Product Description: In der Renaissance kam es europaweit zu einer grundsatzlichen Neubewertung und Pluralisierung des Heroischen: Einerseits setzte eine intensive Wiederbelebung antiker Helden-Vorstellungen ein, die nicht zuletzt die furstliche und monarchische Selbstdarstellung pragte; andererseits erschutterte die Konfessionsspaltung den etablierten Kanon von Werten, an denen sich heroische Leistung messen liess und es wuchs die Skepsis gegenuber einem nur militarischen Heldenkodex...read more

Product Description: Despite the immense popularity of Laurence Sterne's work during his lifetime, his contribution to the novel form and experimentalism has only been acknowledged since his death. Tristram Shandy, perhaps his best loved work, defies convention at every turn, distributing narrative content across a bafflingly idiosyncratic time-scheme interrupted by digressions, authorial comments and interferences with the printed fabric of the book...read more

Manfred Pfister's book is the first to provide a coherent and comprehensive framework for the analysis of plays in all their dramatic and theatrical dimensions. The materical on which his analysis is based covers all genres and periods of drama, from Greek tragedy and comedy to the contemporary theatre, with the plays of Shakespeare providing a special focus. His approach is not historical but systematic, combining more abstract categorisations with detailed and concrete interpretations of specific sample texts. An extensive international bibliography of relevant theatre and drama studies further enhances the practical value of the book. (view table of contents)