Classic plays / drama

Book SynopsisThe second Oxford edition of Shakespeare''s Complete Works reconsiders every detail of their text and presentation in the light of modern scholarship. The nature and authority of the early documents are re-examined, and the canon and chronological order of composition freshly established. Spelling and punctuation are modernized, and there is a brief introduction to each work, as well as an illuminating and informative General Introduction. Included here for the first time is the play The Reign of King Edward the Third as well as the full text of Sir Thomas More. This new edition also features an essay on Shakespeare''s language by David Crystal, and a bibliography of foundational works.Trade Reviewremains the most distinctive, and in many ways the best, one-volume Shakespeare currently available and will not be easily replaced. * Forum for Modern Languages *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Contemporary Allusions to Shakespeare ; Commendatory Poems and Prefaces (1599-1640) ; 1. The Two Gentlemen of Verona ; 2. The Taming of the Shrew ; 3. The First Part of the Contention of the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster (2 Henry VI) ; 4. The True Tragedy of Richard Duke of York and the Good King Henry the Sixth (3 Henry VI) ; 5. The First Part of Henry the Sixth ; 6. The Most Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus ; 7. The Tragedy of King Richard the Third ; 8. Venus and Adonis ; 9. The Rape of Lucrece ; 10. The Reign of King Edward the Third ; 11. The Comedy of Errors ; 12. Love's Labour's Lost ; 13. Love's Labour's Won: A Brief Account ; 14. The Tragedy of King Richard the Second ; 15. The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet ; 16. A Midsummer Night's Dream ; 17. The Life and Death of King John ; 18. The Comical History of The Merchant of Venice, or Otherwise Called the Jew of Venice ; 19. The History of Henry the Fourth (1 Henry IV) ; 20. The Merry Wives of Windsor ; 21. The Second Part of Henry the Fourth (2 Henry IV) ; 22. Much Ado About Nothing ; 23. The Life of Henry the Fifth ; 24. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar ; 25. As You Like It ; 26. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark ; 27. Twelfth Night, or What You Will ; 28. Troilus and Cressida ; 29. Sonnets and 'A Lover's Complaint' ; 30. Various Poems ; 31. Sir Thomas More ; 32. Measure for Measure ; 33. The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice ; 34. The Life of Timon of Athens ; 35. The History of King Lear: The Quarto Text ; 36. The Tragedy of Macbeth ; 37. The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra ; 38. All's Well That Ends Well ; 39. Pericles, Prince of Tyre: A Reconstructed Text ; 40. The Tragedy of Coriolanus ; 41. The Winter's Tale ; 42. The Tragedy of King Lear: The Folio Text ; 43. Cymbeline, King of Britain ; 44. The Tempest ; 45. Cardenio: A Brief Account ; 46. All Is True (Henry VIII) ; 47. The Two Noble Kinsmen ; Select Glossary

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Book SynopsisThe Oxford ShakespeareGeneral Editor: Stanley WellsThe Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative texts from leading scholars in editions designed to interpret and illuminate the plays for modern readers- a new, modern-spelling text, collated and edited from all existing printings- On-page commentary and notes explain meaning, staging, language, and allusions- Detailed introduction considers the first performance in 1592 in relation to the 1623 folio, structure, theatrical history, and the role of women in the play- Illustrated with production photographs and related art- Full index to introduction and commentary- Durable sewn binding for lasting use''not simply a better text but a new conception of Shakespeare. This is a major achievement of twentieth-century scholarship.'' ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the

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Book SynopsisFrom the Royal Shakespeare Company a fresh new edition of Shakespeare''sgreat tragedy of love and war THIS EDITION INCLUDES: An illuminating introduction to Troilus and Cressida by award-winning scholar Jonathan Bate The play - with clear and authoritative explanatory notes on each page A helpful scene-by-scene analysis and key facts about the play An introduction to Shakespeare''s career and the Elizabethan theatre A rich exploration of approaches to staging the play featuring photographs of key productionsThe most enjoyable way to understand a Shakespeare play is to see it or participate in it. This unique edition presents a historical overview of Troilus and Cressida in performance, recommends film versions, takes a detailed look at specific productions and includes interviews with two leading directors Trevor Nunn and Michael Boyd so that we may get a se

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Book SynopsisThis Norton Critical Edition includes the First Folio text, along with an introduction, explanatory footnotes, note on the text and textual notes.

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Book SynopsisThis Norton Critical Edition of one of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies is based on the First Quarto text with variants from the First Folio.

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Book SynopsisShakespeare’s tragedy of one of the most famous assassinations in the world at an epoch-changing time in history.

