Titus Andronicus & Timon of Athens (47 page)
Read Titus Andronicus & Timon of Athens Online
Authors: William Shakespeare
AND VIEWING:
TITUS ANDRONICUS
AND
TIMON OF ATHENS
TITUS ANDRONICUS
Critical Approaches
Braden, Gordon, “Shakespeare’s Roman Tragedies,” in
A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works Volume 1: The Tragedies
(2003). Analysis of the play within a wider examination of Shakespeare’s changing depictions of Rome.
Kolin, Philip C., ed.,
Titus Andronicus: Critical Essays
(1995). Compendious and indispensable collection that covers a huge range of critical ground relating to the play.
Metz, G. Harold,
Shakespeare’s Earliest Tragedy: Studies in Titus Andronicus
(1996). Lively study containing essays on the play’s critical heritage, its text, its authorship, and its life onstage in recent decades.
Miola, Robert,
Shakespeare’s Rome
(1983). Influential study focusing on Shakespeare’s changing conception of Rome and code of military honor; chapter 3 is on
Titus Andronicus
, pp. 42–75.
Smith, Ian,
“Titus Andronicus:
A Time for Race and Revenge,” in
A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works Volume 1: The Tragedies
(2003). Analysis of the play in its Renaissance contexts.
Taylor, Neil, and Brian Loughrey, eds.,
Shakespeare’s Early Tragedies: Richard III, Titus Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet
(1990). Anthologizes both early (pp. 31–33) and recent (pp. 99–151) criticism on the play.
Tempera, Mariangela,
Feasting with Centaurs: Titus Andronicus from Stage to Text
(1999). Book-length study that uses performance analysis as a springboard for examining the play critically and thematically.
Vickers, Brian,
Shakespeare, Co-Author: A Historical Study of Five Collaborative Plays
(2002). Full account of the collaboration between Shakespeare and Peele on the play.
Sher, Antony, and Gregory Doran,
Woza Shakespeare!
Excellent diary-like account of the production mounted at the Market Theatre, Johannesburg, in 1995 which Doran directed, and in which Sher played the title role.
Jackson, Russell, and Robert Smallwood, eds.,
Players of Shakespeare 3
(1993). Includes an interview with Brian Cox on playing Titus.
Titus Andronicus
, directed by Jane Howell for the BBC Shakespeare series (1985, DVD 2005). Stripped-down production that focuses acutely on the ritualized aspects of violence, starring Trevor Peacock as Titus, Hugh Quarshie as Aaron, Eileen Atkins as Tamora, and Brian Protheroe as Saturninus.
Titus
, directed by Julie Taymor (1999). Lavish, beautiful, gruesome, and slightly surreal rendering, with Anthony Hopkins superb as a Hannibal Lecter–ish Titus, Harry Lennix as Aaron, Jessica Lange as Tamora, Alan Cumming as Saturninus, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Matthew Rhys as Chiron and Demetrius.
Critical Approaches
Butler, Francelia,
The Strange Critical Fortunes of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens
(1966). Book-length study which explores the play’s mixed critical history and also examines its worthiness as a stage vehicle.
Fischer, Sandra K., “ ‘Cut My Heart in Sums’: Shakespeare’s Economics and
Timon of Athens,”
in
Money: Lure, Lore, and Literature
, ed. by John Louis DeGaetani (1994). Examination of Timon’s character through his fiscal failures.
Knight, George Wilson, “The Pilgrimage of Hate: An Essay on
Timon of Athens,”
in
The Wheel of Fire
(1930). Classic essay from a classic collection still reprinted.
Nuttall, A. D.,
Timon of Athens
, Harvester New Critical Introductions to Shakespeare (1989). Excellent study which functions as a sort of collection of essays (all by Nuttall) elucidating the most difficult aspects of the play.
Reid, Stephen. “ ‘I am Misanthropos’—A Psychoanalytic Reading of Shakespeare’s
Timon of Athens.”
Originally published in the
Psychoanalytic Review
56, no. 3 (1969), pp. 442–52. Available in
Shakespearean Criticism
52, pp. 296–300. An examination of Timon’s misanthropy based on modern psychoanalytical categories.
Soellner, Rolf,
Timon of Athens: Shakespeare’s Pessimistic Tragedy
(1979). Book-length study of the play which includes a stage history by Gary Jay Williams.
Vickers, Brian.
Shakespeare, Co-Author: A Historical Study of Five Collaborative Plays
(2002). Full account of the collaboration between Shakespeare and Middleton on the play.
