Classic plays / drama

Book SynopsisHelps readers navigate "King Lear's" history and includes nine primary sources from which Shakespeare borrowed in creating his play, along with two additional likely sources. This title discusses the best-known and most-often discussed passages from Quarto I. It provides thirteen critical interpretations, and three adaptations and responses.

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Book SynopsisThis title includes the full story with less dialogue for a fast-paced read. It's 11th century Scotland. Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, is one of King Duncan's greatest war captains. Upon returning from a battle with the rebellious Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth and Banquo encounter three witches, who prophecy that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and then King. They also prophecy that Banquo will become the father of kings. When Lady Macbeth hears this, she is determined to push her husband to take fate into his own hands and make himself king by murdering Duncan. Macbeth is reluctant to harm Duncan. But, when the King makes arrangements to visit Macbeth's castle, the opportunity presents itself. Pressed on by his wife, Macbeth kills Duncan and blames the King's drunken attendants, who he also kills. However, Macbeth is racked with guilt and begins to see apparitions.When the body is discovered, Malcolm and Donalbain, the King's sons, are suspicious of Macbeth and flee for their lives. To everyone else, it looks as if the sons have been the chief conspirators and Macbeth is crowned King of Scotland. Banquo's suspicions grow, based on his encounter with the witches and Macbeth is wary of the second prophecy concerning Banquo's offspring. Macbeth hires assassins to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance. Banquo is murdered that night, but Fleance escapes. The bloody ghost of Banquo appears to Macbeth at a feast, tormenting his already guilty conscience. In addition, Macduff, once a comrade of Macbeth, has fled after the King's sons to England, as he also suspects Macbeth.In revenge, Macbeth butchers Macduff's entire household. Macduff and the King's sons raise an army in England and march against Macbeth, who is given another prophecy by the witches, as he prepares for the assault. They tell him his throne is safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane and he will not die by the hand of any man born of a woman. Macbeth now feels invincible. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, has been slowly driven mad by her dreams, in the wake of Duncan's murder. She sleepwalks and eventually kills herself. Macbeth learns that many of his lords are deserting and joining Malcolm's army, which approaches Dunsinane under cover of boughs, which they've cut from the trees of Birnam Wood.Macbeth and Macduff eventually meet on the bloody battlefield. Macbeth laughs derisively, relating the witches' prophecy. But Macduff retorts that he was from his mother's womb untimely ripp'd and not (technically) of woman born. The play ends with the death of Macbeth and Malcolm is crowned King of Scotland.Trade Review"I'm fascinated by your approach to the play and its language. I find them gripping, dramatic and, although for me the original Shakespeare is always my reason for turning to these plays, I think that what you are doing in illuminating and making perhaps more lucid, especially for young people, is clever and meaningful." Patrick Stewart, ActorTable of ContentsDramatis Personae Prologue Macbeth Act 1 Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 Scene 4 Scene 5 Scene 6 Scene 7 Act 2 Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 Scene 4 Act 3 Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 Scene 4 Scene 5 Scene 6 Act 4 Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 Act 5 Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 Scene 4 Scene 5 Scene 6 Scene 7 Scene 8 William Shakespeare The Real Macbeth Macbeth & The Kings of Scotland The History of Shakespeare's Macbeth Page Creation Shakespeare Around The Globe

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Book SynopsisA Midsummer Night's Dream is perhaps the best loved of Shakespeare's plays. It brings together aristocrats, workers, and fairies in a wood outside Athens, and from there the enchantment begins. In the introduction to this edition, Peter Holland pays particular attention to dreams and dreamers, and to Shakespeare's construction of a world of night and shadows. Both here and in his commentary he explores the play's extensive performance history to illustrate the wide range of interpretations of which it is capable.Trade ReviewThe commentary is admirably lucid and undogmatic on textual variants ... The introduction is of the kind that ponders and explores. Holland's method is to take each aspect or element of the play and consider it in the light of earlier traditions ... his critical position emerges unobtrusively but persuasively from the attested facts. * M.M. Mahoud, YES, 27, 1996 *

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!It is the green-eyed monster which doth mockThe meat it feeds on.'Dramatic and powerful in its scope, Othello explores the perils of suspicion and jealousy and the ensuing breakdown of relationships and disaster that can arise from such emotions. Othello, a revered soldier, secretly marries Desdemona, the daughter of a Venetian senator, but is led to believe that she has been unfaithful to him by his ensign, Iago, leading to tragic events.

