E.L. Risden's Books

Shakespeare and the Problem Play

Complex Forms, Crossed Genres and Moral Quandaries

By: E.L. Risden

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Shakespeare and the Problem Play

Complex Forms, Crossed Genres and Moral Quandaries

By: E.L. Risden

Shakespeare's plays provide a rich source of genre variation as well as moral or ethical issues that invite deep study. The genre issue often proves the very moral crux where Shakespeare raises the most complex questions. He aimed to build good plays, not simple fulfillments of genre demands. To him "good plays" meant leaving his audience with problems to consider. This book begins with those works most commonly appearing in studies of problem plays, The Merchant of Venice, Troilus and Cressida, All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure; moves to some comedic problem plays, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Twelfth Night; and then to tragic problem plays, Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear. It concludes with some problems in the history and romance genres for the issues they raise in love, adventure, and governance: Henry IV, Part 1, Henry V, Cymbeline, The Tempest, and Love's Labor's Lost.

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Page Count

233

Publisher

McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

078647243X

ISBN 13

9780786472437

Beowulf on Film

Adaptations and Variations

By: Nickolas Haydock,E.L. Risden

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Beowulf on Film

Adaptations and Variations

By: Nickolas Haydock,E.L. Risden

Why did the most read work in English literature go without cinematic adaptation for so long? And why did five major film treatments appear between 1999 and 2008? This book explores the growing number of films based on the Old English epic poem Beowulf, and furthers the ongoing consideration of filmic medievalism. Will the powerful influence of cinema affect the future reception of this great cultural, linguistic and inherently visual work? The films inevitably sway away from not only the story but also from the themes and concerns of the original to those more interesting to the filmmakers--or responsive to the zeitgeist. They measure the pulse of our inherited notions of heroism and teach us more about our own times than about the epic from which they derive.

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Page Count

220

Publisher

McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

0786463384

ISBN 13

9780786463381

Tolkien's Intellectual Landscape

By: E.L. Risden

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Tolkien's Intellectual Landscape

By: E.L. Risden

The work of J.R.R. Tolkien has had a profound effect on contemporary fiction and filmmaking. Often disparaged by critics, Tolkien's fiction created a market for the "fantasy trilogy" and his academic work represents an innovative contribution to the field of philology. In the 20th century, his fiction bridged the gap between "learned" and "popular" readerships. Today the fantasy genre continues to grow--even as publishers cut back on creative fiction--moving energetically into film, gaming and online fan fiction. This book describes how Tolkien's imaginative landscape continues to entertain and inspire, drawing new generations to Middle-earth.

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Page Count

241

Publisher

McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

078649865X

ISBN 13

9780786498659

Pleasures of Literary Spatiality

Expanding and Contracting Settings

By: E.L. Risden

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Pleasures of Literary Spatiality

Expanding and Contracting Settings

By: E.L. Risden

Barring such illnesses as claustrophobia or agoraphobia, or situations such as medical isolation or incarceration, most people move naturally from smaller to larger spaces and back again without giving the process much thought. But paying attention to our own movement in space yields all sorts of sensory experiences from something relaxing to something terrifying or even astonishingly beautiful. Our sense of expandable/contractible space can influence how we process everything from Japanese gardens to mountain hikes and desert expanses. Writers often expand or contract spaces around their characters for dramatic effect, character building, and even thematic purposes. Marie de France used expanded spaces for adventure and travel and contracted spaces first for romance, and then for spiritual devotion. Chaucer used expanded spaces for adventure, pilgrimage, and danger and contracted spaces for conviviality and storytelling. Dante and Milton created expansive cosmologies but focused on small spaces for both suffering and incredible spiritual achievement. This study of literary spatiality yields fascinating results, reflects useful techniques for reading, and reminds us of the value of all sorts of different approaches to analysis and artistic enjoyment.

