Edward III

Content Group

Overview

Increasingly this anonymous play is believed to be at least partly by Shakespeare. It certainly contains the last line from his Sonnet 94: "Lillies that fester smell far worse than weeds." The king's attempted seduction of the Countess of Salibury in the first two acts is generally felt to be Shakespearean in tone and style. Later, the father/son relationship of Edward III and the Black Prince anticipates effects in Henry IV's treatment of his son Prince Hal, and there is even a northern youth akin to Hotspur, who withholds his Scottish prisoners. The script may have dropped from visibility during the reign of the Scottish-born King James I because of its anti-Scottish tone. Editions of the play now appear in the Oxford, Cambridge, and Arden single-Shakespeare-play series. The Royal Shakespeare Company's 2002 production was well received.

Slideshows
Play Settings: European Middle Ages
Bibliography

Billington, Michael. "Edward III." Review of Edward III, directed by Anthony Clark, Swan, Stratford-On-Avon, Royal Shakespeare Company, 2002. Guardian, April 6, 2002; April 27, 2002.

Brown, Langdon. Review of Edward III, directed by Anthony Clark, Royal Shakespeare Company, Gielgud Theatre, London, 2002. Theatre Journal 55, no. 4 (2003): 714-5.

Clark, Anthony, director. Edward III, Royal Shakespeare Company, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, April 10-September 14, 2002; Gielgud Theatre, London, December 24, 2002-March 22, 2003.

Davidson, Jazz, director. Edward III, National America Shakespeare Company, Knightsbridge Theatre, Pasadena, CA, March 29-June 9, 2003.

Duncan Jones, Katherine. Review of Edward III, directed by Anthony Clark, Royal Shakespeare Company, 2002. TLS, May 3, 2002.

Gross, John. Review of Edward III, directed by Anthony Clark, Royal Shakespeare Company, 2002. Sunday Telegraph, April 28, 2002.

Ingram, Loveday, director. Edward III, Savoy, London, October 16, 1994.

Jackson, MacD. P. "Edward III, Shakespeare and Pembroke's Men." Notes & Queries 210 (1965): 329-31.

Kahan, Jeffrey. Review of Edward III, National American Theatre. Shakespeare Bulletin 22, no. 2 (Summer 2004): 130-2.

Massai, Sonia. "Redefining the Role of the Editor for the Electronic Medium: A New Internet Shakespeare Edition of Edward III." Early Modern Literary Studies 9, no. 3 (January 2004): 5.1-10.

McAllister, Heather Anne, and Kelly McAllister, directors. Edward III, Hope Theater, Bank Street Theater, Greenwich Village, New York, July 2001.

Melchiori, Giorgio. "The Play on the Stage." In King Edward III, edited by Giorgio Melchiori, 45-51. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Metz, G. Harold, ed. Four Plays Assigned to Shakespeare (Edward III, Sir Thomas More, Cardenio, The Two Noble Kinsmen); An Annotated Bibliography. New York: Garland, 1982. [See p. xxiv.]

Nichols, Ninas da Vinci. Review of Edward III, directed by Anthony Clark, Royal Shakespeare Company, 2002. Shakespeare Newsletter 52 (2002-3): 53-54.

Potter, Lois. Review of Edward III, directed by Anthony Clark, Royal Shakespeare Company, 2002. Shakespeare Quarterly 54 (2003): 87-96.

Stodder, Joseph H. Review of The Raigne of King Edward III, Shakespeare Society of America, Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, July 23-August 17, 1986. Shakespeare Quarterly 38 (1986): 243-8.

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