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Book SynopsisWilliam Shakespeare's Hamlet (c.1600-1601) has achieved iconic status as one of the most exciting and enigmatic of plays. It has been in almost constant production in Britain and throughout the world since it was first performed, fascinating generations of audiences and critics alike.Taking the form of a sourcebook, this guide to Shakespeare's remarkable play offers: extensive introductory comment on the contexts, critical history and performance of the text, from publication to the present annotated extracts from key contextual documents, reviews, critical works and the text itself cross-references between documents and sections of the guide, in order to suggest links between texts, contexts and criticism suggestions for further reading. Table of ContentsList of Illustrations. Series Editor's Preface. Acknowledgements. Introduction. Part 1: Contexts Part 2: Interpretations Part 3: Key Passages Part 4: Further Reading. Index

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Book SynopsisOver 150 exquisite poems deal with love, friendship, the tyranny of time, beauty''s evanescence, death, and other themes in language unsurpassed in passion, precision, originality, and beauty. This inexpensive Dover edition enables any lover of poetry or fine literature to have this remarkable verse in his or her library. Includes glossary of archaic terms.

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Book SynopsisTragic tale of star-crossed lovers, feuding families, and timeless passion contains some of Shakespeare''s most beautiful and lyrical love poetry. This inexpensive edition includes the complete, unabridged text with explanatory footnotes. Ideal for classroom use, it is a wonderful addition to the home library of anyone wanting to savor one of literature''s most sublime paeans to young love.

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsIntroduction A Note on This Translation Dramatis Personae Medea Notes Acknowledgments

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This second edition of The Merry Wives of Windsor focuses at every point on a theatrical understanding of the play. It includes a response to some current arguments about the dating of the play and brings the stage history up to date, showing how recent productions convey the central character of Falstaff.

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Book SynopsisAlcestis is the story of a king, Admetus, who is able to escape death because his wife, Alcestis, has volunteered to die in his place. Ted Hughes''s version goes beyond translation to an inspired rethinking of the story in terms of his own vision of human suffering.Although he started working on this piece in 1993, he did not finish until a few months before his death in 1998. It is the culmination of an extraordinarily productive period of work, which saw the publication of Tales from Ovid (1997), Birthday Letters (1998) and The Oresteia (1999).

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Book SynopsisI Was There. is a perfect introduction for younger readers into stories from the past, allowing children to imagine that they were really there.

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Book SynopsisThe Shakespeare Made Easy series aims to take the fear out of Shakespeare. By having Shakespearean and Modern English facing each other, pupils will find it easier to comprehend the text. Through discussion of the life, work and theatre of Shakespeare pupils can gain a more rounded understanding of these classic works.

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Book SynopsisThe Shakespeare Made Easy series aims to take the fear out of Shakespeare. By having Shakespearean and Modern English facing each other, pupils will find it easier to comprehend the text. Through discussion of the life, work and theatre of Shakespeare pupils can gain a more rounded understanding of these classic works.

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Book SynopsisShakespeare through Islamic Worlds investigates the peculiar absence of Islam and Muslims from Shakespeare's canon. While many of Shakespeare's plays were set in the Mediterranean, a geography occupied by Muslim empires and cultures, his work eschews direct engagement with the religion and its people. This erasure is striking given the popularity of this topic in the plays of Shakespeare's contemporaries. By exploring the limited ways in which Shakespeare uses Islamic and Muslim tropes and topoi, Ambereen Dadabhoy argues that Islam and Muslim cultures function as an alternate or shadow text in his works, ranging from his staged Mediterranean plays to his histories and comedies. By consigning the diverse cultures of the Islamic regimes that occupied and populated the early modern Mediterranean, Shakespeare constructs a Europe and Mediterranean freed from the presence of non-white, non-European, and non-Christian Others, which belied the reality of the world in which he

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Book SynopsisOpening up a new window to see Shakespeareâs words in a different light and gathering his intentions in a simple, clear way, this book presents the Cue Scripts from the Romances and Histories in Shakespeareâs First Folio.The book invites readers to approach Shakespeareâs texts the way his actors would have â not studying the complete text and drawing conclusions from it, but working from a Cue Script, where all the lines for a particular character are written, with just a two- or three-word cue as to when they should speak. As an actor himself, Shakespeare knew that his actors would have little time to do more than learn their lines for the next imminent performance â for this reason, he placed in the first lines of every Cue Script a range of crucial information on the characterâs motives and intentions. Studying the cues and following the playwrightâs clues opens up a whole new understanding of the roles, and provides a way of approaching a play that is authentic,

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Book SynopsisThe idea of toxic masculinity might feel like a very modern, even twenty-first-century notion, but similar concerns about male behaviour, also often characterised in terms of poisons and poisoning, can be identified in the literature of four hundred years ago, not only in Shakespeareâs Othello and The Winterâs Tale but also lesser-known plays that were popular on the London stage in the 1600s. Poison-related tropes, and the recurrent plot device of a man trying to poison a woman, expressed complex and sometimes contradictory attitudes towards socially unacceptable male behaviour. These plays depict the early modern male as both poisoned and poisoner â poisoned by inherited misogynistic ideas and attitudes, and poisoner of women both literally and metaphorically. Seeing them as enacting problematic situations and raising difficult questions rather than simply offering the moral certitudes of Christianity or the prescriptions of contemporary conduct book, the book points to these plays as evidence of disquiet and anxieties to which we can still easily relate today. The fact that some plays responded to real life events such as familicide is an indicator of this socially responsible role of the theatre, engaging its audience in current issues and controversies. The use of the poison theme in relation to male violence and misogyny shows that the early modern theatre was engaging with such intractable problems in ways that are still thought-provoking today.