Walker, John Lewis, “Fortune and Friendship in
Timon of Athens.”
Originally published in
Texas Studies in Literature and Language
18, no. 4 (Winter 1977), pp. 577–600. Available in
Shakespearean Criticism
67, pp. 253–63. Reviews the influence of the goddess Fortune on the characters and relationships in the play.
Smallwood, Robert, ed.,
Players of Shakespeare 5
(2003), Michael Pennington discusses playing Timon, pp. 131–44.
See Soellner in “Critical Approaches” above.
Timon of Athens
, directed by Jonathan Miller for the BBC Shakespeare series (1981, DVD 2005). Admirable Jacobean-styled version starring Jonathan Pryce as Timon, Norman Rodway as Apemantus, John Shrapnel as Alcibiades, and John Bird and John Fortune as the Painter and Poet.
TITUS ANDRONICUS
AND
TIMON OF ATHENS
1.
Karl Marx,
Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts
, no. 3 “Money” (1844).
2.
William Hazlitt,
Characters of Shakespeare’s Plays
(1817).
3.
R. A. Foakes (ed.),
Henslowe’s Diary
(2002).
4.
Jonathan Bate (ed.),
The Arden Shakespeare: Titus Andronicus
(2003), p. 41; the illustration is discussed in detail on pp. 38–43.
5.
The Era
, 26 April 1857.
6.
Charles Durang,
History of the Philadelphia Stage Between the Years 1749 and 1855
(1868).
7.
Gordon Crosse, in
Fifty Years of Shakespearean Playgoing
, called it “thoroughly enjoyable” (1941).
8.
C. F. Tucker Brooke,
The Tudor Drama
(1911).
9.
Harold Hobson,
Sunday Times
(London), 11 November 1951.
10.
T. C. Worsley, “Grand Guignol,”
New Statesman & Nation
1, No. 1277, 27 August 1955, p. 240.
11.
Jan Kott, “Shakespeare—Cruel and True,” in
Shakespeare, Our Contemporary
(1966), pp. 345–53.
12.
Kenneth Tynan, “Chamber of Horrors,”
Observer
, 21 August 1955, p. 11.
13.
Mildred C. Kuner, “The New York Shakespeare Festival, 1967,”
Shakespeare Quarterly
XVIII, No. 4, Autumn 1967, pp. 411–15.
14.
Ralph Berry, review of
Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare Quarterly
30, No. 2, Spring, 1979, pp. 171–73.
15.
Peter Marks, review of
Titus Andronicus, New York Times
, 18 August 1999.
16.
Normand Berlin,
Massachusetts Review
44, No. 3, Fall 2003, p. 531.
17.
The experience of creating this production is described in detail in Sher and Doran’s
Woza Shakespeare!
(1996) (see “Further Reading and Viewing”).
18.
Peter Brown,
London Theatre Guide
, 30 May 2006.
19.
Maria de Luca and Mary Lindroth, “Mayhem, Madness, Method: An Interview with Julie Taymor,”
Cineaste
25, No. 3, 2000, pp. 28–31.
20.
Jim Welsh and John Tibbets, “ ‘To Sup with Horrors’: Julie Taymor’s Senecan Feast,”
Literature/Film Quarterly
28, No. 2, April 2000, pp. 155–6.
21.
Paul Taylor,
Independent
, 22 June 2006.
22.
Wes Craven’s
Last House on the Left
(1972) and Sam Peckinpah’s
Straw Dogs
(1971) are two of the most striking examples of the 1970s use of the revenge drama as a formula for a horror film.
23.
Antonin Artaud,
The Theatre and Its Double
, trans. Mary Caroline Richards (1958), p. 99.
24.
John Peter,
Sunday Times
, 17 May 1987.
25.
Brian Cox, “Titus Andronicus,” in
Players of Shakespeare 3
, ed. Russell Jackson and Robert Smallwood (1993).
26.
Pascale Aebischer,
Shakespeare’s Violated Bodies
(2003).
27.
Stanley Wells,
Shakespeare Survey
41, 1989.
28.
Mel Gussow,
New York Times
, 16 August 1987.
29.
Marianne Novy, ed.,
Cross-Cultural Performances: Differences in Women’s Re-Visions of Shakespeare
(1993).
30.
Novy,
Cross-Cultural Performances
.
31.
Robin Wood, “Introduction,” in
American Nightmare: Essays on the Horror Film
, ed. Richard Lippe and Robin Wood (1979).
