Literary studies: plays and playwrights Books

Book SynopsisThe Merchant of Venice is perhaps most associated not with its titular hero, Antonio, but with the complex figure of the money lender, Shylock. The play was described as a comedy in the First Folio but its modern audiences find it more problematic to categorise. The vilification of Shylock 'the Jew' can be very uncomfortable for a post-holocaust audience and debates continue as to whether Shakespeare's portrayal of this complex man is sympathetic or anti-semitic. John Drakakis' comprehensive introduction traces the stage history of the figure of the Jew and looks boldly at twenty-first century issues surrounding it. He also explores other themes of the play such as father/daughter relations, the power of money and the forceful character of Portia, to offer readers an energetic, original and revelatory reading of this challenging play.

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Book SynopsisThis book is about a mad king and a mad duke. With original and iconoclastic readings, Richard van Oort pioneers the reading of Shakespeare as an ethical thinker of the "originary scene," the scene in which humans became conscious of themselves as symbol-using moral and narrative beings. Taking King Lear and Measure for Measure as case studies, van Oort shows how the minimal concept of an anthropological scene of origin—the "originary hypothesis"—provides the basis for a new understanding of every aspect of the plays, from the psychology of the characters to the ethical and dialogical conflicts upon which the drama is based. The result is a gripping commentary on the plays. Why does Lear abdicate and go mad? Why does Edgar torture his father with non-recognition? Why does Lucio accuse the Duke in Measure for Measure of madness and lechery, and why does Isabella remain silent at the end? In approaching these and other questions from the perspective of the originary hypothesis, van Oort helps us to see the ethical predicament of the plays, and, in the process, makes Shakespeare new again.Trade Review"This is criticism of the highest order, whose long, careful readings of King Lear and Measure for Measure are in dialogue with the finest readers of Shakespeare for the past century." —Blair Hoxby, Stanford University"A rigorous yet highly readable attempt to understand Shakespeare and neoclassical drama in general in new terms, Shakespeare's Mad Men demonstrates in admirable detail the analytical power of generative anthropology wielded by a powerful intelligence."—Eric Gans, University of California, Los Angeles"Attentive to both the ruses of bad faith and the truths disclosed by Shakespeare's language, van Oort addresses our human predicament as symbol-making creatures whose search for love is troubled by the ceaseless drive for mastery."—Julia Reinhard Lupton, University of California, Irvine"van Oort's reading is nothing less than a stunning provocation."—Amir Khan, Shakespeare Quarterly"[R]eaders... will find value and pleasure in van Oort's compelling readings, and his clear style makes complex concepts pleasingly accessible."—Molly G. Yarp, Times Literary Supplement"Eminently readable, Shakespeare's Man Men attempts to engage and explain the larger questions the plays raise, particularly why characters behave the way they do and make the choices they do. The readings are original and offer exciting ways to engage with the plays. Highly recommended."—K. J. Wetmore Jr., CHOICETable of ContentsIntroduction 1. The King's Last Potlatch 2. The Judge, the Duke, His Wife, and Her Lover Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThis new edition of Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus offers the complete 1604 A-text with embedded selections from the 1616 B-text. Its innovative format will make it easier for readers to note differences between these texts and to consider what is gained and lost in viewing them both separately and together. A full Introduction to the play, notes, and a rich selection of related texts further enhance the value of this edition to students of Renaissance drama, Reformation theology, magic, and occult philosophy.Trade Review“This most recent edition of Doctor Faustus is guaranteed to appeal to a fresh, widespread audience of students and scholars. Uniquely combining the full A- and B-texts of the play, the edition offers new possibilities for analysis and interpretation. In addition to a generous introduction, replete with crucial data, the edition supplies readers with a bibliography, notes, and an abundant selection of related texts, including the Faustbook. The range of valuable information will surely attract not only Marlovians and all those interested in Renaissance drama and related, historical contextual matters, but anyone interested in accounting for how Doctor Faustus has achieved its enduring fame.” —Robert A. Logan, Emeritus Professor of English, University of Hartford