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Book SynopsisMichael Hattaway''s Introduction to this bestselling edition of As You Like It accounts for what makes this popular play both innocent and dangerous. This third edition includes a new section on recent critical interpretations, including sections on ecocriticism, peace studies, and myths of gender, on recent as well as past stage productions and films of the play, as well as fresh illustrations. An appendix on an early court performance in 1599, commentary on the play''s language, the book trade, and the discursive cultures of its time, as well as an updated reading list are also included.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Note on the text; List of characters; The play; Textual analysis; Appendixes; 1. An early court performance?; 2. Extracts from Shakespeare's principal source, Lodge's Rosalind; 3. The songs; Reading list.

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Book SynopsisFor this updated edition of one of Shakespeare's most problematic plays, Tom Lockwood has added a new introductory section on the latest scholarly trends, performance and adaptation practices which have occurred over the last two decades.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Note on the text; List of characters; The play; Supplementary note; Textual analysis; Appendix: Shakespeare's use of the Bible in The Merchant of Venice; Revised reading list.

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Book SynopsisThe basic history of the Shakespearean editorial tradition is familiar and well-established. For nearly three centuries, men most of them white and financially privileged ensconced themselves in private and hard-to-access libraries, hammering out ''their'' versions of Shakespeare''s text. They produced enormous, learnèd tomes: monuments to their author''s greatness and their own reputations. What if this is not the whole story? A bold, revisionist and alternative version of Shakespearean editorial history, this book recovers the lives and labours of almost seventy women editors. It challenges the received wisdom that, when it came to Shakespeare, the editorial profession was entirely male-dominated until the late twentieth century. In doing so, it demonstrates that taking these women''s work seriously can transform our understanding of the history of editing, of the nature of editing as an enterprise, and of how we read Shakespeare in history.Trade Review'Fascinating insights into a hitherto unacknowledged contribution to our understanding of Shakespeare.' Greg Doran, Artistic Director of the RSC'I have read Molly Yarn's book with much pleasure and profit. It is full of interesting insights and sidelights and revealing sociological commentary. It is diligently and scrupulously researched, with a compelling narrative that brings together biography and bibliography (I love the phrase 'bio-bibliography') and foregrounds many hard working women editors, some of them leading multiple lives, who have been hitherto overlooked in the history of Shakespeare editing and criticism. She is not afraid, in her own word, to disclose the 'intimate' discoveries she has made, about herself and her subjects while working on this timely topic. It's an important and very readable contribution to Shakespeare studies.' Margaret Drabble'This is much more than a biography of forgotten and undervalued female editors of Shakespeare in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is a biography of what we value (or decide not to value ) in textual studies; it is a gripping account of female education in the United States and the United Kingdom; it is a chronicle of social circles and patronage; and it is a collection of deftly-told stories. Together these ingredients make for a compelling and illuminating read.' Laurie Maguire, University of Oxford'Few scholarly studies combine original research that opens a whole new field of enquiry and fascinates the non-specialist reader with a topic that is both relatable and deeply moving. Shakespeare's 'Lady Editors' is one of them. Molly Yarn embarked on her search for women editors of Shakespeare, assuming she would find a handful beyond the few 'household' names known to Shakespeare specialists. In fact, her careful archival work has revealed the names, biographies, and editorial achievements of sixty-nine women who edited Shakespeare in the UK and the US before 1950. Readers of Shakespeare's 'Lady Editors' will find in this book the first sustained critical assessment of a small army of women, whose editorial labour was quite literally lost, due to the disqualifying effect of their gender. Yarn does not only recover their labour but shows how influential it is in complementing and redefining our understanding of the official editorial tradition of Shakespeare.' Sonia Massai, King's College London'Shakespeare's 'Lady Editors' is a quite wonderful book. With extraordinary skill Molly Yarn has retrieved the history of the work of generations of women editors of Shakespeare, the story of whose labours has largely been lost to scholarly history. Yarn's scholarship is deeply impressive, but it is worn lightly and her book is energetically written, immensely readable and deeply engaging. The volume is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the history of Shakespeare editing and the over-looked role of generations of women scholars in helping to construct and reframe the Shakespeare text. A thoroughly excellent volume.' Andrew Murphy, Trinity College Dublin'Molly G. Yarn's meticulously researched monograph considers the numerous women who edited Shakespeare in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and thus shaped the history of Shakespearian transmission.' Georgina Wilson, Times Literary SupplementTable of ContentsPrologue: The Mystery of Mrs Valentine; 1. 'We Have Lost Our Labour': Recovering Women Editors of Shakespeare; 2. 'It is My Lady's Hand': Female Collaborators and Ambiguous Literary Labour; 2a. Sidenote: On Women Editing Not-Shakespeare (or Not Editing); 3. 'Give Ear, Sir, to My Sister': Women Editors and Scholarly Networks in America; 3a. Sidenote: A Primer on Early Student Editions of Shakespeare; 4. 'This Story the World May Read in Me': Biography and Bibliography; 5.'We Happy Few': Women and the New Bibliography; Epilogue.

