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Rachel Fullmer

Sis. Rebecca Robinson

English 252

13 October 2017

Analysis of Shakespeare Quarterly

To write, or not to write, that is the question. The journal, Shakespeare Quarterly, is an

academic journal focusing on the works of Shakespeare. Each article is written in its own unique

way about the works of Shakespeare and also some history behind it. It is structured in a way

with the essays about the works at the beginning, and the reviews near the end of the journal. The

reviews mostly talk about the plays and the authors opinions on said plays. The essays can be

about anything that has to do with Shakespeare. For example, there was a supposed story about

Hamlet being performed at sea. The author of this essay did some digging and found that the

journals of the captain of that particular ship, dont mention Hamlet ever being performed at sea.

The author states that my purpose is to provide circumstantial evidence that the Keeling record

of performances by English sailors off the coast of Africa in 1607 is a forgery (Kliman). This

particular essay is about the forgery of these records and how it was done by a man in the 1800s,

which is 200 years after the original play had been performed.

The articles of the journal are there to give the audience an idea of what the works of

Shakespeare are and what we can learn from those plays. The essays are there to give the

audience a better understanding of what is contained within the works of Shakespeare. The

reviews are there for an opinion on the plays and how it impacted the authors who wrote the
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reviews. Some of the reviews are even about books that detail certain events about Shakespeare

and his works. Each issue has a theme. For example, volume 62 of Shakespeare Quarterly was

Hamlet. The theme for this current issue is the editing of Shakespeare and the various pieces of

symbolism and meaning in the various plays (e.g. Secret Arts and Public Spectacles: The Art of

Elizabethan Magic). The majority of the journal is the book reviews. This is to help the audience

learn more about Shakespeare as they read each issue in the journal. The sole purpose of this

journal is to teach others about Shakespeare, his works, and how it affects the world around us

today.

Through analyzing this journal, it meets the standard requirements that are listed in

Thonneys essay, Teaching the Conventions of Academic Discourse. Out of the three articles I

have read, I have seen each part of the pattern listed. The essay by Stephen Orgel (Secret Arts

and Public Spectacles: The Art of Elizabethan Magic) starts out with a response to an article

that he read about the theme of magic in Shakespeares plays. The article itself talks about how

magic was described not only in Shakespearean plays, but in other works of literature at the time.

There are certain phrases he talks about that supposedly do seem to be realistic (i.e. how latin

phrases in Harry Potter are spells). For example, in the article, Orgel mentions a part of the book

he is analyzing to show how the words in that book could pertain to some form of wording that is

used as magic. He says, ...it is of a piece with the scarcely more complex remedies for the

effects of sorcery; the book contains a number of these (Orgel). This article appears to have

been researched very well and gives the reader a better understanding of the many themes of

magic in works of literature.

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Each author of the articles adopts a voice of authority to point out the importance of their

article. In the article, King Lear and the Use of Mortification by Giulio Pertile, the importance

of the article is asserted in the sentence as far as disguises go, self-inflicted wound is a fairly

compelling one. But in what sense, we might well ask, can a wound be a disguise at all?

(Pertile). The author is taking up a voice of authority so as to intrigue the reader into reading

further into the article to find out more. The author then goes onto explain the use of

mortification in Shakespeares play, King Lear. As a result, the audience should have a better

understanding of the symbolism and themes within King Lear.

In conclusion, the issues of English studies are not really seen within this journal. After

reading through the abstracts and these articles, it has become clear that these are well written

and express questions that intrigue the readers into looking further into the article. Each article is

meant to draw in an audience and kind of give them an idea of how we should view the English

subject and why we should like it. Throughout the years, English studies has been seen as

something that no one needs to do, or worry about. However, literature is what builds up people.

Without literacy, no one would be able to read or write. Without literature, we wouldnt even be

able to have history. To die, to sleep, perchance to make the world a better place through the

education of the mind.

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Works Cited

Kliman, Bernice W. At Sea about Hamlet at sea: A detective story. Shakespeare Quarterly vol.

62, no. 2. 2011.

Orgel, Stephen. Secret Arts and Public Spectacles: The Parameters of Elizabethan Magic.

Shakespeare Quarterly vol. 68, no. 1. 2017.

Pertile, Giulio J. King Lear and the Uses of Mortification. Shakespeare Quarterly vol. 67, no.

3. 2016.