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Book SynopsisShakespeare: increasingly irrelevant or lone literary genius of the Western canon?Trade Review'Vivid… a thorough analysis but also a kind of love letter… Karim-Cooper sees Shakespeare as holding a mirror to this society, with his plays interrogating live issues around race, identity and the colonial enterprise. Her critique is at its most absorbing and original when she shows how complicated his approach was… Her arguments come to feel essential and should be absorbed by every theatre director, writer, critic, interested in finding new ways into the work.’ —Guardian'Anyone reading the contents page alone of Dr Farah Karim-Cooper's The Great White Bard will have their minds blown. Dive in and your whole cultural landscape will be refreshed and reframed. A book of great scholastic yet accessible detail, demanding that we pay attention with new understanding to the work of our greatest playwright, to the staging of that work and its unacknowledged impact on the 21st-century lives of all of us who unwittingly absorb its cultural norms – for good and ill. A challenging, riveting read, The Great White Bard reminds us how powerful the stories we tell can be on our lives.' —Adjoa Andoh'This glorious book… is insightful, passionate, piled with facts and has a warm, infectious love for theatre and Shakespeare running through every chapter. Thank you to Farah Karim-Cooper for underlining the fact that we all have a right to claim Shakespeare’s work.' —Adrian Lester CBE'Farah Karim-Cooper has long been at the center of conversations about race in Shakespeare’s plays, drawing on her experiences as a woman of color, director of research and education at the Globe Theatre, and Shakespeare professor. The Great White Bard is a powerful and illuminating result of this sustained engagement, grappling with how Shakespeare can be reimagined as a playwright who speaks to (and is spoken by) those excluded from the dominant culture. Historically grounded, engagingly written, richly informed by stage history, and always attuned to the "form and pressure" of our time, The Great White Bard could not be more timely.' —James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare'There are plenty of books on Shakespeare: but this one is different. This is Shakespeare as we’ve (most of us) never been willing to see him – and the works emerge from the analysis as newly complicit, powerful and yet recuperative.' —Emma Smith, author of Portable Magic'The Great White Bard is conscientiously constructed and vitally important. The book is pitched perfectly for the general reader, and it provides clear and compelling models for how to read Shakespeare with race in mind.' —Ayanna Thompson, author of Blackface'The Great White Bard contributes to an essential discussion on Shakespeare and race, one that must include literary scholars, historians, etymologists, audiences and, yes, even actors. Let us all debate and think critically about the issues Karim-Cooper raises. At the end of the day, such tough love can guide us to truly love Shakespeare.' —New York Times'Suffused with genuine passion.' —The Times‘She concludes… “We all have the right to claim the Bard.” Amen to that.’ —Daily Telegraph'Insightful… Karim-Cooper’s chapter on Antony and Cleopatra tackles with clarity and energy the question of why the Queen of Egypt's racial difference, though flagged in the text, has been consistently ignored in the play’s production history until quite recently… Karim-Cooper provides a good discussion of Othello and a helpfully provocative reading of The Tempest.' —New Statesman‘[The book] opens up territory that [Karim-Cooper] explores with unfailing dexterity. Karim-Cooper thus puts herself in dialogue with much of the excellent work on Shakespeare and race published over the past 30 years. Still, the examination of Shakespearean drama through the lens of race has seldom been achieved with the verve, clarity and attention to textual detail that she displays here. Her love for the plays is everywhere apparent.’ —Prospect'Farah Karim-Cooper's analysis comes from a wide and fascinating perspective. This is an accessible yet scholarly book guiding the reader through essential questions about race, gender and so much more in Shakespeare’s plays. It is personal, refreshing and necessary. She has helped me reframe and understand Shakespeare in a different way. Read it and learn!' —Lolita Chakrabarti OBE'The Great White Bard is essential reading for teachers, students, practitioners and artists. It makes clear why the exploration of Shakespeare’s plays must expose the 400-year-old cultural attitudes contained in them if we are to discover their real relevance and resonance. Farah Karim-Cooper has written an important, illuminating and accessible work that invites our active participation in debate about the plays; to interpret and interrogate them, not to venerate. It belongs in every Shakespeare classroom.' —Jacqui O’Hanlon, Director of Learning, Royal Shakespeare Company‘A bracing and illuminating read.’ —The Bookseller'The rigorous and nuanced analysis stimulates, and Karim-Cooper’s evenhanded approach refuses to excuse Shakespeare’s racism while insisting that his plays still have much to offer modern audiences. This is a vital contribution to the shelf on Shakespeare.' —Publishers Weekly, starred review'Illuminating both words and performance – [The Great White Bard is] an essential addition to Shakespeare studies.' —Kirkus, starred review

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Book SynopsisEnlightening, moving' SIR IAN MCKELLEN From the acclaimed and bestselling biographer Jonathan Bate, a luminous new exploration of Shakespeare and how his themes can untangle comedy and tragedy, learning and loving in our modern lives.Trade Review‘Many of us are mad about Shakespeare, whether as audience, actor or scholar. Jonathan Bate represents us all in his enlightening, moving report of his own personal “madness”. Reading it is an education’Sir Ian McKellen ‘A startlingly original journey into the soul of Shakespeare by one of his greatest living interpreters’Sir Anthony Seldon ‘Jonathan Bate’s Mad About Shakespeare offers a series of moving lessons in the complex grammar of life. Speaking as student and teacher, son, husband, father and dramaturge, Bate produces a work of significant cultural and familial history that runs through the language and scenery of Shakespeare. Tying and untying knots, Bate asks how we might live alongside literature as a source of knowledge, comfort and hope.Shakespeare’s expansive plots and wise conceits offer extra space and time in which to live and breathe in the face of emergency; a literary bloodline offering wisdom, insight and consolation’Sally Bayley ‘An encouraging and welcome reminder of the importance of reading and talking about reading with young people … I hope lots of English teachers will read it and take heart’Dr Katy Ricks, Chief Master of King Edwards School ‘Ranges elegantly over a range of literary figures … A very readable account of the thrill of discovering literature … It is a touchingly reticent and romantic book’Literary Review

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Book Synopsis'Playwright David Ireland challenges people to draw lines between what they find funny and what they find outrageous' (Sydney Morning Herald) This first collection of plays by David Ireland brings together three of his most successful hits that have enjoyed numerous productions around the world alongside two previously unpublished plays: Half a Glass of Water: 'The dialogue is brutal and tender, horrific and humorous ... this is a tough, challenging work, undercut by Ireland's trademark black humour, which asks questions of what a successful post-conflict society looks like.' (Independent) The End of Hope: 'A freewheeling, majestically entertaining, all-too-brief hour that touches on everything from religion and identity to body dysmorphia' (Times) Cyprus Avenue: 'The most shocking play on the London stage ... a blackly comic examination of sectarian hatred and a subversive drama that has never been more relevant' (Gu

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsAct 1Act 2Act 3Act 4Act 5

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Book SynopsisThis refresher reference volume features concise character and plot summaries for 12 of Shakespeare's best-known plays, drawn from the SparkNotes website and illustrated with colourful infographics. Each of the 12 chapters in this volume runs 6 to 8 pages of text taken from the SparkNotes website, and is illustrated with colourful infographics for easy consumption. The 12 plays featured six comedies and six tragedies are among the most famous and most taught of Shakespeare's dramas, including Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, and Julius Caesar.

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Book SynopsisThe first comprehensive guide to Elizabethan ideas about the mindTrade Review“An outstanding achievement: broad-ranging, intelligently synthetic and written in unflaggingly lucid prose. . . . Helen Hackett shows us over and again that the inability of the Elizabethans to know themselves as fully as they wanted to mattered to them a great deal. Discomfited though this state of affairs could leave them feeling, it explains why their literature still matters to us today.”—Rhodri Lewis, Times Literary Supplement“Hackett reads a breathtaking diversity of literature with great sensitivity. . . . The Elizabethan Mind . . . is an impressive achievement.”—P. Kishore Saval, Australian Book Review“This enthralling study captures the changing ways in which the mind was understood, and the thought processes of a society that continues to captivate today.”—BBC History Revealed“Hackett callipers her subject with shrewd delicacy, arranging interventions and insights along a line of recognisable topoi—the role of women, attitudes towards race, Shakespeare, demonic possession.”—Madoc Cairns, The Tablet“Hackett’s extraordinary achievement in The Elizabethan Mind combines learning and empathy as she ranges across cognitive, emotional, spiritual, and physiological approaches. Come for Hamlet, stay for female complaint, Catholic poetics, sonnets, psychomachia, and much more.”—Emma Smith, author of This is Shakespeare“Hackett has synthesized an extraordinary range of books to illuminate aspects of the Elizabethan mind. She offers excellent readings of familiar works such as Shakespeare’s tragedies as well as little-known gems such as women’s translations of the Psalms. Readers will come away equipped to read Shakespeare and his contemporaries with renewed understanding.”—Jonathan Bate, author of Soul of the Age: The Life, Mind and World of William Shakespeare“Wonderfully perceptive and illuminating. If you want to understand how the Elizabethans viewed themselves, each other, and the world, read this book.”—Elizabeth Goldring, author of Nicholas Hilliard: Life of an Artist