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Book SynopsisThis open access book provides translations of early German versions of Titus Andronicus and The Taming of the Shrew. The introductory material situates these plays in their German context and discusses the insights they offer into the original English texts.English itinerant players toured in northern Continental Europe from the 1580s. Their repertories initially consisted of plays from the London theatre, but over time the players learnt German, and German players joined the companies, meaning the dramatic texts were adapted and translated into German. There are four plays that can legitimately be considered as versions of Shakespeare's plays. The present volume (volume 2) offers fully-edited translations of two of them: Tito Andronico (Titus Andronicus) and Kunst über alle Künste, ein bös Weib gut zu machen / An Art beyond All Arts, to Make a Bad Wife Good (The Taming of the Shrew). For the other two plays, Der Bestrafte BrudermordTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements Preface Introduction to Tito Andronico (Titus Andronicus) The Relationship of Tito Andronico to Titus Andronicus Issues of Race in Tito Andronico The Source of Tito Andronico The Peacham Drawing Titus and Vespasian and the Ur-Titus The Chapbook Prose History and the Ballad German Titus Plays in the Seventeenth Century Textual Introduction The Engelische Comedien vnd Tragedien of 1620 and 1624 Friedrich Menius and the 1620 Engelische Comedien vnd Tragedien The 1620 Engelische Comedien vnd Tragedien and Their Theatrical Origins Conclusion The 1620/1624 Engelische Comedien vnd Tragedien: Extant Copies Editorial History Introduction to Kunst über alle Künste, ein bös Weib gut zu machen (The Taming of the Shrew) The Relationship of Kunst über alle Künste to The Taming of the Shrew Characters and Plot: Correspondences and Differences Adapting the Plot of The Taming of the Shrew Soliloquies and Asides Verbal, Cultural and Dramatic Language The Taming of the Shrew in German in the Seventeenth Century Textual Introduction The Early Editions and Their Contexts: Publication, Paratext and Authorship The Order of Publication of the Two Editions of 1672 Extant Copies of the Early Editions Editorial History A note on the translations A note on the commentary and collation TITO ANDRONICO IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION KUNST ÜBER ALLE KÜNSTE, EIN BÖS WEIB GUT ZU MACHEN IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION Appendix: Doubling charts for Tito Andronico and Kunst über alle Künste, ein bös Weib gut zu machen Abbreviations and references Index

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Book SynopsisAn anthology of three exciting Japanese adaptations of Shakespeare that engage with issues such as changing family values, racial diversity, the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and terrorism, together with a contextualizing introduction.The anthology makes contemporary Japanese adaptations of Shakespeare by three independent theatre companies available to a wider English language audience. The three texts are concerned with the social issues Japan faces today and Japan's perception of its cultural history. This unique collection is thus both a valuable resource for the fields of Shakespeare and adaptation studies as well as for a better understanding of contemporary Japanese theatre.Trade ReviewThe vibrancy of contemporary Japanese theatre is nowhere more evident than in this collection of three plays, all related to Shakespeare, whose texts now serve as a ubiquitous “data base” for Japanese dramatists seeking new creative possibilities, from homage to burlesque. King Lear, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet, here brilliantly expanded and transposed, appear in eloquent translations, accompanied by superlative background essays and interviews. A delight for readers or potential performers. * J. Thomas Rimer, University of Pittsburgh, USA *The history of Shakespeare in Japan is one of the most unique, idiosyncratic and interesting branches of ‘global Shakespeare’. Hitherto scholars have focused mainly on Japanese translation, cultural reception and performance. This book takes the discipline to the next level, providing translated examples of free adaptations, together with substantial critical explication and contextualisation. An invaluable resource for the expanding study of a fascinating cultural field. * Graham Holderness, writer and critic *Table of ContentsList of Images Preface General Introduction Shakespeare and Adaptation Shakespeare's Reception in Japan Early Shakespearean Translations and Adaptations Post-Meiji Performance and Translation The Tokyo Shakespeare Company Kakushinhan Theatre Company The Shakespeare Company Japan The Three Daughters of Lear Introduction to The Three Daughters of Lear Interview: Edo Kaoru The Three Daughters of Lear Hamlet x Shibuya ~ Light, Was Our Revenge Tarnished? Introduction to Hamlet x Shibuya ~ Light, Was Our Revenge Tarnished? Interview: Kimura Ryunosuke Hamlet x Shibuya ~ Light, Was Our Revenge Tarnished? The New Romeo and Juliet Introduction to The New Romeo and Juliet Interview: Shimodate Kazumi The New Romeo and Juliet Appendix 1: A List of Stage Productions by the Three Theatre Companies Appendix 2: A List of Shakespeare Productions in the Tokyo Area in 2019 Bibliography

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Book SynopsisRichard III is one of Shakespeare's enduring villains as the troubled and troubling figure at the heart of this popular succession drama. Traversing the familiar terrain of scheming plots, proposals, betrayals and kingly power, this edition is presented in an easy to read format with notes for performance and rehearsal by directors and actors. It is edited by academic and director, Abigail Rokison-Woodall and the leading Shakespearean actor, Sir Simon Russell Beale. Arden Performance Editions are ideal for anyone engaging with a Shakespeare play in performance. With clear facing-page notes giving definitions of words, easily accessible information about key textual variants, lineation, metrical ambiguities and pronunciation, each edition has been developed to open the play's possibilities and meanings to actors and students. Designed to be used and to be useful, each edition has plenty of space for personal annotations and the well-spaced text is easy to read and to navigate. Eac

