1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910483185203321

Autore

Hamrick Stephen

Titolo

Shakespeare and Sexuality in the Comedy of Morecambe & Wise [[electronic resource] /] / by Stephen Hamrick

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2020

ISBN

3-030-33958-0

Edizione

[1st ed. 2020.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xiii, 346 pages) : illustrations

Collana

Palgrave Studies in Comedy

Disciplina

791.0922

Soggetti

Comedy

Gender identity

Literature, Modern

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616

Comedy Studies

Gender and Sexuality

Shakespeare

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- Section One: Morecambe & Wise Past and Present -- Chapter 1 - Transferring Variety to Television -- Chapter 2 - The Shrine of Morecambe & Wise -- Section Two: Morecambe & Wise and Shakespeare -- Chapter 3 - Shakespop -- Chapter 4 - Embodying the Bard -- Chapter 5 - At War with the Boys -- Chapter 6 - Hamlets (formerly the conclusion) -- Section Three: Morecambe & Wise and Sexuality -- Chapter 7 - Impersonating Men -- Chapter 8 - Cross-Dressed Comedy -- Chapter 9 - In Bed with a Will -- Chapter 10 - Queer Shakespeare -- Conclusion.

Sommario/riassunto

Contextualizing the duo’s work within British comedy, Shakespeare criticism, the history of sexuality, and their own historical moment, this book offers the first sustained analysis of the 20th Century’s most successful double-act. Over the course of a forty-four-year career (1940-1984), Eric Morecambe & Ernie Wise appropriated snippets of verse, scenes, and other elements from seventeen of Shakespeare’s plays more than one-hundred-and-fifty times. Fashioning a kinder,



more inclusive world, they deployed a vast array of elements connected to Shakespeare, his life, and institutions. Rejecting claims that they offer only nostalgic escapism, Hamrick analyses their work within contemporary contexts, including their engagement with many forms and genres, including Variety, the heritage industry, journalism, and more. ‘The Boys’ deploy Shakespeare to work through issues of class, sexuality, and violence. Lesbianism, drag, gay marriage, and a queer aesthetics emerge, helping to normalise homosexuality and complicate masculinity in the ‘permissive’ 1960s.