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John Dover Wilson (1881–1969)

Teoksen Life in Shakespeare's England tekijä

19+ teosta 562 jäsentä 4 arvostelua 1 Favorited

Tietoja tekijästä

Image credit: John Dover Wilson

Tekijän teokset

Associated Works

Hamlet (1603) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset32,560 kappaletta
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (1589) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset31,575 kappaletta
Macbeth (1606) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset25,895 kappaletta
Kesäyön unelma (1603) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset19,661 kappaletta
Julius Caesar (1623) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset; Toimittaja, eräät painokset12,336 kappaletta
Loppiaisaatto (1601)eräät painokset10,680 kappaletta
Sonetit (1609) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset8,597 kappaletta
Henrik IV. Ensimmäinen osa (1598) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset5,017 kappaletta
Rikhard II (1597) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset4,135 kappaletta
Coriolanus (1623) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset2,767 kappaletta
Titus Andronicus (1594) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset2,699 kappaletta
Henrik IV. Toinen osa (1600) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset2,533 kappaletta
Troilos ja Cressida (1609) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset2,296 kappaletta
Kuningas Juhana (1623) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset1,385 kappaletta
Kulttuuri ja anarkia (1867) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset746 kappaletta
The Poems (1932) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset296 kappaletta
The Comedies / The Histories (1986) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset16 kappaletta
The Wounds of Civil War (Regents Renaissance Drama) (1910) — Toimittaja, eräät painokset14 kappaletta
Paradoxes of Defence (2021) — Johdanto, eräät painokset9 kappaletta
Shakespeare's Hand in the Play of Sir Thomas More (1923) — Avustaja — 4 kappaletta
The resurrection of our Lord — Toimittaja, eräät painokset2 kappaletta

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Kirja-arvosteluja

[John Lyly, John Dover Wilson]
People who write about John Lyly (Elizabethan playwright and novelist 1553-1606) always seem to have a point to prove. Lyly was the most popular author/playwright of his time: 1590’s and was respected by his peers (Shakespeare et al) but his elaborate writing style labelled Euphuism was open to criticism some 50 years later. The criticism continued in the 18th and 19th centuries to such a point that when he wasn’t neglected he was ridiculed. John Dover Wilson’s extended essay from 1905 aims to set matters aright: claiming in his introduction that:

In the first place John Lyly, inasmuch as he was one of the earliest writers who considered prose as an artistic end in itself, and not simply as a medium of expression, may be justly described as a founder, if not the founder, of English prose style.
In the second place he was the author of the first novel of manners in the language.
And in the third place, and from the point of view of Elizabethan literature most important of all, he was one of our very earliest dramatists, and without doubt merits the title of Father of English Comedy.


Wilson then continues with a thoroughgoing analysis of Lyly’s style, which he describes intelligently and succinctly and then goes on to examine how it developed. He makes a good case for Lyly being the high priest of Euphuism rather than the inventor. Wilson’s contention is that there were other writers using a similarly ornate style that was popular with readers (many of whom would have been closely associated with the court of Queen Elizabeth I) and it was Lyly who took it to its best conclusion. I think this makes a lot of sense and would account for the popularity that Lyly enjoyed in the 1590’s.

Wilson claims that Lyly was the first author of prose who aimed to fascinate and entice the reader “not merely by what is said, but also by the manner of saying it”. By the time he published his second book [Euphues and his England] Lyly had identified a new literary public who were prepared to buy his books, and these were the ladies at court; he dedicates his second book to them and so Wilson says discovered the future patrons and purchasers of novels.

Wilson goes on to criticise Lyly’s plays; there are six that have been attributed to him and he finds them witty and amusing even to the modern reader (1905) and says that they must have appeared to the court of Queen Elizabeth I as a marvel of wit and dramatic power compared with what had gone before. There is no doubt that Wilson is beating the drum for Lyly, however I find his criticism intelligent and thoughtful.

I have recently read Andy Keeson’s [John Lyly and early modern authorship] published in 2015 which also makes a case for Lyly’s place in the literary canon. Keeson covers the same ground as Wilson did 110 years ago with the additional theme of authorship; in as much as Lyly was the first author of a book length novel and Keeson examines how and why this came about. Where Keeson and Wilson cover the same ground I find Wilson more convincing in his ability to explain just what the Elizabethans found so special in the work of Lyly. Keeson refers to Wilson’s previous study and can’t resist taking a swipe at him claiming that Wilson’s work was an undergraduate essay and he says that;

”Perhaps most obviously, Dover Wilson appears to be a little in love with Lyly”

It is true that Wilson’s essay started out as an undergraduate essay, but he revised and expanded it for publication. I find Keeson’s comment that Wilson “appears to be a little in love with Lyly” as just sour grapes for a writer who had not only done much of the spade work, but had also written a better description of Lyly’s oeuvre. So Ya boo Sucks to you Andy Keeson Dover Wilson’s is the better book of criticism (and its free on the net) and so 4 stars.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
baswood | Dec 12, 2017 |
A Book of Elizabethan Prose Compiled by John Dover Wilson
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
Roger_Scoppie | Apr 3, 2013 |
A thoroughly engaging exploration of Shakespeare's Hamlet that takes one scene by scene through the play.
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
zenosbooks | 1 muu arvostelu | Feb 26, 2009 |
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
Roger_Scoppie | 1 muu arvostelu | Apr 3, 2013 |

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Teokset
19
Also by
21
Jäseniä
562
Suosituimmuussija
#44,484
Arvio (tähdet)
4.1
Kirja-arvosteluja
4
ISBN:t
39
Kielet
1
Kuinka monen suosikki
1

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