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Book SynopsisSet on a remote island, where the sorcerer Prospero, lives with his daughter Miranda, and his two servants: Caliban, a savage monster figure, and Ariel, an airy spirit, The Tempest was written c. 1610-11 and is believed to be one of the last plays that Shakespeare wrote alone. With music and songs that evoke the spirit of enchantment on the island, The Tempest explores many themes, including magic, betrayal, revenge, and family. Although The Tempest is listed in the First Folio as the first of Shakespeare''s comedies, modern studies have created a category of romance for this and others of Shakespeare''s late plays. Some modern interpretations have seen it as a fable of art and creation, with Prospero representing Shakespeare, and Prospero''s renunciation of magic representing Shakespeare''s farewell to the stage, while others consider it an allegory of Europeans colonizing foreign lands.This edition is based on the First Folio and i

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Book SynopsisAs You Like It follows the heroic Rosalind as she flees persecution at her uncle''s court with her cousin Celia, to eventually find safety and love in the Forest of Arden. While in disguise, they encounter many memorable characters, especially the melancholy Jaques, who gives many of Shakespeare''s most famous speeches, including ''All the world''s a stage'', ''too much of a good thing'' and ''A fool! A fool! I met a fool in the forest''. This edition is based on the First Folio and includes an extensive introduction that examines the origins of the work, the plot and the characters as well as notes on the text, a glossary and a timeline of Shakespeare''s life and work. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Arcturus Shakespeare Editions series brings together many of Shakespeare''s celebrated plays, presented with striking contemporary cover designs. Each edition is based on the First Folio and includes an informative introduction, glossary and timeline.

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Book SynopsisWhen a group of soldiers descend on the town of Messina, two romantic entanglements ensue. Shakespeare''s sparkling comedy trades on the skilful interplay between Beatrice and Benedick and the shades of light and dark that the mix of bright new love and dark deeds provides. This edition is based on the First Folio and includes an extensive introduction that examines the origins of the work, the plot and the characters as well as notes on the text, a glossary and a timeline of Shakespeare''s life and work.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Arcturus Shakespeare Editions series brings together many of Shakespeare''s celebrated plays, presented with striking contemporary cover designs. Each edition is based on the First Folio and includes an informative introduction, glossary and timeline.

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Book SynopsisWith over 3,000 quotes organized by topic and by play the Dictionary is very easy to use. It also includes a glossary of unfamiliar terms and a brief biography of Shakespeare. The key word index makes it easy to dip into by word, theme or play allowing you to track down a half-remembered quote easily.

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Book SynopsisMacbeth is one of the most popular and bloody of Shakespeare''s tragedies. This accessible introduction offers a springboard into the play, taking a hands-on, performance-based approach, exploring the challenges and the rewards it presents to actors, audiences and students. Springboard Shakespeare: Macbeth has a three-part structure: whether you''re watching or reading, Ben Crystal takes you through exactly what you need to know Before, During and After the play. He combines a genuine passion and understanding of Shakespeare with his experience as an actor, giving the reader a clear route to thinking about, understanding and enjoying Macbeth.Trade ReviewHaving Crystal as a companion through the stickier parts of Hamlet and Macbeth is like going to the theatre with an intelligent friend. * The Independent *How different it might have been if we’d had Ben Crystal’s sparky little books to introduce us. My Shakespearean epiphany would have come much sooner...[the books] lead newcomers into the play in question in a gentle, upbeat, unpretentious way. Fresh and slim, they’re about as far as could be from dusty, dry study guides relating to school exams...much better than the average theatre programme...I’d like to see them on sale in theatre bookshops, and/or wherever there’s a production of one of these plays...I’d also recommend them for classroom use. -- Susan Elkin * The Independent on Sunday *A highly worthwhile series, which should prove to be valuable for directors, actors and students…This formula really works. As an experiment, your dedicated reviewer tried out Macbeth in preparation for and following on from the Eve Best production of the Globe. The experience was definitely improved, with some of the tips on words and language proving especially helpful and enlightening… These really are excellent little guides that will prove informative to almost anybody with an interest in the subject. -- Philip Fisher * British Theatre Guide *

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Book SynopsisPresents Shakespeare's theatre as a powerful forum for shaping our capacity for virtue