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Book SynopsisAuthor, dramatist and satirist, Nikolai Gogol deeply influenced later Russian literature with his powerful depictions of a society dominated by petty bureaucracy and base corruption. This volume includes both his most admired short fiction and his most famous drama. A biting and frequently hilarious political satire, The Government Inspector has been popular since its first performance and was regarded by Nabokov as the greatest Russian play every written. The stories gathered here, meanwhile, range from comic to tragic and describe the isolated lives of low-ranking clerks, lunatics and swindlers. They include Diary of a Madman, an amusing but disturbing exploration of insanity; Nevsky Prospect, a depiction of an artist besotted with a prostitute; and The Overcoat, a moving consideration of poverty that powerfully influenced Dostoevsky and later Russian literature.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking wTable of ContentsThe Diary of a Madman, The Government Inspector, and Selected StoriesChronologyIntroductionFurther ReadingTable of RanksIvan Fyodorovich Shponka and His AuntHow Ivan Ivanovich Quarrelled with Ivan NikiforovichNevsky ProspektThe NoseThe OvercoatDiary of a MadmanThe CarriageThe Government InspectorPublishing History and Notes

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Book SynopsisJohn Wilders - literary advisor to the BBC TV Shakespeare series - brings thorough scholarship and a practical understanding of performance needs to this new edition. Clarity, accessibility and rigour are the hallmarks of an edition which will provide invaluable guidance for all its readers. "This edition has a very helpful introduction and good clear text, as well as the exceptionally excellent and detailed notes." Dr Michael Herbert, St Andrews University "a useful treatment of a complex play'Barry Gaines, University of New Mexico, Shakespeare QuarterlyTrade ReviewAntony and Cleopatra is a tragedy, and a fascinating examination of the devious intricascies of politics. * Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph, 12.05.10 *'The play is a wry examination of the wonder and the absurdity of love in middle ages.' * Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph, 12.05.10 *'Shakespeare's Antony is a charismatic leader, a reckless politician and a desperate, lust driven lover, with a touch of a demigod.' * John Peter, Sunday Times, 16.05.10 *'it combines hard politics with erotic fascination' * Libby Purves, The Times, 15.10.10 *Cleopatra's speech in which she mourns for Antony and 'transforms a vainglorious old roue into a god in perhaps the most transcendentally beautiful verse Shakespeare ever wrote.' * Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph, 15.10.10 *'easily Shakespeare's finest historical foray' * Paul Callan, Daily Express, 15.10.10 *'The legendary sex bomb Cleopatra, one of the toughest as well as the most fascinating of Shakespeare's heroines' * Georgina Brown, Mail on Sunday, 24.10.10 *'This is a tragedy of love poisoned by politics and politics betrayed for love' * John Peter, Sunday Times, 24.10.10 *'Shakespeare's tragedy of passion, politics, and performance' * Lyn Gardner, Guardian, 16.12.10 *'...after all, this is a play about delusions and illusions, about the love affair between a drama queen and a great warrior who manages to botch everything he touches, including his own death'. * Lyn Gardner, Guardian, 16.12.10 *'It's the die-hard lust for life and sheer overblown poetry of its middle aged lovers that makes 'Antony and Cleopatra' the hedonist's favourite tragedy.' * Caroline McGinn, Time Out London, 16.12.10 *

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably.'One of Shakespeare's most witty and enjoyable comedies, Much Ado About Nothing is a play that explores courtship, romance and marriage through a number of relationships. Most famously, that of the irrepressible Beatrice and Benedick as they trade their wits against one another, criticising the notion of marriage, yet slowly falling in love with one another as they do so.