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Book SynopsisThe last book written by the most famous literary critic of his generation, on the sustaining power of poetryTrade Review“A magnificent meander through the flames and the breezes, by the waters and over the earth of those creations, intimations and thoughts that most matter. There will be few grand streams-of consciousness like this in the future.”—Stoddard Martin, Jewish Chronicle “An extraordinary testimony to a long life spent in the company of poetry and an affecting last declaration of his passionate and deeply unfashionable faith in the capacity of the imagination to make the world feel habitable”—Seamus Perry, Literary Review “Profound…Draws more deeply on [Bloom’s] scholarly expertise….Shows his readers how even literary criticism must be decoded like a dramatic poem or a novel before we can consume it.”—Eileen M. Hunt, Times Literary Supplement “In the end, only words have a chance of outliving us, and Bloom records his best guesses at the words that might endure. Until the end, Bloom was a man of incessant curiosity, with more questions than answers about an essential poetic imagination.”—Thylias Moss, Professor Emerita, University of Michigan “This book is superb, utterly convincing, and absolutely invigorating. Bloom’s final argument with mortality ultimately has a rejuvenating effect upon the reader, and is nothing short of a revelation.”—David Mikics, author of Slow Reading in a Hurried Age "I felt reading this book the way Virginia Woolf in her diary describes her feeling about reading Shakespeare: 'I never yet knew how amazing his stretch and speed . . . is, until I felt it utterly outpace and outrace my own.'"—Laura Quinney, author of William Blake on Self and Soul “Bloom helps us grasp what Dickinson calls ‘vaster attitudes,’ allowing us to take a proud flight and to disdain, for a time, our own mortality.”—William Flesch, Brandeis University "Bloom! The life, the voice, the sorrowful countenance, the Emersonian swoon, the feasting intellect, the daemonic rapture. His I is an Eye, all-seeing, a container of multitudes, a volcanic primer on the crisis of enchantment in what he dares to name ‘a universe of Death.’ And here, in this last masterwork—an impassioned meditation on the poets who made him—his living breath is indomitably felt.”—Cynthia Ozick

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Book SynopsisPlaywright Migdalia Cruz breathes new life intoRichard III. Nuyorican playwright Migdalia Cruz unpacks and repositions Shakespeare'sRichard IIIfor a twenty-first-century audience. She presents a contemporary English verse translation, faithfully keeping the poetry, the puns, and the politics of the play intact, with a rigorous and in-depth examination ofRichard IIIthe man, the king, the outsiderwho is still the only English king to have died in battle. In the Wars of the Roses, his Catholic belief in his country led to his slaughter at Bosworth's Field by his Protestant rivals. In reimagining this text, Cruz emphasizes Richard III's outsider statusexacerbatedby his severe scoliosis, which twisted his spineby punctuating the text with punk music from 1970s London. Cruz's Richard is no one's fool or lackey. He is a new kind of monarch, whose dark sense of humor and deep sense of purpose leads his charge against the society which never fully accepted him because he looked different.

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Book SynopsisSmart and scintillating. Red deftly conjures what most plays about artists don''t: The exhilaration of the act. The New YorkerUnder the watchful gaze of his young assistant and the threatening presence of a new generation of artists, Mark Rothko takes on his greatest challenge yet: to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting.A moving and compelling account of one of the greatest artists of the 20th century whose struggle to accept his growing riches and praise became his ultimate undoing.Nominated for 7 Olivier Awards (2009) and winner of 6 Tony Awards (2010) including Best New Play, Red is published in Methuen Drama''s Modern Classics series, featuring a new introduction by Michael Grandage.Trade ReviewA fresh, exciting portrait of a brilliant mind. * Ben Brantley, The New York Times *Smart and scintillating. Red deftly conjures what most plays about artists don't: The exhilaration of the act. * The New Yorker *Plays about painters are fraught with difficulty. Either the hero preaches about art without practicing it, or the Bohemian lifestyle supersedes the work. But John Logan's play about Mark Rothko overcomes these obstacles with finesse... It's a measure of the play's success that it makes you want to rush out and renew acquaintance with Rothko's work.' * Michael Billington, The Guardian *

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Book SynopsisRomeo and Juliet is routinely called “the world’s greatest love story”, as though it is all about romance. The play features some of the most lyrical passages in all of drama, and the lovers are young, beautiful, and ardent. But when we look at the play, the lyricism and the romance are not really what drive things along. It is true that Romeo, especially early on in the play, acts like a young man determined to take his place in an immortal tale of love. Everything he says is romantic – but rather like an anniversary card is romantic. His words propel nothing, or nothing but sarcastic admonitions from his friends to forget about love and to treat women as they should be treated, with careless physical appetite. The world we have entered is rapacious more than romantic. Everyone knows something of this, from the film versions of the story if nothing else. Romeo and Juliet must fight for their love inside a culture of stupid hatreds. But it is not a simple case of love versus war, or the city against the couple. If it were, it would nicely reinforce clichés about true love, fighting against the odds. In this book Simon Palfrey suggests that the play Shakespeare actually wrote is more troubling than this. Juliet’s passion – for all her youth, for all its truth – is at the very cusp of murderousness. Juliet is the world’s scourge, in the sense that she will whip and punish and haunt it; she is also its triumph, in the sense of its best and truest thing. The deaths her love leads to are in no way avoidable, and in no way accidental. They are her inheritance, the thing she was born to. Of course she takes Romeo with her. But it is at heart her play.

