Shakespeare, Aphra Behn and the Canon is an accessible introduction to the idea of the literary canon and the complex process by which certain authors and works are accorded a high cultural status.

          Written expressly for those with no previous knowledge of Shakespeare or Behn, the contributors focus on three of Shakespeare’s most widely-studied plays, Henry V, Othello and As You Like It. As a contrast, Aphra Behn’s restoration comedy The Rover is studied as an example of a play which was highly popular in its own time, but, in later times, neglected from the canon. Shakespeare, Aphra Behn and the Canon places both authors in historical context and offers passages of text and criticism in each chapter followed by detailed discussion.

          Amidst the controversial literary clamor declaiming which books belong in the "canon" and which should be relegated to obscurity, this text offers students an opportunity to focus on the concept of canon, the literary criteria used to canonize, and the ways in which traditional standards are being challenged. The authors compare the work of William Shakespeare (the most celebrated, sainted author of all time) and his contemporary, Aphra Behn who is only now enjoying a reinvestigation of her plays, once considered as popular as those of Shakespeare. The entire text of "The Rover" by Behn is featured with notes.