TY - BOOK AU - Douce,Francis TI - Illustrations of Shakspeare, and of Ancient Manners: with Dissertations on the Clowns and Fools of Shakspeare; on a Collection of Popular Tales Entitled Gesta Romanorum; and on the English Morris dance AV - PR PY - 2015/// CY - Salt Lake City, UT PB - Project Gutenberg KW - Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Criticism and interpretation KW - Morris dance KW - Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Knowledge -- Manners and customs KW - Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Characters -- Clowns KW - Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Characters -- Fools KW - Manners and customs in literature KW - Fools and jesters in literature KW - Exempla in literature KW - Clowns in literature KW - Gesta Romanorum KW - Fools and jesters -- England -- History -- 16th century KW - Clowns -- England -- History -- 16th century N1 - Release date is 2015-10-16; Produced by Richard Tonsing, Chris Curnow and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive); Original publication data not identified N2 - "Illustrations of Shakspeare, and of Ancient Manners" by Francis Douce is a collection of literary commentary and historical analysis written in the early 19th century. This work serves as an exploration of Shakspeare's texts, particularly focusing on elucidating clowns and fools within his plays, the influences of popular tales like the "Gesta Romanorum," and the cultural significance of the English morris dance. At the start of the text, Douce presents a preface that underlines the necessity of commentary on Shakespeare's complex writings. He outlines his approach, indicating a division of readers based on how they engage with Shakespeare's plays, and reflects on previous scholars' contributions to the field. Douce's introduction suggests that his work will build upon these foundations, aiming to shed light on obscure customs, clarify difficult passages, and provide a deeper understanding of the characters and themes that populate Shakespeare’s works. Overall, the opening sections set the stage for an in-depth look at the rich interplay between Shakespeare's literature and the social customs of his time. (This is an automatically generated summary.) UR - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50228 ER -