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Book Synopsis''Cry havoc! and let slip the dogs of war''Set against the backdrop of a nation breaking out into civil war, Julius Caesar raises questions of governance, power, tyranny, and enslavement. This New Oxford Shakespeare edition situates these questions within the historical framework of the play''s early history in theatre and print, as well as within its long performance history up to and including in the 21st century. The introduction examines the ways in which Roman history is deployed to justify and question political structures, both by Shakespeare and other writers, as well as the transition from historical sources to stage. 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.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 most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

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Book SynopsisHamlet is not only one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, but also the most fascinatingly problematical tragedy in world literature. First performed around 1600, this a gripping and exuberant drama of revenge, rich in contrasts and conflicts. Its violence alternates with introspection, its melancholy with humour, and its subtlety with spectacle. The Prince, Hamlet himself, is depicted as a complex, divided, introspective character. His reflections on death, morality and the very status of human beings make him ‘the first modern man’. Countless stage productions and numerous adaptations for the cinema and television have demonstrated the continuing cultural relevance of this vivid, enigmatic, profound and engrossing drama.

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Book Synopsis''He could mingle sublimity with pathos, bitterness with joy and peace and love'' Aldous HuxleyIn one of Shakespeare''s most perennially popular comedies a young woman, Hermia, flees ancient Athens with her lover, only to be pursued by her would-be husband and her best friend. Unwittingly, all four find themselves in an enchanted forest where fairies and sprites take an interest in human affairs, dispensing magical love potions and casting mischievous spells. Slapstick collides with courtly romance and confusion ends in harmony, as love is transformed, misplaced and ultimately restored.Used and Recommended by the National TheatreGeneral Editor Stanley WellsEdited by Stanley Wells Introduction by Helen Hackett

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Book SynopsisA revised edition of this acclaimed and best-selling edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets and updated throughout to take account of recent scholarship since its first publication in 1997.Trade Review"... this must now be the edition of first resort." Paul Hammond, Review of English Studies

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Book SynopsisWith a foreword by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, author of Ace of SpadesSomething is rotten in the state of Denmark'The King of Denmark is dead. When Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, meets the King's ghost and discovers he was murdered, he swears vengeance against the killer: his father's brother, Claudius, who has married Hamlet's mother and taken the throne. Furious at this betrayal, Hamlet devises a complex plot to reveal the truth and enact his revenge. But Claudius has a devious plan of his own. Together, they will bring devastation to the entire court.Hamlet is Shakespeare's timeless story of grief and a revenge so unrelenting that by curtain's close, all the major players are dead.Discover STAGED, a limited collection of Shakespeare's unabridged plays that celebrates the genius of the Bard and the tropes that continue to delight YA readers to this day.Explore the rest of the STAGED collection:As You Like It With a foreword by Talia HibbertMacbeth With a foreword by Kat DelacorteA Midsummer Night's Dream With a foreword by Becky AlbertalliMuch Ado About Nothing With a foreword by Holly BourneRomeo and Juliet With a foreword by Jennifer Niven

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Book Synopsis''Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand,Blood and revenge are hammering in my head.''In Shakespeare''s first tragedy, Titus Andronicus, the Roman general Titus incurs the wrath of the Queen of the Goths when he enslaves her and kills one of her sons. The shocking violence of her revenge and his retaliation earn Titus its reputation as Shakespeare''s bloodiest play. This New Oxford Shakespeare edition offers a range of critical approaches to the play, considering its initial popularity in the theatre, the authors'' engagement with narrative sources and Roman history, and the ongoing problems scholars and theatremakers have had with the play''s presentation of violence, rape, and racial difference. Throughout, it incorporates up-to-date scholarship and close readings of a number of landmark productions to consider the play''s place in Shakespeare''s canon and to illustrate Titus Andronicus''s enduring value in interrogating some of wider culture''s darkest and most challenging concerns.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.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 most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