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195

Publisher

McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

1476652228

ISBN 13

9781476652221

Narrative Subversion in Medieval Literature

By: E.L. Risden

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Narrative Subversion in Medieval Literature

By: E.L. Risden

A story that follows a simple trajectory is seldom worth telling. But the unexpected overturning of narrative progress creates complexity and interest, directing the reader's attention to the most powerful elements of a story. Exile, for example, upsets a protagonist's hopes for a happy earthly life, emphasizing spiritual perception instead. Waking life interrupts dreams, just as dreams may redirect how one lives. Focusing on medieval literature, this study explores how narrative subversion works in such well known stories as Beowulf, Piers Plowman, Le Morte D'Arthur, The Canterbury Tales, Troylus and Criseyde, "Voluspa" and other Old Norse sagas, Grail quest romances, and many others.

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193

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McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

1476625867

ISBN 13

9781476625867

On Shakespeare in Sonnets

A Study in the Theory and Practice of Reader Response Criticism

By: E. L. Risden

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On Shakespeare in Sonnets

A Study in the Theory and Practice of Reader Response Criticism

By: E. L. Risden

Reader Response Theory began to take hold in the 1960s. Much like the phenomenological approach to criticism that preceded it, it allows both reader and author intentionality and conscious presence, and it gives the reader particular presence in the fulfillment or completion of the text. The work of art mediates between author and reader, and the reader participates in an interpretive community that gives the work life and liveliness. This book is divided into three sections: Part I discusses the history and practice of Reader Response criticism; Part II comprises a collection of thirty-eight sonnets responding both critically and creatively to Shakespeare’s works; and Part III discusses the poems of Part II as both creative and critical acts, elaborating on what they aim to show about the plays and how Shakespeare’s plays continue to encourage varied analytical and personal response. As shown here, the creative and the critical need not be separate, exclusive acts; each invades the other.

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Page Count

130

Publisher

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1443874787

ISBN 13

9781443874786

Tolkien's Intellectual Landscape

By: E.L. Risden

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Tolkien's Intellectual Landscape

By: E.L. Risden

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241

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McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

078649865X

ISBN 13

9780786498659

Narrative Subversion in Medieval Literature

By: E.L. Risden

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Narrative Subversion in Medieval Literature

By: E.L. Risden

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193

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McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

0786477784

ISBN 13

9780786477784

Spiritual Shakespeare

Religious Subtext in the Plays

By: Edward L. Risden

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Spiritual Shakespeare

Religious Subtext in the Plays

By: Edward L. Risden

For an author who tended to avoid explicitly Christian subjects in his plays and poems, Shakespeare showed an abiding interest in the spiritual qualities of his characters. Spiritual Shakespeare, the latest study by noted Shakespeare scholar E. L. Risden, considers the playwright not only as a Christian writer, but also one of considerable spiritual significance: the plays regularly highlight evidence of characters' struggles with their own spiritual health. They often show the sorrows that result from spiritual blindness or neglect. With respect to spirituality, Shakespeare's text has little to say directly, but much to show. Unlike the majority of writers before and during his time, Shakespeare has few explicitly didactic moments; those that do teach wear a subtle cloak of irony. He worked with his own Christian background in a way much different than did Milton or Dante. His comedies seldom point to happiness ahead, and his tragedies show a world suffering from spiritual disease. His characters have free will and bear responsibility for their actions, but most often they either lack or fail to employ spiritual resources that could in some cases have saved them. Shakespeare's plots do occasionally comment on religion; spirituality folded naturally into his work as part of his experience of living--and dying. Without insisting on a Protestant or Catholic affiliation, this book considers how a number of Shakespeare's greatest plays address salvation, justice, history, morality, and judgment. Attending to the spiritual element helps complete a more expansive and fulfilling reading of the plays and places Shakespeare more fully and comfortably in his own time.