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Book SynopsisIn Migdalia Cruz'sMacbeth, the Witches run the world.TheMacbeths live out a dark cautionary tale of love,greed,and power,falling from glory into calamityas the Witches spin their fate.Translating Shakespeare's languagefora modernaudience, Nuyorican playwright Migdalia CruzrewritesMacbethwith all the passion of the Bronx.This translation ofMacbethwaspresented in 2018as part ofthe Play On!Shakespeareproject,an ambitious undertakingfromthe Oregon Shakespeare Festivalthat commissioned new translations of 39 Shakespeare plays.These translations present the Bard's work in language accessible to modern audienceswhile never losing the beauty of Shakespeare's verse.Enlisting thetalentsofa diverse group ofcontemporary playwrights, screenwriters, and dramaturges from diverse backgrounds,this projectreenvisionsShakespeare for thetwenty-firstcentury.These volumes make these works available for the first time in printanewFirst Folio fora new era.

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Book SynopsisA BBC Radio 4 Book of the WeekExcellent.' New StatesmanOutstanding.' Irish TimesEnthralling.' GuardianShapiro at his best.' Daily Telegraph From the author of 1599, a fresh perspective on the history of the United States and a timely reminder of Shakespeare's indelible influence.Shakespeare's position as England's national poet is unquestionable. But as James Shapiro illuminates in this revelatory new history, Shakespeare has long held an essential place in American culture too. Why, though, would a proudly independent republic embrace England's greatest writer? Especially when his works enact so many of America's darkest nightmares: interracial marriage, cross-dressing, same-sex love, tyranny and assassination? Shapiro leads us to fascinating answers and startling stories.

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Book SynopsisLucy Prebble is one of Britain''s foremost writers for the stage and screen. This eagerly anticipated play collection brings together her landmark plays for the first time, showcasing her work from 2003 to 2019. Beginning with her George Devine Award-winning play The Sugar Syndrome it continues through her explosive look at the biggest financial scandal in history, concluding with her pointed dramatization of the one of the most shocking news stories of the 2010s. The Sugar Syndrome (2003) Dani is on a mission. She''s just 17, hates her parents, skives college and prefers life in the chatrooms. What she''s looking for is someone honest and direct. Instead she finds Tim, a man twice her age, who thinks she is 11 and a boy. What seems at first to be a case of crossed wires, ends up as an unlikely, and unsettling friendship between the two, which culminates in a shocking, and morally challenging revelation.Enron (2009) One of the most infamous scandals in financial hiTrade ReviewA playwright blessed with an exceptionally fine mind * Telegraph *A brilliantly bold and ferociously intelligent drama about our slippery times * Financial Times (on A Very Expensive Poison) *Prebble has written a profound and stirring play. The material is complex but always accessible, the drama serious and informative yet deeply human, with the odd jolt of piercing humour. The Effect confirms her as one of the most intelligent voices in British theatre. * Evening Standard (on The Effect) *An exhilarating mix of political satire, modern morality and multimedia spectacle * Guardian (on ENRON) *Table of ContentsIntroduction The Sugar Syndrome The Effect Enron A Very Expensive Poison

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“The established facts of his life, as well as some fruitful speculations, are responsibly laid out . . . Mr. de Figueiredo does a fine job of chronicling how, in their differing ways, country after country fell under Ibsen’s spell.”—Brad Leithauser, Wall Street Journal“This book could be an education” —John Carey, The Sunday TimesListed on Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles List for 2019 "Ivo de Figueiredo's luminous prose reveals the myth, the mask and the reality of the "Norwegian sphinx." Tracing Ibsen's deliberate construction of his public persona, and his careful management of his career, de Figueiredo also deftly conveys the social and cultural tensions of Ibsen's Norway while keeping his plays and their reception in close focus. An enthralling read.”—Toril Moi, author of Henrik Ibsen and The Birth of Modernism“de Figueiredo approaches Ibsen, so elusive as both man and writer, in a spirit of intense, scrupulous inquiry in which he involves his readers. His Ibsen is therefore refreshingly freed from any conventional compartmentalisation and allowed to develop, throughout his long life, in all his seeming inconsistencies and unique self-vindicating creations. Robert Ferguson’s supple English prose matches the narrative movement and the emotional varieties of the Norwegian original.”—Paul Binding, author of Hans Christian Andersen"de Figueiredo’s splendid biography of Ibsen ranks with those of Koht, Meyer, and Ferguson — with this difference: that he treats the man and the work as independent historical subjects so that the plays become a study of the zeitgeist, with an emphasis on their reception and transformation of European society.”—Errol Durbach, author of Ibsen the Romantic

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Book SynopsisStudies alternative concepts to received theories and practices of poetry in early modern England

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Book SynopsisThis edition of Arthur Miller''s classic tragedy brings the play alive for students whether in the classroom or drama studio. With activities that target exactly the right level plus in-depth biographical and contextual information to deepen students'' understanding of the play, this edition provides comprehensive, relevant and engaging support for 14-16 students. The brand new design ensures that the text and supporting materials are the clearest and most accessible available. Set during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, The Crucible exposes the tensions caused by gossip and rumour within a tight-knit community, where eventually no one is safe from accusation and vengeance. Seen as a parallel to McCarthyism and the fear of communism in 1950s America, the play''s themes of truth, justice, honour, mass hysteria and individuality still resonate with audiences around the world today.

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Book SynopsisThis enthralling tour de force of literary criticism, unprecedented in Shakespeare studies for its scope and daring, is nothing less than an attempt to show the Complete Works dramatic and poetic as a single, tightly integrated, evolving organism. Hughes supports his thesis with erudition and a painstakingly close analysis of language, plots and characters. A multitude of dazzling insights, such as only one great poet can offer into the work of another, is generated in the process, and our entire understanding of Shakespeare, his art and imagination, is radically transformed. [This] huge study of Shakespeare, more than ten years in the making, is an unprecedented act of critical witness.' London Review of Books