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Book SynopsisSparkling with the witty dialogue between Beatrice and Benedicts, Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare''s most enjoyable and theatrically successful comedies.This edition offers a newly edited text and an exceptionally helpful and critically aware introduction. Paying particular attention to analysis of the play''s minor characters, Sheldon P Zitner discusses Shakespeare''s transformation of his source material. He rethinks the attitudes to gender relations that underlie the comedy and determine its view of marriage.Allowing for the play''s openness to reinterpretation by successive generations of readers and peformers, Zitner provides a socially analytic stage history, advancing new views for the actor as much as for the critic. 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 most accurate text plus a wealth o

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Book Synopsis''This is tragedy naked, godless and unredeemed'' Kenneth TynanAn embittered Roman general returns from war, having captured the Queen of the Goths and her three sons. Sacrificing the eldest in memory of his own sons killed in battle, he provokes the queen''s unending hatred. And when she gains power by her marriage to the new emperor of Rome, she quickly begins to plot a murderous revenge of barely conceivable cruelty, in Shakespeare''s first and most savagely bloody tragedy. Used and Recommended by the National TheatreGeneral Editor Stanley WellsEdited by Sonia MassaiIntroduction by Jacques Berthoud

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Book SynopsisWilliam Shakespeare was born in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon and died in 1616. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.Stanley Wells is Emeritus Professor of the University of Birmingham and Honorary President of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.Julia Briggs was professor of English at De Montfort University in Leicester.

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Book SynopsisIts lyricism, comedy (both broad and subtle) and magical transformations have long made A Midsummer Night’s Dream one of the most popular of Shakespeare’s works. The supernatural and the mundane, the illusory and the substantial, are all shimmeringly blended. Love is treated as tragic, poignant, absurd and farcical. ‘Lord, what fools these mortals be!’, jeers Robin Goodfellow; but the joke may be on him and on his master Oberon when Bottom the weaver, his head transformed into that of an ass, is embraced by the voluptuously amorous Titania. Recent stage-productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream have emphasised the enchanting, spectacular, ambiguous and erotically joyous aspects of this magical drama which culminates in a multiple celebration of marriage.

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Book SynopsisThis is the full play in quick modern English for a fast-paced read! Although "The Tempest" was the first play to appear in the first official Folio printing of Shakespeare's plays, it was almost certainly the last play he wrote. It held a pride of place in that first collection, presumably because the editors thought it to be his masterpiece; a crowning glory to the career of the most brightest of playwrights. Needless to say, we had to select the very best artists to do it justice, and to bring you the stunning artwork that you've come to expect from our titles. Poignant to the last, this book is a classic amongst classics.

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Book SynopsisWilliam Shakespeare is perhaps the world's greatest literary figure, famed for his insights into the human condition. Records show that he married Anne Hathaway at the age of 18 and had three children with her. At some point he went to London and joined the theatrical profession, as an actor, playwright, poet and, latterly, theatre manager and impresario. He died in April 1616, aged 52. The body of work left by Shakespeare included 37 plays, four poems and a collection of sonnets.

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Book SynopsisWith a foreword by Kat Delacorte, author of With Fire in Their BloodIt will have blood, they say: blood will have blood'On a bleak, stormy night in Scotland, three witches prophesy: Macbeth will be a lord twice-over and Macbeth will be king; but Banquo's sons will also be kings. When the witches' predictions start to come true, the ambitious Lady Macbeth vows to help her husband become King of Scotland and hold on to the throne by any means necessary. But as the pursuit of power leads them down a dark and bloody path, the Macbeths soon begin to unravel.Macbeth is Shakespeare's famously blood-soaked tale of greed and prophecy so powerful that superstitions about the curse of The Scottish Play' continue to this day.Discover STAGED, a limited collection of Shakespeare's unabridged plays that celebrates the genius of the Bard and the tropes that continue to delight YA readers to this day.Explore the rest of the STAGED collection:As You Like It With a foreword by Talia HibbertHamlet With a foreword by Faridah Àbíké-ÍyímídéA Midsummer Night's Dream With a foreword by Becky AlbertalliMuch Ado About Nothing With a foreword by Holly BourneRomeo and Juliet With a foreword by Jennifer Niven

