Shakespeare's festive comedy

By C. L. Barber

Subjects: Komödie, England, social life and customs, Manners and customs, Shakespeare, william, 1564-1616, comedies, Festivals in literature, Humorous plays, Literary form, Social life and customs, English drama, history and criticism, History and criticism, History, Literature and society, Manners and customs in literature, English drama (Comedy), Comedies

Description: In this classic work, acclaimed Shakespeare critic C.L. Barber argues that Elizabethan seasonal festivals such as May Day and Twelfth Night are the key to understanding Shakespeare's comedies. Brilliantly interweaving anthropology, social history, and literary criticism, Barber traces the inward journey--psychological, bodily, spiritual--of the comedies: from confusion, raucous laughter, aching desire, and aggression, to harmony. Revealing the interplay between social custom and dramatic form, the book shows how the Elizabethan antithesis between everyday and holiday comes to life in the comedies' combination of seriousness and levity.