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Book SynopsisKing Lear is a play for our times. The central characters experience intense suffering in a hostile and unpredictable world. They face domestic cruelty, political defeat, and a stormy external environment that invades them 'to the skin.' They constantly question the meaning of their experiences as we watch their emotions range from despair to rage to unexpected tenderness and desperate hope as they are rejected, even tortured. Lear's daughters, as in a fairy tale, are three strong women. The elder two vie for sexual and political power, while the youngest, Cordelia, is initially banished because of her plain speaking, then returns in a doomed attempt to restore her father to his throne. King Lear has an unusual performance history. It was significantly revised, by Shakespeare or others, between its first two publications, and was then succeeded by an adaptation that softened the ending so that Lear and Cordelia survived. In our own times King Lear is performed around the world in productions that explore its relevance to contemporary political and environmental challenges. This edition offers a distinctive 'extended' text, taking the later Folio as a starting point and adding the lines that appear only in the Quarto, distinguished by a light gray background. Variations in individual words that are of critical interest are recorded in the margin.Trade Review“The Broadview King Lear is an excellent edition for students and readers of all ages. It provides a useful, unobtrusive view of the two early versions of Shakespeare’s play-text, a clear and perceptive introduction to some key aspects of that play and to Shakespeare in general, compact glosses of words that might puzzle modern readers, and a well-chosen array of relevant documents that put the play into its key contexts.” — Robert N. Watson, University of California, Los Angeles“This King Lear stands out for its educationally wise and theatrically astute text. The editors generously supply a cornucopia of supplementary material from historical documents, prior and contemporary historical narratives, and poetic and dramatic sources. The section on past theatrical productions is so well conceived and written that it creates a sense of eye-witnessed events for both new readers and experienced theater buffs. Unlike any previous edition I’ve seen, here the display and explanation of Quarto and Folio variants appear as imaginative invitations rather than as interruptions or confusions to a reader’s movement through the play. Because they are so well presented, these often small-scale but occasionally quite extended textual alternatives from the earliest versions will enlighten new readers and intrigue experienced teachers and players. The variant passages with their notes together reveal themselves as working guides through the practicalities and creative possibilities of staging plays in Shakespeare’s time.” — Steven Urkowitz, Emeritus Professor, English and Theater, City College of New YorkTable of ContentsAppendix A: Shakespeare's Sources 1. 'The Most Indispensable Thing': A Folk Tale from Germany 2. From Geoffrey of Monmouth, History of the Kings of Britain (c. 1136) 3. From John Higgins, The Mirror for Magistrates (1575) 4. From Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville, Gorboduc (1562) 5. From Raphael Holinshed, Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1587) 6. From Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene (1590) 7. From The History of King Leir (c. 1594) 8. From Sir Philip Sidney, The Arcadia (1590) 9. From Samuel Harsnett, A Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures (1603) Appendix B: Literary, Social, and Historical Contexts 1. From Aristotle, Poetics (c. 330 BCE) 2. From Geoffrey Chaucer, 'The Monk's Tale' (c. 1400) 3. From Sir Philip Sidney, The Defense of Poetry (1579) 4. From The Book of Job 5. From John Knox, The First Blast of the Trumpet (1588) 6. From King James, Basilikon Doron (1603) 7. Selections from Jest Books (a) From A Hundred Mery Talys (1526) (b) From Richard Tarlton, Tarlton's Jests (1638) 8. Attitudes to Bastards in Shakespeare's Time (a) A Ballad of the Birth of the Monstrous Child (1562) (b) John Lyly Passes on the Advice of Plutarch (sixteenth century) (c) From Richard Jones, The Book of Honor and Arms (1590) (d) Shakespeare's Bastards 9. Attitudes to Aging in the Renaissance (a) From Youth and Age (fifteenth century) (b) From Psalm 90 (c) Montaigne on Aging Parents (1580) (d) Shakespeare and Old Age Appendix C: Critical ReceptionAppendix D: King Lear's Afterlife1. From Nahum Tate, King Lear (1681)

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of the Patrick Melrose novels, now a major Sky Atlantic television series starring Benedict CumberbatchHenry Dunbar, the once all-powerful head of a global media corporation, is not having a good day. In his dotage he handed over care of the corporation to his two eldest daughters, Abby and Megan. But relations quickly soured, leaving him to doubt the wisdom of past decisions. Now imprisoned in a care home in the Lake District with only a demented alcoholic comedian as company, Dunbar starts planning his escape. As he flees into the hills, his family is hot on his heels. Who will find him first, his beloved youngest daughter, Florence, or the tigresses Abby and Megan, so keen to divest him of his estate?Trade ReviewSt Aubyn has a natural talent for keeping you on the edge of your seat… His prose has an easy charm that masks a ferocious, searching intellect * The Times *Malevolently enjoyable… A fable of fatherly neglect and daughterly cruelty * Financial Times *Deeply affecting…and funny * Observer *Powerful… Entertaining * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisThis bilingual edition presents Luis Vélez de Guevara’s 1613 play La Serrana de la Vera (The Mountain Girl from La Vera) for the first time ever in English translation. This long-forgotten tragedy has come back into focus in recent years because of its extraordinary protagonist, Gila, a peasant girl who calls herself a man, takes fierce pride in doing things men do, and falls in love with Queen Isabel. Her betrayal by an army captain who she has humiliated leads to lawlessness, violence and tragedy. Dramatized by the playwright as an heroic rebel, Gila has been variously described as feminist, homosexual, bisexual, lesbian, transsexual, hybrid, queer, and transgender. Highly relevant today, The Mountain Girl from La Vera is also a great piece of theatre, full of dramatic confrontations, colourful vignettes, striking moments of music and spectacle, and plentiful comic relief. This bilingual edition presents the entirety of the play, annotated, along with a Critical Introduction by the translator that contextualizes the work.Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionLa Serrana de la Vera/The Mountain Girl from La Vera