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Book SynopsisRosa Andújar is Deputy Director and Lecturer in Liberal Arts at King's College London, UK. She has co-edited two volumes which address her research expertise in ancient Greek tragedy and its modern reception: Paths of Song: The Lyric Dimension of Greek Tragedy (2018) and Greeks and Romans on the Latin American Stage (2020).Luis Alfaro is a Chicano writer/performer known for his work in poetry, theatre, short stories, performance and journalism. Alfaro held a six-season tenure as the Mellon Playwright-in-Residence at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (2013-2019). He was a member of the Playwright's Ensemble at Chicago's Victory Gardens Theatre (2013-2020). Alfaro is the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, popularly known as a genius grant, presented to people who have demonstrated expertise and exceptional creativity in their respective fields. Alfaro is a Joyce Foundation Fellow. In 2019, Alfaro was awarded the PEN America/Laura Pels IntTrade ReviewIn these plays, Luis brilliantly transplants Sophocles’s Electra and Oedipus and Euripides’s Medea into the modern-day streets of Los Angeles and New York. In doing so, he gives voice to the rich, complex lives of the Chicanx and Latinx communities and neighborhoods that he knows and loves. This book is a must-own for any student and lover of contemporary, American plays. * LA Review of Books *A Bloomsbury translation: In this way, the entire book constitutes more than a simple collection of Alfaro's plays. Each of the sections of the anthology reiterates the creation of an archive ... Andújar's work thus contributes to the preservation of the memory of these communities which have turned to the theatre as a venue through which to tell and connect their own stories with other cultures, geographies and temporalities, constantly and necessarily crossing all kinds of borders. * Latin American Theatre Review *Andújar not only offers a richly annotated introduction at the beginning of this volume: each of the three plays also begins with a separate introduction that contextualizes the dramatic work in a way that is both enthralling and enlightening … A must-read for any student and fan of contemporary theatre. And for those of us who have a particular love of Chicanx and Latinx drama, this volume will bring immeasurable reading pleasure and enlightenment. * La Bloga *From the opening scene, the cultural combination is intoxicating … A fascinating trilogy. * British Theatre Guide *Equipped with Andújar’s excellent introduction to Alfaro’s work generally and to each adaptation, plus a production history and interview with Alfaro, this book not only makes the scripts of three very successful plays available for the first time for everyone, but also presents a unique and fascinating way of engaging with the ancient Greek dramas of which Alfaro’s plays are adaptations. * Skenè: Journal of Theatre and Drama Studies *A welcome addition to the bookshelves of those with an interest in the afterlives of Athenian tragedy ... The volume as a whole exemplifies the way in which collaboration between academics and practitioners enhances classical reception studies: this reviewer would be delighted to see more contemporary classical reception texts being given similar treatment. * Greece & Rome *Table of ContentsEditor’s Acknowledgements List of Illustrations 1. Luis Alfaro’s Griego Drama: An Introduction 2. Electricidad: A Chicanx Tragedy between Family and Feminism 3. Electricidad 4. Blind Love and the Chains of Destiny: Oedipus el Rey 5. Oedipus el Rey 6. Mojada: Dramatizing Latinx Migrations 7. Mojada 8. Production History 9. Glossary 10. Interview with Luis Alfaro 11. Further Reading

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Book SynopsisBased on the?'No Fear Shakespeare'?translations, this dynamic graphic novel ? now with colour added ? is impossible to put down. The illustrations are distinctively offbeat, slightly funky and appealing to teens.

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Book SynopsisThis dramatisation for schools of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel is presented in the form of a tv documentary involving expert witnesses trying to get to the bottom of the strange case. The story is reconstructed and the audience is taken back to Victorian London…

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Book SynopsisWhat if Christopher Marlowe staged his own death, fled to the Continent and went on to write the works we now attribute to Shakespeare?Trade Review‘Bolt recreates an alternative life of Marlowe that compellingly views the known facts from a different angle.’ Independent ‘A learned and clever piece of historical investigation which cocks a snook as much at the heretics as at the orthodox.’ Independent on Sunday ‘“History Play” is a triumph because…its passion is with the search, with the idea of how our concepts of history and biography are created. “History Play” is, by turns, a jeu d’esprit, an examination of the idea of historical study and a play-filled novel. It made me laugh out loud. And most of all, it made me want to go back to the plays. This was a book that needed to be done perfectly or not at all. It is perfect.’ Spectator

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.All the world''s a stage,And all the men and women merely players.'Featuring Rosalind, one of Shakespeare's most likeable and strong female protagonists, As You Like It is a comedic play centred around concealed identity, love, exile and artifice. Banished from the court by her uncle, Rosalind flees to the forest with her cousin Celia and her jester, joining her already exiled father, and disguising herself as a boy. In the guise of a young man, she instructs her would-be lover Orlando in the ways of love and in doing so allows Shakespeare to explore the dynamics of the city and the country as well as the sexual politics of the time.

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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 SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.''The quality of mercy is not strain''d,It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven'Bassiano, a noble Venetian, hopes to woo the beautiful heiress Portia. However, he requires financial assistance from his friend Antonio. Antonio agrees, but he, in turn, must borrow from the Jewish moneylender Shylock. As recourse for past ills, Shylock stipulates that the forfeit on the loan must be a pound of Antonio's flesh. In the most renowned onstage law scene of all time, Portia proves herself one of Shakespeare's most cunning heroines, disguising herself as a lawyer and vanquishing Shylock's claims; meanwhile, Shylock triumphs on a humanitarian level with his plea for tolerance: Hath not a Jew eyes?'Viewed paradoxically as anti-Semitic, while at the same time powerfully liberal for its time, The Merchant of Venice is at its core a bittersweet drama, exploring the noble themes of prejudice, justice and honour

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Book SynopsisBuild your child's reading confidence at home with books at the right levelGet to know one of literature's most famous couples, as they meet, fall in love, marry in secret and are then cruelly separated. A love story at its heart, this is also a tale of rivalry, revenge and bitter resentment. Get to know one of Shakespeare's most famous plays in this wonderful and engaging retelling.Pearl/Band 18 books offer fluent readers a complex, substantial text with challenging themes to facilitate sustained comprehension, bridging the gap between a reading programme and longer chapter books.Text type:Curriculum links:

