Natural Perspective: The Development of Shakespearean Comedy and Romance

by Northrop Frye

Book Overview

Frye maintains that Shakespeare's comedy is widely misunderstood and underestimated, and that the four romances-- Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest--are the inevitable... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156654148
• Release Date: January 1969
• Publisher: Harcourt
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.5" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Comedy is more serious than tragedy

Northrop Frye is one of the greatest Shakespeare critics of all time (and there have been many). For those who think comedy is a trivial art form, this book will change your mind. Comedy is more serious than tragedy, and Frye illuminates not only Shakespeare's comedies but all comedy. He shows why Shakespeare's comedies are just as important, if not more important, than his tragedies because they pave the way for the romances which are the culmination of Shakespeare's work. The comedies and romances reveal the bounty and plentitude of life, and expose the basic illusions that keep a community from flourishing. They are a celebration of life. Any lover of Shakespeare will be in awe of Frye's admiration for the Bard and the joy he takes in writing about him. No reader can come away from this experience without a deeper appreciation of the greatest writer of all time.