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Book SynopsisBased also on the new proofread and copy edited text of bestselling 2011 Flame Tree Illustrated Shakespeare, the Histories sit alongside the Comedies and the Tragedies to create a delightful three-set edition. The perfect match for The Decameron, The Divine Comedy and Don Quixote in Flame Tree''s series of epic tales, Shakespeare''s Complete Works is one of the masterpieces of literature, a must for every home, a wonderful read to enjoy and reminisce, and a treasure-house of cultural knowledge, highlighting every aspect of humankind.Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy, Classic Stories and Epic Tales collections bring together the entire range of myth, folklore, epic literature and modern short fiction. Highlighting the roots of suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories, the books in Flame Tree Collections series are beautifully presented, perfect as a gift and offer a lifetime of reading pleasure.

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Book SynopsisBased also on the new proofread and copy edited text of bestselling 2011 Flame Tree Illustrated Shakespeare, The Comedies sit alongside The Histories and The Tragedies to create a delightful three-set edition. The perfect match for The Decameron, The Divine Comedy and Don Quixote in Flame Tree''s series of epic tales, Shakespeare''s Complete Works is one of the masterpieces of literature, a must for every home, a wonderful read to enjoy and reminisce, and a treasure-house of cultural knowledge, highlighting every aspect of humankind.Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy, Classic Stories and Epic Tales collections bring together the entire range of myth, folklore, epic literature and modern short fiction. Highlighting the roots of suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories, the books in Flame Tree Collections series are beautifully presented, perfect as a gift and offer a lifetime of reading pleasure.

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Book SynopsisBased also on the new proofread and copy edited text of bestselling 2011 Flame Tree Illustrated Shakespeare, The Tragedies sit alongside The Histories and The Comedies to create a delightful three-set edition. The perfect match for The Decameron, The Divine Comedy and Don Quixote in Flame Tree''s series of epic tales, Shakespeare''s Complete Works is one of the masterpieces of literature, a must for every home, a wonderful read to enjoy and reminisce, and a treasure-house of cultural knowledge, highlighting every aspect of humankind.Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy, Classic Stories and Epic Tales collections bring together the entire range of myth, folklore, epic literature and modern short fiction. Highlighting the roots of suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories, the books in Flame Tree Collections series are beautifully presented, perfect as a gift and offer a lifetime of reading pleasure.

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Book SynopsisMacbeth is one of Shakespeare's finest plays, and presents a man's conscience and the effect of guilt on his mind. A dark and bloody play, Macbeth explores reality and illusion; witchcraft and the supernatural; ambition and kingship; the natural order; light and life, darkness and death; blood and dead babies. Written just after the Gunpowder Plot, and at a time when people were often tried for treason, Macbeth makes much of the beliefs of an extremely superstitious age. King James 1 believed in demons conjured by devils and wild women who could fly through the air, raise storms and tell the future. Their prime purpose was to create havoc and corruption. Whether or not Shakespeare shared these beliefs, all are featured in Macbeth to spine chilling effect. This new edition includes the complete text with explanatory notes and a full introduction that describes the setting, summarises the plot and profiles the main characters. It discusses Shakespeare's language and the play's themes, and it gives typical essay and test questions to help students prepare for exams. Includes: Introduction The Story of Macbeth The Play's Characters Themes and Language Examining the Play The Play Notes throughout

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Book SynopsisComedies for young actors (and the young at heart): ''Gwylltio'' by Haf Llewelyn and ''Ffyrst Rispondars'' by Gwynedd Huws Jones.

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Book SynopsisTHE GOOD AUDITION GUIDES: Helping you select and perform the audition piece that is best suited to your performing skills Each Good Audition Guide contains a range of fresh monologues, all prefaced with a summary of the vital information you need to place the piece in context and to perform it to maximum effect in your own unique way. Each volume also carries a user-friendly introduction on the whole process of auditioning. Shakespeare Monologues for Women contains 50 monologues drawn from across the Shakespeare canon. Each speech is prefaced with an easy-to-use guide to Who is speaking, Where, When and To Whom, What has just happened in the play and What are the character's objectives. In fact, everything the actor needs to know before embarking on the audition! Shakespeare Monologues for Women is edited by director, teacher and academic Luke Dixon. 'Sound practical advice for anyone attending an audition' Teaching Drama Magazine on the Good Audition GuidesTrade Review"Sound practical advice for anyone attending an audition... a source of inspiration for teachers and students alike" Teaching Drama Magazine"

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Book SynopsisThe Everyman Signet Shakespeare series continues with the second volume of Histories, containing HENRY IV, parts I and II, HENRY V and HENRY VIII. As before, there is an extended introduction by Tony Tanner, a bibliography and author chronology. The plays are lightly annotated and the text is therefore ideal for both students and general readers.