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Book SynopsisA lively picture of multiple operators scrambling to steal a march on the competition . . . Lavishly detailed'FINANCIAL TIMESThis is Shakespearean scholarship at its best, brilliantly researched yet compulsively readable. It''s a book for our times, enduringly fascinating and appealing to both enthusiasts and the general reader. Highly recommended!' ALISON WEIRFINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE SUMMERA BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023?A BBC RADIO 4 FRONT ROW NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023AN AUSTRALIAN BOOK REVIEW BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023The year 2023 marks the 400th anniversary of Mr William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, known today simply as the First Folio. It is difficult to imagine a world without The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Antony and Cleopatra, The Winter's Tale and Macbeth, but these are just some of the plays that were only preserved thanks to the astounding labour of love that went into creating the first collection.Shakespeare's Book: The Intertwined LiveTrade Review PRAISE FOR SHAKESPEARE’S BOOK ‘A superb evocation of the places, personalities and networks that helped turn the words of William Shakespeare into secular scripture. A brilliant, sinewy, deeply immersive read from a fine scholar and storyteller’ Jessie Childs, bestselling author of The Siege of Loyalty House '[A] significant offering… his mission is admirable: to trace every major step in the collective enterprise, starting from the death of the leading Shakespearean actor Richard Burbage in 1619, which served as a melancholy spur… to collate the Bard's works for posterity… [T]he necessary drama is there' Daily Telegraph ‘Laoutaris’s history of the interlinked careers behind the Folio scheme, brings that network to life . . . His resourceful sleuthing ties the Folio’s birth to the politics of its time’ Economist 'Like Shakespeare's plays, Laoutaris's book revolves around detailed interpersonal relationships. From his pages you will learn about the lives of Heminges and Condell… and many others… trestfy[ing] to the thoroughness of the author's research’ Washington Post 'A must read for anyone with even a slight passing fancy for Shakespeare . . . To say this is a book to be read and reread, and have a place on the library shelf, would be a major understatement’ Judith Reveal, New York Journal of Books ‘[A] brilliant new study of the Folio’s genesis … genuinely thrilling. Shakespeare’s Book offers both wonderful vignettes of Shakespeare’s world and tantalising solutions to long-standing mysteries. Laoutaris compellingly recreates the vital collaborations – and rivalries – behind the printing of ‘Shakespeare’s Book’’ The Tablet ‘Intricately woven, vividly depicted and groundbreaking’ Dr Paul Edmondson of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

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Book SynopsisExam Board: AQALevel: GCSE Grade 9-1Subject: English LiteratureSuitable for the 2024 examsEverything you need to revise for your GCSE 9-1 set text in a snap guideEverything you need to score top marks on your GCSE Grade 9-1 English Literature exam is right at your fingertips! Revise The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare in a snap with this new GCSE Grade 9-1 Snap Revision Text Guide from Collins. Refresh your knowledge of the plot, context, characters and themes and pick up top tips along the way to ace your AQA exam. Each topic is explained in an easy-to-read format so you can get straight to the point. Then, put your skills to the test with plenty of practice questions included in every section. The Snap Text Guides are packed with every quote and extract you need. We've even included examples of how to plan and write your essay responses! For more revision on Shakespeare, check out our Snap Revision Text Guides on Macbeth (9780008247089) and Romeo and Juliet (9780008247072).

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Book SynopsisExam Board: EdexcelLevel: GCSE Grade 9-1Subject: English LiteratureSuitable for the 2024 examsEverything you need to revise for your GCSE 9-1 set text in a snap guideEverything you need to score top marks on your GCSE Grade English Literature exam is right at your fingertips! Revise Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare in a snap with this new GCSE Grade 9-1 Snap Revision Text Guide from Collins. Refresh your knowledge of the plot, context, characters and themes and pick up top tips along the way to ace your Edexcel exam. Each topic is explained in an easy-to-read format so you can get straight to the point. Then, put your skills to the test with plenty of practice questions included in every section. The Snap Text Guides are packed with every quote and extract you need. We've even included examples of how to plan and write your essay responses! For more revision on Shakespeare, check out our Snap Revision Text Guide on Macbeth (9780008353025).

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Book SynopsisExam Board: AQALevel: GCSE Grade 9-1Subject: English LiteratureSuitable for the 2024 examsTargeted practice questions covering your GCSE grade 9-1 set textOur Macbeth GCSE Grade 9-1 workbook has everything you need to put your skills to the test and score top marks on your GCSE Grade 9-1 English Literature exam! Prepare for your exam in a snap with this new GCSE Grade 9-1 Snap Revision Macbeth Workbook from Collins. Full of questions on plot, context, characters and themes in a clear and easy-to-use format with answers included you'll get plenty of practice. With exam-style questions you can plan and write your essay responses to be completely prepared for your AQA exam. Perfect to use alongside the GCSE Grade 9-1 Snap Revision Macbeth Text Guide for all the key information you need to practise and pass.

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Book SynopsisExam board: AQA, Edexcel, Eduqas, WJECLevel & Subject: A Level English LiteratureFirst teaching: September 2015Next exams: 2025This edition of Hamlet is perfect for A-level students, with the complete play in an accessible format, on-page notes, introduction setting the context, timeline, character and theme indexes.Affordable high quality complete play for HamletDemystify vocabulary with notes on the page and concise commentarySet the scene with perfectly pitched introductions that introduce key contexts, concerns and stylistic features, and examine different performances and interpretationsRecall plot summaries at the beginning of each sceneSupport A Level revision and essay writing with theme and character indexesHelp with social, historical and literary context with the bespoke timeline of Shakespeare's life and timesTrade Review“The new Collins Classroom Classic editions are perfect for schools – clear text, bright covers, a good size for pockets and bags, and a great price that makes buying new class or cohort sets very attractive in these budget-conscious times.” de Stafford School

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Book SynopsisExplores Shakespeare's philosophy of life and illustrates how he was influenced, for example, by the essays of Montaigne that were translated into English while Shakespeare was writing.

