Professor Emeritus James Schiffer edits volume on ‘Twelfth Night’ for Shakespearean criticism series

Professor Emeritus James Schiffer is the editor of a new volume of literary criticism on William Shakespeare’s classic comedy “Twelfth Night,” published as part of the “Shakespeare: The Critical Tradition” series from Arden Shakespeare and Bloomsbury Publishing. 

Schiffer’s volume is an anthology of critical perspectives spanning from 1799-1950, by renowned literary figures including William Hazlitt, Thomas De Quincey, Anna Jameson, Charles Knight, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Mary Cowden Clarke, Charles Lamb, George Bernard Shaw, William Empson and Caroline F. E. Spurgeon. 

Schiffer’s introduction begins with the literary and theatrical critiques of the play from its contemporaries through to the present day, giving expansive context on how performances and interpretations of “Twelfth Night” have evolved since it was first published more than 400 years ago. 

“Each age, it seems, has reinvented ‘Twelfth Night’ in its own image, which is something that inevitably happens to all of Shakespeare’s works, and perhaps to all plays that continue to be performed and interpreted over hundreds of years,” writes Schiffer. “That the world and its audiences change from one time and place to another over time is only part of the explanation. What the rich critical and theatrical history of ‘Twelfth Night’ reflects is not only the changing profile and interests of its interpreters but also the complexity of this elusive, opalescent play.” 

A respected Shakespearean scholar, Schiffer was a longtime professor in the Department of English who taught in the Honors Program and served as the dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences from 2008-13. 

At New Paltz, Schiffer was dedicated to helping students understand and experience Shakespeare’s work on a visceral level. On and off-campus, he delivered lectures and hosted panel discussions on Shakespeare’s sonnets and plays. 

For more on “Twelfth Night” from “Shakespeare: The Critical Tradition,” click here.  

Click here to learn more about the Department of English at SUNY New Paltz.