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Book SynopsisIn their lively and engaging edition of this sometimes neglected early play, Cox and Rasmussen make a strong claim for it as a remarkable work, revealing a confidence and sureness that very few earlier plays can rival. They show how the young Shakespeare, working closely from his chronicle sources, nevertheless freely shaped his complex material to make it both theatrically effective and poetically innovative. The resulting work creates, in Queen Margaret, one of Shakespeare's strongest female roles and is the source of the popular view of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick as 'kingmaker'. Focusing on the history of the play both in terms of both performance and criticism, the editors open it to a wide and challenging variety of interpretative and editorial paradigms.

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Book SynopsisTwo Gentlemen of Verona is commonly agreed to be Shakespeare's first comedy, and probably his first play. A comedy built around the confusions of doubling, cross - dressing and identity, it is also a play about the ideal of male friendship and what happens to those friendships when men fall in love.William Carroll's engaging Introduction focuses on the traditions and sources that stand behind the play and explores Shakespeare's unique and bold treatment of them. Special attention is given to the strong female figure of Julia and the controversial final scene.

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Book SynopsisIn All’s Well That Ends Well, Helen, a lowly ward, risks her life to satisfy her boundless love for Bertram, a count and ward to the King of France. Following him to Paris, she concocts an endangering plan to win the King of France’s favour and induce Bertram’s hand in marriage. In the comprehensive introduction to this new, fully-illustrated Arden edition, Suzanne Gossett takes a transformative look at the play’s critical and performance history by offering fresh perspectives on the conundrum of genre, sexuality and moral dilemmas with masculinity and the structures of family. The authoritative play text is amply annotated to clarify its language and allusions, and two appendices debate the play’s authorship and review its casting. Offering students and scholars alike a wealth of insight and new research, this edition maintains the rigorous standards of the Arden Shakespeare.Trade ReviewThe best edition available with a particularly thoughtful and undogmatic introduction. * Paul Hartle, University of Cambridge, UK *Table of ContentsList of illustrations General editors’ preface Preface Introduction ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL Appendix 1: Casting All's Well That Ends Well Appendix 2: The Authorship Debate Abbreviations and references Index

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Book SynopsisMore troubled and troubling than King Henry IV Part 1, the play continues the story of King Henry’s decline and Hal’s reform. Though Part 2 echoes the structure of the earlier play, it is a darker and more unsettling world, in which even Falstaff’s revelry is more tired and cynical, and the once-merry Hal sloughs off his tavern companions to become King Henry V. James C. Bulman's authoritative edition provides a wealth of incisive commentary on this complex history play.Trade ReviewBulman’s commentary notes are exhaustive, and he highlights many previously unnoted moments of chronicle history influence … Bulman’s new Arden edition does not merely give textual scholars a tight text and graduate students an authoritative survey of sources and theatrical history. It also effectively argues that we should reevaluate the position of 2 Henry IV within the canon. This masterful edition was well worth the wait. * Shakespeare Quarterly *Probably the best available edition with a far more up-to-date performance history than any competitor. * Paul Hartle, University of Cambridge, UK *James C. Bulman’s edition of Shakespeare’s King Henry IV, Part 2 includes an extremely informative introduction which breathes new life into this often-neglected play. Bulman expertly navigates the difficult textual terrain—neither the Quarto (which appeared in two issues) nor the Folio provides a fully authoritative copy text—explaining the rationale for his decisions in a detailed but accessible appendix. * Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 *[King Henry IV Part 2] provides an exceptionally competent, stimulating, and thorough exploration of all major and many minor disputed problems of this sequel ... In his attention to the text of the play and its background, Bulman offers exceptional quality in addition to the immediately evident quantity. * Berliner Beiträge zur Editionswissenschaft *

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Book SynopsisIn Shakespeare's thrilling and hugely influential tragedy, ageing King Lear makes a capricious decision to divide his realm between his three daughters according to the love they express for him. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is illustrated throughout by Sir John Gilbert, and includes an introduction by Dr Robert Mighall.When the youngest daughter refuses to take part in this charade, she is banished, leaving the king dependent on her manipulative and untrustworthy sisters. In the scheming and recriminations that follow, not only does the king's own sanity crumble, but the stability of the realm itself is also threatened.Trade ReviewEvery generation continues to be in his debt. Shakespeare’s plots, which are brilliantly polyvalent, continue to inspire ceaseless adaptations and spin-offs. His unforgettable phrase-making recurs on the lips of millions who do not realise they are quoting Shakespeare * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisCharacters of Shakespeare's Plays is a collection of essays written by the English literary critic and essayist, William Hazlitt. The book is a critical analysis of the characters in the plays of William Shakespeare, one of the most celebrated playwrights of all time. In the book, Hazlitt explores the psychology and motivations of Shakespeare's characters, examining their personalities, strengths, and flaws. He delves into the complexities of the relationships between characters, and the ways in which their interactions drive the action of the plays. Throughout the book, Hazlitt also grapples with the question of what makes Shakespeare's characters enduringly compelling and relevant to modern audiences. Overall, Characters of Shakespeare's Plays is a masterful work of literary criticism that offers readers a profound understanding of Shakespeare's characters, as well as the enduring power of his works to capture the human experience.

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