbeth was Lady Macbeth. She has also been reclaimed in feminist productions as an admirably fierce archetype of female power, and has been played by top actors such as Peggy Ashcroft, Heln Mirren, Julia Foster, and more. In studying Margaret and the plays she is featured in, Stern and O'Malley provide readers with a more nuanced understanding of Shakespeare's work, how he both subverted and reinforced ideas of gender and sexuality - and how dependent his work is on the decisions of the producers and performers who bring it to life. As we grapple with gender, misogyny, desire, and power in both life and art, today's Margaret is not yesterday's Margaret is not Shakespeare's original Margaret, let alone the Margaret of history - but she is always full of dramatic possibility"-- Provided by publisher. |
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| Physical Description: | 320 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781324076551 1324076550 |
| Author Notes: | Scott W. Stern is a scholar and critic. He is the author of The Trials of Nina McCall , a New York Times Editors' Choice selection, and There Is a Deep Brooding in Arkansas , which the Times called "powerful new history." |
