A fascinating and evocative study of love, sexual desire, and personal discovery, Twelfth Night stands at the summit of Shakespeare’s comic vision, the last and greatest of Shakespeare’s ‘pure’ romantic comedies. Dr Johnson, accorded the highest praise to the Bard’s comic genius, “In his tragic scenes there is always something wanting, but his comedy often surpasses expectation or desire.… His tragedy seems to be skill, his comedy to be instinct.”
Though Shakespeare is easily the most extensively interpreted and reinterpreted author in critical and academic circles today, it is surprising that relatively less work has been devoted to comedies. The present book offers a wealth of critical analysis on topics like the lyrical celebration of love, friendship, sexuality, madness, festive ritual, bizarro, mistaken identity, and gender trouble. Its thirteen chapters represent a broad spectrum of current scholarly and interpretive approaches and examine the individual characters, followed finally, by relevant critical studies exploring several parts and themes. The editor’s comprehensive introduction embodies new critical and theatrical interpretations. Written keeping in mind both advanced undergraduates and post-graduates, researchers, and specialists in the field, this book will greatly enrich any study of Twelfth Night.
Prof. (Dr.) Sunita Sinha, a gold medalist in English, has been teaching at Women’s College, Samastipur, L.N. Mithila University, Bihar. She has to her credit twenty-four books which have been highly acclaimed in academic circles. Her authorial ventures are: Graham Greene: A Study of His Major Novels, Post-Colonial Women Writers: New Perspectives, Twentieth Century Literature: Emerging Trends, and Rethinking Gender: Masculinity, Femininity and Queerity in Postcolonial Indian Fiction which have been published by the Atlantic Publishers & Distributors [P] Ltd., New Delhi. Her edited books are:
Her edited books are: New Urges in Post-Colonial Literature: Widening Horizons, Reconceiving Postcolonialism: Visions and Revisions, Postcolonial Imaginings: Fissions and Fusions, Critical Responses to Kiran Desai, New Perspectives in British Literature, Vols. 1 and 2, Indian Booker Prize Winners: A Critical Study of their Works, Vols. 1 and 2, Modern Literary Theory, Vols. 1 and 2, Canons of Children’s Literature, Vols. 1 and 2, Shakespeare: A Reappraisal, Vols. 1 and 2, Critical Essays on D.H. Lawrence: In Honour of Dr. R.K. Sinha, Indian Women Writing in English: A Feminist Study, Feminism in Literature: Musings and Aesthetics, Feminist Approaches to Literature: Vistas and Perspectives, Exploring Feminism: Essence and Ethos, Young Adult Fiction: Issues and Trends, Feminist Slants in Contemporary Writings, and Marginalized Voices in American Literature: Margins and Fringes.
Her areas of interest are Postcolonial Literature, Gender Studies, Indian, Australian, and Canadian Literature. Currently, she is the Chief Editor of three international journals, The Atlantic Review of Feminist Studies, The Atlantic Literary Review, and The Atlantic Critical Review, and is also the Honorary Editor/Director for Bihar, Atlantic Publishers & Distributors [P] Ltd.
