Book Description

Theater history and bibliography exist on the fringes of dramatic criticism, rarely influencing studies outside their fields, and even less often combined with each other. There is, however, much to be gained from a dialogue between theatrical choices and textual problems. There are nearly five hundred substantive differences between the 1609 Quarto and 1623 Folio versions of Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, and many more instances where editors rewrote the dialogue and stage directions. This book studies a selection of variants and emendations in Troilus and Cressida with extensive reference to the theater history of the passages, showing how production decisions can provide a valuable commentary on editorial questions.