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Book Synopsis''For God''s sake, let us sit upon the ground,And tell sad stories of the death of kings''Crowned as a child, Richard II only knows power. The King''s court tire of his fickle, greedy reign, but it is only when he exiles his own cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, and attempts to steal his inheritance that they are pushed to act. What follows threatens Richard''s crown and with it his sense of self. Shakespeare''s most tragic history play uses the rich and messy familial web of monarchy to explore what it means to crave power, to hold it, to fight to take it, and to lose it. Richard II is Shakespeare''s most human and tragic history play, a story about the ways power distorts a ruler''s sense of self. 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.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 most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

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Book Synopsis''Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war, That this foul deed shall smell above the earth With carrion men, groaning for burial''Fearful that Caesar will become a tyrant, his friends plot to assassinate him in order to save Rome. But the conspirators'' high principles clash with personal malice and ambition, and as they vie to manipulate the mob, the nation is plunged into bloody civil war. A taut, profound drama exploring power and betrayal, Julius Caesar exposes the chasm between public appearance, political rhetoric and bitter reality.Used and Recommended by the National TheatreGeneral Editor Stanley WellsEdited by Norman Sanders Introduction by Martin Wiggins

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Book SynopsisInspired by Homer''s Iliad and Chaucer''s Troilus and Criseyde, Shakespeare''s play explores heroism, love and betrayal against the backdrop of the Trojan War. This Penguin Shakespeare edition is edited by R. A. Foakes with an introduction by Colin Burrow.''Lechery, still wars and lechery; nothing else holds fashion''It is the seventh year of the Trojan War. The Greek army is camped outside Troy and Achilles - their military hero - refuses to fight. Inside the city Troilus, the Trojan King''s son, falls in love with Cressida, whose father has defected to the Greek camp. In an exchange of prisoners the couple are split - they believe forever. The honour of lovers and soldiers is tested as a fierce battle begins and heroes must prove their worth.This book contains a general introduction to Shakespeare''s life and Elizabethan theatre, a separate introduction to the play, a chronology, suggestions for further reading, an essay discussing performance

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Book SynopsisFor this second edition of The Tempest - one of Shakespeare's most elusive and suggestive plays - David Lindley has thoroughly revised the introduction to take account of the latest developments in criticism and performance. He has also added a completely new section on casting in recent productions of the play.Trade ReviewReview of the first edition: 'If you are looking for a model edition - by which I mean one that is concerned to honour the text and to explain the processes involved in editing - this is it. If I were ever again to undertake the editing of a Shakespeare play, I would keep Lindley's edition of The Tempest open beside me.' Peter ThompsonReview of the first edition: 'David Lindley's [The] Tempest is the best edition on the market and the paperback is a snip.' Studies in Theatre and PerformanceReview of the first edition: 'Lindley aims both to represent and to explain the range of readings given the play in its theatrical and critical afterlives. His edition meets the high standards of the series in an exemplary manner, offering an especially fine introduction that focuses on the elusiveness of The Tempest, a feature that has made it central to late-twentieth-century criticism.' Barbara Hodgdon, Studies in English LiteratureReview of the first edition: 'David Lindley's edition of The Tempest is easily the most outstanding version of this ostensibly straightforward yet hugely teasing play produced over the last thirty years. Its precise and scrupulous commentary notes are careful to the variety of ways the text can be spoken on stage. Its notes on the music and songs are admirably evocative, and its economical account of the huge range of critical views will send thousands of readers out in fruitful chases after the play's own multitudinous interests.' Andrew Gurr, editor, New Variorum 'Tempest'Table of ContentsList of abbreviations and conventions; Preface to the second edition; Introduction; Note on the text; List of characters; The play; Textual analysis; Appendix 1. The songs; Appendix 2. Parallel passages from Virgil and Ovid; Appendix 3. And others: casting the play; Reading list.