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Book SynopsisDeals with Oscar's astonishing erotic odyssey through Victorian London's sexual underworld. Oscar Wilde emerges as a man driven personally and creatively by his powerful desires for sex with men, in this book, the author argues that Oscar's Wilde's life and work can only be fully understood and appreciated in terms of his sexuality.Trade ReviewIntriguing and entertaining...McKenna makes an impassioned case for re-gaying Wilde * The Times *A groundbreaking new biography of our greatest queer martyr * Observer *It cannot be recommended too highly. Extraordinary, intensely passionate and quite beautiful * Manchester Evening News *This is by far and away the best biography of Oscar Wilde to date * John McRae, Professor of Literature *A bold book * The Guardian *

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Book SynopsisThis stunning translation, by the acclaimed poet Robin Robertson (Forward Prize, Man Booker shortlist 2018), has reinvigorated Euripides'' devastating take of a god''s revenge for contemporary readers, bringing the ancient verse to fervid, brutal life.Dionysus, god of wine and ecstasy, has come to Thebes, and the women are streaming out of the city to worship him on the mountain, drinking and dancing in wild frenzy. The king, Pentheus, denouces this so-called ''god'' as a charlatan. But no mortal can deny a god and no man can ever stand against Dionysus.''The dialogue is taut, volcanic and often exquisitely beautiful... Euripides deserves to have his exquisite verse transformed into modern speech, and in Robertson I believe he has found a poet who can do that.'' Edith Hall, Literary ReviewTrade Review‘Euripides’s Bacchae is one of the most powerful poems in Greek literature...one of the hardest texts in Western literature to translate. The astute Scottish poet Robin Robertson has already shown with his Medea, published in 2008, that he can translate Euripides into chiselled English poetry ripe for theatrical delivery. Bacchae is even better. In the choral odes, sung by the titular Bacchants, he has radiantly evoked the ritual solemnity, supported by assonance and percussive drive, that makes these sung poems so otherworldly. The dialogue is taut, volcanic and often exquisitely beautiful... Euripides deserves to have his exquisite verse transformed into modern speech, and in Robertson I believe he has found a poet who can do that. This translation cries out for realisation by multiple voices on radio or in live theatre -- Edith Hall * Literary Review *Robin Robertson is the great Euripides translator of our time. The clarity and power of his Medea is unmatched, and his Bacchae is just as direct, unhindered and fluid, perfect for revealing such madness. -- David VannI can recommend the clarity of the translation...Robertson maintains a robust and exuberant style. It’s time to brush up on our Greek theatre and here’s a stunning chance -- Grace Cavalieri * Washington Independent Review of Books *It's 2,400 years old, yet it is so compelling and absolutely modern -- Deborah WarnerI portray men as they should be, but Euripides portrays them as they are -- Sophocles, Aristotle's 'Poetics'

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Book SynopsisAnthony Burgess was born in Manchester in 1917 and educated at Xaverian College and Manchester University. He served in the British army from 1940 to 1946 and was a schoolteacher in England before becoming a colonial education officer in 1954. His Malayan trilogy of novels and a history of English literature were published while he was living in Malaya and Brunei.He became a full-time writer in 1959 and achieved a worldwide reputation as one of the most versatile novelists of his day. His writings include biographies of Shakespeare and Hemingway, critical studies of James Joyce, stage plays, and two volumes of autobiography. His work as a composer and librettist includes the Broadway musical, Cyrano, and Blooms of Dublin, an operetta based on Joyce's Ulysses.His 33 novels continue to be published all over the world. They include A Clockwork Orange, Nothing Like the Sun, The Complete Enderby, Earthly Powers, NapoleonTrade ReviewBright, racy...knowledgeable and humorous, alternately sensible and quirky. -- Terry EagletonAnthony Burgess's wonderfully well-stocked mind and essentially wayward spirit are just right for summoning up an apparition of the Bard which is more convincing than most -- David Holloway * Daily Telegraph *Animated by affection and an understanding of the creative imagination that only a creative writer can bring to bear * Atlantic *A smooth-flowing narrative, often enlivened by Anthony Burgess's Joycean appetite for linguistic fantasy * The Economist *

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Book SynopsisThe true biography of Shakespeare - and the only one we really need to care about - is in the plays. Sir Frank Kermode, Britain''s most distinguished literary critic, has been thinking about them all his life. This book is a distillation of that lifetime''s thinking. The great English tragedies were all written in the first decade of the seventeenth century. They are often in language that is difficult to us, and must have been hard even for contemporaries. How and why did Shakespeare''s language develop as it did? Kermode argues that the resources of English underwent major change around 1600. The originality of Kermodes''s writing, and the intelligence of his discussion, make this book a landmark.

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Book SynopsisA vital resource for scholars, students and actors, this book contains glosses and quotes for over 14,000 words that could be misunderstood by or are unknown to a modern audience. Displayed panels look at such areas of Shakespeare''s language as greetings, swear-words and terms of address. Plot summaries are included for all Shakespeare''s plays and on the facing page is a unique diagramatic representation of the relationships within each play.

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Book SynopsisWilliam Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born to John Shakespeare and mother Mary Arden some time in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), a collection of sonnets and a variety of other poems.

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Book SynopsisA.C. Bradley put Shakespeare on the map for generations of readers and students for whom the plays might not otherwise have become 'real' at all writes John Bayley in his foreword to this edition of Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth.Approaching the tragedies as drama, wondering about their characters as he might have wondered about people in novels or in life, Bradley is one of the most liberating in the line of distinguished Shakespeare critics. His acute yet undogmatic and almost conversational critical method has—despite fluctuations in fashion—remained enduringly popular and influential. For, as John Bayley observes, these lectures give us a true and exhilarating sense of the tragedies joining up with life, with all our lives; leading us into a perspective of possibilities that stretch forward and back in time, and in our total awareness of things.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the

