Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-247) and index.
Summary:
"This volume is the second in the Hackett series of editions of Shakespeare's Roman plays that provide extensive historical annotations and explanations. Other editions of the plays minimize or tacitly deny Shakespeare's interest in or understanding of ancient Rome. Shakespeare, in their view, borrowed materials--plots, characters, and subject matters--from ancient sources, particularly from Plutarch's Lives, but understood the source material in the light of the concerns and values of Elizabethan-Jacobean England. Although nominally about Rome, the plays reflect not Rome or the Roman world, but the moral attitudes, cultural values, social circumstances, intellectual environment, and political conditions of Shakespeare's own world. According to these editions, they are, in effect, Renaissance plays, not Roman, plays"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.