Document Type
Book Review
Publication Date
9-1999
Abstract
Review of:
• Margaret Healy. William Shakespeare: Richard II. [Writers and their Work.] Plymouth: Northcote House Publishers Ltd., 1998. Pages 88. £6.99, paperback. Frontispiece. Bibliography. Index. 0-7463-0845-0
• Margaret Shewring. King Richard II. [Shakespeare in Performance.] Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996. Pages 206. US$29.95, paperback. Appendices. Index. 0-7190-4626-2.
Anyone who teaches Shakespeare's Richard II will profit from careful readings of both Margaret Healy's and Margaret Shewring's study of this play. Both of these books can be read and digested rather quickly (Healy's almost in a single setting), but this does not mean readers should take them lightly. Both books are also one volume in a defined series: Healy's book is one of the 'Writers and their Works' titles and Shewring's is part of the 'Shakespeare in Performance' series. The parameters for books in these series are clearly established, but with a small measure of flexibility with respect to the author's particular focus and position on the play, I believe both writers succeed at their given tasks, providing significant insight into Shakespeare's Richard II by way of a particular approach (literary historicism, theatre history) to the play.
Recommended Citation
Smith, Samuel, "The Poet King on Stage and Page" (1999). English Faculty Scholarship. 13.
https://mosaic.messiah.edu/english_ed/13
Comments
In-between: Essays & Studies in Literary Criticism is a bi-annual journal focused on English Literary Studies. In-between is an open journal.
Review originally published: Vol. 8 No. 2, September 1999