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Book SynopsisThis major new edition of Shakespeare's greatest tragedy of love argues that that play is ultimately Juliet's. The play text is expertly edited and the on-page commentary notes discuss issues of staging, theme, meaning and Shakespeare's use of his sources to give the reader deep and engaging insights into the play. The richly illustrated introduction looks at the play's exceptionally beautiful and complex language and focuses on the figure of Juliet as being at its centre. René Weis discusses the play's critical, stage and film history, including West Side Story and Baz Luhrmann's seminal film Romeo + Juliet. This is an authoritative edition from a leading scholar, giving the reader a penetrating and wide-ranging insight into this ever popular play.Trade ReviewRomeo and Juliet continues to be a perennial favourite in the English classroom. As well as offering students a clear and spacious text to read and annotate, the latest Arden edition provides a wealth of critical and contextual material - so crucial to today's study of Shakespeare. Ideal for teachers looking to refresh and update their reading of the text, René Weis's introduction combines close attention to dramatic language with a comprehensive overview of the history of the play in performance. However familiar a reader might be with Romeo and Juliet, this new edition will bring a range of fresh perspectives, dispelling some oft-repeated myths along the way. * Dr Jenny Stevens, Teacher and Lecturer in English *... this new Arden is a thoroughly usable edition... Both introduction and commentary are sensitive, sharp-eyed and clear. Weis's account of the play's performance history brings out the excitement of modern productions by Michael Bogdanov and Tim Carroll, and the innovations of Baz Luhrmann's film... this Romeo and Juliet will serve well. -- Duncan Salkeld * Times Literary Supplement *If you are looking for something for your A-level students, particularly to start off study for Edexcel's unit four for A level, this is the perfect edition. The notes are detailed and scholarly, and there are many essays and appendices which students would find useful, including a look at playing the love scenes through the ages and some reflection on the various adaptations and original setting for Romeo and Juliet over the centuries. * Teaching Drama *Rene Weis’s Romeo and Juliet lives up to the high standards of the Arden Shakespeare, with an extensive introduction, expansive editorial glosses, and even a facsimile reproduction of Q1 in an appendix. -- Garrett A. Sullivan, Jr., Rice University * Studies in English Literature, Vol. 53, No. 2 *Prof. Weis' edition of Romeo and Juliet implements a number of important updates from the second Arden edition of the test. With a comprehensive introduction, and in-depth textual notations, it has easily become the definitive edition of the play. * Jarrod DePrado, Sacred Heart University, USA *

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Book Synopsis"I would challenge you to a battle of wits, but I see you are unarmed." —William Shakespeare Arm yourself with this volume from the Knickerbocker Classics series, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, including 16 comedies, 10 histories, 12 tragedies, and all the poems and sonnets of the world's most influential writer. This collection includes poems and plays that were not included in Shakespeare's First Folio of 1623 to make one complete, authentic collection. For Shakespeare and poetry fans worldwide, this stunning hardcover edition with its elegant cover is perfect for gift giving.The Complete Works of William Shakespeare contains essential reading like Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, King Lear, Othello, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and Henry V alongside many lesser-known gems for a complete Shakespearean education. The Knickerbocker Classics bring together the works of classic authors from around the world. Complete and unabridged, these elegantly designed, hardcover editions feature a comprehensive introduction providing the reader with enlightening information on the author's life and works.

