This book is a translation of German versions of both Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. The introductions to each play place these versions of Shakespeare's plays in the German context, and offer insights into what we can learn about the original texts from these translations. English itinerant players toured in northern continental Europe from the 1580s. Their repertories initially consisted of plays from the London theatre, but over time the players learnt German, and German players joined the companies, as a result of which the dramatic texts were adapted and translated into German. A number of German plays now extant have a direct connection to Shakespeare. Four of them are so close in plot, character constellation and at times even language to their English originals that they can legitimately be considered versions of Shakespeare's plays. This volume offers fully edited translations of two such texts: Der Bestrafte Brudermord / Fratricide Punished (Hamlet) and Romio und Julieta (Romeo and Juliet). With full scholarly apparatus, these texts are of seminal interest to all scholars of Shakespeare's texts, and their transmission over time in print, translation and performance.

A landmark edition of translations of two seminal German texts of Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet.

About the Author
Kareen Seidler holds a PhD from the University of Geneva, Switzerland and an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, UK. Her MPhil thesis on Romio und Julieta was awarded the Martin-Lehnert-Award of the German Shakespeare Society. Lukas Erne is Professor of English Literature at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. He is author of Shakespeare as Literary Dramatist (2003). He has taught at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, at the University of Neuchatel and, as Visiting Professor, at Yale University.

Reviews
The two plays make for fascinating and entertaining reading, and they merit consideration in their own right, but they will also be valuable to anyone with an interest in Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, the reception and alteration of Shakespeare's plays and characters, and the relationship between English and continental European theatre traditions more generally ... The plays' presentation in the Arden house style provides Brudermord and Romio und Julieta with a platform for further serious scholarly enquiry, whilst the quality of the translations and the appeal of the playtexts promise to establish them as firm favourites in the extended Shakespeare canon. * Shakespeare Survey *
Exquisite translations ... An excellent edition of two remarkable early modern German plays in modern English translation that warrant tight-knit theatrical action. * Early Theatre *



Book Information
ISBN 9781350283114
Author Lukas Erne
Format Paperback
Page Count 392
Imprint The Arden Shakespeare
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 410g