Beyond a Common Joy: An Introduction to Shakespearean Comedy

By Paul A. Olson

Book Overview

In this engaging introduction to the 'First Folio' comedies, Paul Olson gives a persuasive account of Shakespeare's comic transcendence, showing how, by taking on the great themes of his time, he elevated comedy from a mere mid-level literary form to its own form of greatness, on par with epic and tragedy.

Paul A. Olson is Kate Foster Professor of English Emeritus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the author of several books, including The Kingdom of Science: Literary Utopianism and British Education, 1612-1870 (Nebraska 2003) and The Journey to Wisdom: Self-Education in Patristic and Medieval Literature (Nebraska 1995).

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803215746
• ISBN13: 9780803215740
• Release Date: December 2008
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Length: 364 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.1" x 9.1"