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Book SynopsisShakespeare everyone can understandnow in new DELUXE editions! Why fear Shakespeare? By placing the words of the original play next to line-by-line translations in plain English, these popular guides make Shakespeare accessible to everyone. They introduce Shakespeare's world, significant plot points, and the key players. And now they feature expanded literature guide sections that help students study smarter, along with links to bonus content on the Sparknotes.com website. A Q&A, guided analysis of significant literary devices, and review of the play give students all the tools necessary for understanding, discussing, and writing about Othello. The expanded content includes:Five Key Questions: Five frequently asked questions about major moments and characters in the play. What Does the Ending Mean?: Is the ending sad, celebratory, ironic . . . or ambivalent? Plot Analysis: What is the play about? How is the story told, and what are the main themes? Why do the characters behave

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Book Synopsis''Shakespeare''s play is death-haunted from the start, and its self-glorifying lovers exist in a dream of passion'' GuardianA battle-hardened soldier, Antony is one of the three leaders of the Roman world. But he is also a man in the grip of an all-consuming passion for the tempestuous and alluring queen of Egypt, Cleopatra. And when their life of pleasure together is threatened by encroaching politics, the conflict between love and duty has devastating consequences. A tragic drama of love and loss, sex and power, told in language of poetic sublimity, Antony and Cleopatra is one of Shakespeare''s supreme imaginative achievements.Used and Recommended by the National TheatreGeneral Editor Stanley WellsEdited by Emrys JonesIntroduction by René Weis

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Book Synopsis''At one and the same time the greatest of all works of English patriotism and a searing critique of warfare'' Jonathan BateYoung King Henry wages war on France. Tainted by his family''s past crimes and with enemies among his own men, he must face the difficult responsibilities of kingship, unite his country and rouse his ''band of brothers'' to battle at Agincourt. An heroic coming-of-age story and a work of stirring patriotic oratory, Henry V also has darker undercurrents that ultimately question the price of military victory.Used and Recommended by the National TheatreGeneral Editor Stanley WellsEdited by A. R. Humphreys with an Introduction by Ann Kaegi

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Book SynopsisRead & Co. Classics presents this new beautiful edition of William Shakespeare''s poem, "A Lover''s Complaint", featuring a specially commissioned new biography of William Shakespeare. The poem tells the story of a young women lamenting her love for a man who once charmed and abandoned her. As she weeps at the edge of a river, an old man approaches, compelling her to recount her tale of sorrow. It was published as a conclusion to the original edition of Shakespeare''s Sonnets, in 1609. Shakespeare's sonnets beautifully explore the themes of love and beauty, time and mortality. William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is considered to be the greatest writer in the English language and is celebrated as the world''s most famous dramatist.

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Book SynopsisA captivating picture book retelling by Shakespeare's Globe for very young readers.William Shakespeare's comedy about mistaken identities and unrequited love in the far-off kingdom of Illyria is unforgettably re-imagined by Shakespeare's Globe as a picture book for very young readers. With exquisite and detailed illustrations from the acclaimed artist Jane Ray, who has previously been shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal, this captivating retelling is a magical way to introduce children to one of the best-loved works of the world's greatest playwright.

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Book SynopsisThis edition of Sir Thomas More is the first to bring the play into the context of a major Shakespeare series, to provide a substantial critical analysis, and to offer a comprehensive modern stage history. The introduction deals with issues such as the strange involvement of the anti-Catholic spy-hunter Anthony Munday as chief dramatist, the place of Sir Thomas More as a Catholic martyr in Protestant late Elizabethan culture, and the play's representation of a multi-cultural London.The text itself, supported by a searching and detailed commentary, adopts a distinctive presentation that enables readers to keep track of the manuscript and the hands that produced it, whilst engaging with the play as a fascinating theatrical piece. Sir Thomas More deals with matters so controversial that it may never have reached performance on stage. The authors' determination to deal with rioting and religious politics led to a play that is compelling in its own right but also intriguing as a document of what could, and could not, be articulated in the early modern public theatre. Surviving only as a manuscript text on which Shakespeare was thought to have worked, it can be considered to be the most important play manuscript of the period, owing to its highly complex witness to collaboration between dramatists and to censorship.Trade ReviewJohn Jowett’s edition of More is one of the triumphs of the [Third Series] as a whole, elucidating a nightmarishly complex textual history with exemplary clarity. * The New Criterion *‘...Jowett, one of the most gifted and exciting textual scholars around, whose Oxford edition of Richard III belongs right up there in the pantheon of truly great Shakespeare editions, has completed the job boldly, accurately and courteously.' ‘The textual treatment is as full and cogent an analysis as you are ever likely to find, and one of its most refreshing characteristics- apart from the expertise with which it is written- is its honesty...this publication represents its official entry into the Arden Shakespeare canon- and Jowett's excellent edition amply justifies this inclusion.' * The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, June 2011 *John Jowett's edition of Sir Thomas More is indispensable reading concerning issues of Elizabethan collaboration and authorship. It implicitly asks: how do we identify a Shakespearean play?...' Sean Elliott, The London Magazine * The London Magazine, August 2011 *'It is an impressive piece of scholarship, surpassing its predecessor edited by Gabrieli and Melchiori in attention to technical detail, and in tackling the complexities of what some have considered the most politically incorrect Elizabethan play that we possess... The Arden edition succeeds in opening a can of worms which challenges contemporary critical thinking.' * Notes and Queries, OUP, September 2011 *