32.
Michael Ratcliffe,
Observer
, 10 July 1988.
33.
Pascale Aebischer,
Shakespeare’s Violated Bodies
(2003).
34.
Luc Borot, F. Laroque, and J. M. Maguin,
Cahiers Elisabéthains
, No. 32, October 1987.
35.
Pascale Aebischer,
Shakespeare’s Violated Bodies
(2003).
36.
Jonathan Bate, ed.,
Titus Andronicus
, The Arden Shakespeare (1995).
37.
Novy,
Cross-Cultural Performances
.
38.
Stanley Wells,
Shakespeare Survey
179, 1988.
39.
Cox, “Titus Andronicus.”
40.
Taylor,
Independent
, 22 June 2006.
41.
Benedict Nightingale,
The Times
(London), 22 June 2006.
42.
Patrick Carnegy,
Spectator
, 1 July 2006.
43.
Alastair Macaulay,
Financial Times
, 23 June 2006.
44.
Novy,
Cross-Cultural Performances
.
45.
Rebecca Tyrrel,
Sunday Telegraph
, 25 June 2006.
46.
Nightingale,
The Times
(London), 22 June 2006.
47.
Kate Bassett,
Independent on Sunday
, 25 June 2006.
48.
Nicholas de Jongh,
Evening Standard
, 22 June 2006.
49.
Paul Taylor,
Independent
, 22 June 2006.
50.
Bill Alexander,
Titus Andronicus
, 2003, RSC Online Playguide.
51.
John Barber,
Daily Telegraph
, 4 September 1981.
52.
Ned Chaillet,
The Times
(London), 4 September 1981.
53.
PW,
Rugby Advertiser
, 11 September 1981.
54.
ALE,
Stratford-upon-Avon Herald
, 11 September 1981.
55.
Stanley Wells,
Shakespeare Survey
41, 1989.
56.
Wells,
Shakespeare Survey
41, 1989.
57.
Cox, “Titus Andronicus.”
58.
Novy,
Cross-Cultural Performances
.
59.
H. R. Woudhuysen,
Times Literary Supplement
, No. 4390, 22 May 1987.
60.
Alan Dessen,
Shakespeare Quarterly
39, No. 2, Summer 1988.
61.
David Bradley,
Titus Andronicus
, 2003, RSC Online Playguide.
62.
Benedict Nightingale,
The Times
(London), 25 September 2003.
63.
Michael Billington,
Guardian
, 22 June 2006.
64.
Paul Taylor,
Independent
, 29 September 2003.
65.
Michael Billington,
Guardian
, 25 September 2003.
66.
Cox, “Titus Andronicus.”
67.
Alan Dessen, “Titus Andronicus [at the RSC, Stratford-on-Avon, 1988],” in
Titus Andronicus: Critical Essays
, ed. Philip C. Kolin (1995).
68.
Francelia Butler,
The Strange Critical Fortunes of Shakespeare’s “Timon of Athens”
(1966), p. 188.
69.
University of Oxford,
The Archive of performances of Greek and Roman drama
, at
www.apgrd.ox.ac.uk/people/imagesdocs/eh1566-1997.htm
.
70.
Stanley T. Williams, “Some Versions of ‘Timon of Athens’ on the Stage,”
Modern Philology
18, No. 5, September 1920, pp. 269–85.
71.
Williams, “Some Versions of ‘Timon of Athens’ on the Stage.”
72.
Williams, “Some Versions of ‘Timon of Athens’ on the Stage.”
73.
Leigh Hunt, “Timon of Athens,” in
Leigh Hunt’s Dramatic Criticism: 1808–1831
, ed. Lawrence Huston Houtchens and Carolyn Washburn Houtchens (1949), pp. 134–39.
74.
New Monthly Magazine
, Vol. VI, No. 35, 1 December 1816.
75.
George C. D. Odell, “The Plays: The Activities of Kemble,” in
From Betterton to Irving
, Vol. II (1920), reprinted 1963, pp. 45–80.
76.
Gary Jay Williams, “Stage History, 1816–1978,” in
Timon of Athens: Shakespeare’s Pessimistic Tragedy
, ed. Rolf Soellner (1979), pp. 161–85.
77.
Henry Morley,
The Journal of a London Playgoer
(1891), reprinted 1974, pp. 129–32.
78.
From an eyewitness account published in
Poet Love
and quoted in Williams, “Some Versions of ‘Timon of Athens’ on the Stage.”