Frederick KieferCambridge University PressEdition: Illustrated, 9/25/2003EAN 9780521827256, ISBN10: 0521827256Hardcover, 374 pages, 24.4 x 17 x 2.2 cmLanguage: EnglishIn this study of Shakespeare's visual culture Frederick Kiefer looks at the personified characters created by Shakespeare in his plays, his walking, talking abstractions. These include Rumour in 2 Henry IV, Time in The Winter's Tale, Spring and Winter in Love's Labour's Lost, Revenge in Titus Andronicus, and the deities in the late plays. All these personae take physical form on the stage: the actors performing the roles wear distinctive attire and carry appropriate props. The book seeks to reconstruct the appearance of Shakespeare's personified characters; to explain the symbolism of their costumes and props; and to assess the significance of these symbolic characters for the plays in which they appear. To accomplish this reconstruction, Kiefer brings together a wealth of visual and literary evidence including engravings, woodcuts, paintings, drawings, tapestries, emblems, civic pageants, masques, poetry and plays. The book contains over forty illustrations of personified characters in Shakespeare's time.AcknowledgmentsIntroductionList of illustrations1. Spring and winter in Love's Labour's Lost2. Revenge, murder, and rape in Titus Andronicus3. Rumour in 2 Henry IV4. Hecate and the witches in Macbeth5. The five senses in Timon of Athens6. Time and the deities in the late playsConclusionSelect bibliography.'A handsomely illustrated and presented book.' Shakespeare at the Centre Magazine
