The Comedy of Errors: A New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare: New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare

The detailed scholarship of Cartwright's thematic introduction suits the Bard's most adaptable play, and unearths the textual gems for any critical reader, enthusiastic performer, or budding newcomer.
Cartwright's Introduction and notes make readers appreciate the richness, complexity and depth of a comedy that has often been brushed off as a mechanical "imitation" of Plautus's farcical Menaechmi.
An unapologetic and refreshingly enthusiastic celebration of a play whose disparagement in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries has had a lingering effect despite the more recent revival of its fortunes. While Cartwright gestures towards the play's triumphant theatrical resurgence, he is most interested in its linguistic and structural complexities, unpacked in a rich introduction.

The general editors of the new series of forty-two volumes -- renowned Shakespeareans Stephen Orgel of Stanford University and A. R. Braunmuller of UCLA -- have assembled a team of six eminent scholars who have, along with the general editors themselves, prepared new introductions and notes to all of Shakespeare's plays and poems. Redesigned in an easy-to-read format that preserves the favorite features of the original -- and including an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare, an introduction to the individual play, and a note on the text used -- the new Pelican Shakespeare will be an excellent resource for students, teachers, and theater professionals well into the twenty-first century.

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'How many fond fools serve mad jealousy!'The Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare's most farcical plays, with not one but two sets of twins sliding past each other into mistakes, violence, and madness. An early romantic comedy, it's often considered an immature play but also a piece of dramatic experimentation. This New Oxford Shakespeare edition examines links between Shakespeare's play and its literary sources and analogues, but also situates it within performance traditions. Illuminating points of comparison between The Comedy of Errors and Shakespeare's other comedies, as well as it's consonances with Shakespeare's later plays of estrangement and loss, this edition provides readers with a nuanced exploration of Shakespeare's shortest play.The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; Preface to first edition; Abbreviations; Introduction by Ros King: Shakespeare's main source: Plautus's Menaechmi; Shakespeare's first tragicomedy; Shakespeare's schooling and the construction of The Comedy of Errors; Casting the twins; Verse form and metrication; The first known performance: Gray's Inn 1594; Later productions; Note on the text; List of characters; THE PLAY; Appendixes: 1. The performance of 1594; 2. Passages from the Bible; Reading list.

Lengthy illustrated introduction discusses key issues of theatrical and critical history, as well as the play's historical context and questions of genre and style