Laurie Maguire: Shakespeare’s Names

This book’s title suggests comprehensive coverage of Shakespearean nomenclature, but then confines itself primarily to a few names in four early plays: “Montague” and “Capulet” in Romeo and Juliet, “Helena” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (and All’s Well), “Kate” and “Katherine” in The Taming of the Shrew, and “Ephesus” in The Comedy of Errors. These names are partly approached historically and partly via performances such as Gordon McCall’s Romeo & Juliette for the Shakespeare-on-the-Saskatchewan Festival (1989), with Capulet dialogues translated into French by Jean-Marc Dalpé and directed by Robert Le Page, both Quebecois. Shakespeare’s Helenas are compared with the Helen of Euripides. Taming uses an open air-production by the Oxford Shakespeare Company (2006) with a cast so minimal that “Sly had to perform four roles simultaneously” (133). Comedy is approached via the RSC production of Clifford Williams (1962) and Ian Talbot’s Regent’s Park production (1981).

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