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Book SynopsisThis edition of Shakespeare's complete works aims to combine accessibility with scholarship. Each play or poetry collection has an introduction which includes textual and literary-historical issues and there are same-page notes for ease of reference.Trade Review"Here is an elegant and clear text for either study or the rehearsal room, notes where you need them, and the distinguished scholarship of the general editors, A. R. Braunmuller and Stephen Orgel, who understand that these are plays for performance as wellas great texts for contemplation." —Patrick Stewart“The perfect companion to enjoy the most profound stories of the human condition that Shakespeare has given us and that I have had the privilege to perform, from Othello to King Lear. "—James Earl Jones “Orgel and Braunmuller’s editions of the Pelican Shakespeare are an indispensable part of my library. These introductions by great Shakespearean scholars are erudite yet accessible, and the individual editions of the plays are perfect for the rehearsal room. They combine scholastic precision with an inspiring energy that fuels everyone making Shakespeare live today.” —Simon Godwin, Shakespeare Theatre Company and the National Theatre“I have been using the Pelican Shakespeare for years in my lecture course–it’s invaluable.”—Marjorie Garber, Harvard University Table of ContentsEditorsAcknowledgmentsPublisher's NoteThe Opening Pages of the Folio of 1623The QuartosGeneral IntroductionThe Shakespearian Theater WorldWilliam Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon, GentlemanThe Texts of ShakespeareA Comparative TableNondramatic PoetryThe Narrative Poems - edited by Jonathan Crewe:Venus and AdonisLucreceThe Phoenix and the TurtleThe Passionate PilgrimA Lover's ComplaintThe Sonnets - edited by Stephen Orgel with an Introduction by John HollanderIndex of First Lines to The SonnetsComediesThe Two Gentlemen of Verona - edited by Mary Beth RoseThe Taming of the Shrew - edited by Stephen OrgelThe Comedy of Errors - edited by Frances E. DolanLove's Labor's Lost - edited by Peter HollandA Midsummer Night's Dream - edited by Russ McDonaldThe Merchant of Venice - edited by A.R. BraunmullerThe Merry Wives of Windsow - edited by Russ McDonaldMuch Ado About Nothing - edited by Peter HollandAs You Like It - edited by Frances E. DolanTwelfth Night, or, What You Will - edited by Jonathan CreweThe History of Troilus and Cressida - edited by Jonathan CreweMeasure for Measure - edited by Jonathan CreweAll's Well That Ends Well - edited by Claire McEachernPericles Prince of Tyre - edited by Stephen OrgelCymbeline - edited by Peter HollandThe Winter's Tale - edited by Frances E. DolanThe Tempest - edited by Peter HollandHistoriesGenealogical ChartMonarchs of EnglandThe First Part of Henry the Sixth - edited by William Montgomery with an Introduction by Janis LullThe Second Part of Henry the Sixth - edited by William Montgomery with an Introduction by Janis LullThe Third Part of Henry the Sixth - edited by William Montgomery with an Introduction by Janis LullThe Tragedy of King Richard the Third - edited by Peter HollandThe Tragedy of King Richard the Second - edited by Frances E. DolanThe Life and Death of King John - edited by Claire McEachernThe First Part of King Henry the Fourth - edited by Claire McEachernThe Second Part of King Henry the Fourth - edited by Claire McEachernThe Life of King Henry the Fifth - edited by Claire McEachernThe Life of King Henry the Eighth - edited by Jonathan CreweTragediesTitus Andronicus - edited by Russ McDonaldRomeo and Juliet - edited by Peter HollandThe Tragedy of Julius Caesar - edited by William Montgomery with an Introduction by Douglas TrevorThe Tragical History of Hamlet Prince of Denmark - edited by A.R. BraunmullerThe Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice - edited by Russ McDonaldThe Life of Timon of Athens - edited by Frances E. DolanKing Lear: The 1608 Quarto and 1623 Folio Texts - edited by Stephen OrgelKing Lear: A Conflated Text - edited by Stephen OrgelMacbeth - edited by Stephen OrgelAntony and Cleopatra - edited by A.R. BraunmullerThe Tragedy of Coriolanus - edited by Jonathan CreweIndex of Songs

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Book SynopsisJonathan Bate''s Soul of the Age brings us closer than ever to understanding what being Shakespeare was actually like.How did plague turn Shakespeare from a jobbing hack into a courtly poet? How did Bottom''s dream rewrite the Bible? How did Shakespeare''s plays lead to the deaths of an earl and a king? And why was he the one dramatist of his generation never to be imprisoned?Weaving a dazzling tapestry of Elizabethan beliefs and obsessions, private passions and political intrigues, Soul of the Age leads us on an exhilarating tour of the extraordinary, colourful and often violent world that shaped and informed Shakespeare''s thinking. Written by one of the world''s leading experts, it combines almost everything there is to know about the man and his work in one sensational narrative.''Bate probably knows as much as any single person can know about Shakespeare ... Surprising, fresh, exhilarating, brilliant'', Guardian''Intensely enjoyable ... you find yourself gasping with pleasure'' John Carey, Sunday TimesJonathan Bate is Professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature at the University of Warwick, chief editor of The RSC Shakespeare: Complete Works and the author of many books, including most recently John Clare: A Biography, which won the Hawthornden Prize for Literature and the James Tait Black Prize for Biography. A Fellow of the British Academy, he was awarded a CBE in 2006.Trade Review'An excellent writer ! he achieves a resonant and complex portrait, constantly alert to new lines of enquiry and unexpected conclusions ... A triumph of precision, learning and intelligent innovation' - Charles Nicholl, Sunday Telegraph, Book of the Week 'Bate probably knows as much as any single person can know about Shakespeare ... Surprising, fresh, exhilarating, brilliant' - Richard Eyre, Guardian 'Wholehearted applause for Bate's portrayal of Shakespeare's world ... it is pure pleasure ... I defy any reader, no matter how saturated in Shakespeare, not to find something new here' Independent on Sunday

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Book SynopsisIn 1612 Shakespeare gave evidence at the Court of Requests in Westminster it is the only occasion his spoken words are recorded. The case seems routine a dispute over an unpaid marriage-dowry but it opens up an unexpected window into the dramatist's famously obscure life-story. Charles Nicholl applies a powerful biographical magnifying glass to this fascinating episode in Shakespeare's life. Marshalling evidence from a wide variety of sources, including previously unknown documentary material on the Mountjoys, he conjures up a detailed and compelling description of the circumstances in which Shakespeare lived and worked, and in which he wrote such plays as Othello, Measure for Measure and King Lear.

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Book SynopsisArthur Miller''s play A View from the Bridge is a tragic masterpiece of the inexorable unravelling of a man, set in a close-knit Italian-American community in 1950s New York. Eddie Carbone is a longshoreman and a straightforward man, with a strong sense of decency and of honour. For Eddie, it''s a privilege to take in his wife''s cousins, Marco and Rodolpho, straight off the boat from Italy. But, as his niece Catherine begins to fall for one of them, it''s clear that it''s not just, as Eddie claims, that he''s too strange, too sissy, too careless for her, but that something bigger, deeper is wrong - and wrong inside Eddie, in a way he can''t face. Something which threatens the happiness of their whole family.This Penguin Classics edition includes an introduction by the author and a new foreword by actor Philip Seymour Hoffman.

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