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194

Published Date

ISBN 10

1680531565

ISBN 13

9781680531565

Beowulf on Film

Adaptations and Variations

By: Nickolas Haydock,E.L. Risden

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Beowulf on Film

Adaptations and Variations

By: Nickolas Haydock,E.L. Risden

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220

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McFarland

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ISBN 10

0786463384

ISBN 13

9780786463381

Medievalia et Humanistica, No. 36

Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Culture

By: Paul Maurice Clogan

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Medievalia et Humanistica, No. 36

Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Culture

By: Paul Maurice Clogan

Since its founding in 1943, Medievalia et Humanistica has won worldwide recognition as the first scholarly publication in America to devote itself entirely to medieval and Renaissance studies. Since 1970, a new series, sponsored by the Modern Language Association of America and edited by an international board of distinguished scholars and critics, has published interdisciplinary articles. In yearly hardcover volumes, the new series publishes significant scholarship, criticism, and reviews treating all facets of medieval and Renaissance culture: history, art, literature, music, science, law, economics, and philosophy. Volume 36—Reviews—emphasizes new research in the field, with a particular focus on work from emerging scholars. Thus, this volume includes twenty-four reviews and three review articles of recent scholarly publications, along with five original articles. The first article “The Ultimate Transgression of the Courtly World” by Albrecht Classen analyzes German texts and melodies to reveal the social strife between the lower and upper classes. John Garrison’s essay “One Mind, One Heart, One Purse,” referencing the text Troilus and Criseyde, suggests that a medieval treatise on friendship is appropriate and engaging. Offering a solution to one of history’s most vexing problems is John Bugbee’s essay “Solving Dorigen Trilemma” by examining the tension between oath and law in the Franklin’s and Physician’s Tales. Karen Green’s essay “What Were the Ladies in the City Reading? The Libraries of Christine de Pizaan’s Contemporaries” provides a clearer insight into the intellect of Christine and her colleagues. Along with these articles, twenty-four reviews, from the United States and all over the world, are included, truly making Medievalia et Humanistica an international publication. To reflect the submissions and audience for Medievalia et Humanistica, the editorial and review boards have been expended to include ten members from the United States and ten international

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Page Count

211

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

1442208139

ISBN 13

9781442208131

Shakespeare and the Problem Play

Complex Forms, Crossed Genres and Moral Quandaries

By: E.L. Risden

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Shakespeare and the Problem Play

Complex Forms, Crossed Genres and Moral Quandaries

By: E.L. Risden

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233

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McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

1476600945

ISBN 13

9781476600949

Mysteries of the Silent Brotherhood of the East

A. K. A. the Red Book/ Sincerity

By: Noble Prophet Drew Ali,Bro. Rami Abdullah Salaam El,Sis. Tauheedah S. Najee-ullah El

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Mysteries of the Silent Brotherhood of the East

A. K. A. the Red Book/ Sincerity

By: Noble Prophet Drew Ali,Bro. Rami Abdullah Salaam El,Sis. Tauheedah S. Najee-ullah El

Noble Prophet Drew Ali's Book for Adepts. Also known as "The Red Book" and "Sincerity." For those looking for a professionally bound edition for their Moorish Literature collection. Free eReader edition available at http: //califamedia.com Bulk orders available. Visit califamedia.com for more information.

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CreateSpace

Published Date

ISBN 10

1500888826

ISBN 13

9781500888824

Book's by E.L. Risden

Shakespeare and the Problem Play

Shakespeare and the Problem Play

Beowulf on Film

Beowulf on Film

Tolkien's Intellectual Landscape

Tolkien's Intellectual Landscape

Pleasures of Literary Spatiality

Pleasures of Literary Spatiality

Narrative Subversion in Medieval Literature

Narrative Subversion in Medieval Literature

On Shakespeare in Sonnets

On Shakespeare in Sonnets

Tolkien's Intellectual Landscape

Tolkien's Intellectual Landscape

Narrative Subversion in Medieval Literature

Narrative Subversion in Medieval Literature

Spiritual Shakespeare

Spiritual Shakespeare

Beowulf on Film

Beowulf on Film

Medievalia et Humanistica, No. 36

Medievalia et Humanistica, No. 36

Shakespeare and the Problem Play

Shakespeare and the Problem Play

Mysteries of the Silent Brotherhood of the East

Mysteries of the Silent Brotherhood of the East

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