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Book SynopsisEdited, introduced and annotated by Cedric Watts, M.A., Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of English, University of Sussex. Richard II is one of Shakespeare’s finest works: lucid, eloquent, and boldly structured. It can be seen as a tragedy, or a historical play, or a political drama, or as one part of a vast dramatic cycle which helped to generate England’s national identity. Today, to some of us, Richard II may appear conservative; but, in Shakespeare’s day, it could appear subversive: ‘I am Richard II’, declared an indignant Queen Elizabeth. Numerous recent revivals in the theatre and on screen have demonstrated the enduring power and poignancy of this drama of the downfall of an egoistic but pitiable monarch. Richard II is the seventeenth volume in the Wordsworth Classics’ Shakespeare Series, in which each volume has been freshly edited by Cedric Watts.

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Book Synopsis'A thoroughly modern love story' Guardian Kate Battista is stuck.How did she end up running house and home for her eccentric scientist father and infuriating younger sister Bunny?Trade ReviewA joy to experience. * Literary Review *A new Anne Tyler book is always a treat. The terrifically talented author is the latest to tackle Shakespeare…and our favourite so far. * Good Housekeeping *I loved Kate and Pyotr and the way they discover the oversized, tender, irreverent relationship that fits them... It is joyfulIt's knockabout comedy at its best, genuinely laugh-out-loud funny and, indeed, may be her funniest book to date * Daily Mail *The worst wedding in history ... vintage Anne Tyler * The Times *

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Book SynopsisGorgeous, strange and magical, A Midsummer Night's Dream is perhaps the best-loved of Shakespeare's plays. 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 Ned Halley.A young woman flees Athens with her lover, only to be pursued by her would-be husband and her best friend. Unwittingly, all four find themselves in an enchanted forest where fairies and sprites soon take an interest in human affairs, dispensing love potions and casting mischievous spells. In this dazzling comedy, confusion ends in harmony, as love is transformed, misplaced, and – ultimately – restored.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 SynopsisThe brilliant mind behind the Secret Tory presents 14 years of Tory rule as told by William Shakespeare''O, for a muse of fire that would ascendThe brightest heaven of pretention!A kingdom for a stage, Tories to act,Oligarchs to behold the swelling scene!'So begins The Tories: A Tragedy. In this brilliant new work of political satire, Henry Morris presents fourteen years of Conservative (mis)rule in the only form in which such misfortunes could be portrayed: as a Shakespearean play.In five acts that take in five prime ministers, The Tories: A Tragedy is a captivatingly realised Jacobean tragedy, replete with Machiavellian manoeuvrings, hilarious mechanicals and poignant verse. Publishing in the shadow of the most significant election since the Tories came to power in 2010, this exhilarating, original book is an alternative history of a disastrous reign a drama that will appeal to those who love Shakespeare, comedy, Shakespeare's comedies, and those who simply love to laugh at the Tor

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