• Provides a fresh analysis of one of Shakespeare's most famous and enduring works
• The introduction examines in particular the play's performance history and presents a new interpretation that veers away from its perception as a core text of heterosexual love
• Hannah August challenges Romeo and Juliet's catergorisation as a heteronormative, archetypical "love story" by studying gender identities within the play and the queer history of its performance, from the sixteenth century to today
• Combines fresh, new scholarship from leading researchers with authoritative texts and comprehensive notes in order to offer readers a complete guide to Shakespeare
• Uses the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare: Modern Critical Edition collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work
• Presented in modern spelling and punctuation with accessible critical apparatus to best aid understanding of the plays and poems

   
'A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life'
   
This edition provides a clear and accessible introduction to Shakespeare's enduring tale of ill-fated lovers. Hannah August pays particular attention to the dramatic function of the famous prologue and the significance of the play's ending. August also explores ways of reading the play as a text that queries rather than validates the tenets of heterosexual romantic love, proving that at multiple points throughout the play's four-hundred-years-plus stage history, Verona has been more queer than the prevailing view of Romeo and Juliet as a core text of heterosexual love might lead us to believe. It includes a substantial section which addresses the play's early modern production and reception history in both print and performance, as well as providing an overview of later performance traditions drawing on up-to-date examples of key productions.
  
The New Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative editions of Shakespeare's works with introductory materials designed to encourage new interpretations of the plays and poems. Using the text from the landmark The New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition, these volumes offer readers the latest thinking on the authentic texts (collated from all surviving original versions of Shakespeare's work) alongside innovative introductions from leading scholars. The texts are accompanied by a comprehensive set of critical apparatus to give readers the best resources to help understand and enjoy Shakespeare's work.