The Structure of Performance Act-Intervals in the London Theatres, 1576–1642
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23403246 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gary Taylor, John Jowett (0009-0004-8870-8720) |
| Year | 1993 |
| Pages | 3-50 |
| Publication date | 1993-08-12 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Shakespeare reshaped, 1606-1623 (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198122562.003.0002 |
| OpenAlex | W2483677815 |
| ISBN | 9780198122562 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
In analysing Shakespeare's plays, modern criticism asserts that we read between the lines but not between the acts, to look into the importance of silences and pauses for the dialogues but not the longer silences that separate five acts, and to investigate the underlying principles when a character does not speak nor act while disregarding the pauses between intervals, when all the characters stop acting, and when the play ends. This is because it has widely been believed that Shakespeare intended his plays performances not to be interrupted and that act-divisions were to be status symbols that had no significance. These assumptions were then confronted by G. K. hunter while adapting T. W. Baldwin's concepts of how a play possessed five different acts. This chapter attempts to explore the significance of act-divisions and how intervals were imposed between the acts.
| Citations per year | 0.25 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2022 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |