**Plays of disputed authorship.
Comedy:
Tragedy:
History:
Disputed Plays:
Arden Third Series: The Arden Shakespeare has long set the gold standard in annotated, scholarly editions of Shakespeare's plays. Each Arden edition in the Third Series offers a modernized text with comprehensive commentary notes glossing meanings, discussing staging issues and explaining literary allusions, together with a lengthy, illustrated introduction by a leading scholar exploring the play's critical, theatrical and historical contexts.
Arden Performance Edition: This new series of Arden play texts offers annotations specifically designed to meet actors’ needs. Providing the trustworthy scholarship of the Arden Shakespeare, they will free you for your own interpretation of a part, and are perfectly suited to the context of the rehearsal room.
Yale Shakespeare: Originally published by Yale Press in the 1920s and 30s.
Oxford Edition: "The Oxford set off a revolution in Shakespeare editorial practice by prioritizing the “revisions” included in the Folio over the quartos as control texts. Previous practice had been to get as close to Shakespeare’s original manuscript as possible, generally emphasizing the earliest “reliable” quarto text." --Shakespearestribe.com
The Oxford Shakespeare (Oxford Edition) by
Hailed by The Washington Post as "a definitive synthesis of the best editions" and by The Times of London as "a monument to Shakespearean scholarship," The Oxford Shakespeare is the ultimate anthology of the Bard's work: the most authoritative edition of the plays and poems ever published. Now, almost two decades after the original volume, Oxford is proud to announce a thoroughly updated second edition, including for the first time the texts of The Reign of Edward III and Sir Thomas More, recognizing these two plays officially as authentic works by Shakespeare. This beautiful collection is the product of years of full-time research by a team of British and American scholars and represents the most thorough examination ever undertaken of the nature and authority of Shakespeare's work. The editors reconsidered every detail of the text in the light of modern scholarship and they thoroughly re-examined the earliest printed versions of the plays, firmly establishing the canon and chronological order of composition. All stage directions have been reconsidered in light of original staging, and many new directions for essential action have been added. This superb volume also features a brief introduction to each work as well as an illuminating General Introduction. Finally, the editors have added a wealth of secondary material, including an essay on language, a list of contemporary allusions to Shakespeare, an index of Shakespearean characters, a glossary, a consolidated bibliography, and an index of first lines of the Sonnets. Compiled by the world's leading authorities, packed with information, and attractively designed, The Oxford Shakespeare is the gold standard of Shakespearean anthologies.
Synopsis: "Helen, a lowly ward, risks her life to satisfy her boundless love for Bertram, a count and ward to the King of France. Following him to Paris, she concocts an endangering plan to win the King of France's favour and induce Bertram's hand in marriage." -- Arden Third Series
Genre: Comedy
All's Well That Ends Well (Arden Third Series) by
In All's Well That Ends Well, Helen, a lowly ward, risks her life to satisfy her boundless love for Bertram, a count and ward to the King of France. Following him to Paris, she concocts an endangering plan to win the King of France's favour and induce Bertram's hand in marriage. In the comprehensive introduction to this new, fully-illustrated Arden edition, Suzanne Gossett takes a transformative look at the play's critical and performance history by offering fresh perspectives on the conundrum of genre, sexuality and moral dilemmas with masculinity and the structures of family. The authoritative play text is amply annotated to clarify its language and allusions, and two appendices debate the play's authorship and review its casting. Offering students and scholars alike a wealth of insight and new research, this edition maintains the rigorous standards of the Arden Shakespeare.
All's Well That Ends Well (Yale Shakespeare) by
An international team of scholars offers: * modernised, easily accessible texts * ample but unobtrusive academic guidance * attention to the theatrical qualities of each play and its stage history * informative illustrations, including reconstructions of early performances This play has attracted unprecedented interest in recent times. Professor Fraser takes account of its history, in which neglect and unpopularity have been important features, and discusses such reactions and the reasons for them. He argues for a play which is a powerful and often disconcerting blend of darkness and comedy, faults and virtues, failing and forgiveness. Beneath the fluctuating imagery there is a constant sexual undercurrent which compels unusual critical attention.
All's Well That Ends Well by
Although originally classified as one of Shakespeare's comedies, All's Well That Ends Well is now more commonly classified as one of his ambiguous problem plays, so called because they defy neat classification as either comedy or tragedy. Helena, a servant harbors a secret love for Betram her mistresses' son. When the king becomes ill Helena promises to heal him if she is allowed to marry any man of her choosing. Helena's father is a renowned physician and the young girl having inherited his knowledge saves the king and Bertram is chosen as her husband. The one sided affair soon blossoms into requited love and all's well that ends well.
Synopsis: "Anthony and Cleopatra is a tragic play by Shakespeare, which tells the ill-fated love story between Anthony and Cleopatra and the antagonistic role played by Julius Caesar, future Emperor of Rome." -- EBSCO
Genre: Tragedy
Antony and Cleopatra (Arden Third Series) by
'aexceptionally excellent and detailed notes'Dr. Michael Herbert, St. Andrews University'aa useful treatment of a complex play'Shakespeare Quarterly"
The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra (Yale Shakespeare) by
"Mark Antony, one of the three rulers of the Roman World, has become the thrall of the fascinating Cleopatra. Affairs of state call him to Rome, but the attractions of the Queen of Egypt prove impossible to resist."
Anthony and Cleopatra (Oxford Edition) by
A newly edited text of the most formally ambitious and poetically brilliant of Shakespeare's tragedies. Always alert to the play's theatricality and boldly experimental design, the extensive introduction offers a fresh critical account of the play, exploring its paradoxical treatment of gender and identity. The commentary is attentive to the theatrical dimensions of the play as well as to the rich complexity of its poetic language.
Antony and Cleopatra by
Antony and Cleopatra is a tragic play by Shakespeare, which tells the ill-fated love story between Antony and Cleopatra and the antagonistic role played by Julius Caesar, future Emperor of Rome. "I will tell you. The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne, Burn'd on the water: the poop was beaten gold; Purple the sails, and so perfumed that The winds were love-sick with them; the oars were silver, Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made The water which they beat to follow faster, As amorous of their strokes."
Synopsis: "As You Like It subverts the traditional rules of romance. Gender roles, nature and politics are confused in a play that reflects on how bewildering yet utterly pleasurable life can be." - RSC Website
Genre: Comedy
As You Like It (Arden Third Series) by
With its explorations of sexual ambivalence, As You Like It speaks directly to the twenty-first century. Juliet Dusinberre demonstrates that Rosalind's authority in the play grows from new ideas about women and reveals that Shakespeare's heroine reinvents herself for every age. But the play is also deeply rooted in Elizabethan culture and through it Shakespeare addresses some of the hotly debated issues of the period."This will be the definitive edition of As You Like It for many years to come" - Phyllis Rackin, University of Pennsylvania
As You Like It (Arden Performance Edition) by
'I wish I had copies like this at Drama School. Essential notes on the language for those who will get up and speak it, not purely for those who will sit and study it. An incredibly useful tool with room on every page to make notes. Next time I'm in rehearsal on a Shakespeare play, I have no doubt that a copy from this series will be in my hand.' ADRIAN LESTER, Actor, Director and Writer Arden Performance Editions are ideal for anyone engaging with a Shakespeare play in performance. With clear facing-page notes giving definitions of words, easily accessible information about key textual variants, lineation, metrical ambiguities and pronunciation, each edition has been developed to open the play's possibilities and meanings to actors and students. Each edition offers: -Facing-page notes -Short, clear definitions of words -Easily accessible information about key textual variants -Notes on pronunciation of difficult names and unfamiliar words -An easy to read layout -Space to write notes -A short introduction to the play
As You Like It (Oxford Edition) by
As You Like It is Shakespeare's most light-hearted comedy and one of the best-loved and most performed of all his plays. In his introduction to this new edition Alan Brissenden suggests reasons for its delayed publication and discusses in detail how productions have changed radically over the years. Shakespeare's use of his sources, his handling of the themes of love, doubleness, and pastoral are dealt with, as well as the significance of men playing women's parts on the Elizabethan stage. Detailed annotations explain allusions, puns, and difficult passages, enabling student, reader, actor, and director to savor the humor and the seriousness of the play to the full. There are illustrations, and appendices on "wit" and the songs, for which the earliest known music is printed.
As You Like It by
As You Like It has sometimes seemed a subversive play that exposes the instability of gender roles and traditional values. In other eras it has been prized - or derided - as a reliable celebration of conventional social mores. The play's ability to encompass these extremes tells an interesting story about changing cultural and theatrical practices. This edition provides a detailed history of the play in production, both on stage and on screen. The introduction examines how changing conceptions of gender roles have affected the portrayal of Rosalind, one of Shakespeare's greatest comic heroines. The striking differences between the British tradition and the freer treatment the play has received abroad are discussed, as well as the politics of court versus country. The commentary, printed alongside the New Cambridge Shakespeare edition of the text, draws on primary sources to illuminate how costuming, stage business, design, and directorial choices have shaped the play in performance.
Synopsis: "Shakespeare's dexterous comedy of two twin masters and two twin servants continually mistaken for one another is both farce and more than farce. The Comedy of Errors examines the interplay between personal and commercial relationships, and the breakdown of social order that follows the disruption of identity" -- Arden Third Series
Genre: Comedy
The Comedy of Errors (Arden Third Series) by
Shakespeare's dextrous comedy of two twin masters and two twin servants continually mistaken for one another is both farce and more than farce. The Comedy of Errors examines the interplay between personal and commercial relationships, and the breakdown of social order that follows the disruption of identity. As well as detailed on-page commentary notes, this new edition has a long, illustrated introduction exploring the play's performance and crtitical history, as well as its place in the comic tradition from Classical to modern times.
The Comedy of Errors (Yale Shakespeare) by
Farce about two pairs of twins involved in an elaborate series of mistaken identities. Series: Yale Shakespeare.
The Comedy of Errors (Oxford Edition) by
Often under-rated as a mechanical farce, The Comedy of Errors, hilarious in its exploitation of mistaken identity, masterly in construction, and brilliant in linguistic invention, is the first of Shakespeare's romantic comedies, deeply moving in the reunions and reconciliations of itsconclusion. This, the first major edition since 1988, bases itself directly on the 1623 Folio text and provides helpful explanatory notes. The Introduction, appreciative of the play's theatrical success over the centuries, argues that it was specifically written for and performed at the Gray's InnChristmas revels on 28 December 1594, among the first composed by Shakespeare for his new company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men. Discussion of the play's origins argues that the immediate source for the frame plot (Egeon and his family) was not Gower's Confessio Amantis, is usually assumed, but arecent Elizabethan short novel, Lawrence Twine's Pattern of Painful Adventures. The main plot is unquestionably based on the Roman dramatist Plautus's Menaechmi, here reprinted in its entirety in a modernized version of William Warner's translation (1595).
The Comedy of Errors by
The Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare's most popular short comedy plays. The plot is driven by two cases of mistaken identity and witty pun-drenched dialogue. Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant of Dromio of Syraceuse visit the town of Ephesus, not realizing that this is the home of Antipholus of Ephesus and Dromio of Ephesus, their twin brothers lost to them at sea years before. Before reuniting, the doppelgangers cause chaos amongst friends and family when they all assemble in Ephesus.
Synopsis: " A proud Roman general conquers the Volscians, leads them against Rome in revenge for his banishment, and is killed by the Volscian general when Coriolanus is persuaded to spare the city." -- Yale Shakespeare Edition
Genre: Tragedy
Coriolanus (Arden Third Series) by
This Roman play is one of Shakespeare's last tragedies, best known for its political and military themes. Its hero, Coriolanus, is a proud General who does not hesitate to show his arrogant and outspoken contempt of the Roman rabble. The Tribunes banish him and he raises an army to take his revenge on Rome. He finally concedes to the pleas of his mother to spare the city and leaves only to be publicly killed by his former allies. Peter Holland is a former Director of the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon and President of the Shakespeare Association of America. He is a pre-eminent international scholar. His comprehensive introduction and commentary notes open up the language, themes and ideas in this complex yet richly rewarding play for the student and teacher.
The Tragedy of Coriolanus (Yale Shakespeare) by
A proud Roman general conquers the Volscians, leads them against Rome in revenge for his banishment, and is killed by the Volscian general when Coriolanus is persuaded to spare the city.
Contents
Contains facsimile reproduction of "the title-page of Nahum Tate's version of 'Coriolanus', the earliest separate edition of the play in any form."
The Tragedy of Coriolanus (Oxford Edition) by
Coriolanus is perhaps the most brillant political play ever written. Though it is set in Ancient Rome, it has proved itself over the centuries as a perennially relevant study of the relationship between personality and politics. The Introduction to this new edition considers Shakespeare'sadaptation of his historical material in relation to the social and political conditions in London and Stratford at the time of the play's composition, also offering new evidence that it was written in 1608. The play's searching presentation of the tension between politics and psychology is shownto result from major reinterpretations of Plutarch's structure and characterization. The editor offers a thorough and subtle analysis of the verbal style of the text and of its staging in relation to the Blackfriars theatre, where it was probably the first of Shakespeare's plays to be presented andfor which it may have been written. A detailed study of its theatrical history illuminates the wide range of meanings the play has had for subsequent ages. The thorough commentary pays special attention to the needs of the actors and directors.
Synopsis: "King Cymbeline's evil second queen forces the king to banish his daughter Imogen's husband, Posthumus. While the queen tries to force Imogen to marry her own son, Posthumus flees to Rome. There he is tricked into believing Imogen has been unfaithful. Imogen disguises herself as a boy and flees the court." -- British Broadcasting Company
Genre: Tragedy
Cymbeline (Arden Third Series) by
In Cymbeline, Ancient Britain's female heir to the throne is slandered by a decadent Italian while the Romans invade Britain to retain it as part of their empire. Shakespeare's late romance is full of unpredictable conjunctions that are explored in the comprehensive introduction to this new, fully-illustrated Arden edition. Valerie Wayne takes a transformative look at the play's critical and performance history by examining its attention to gender, calumny and sexuality together with nationhood, colonialism and British identities. The authoritative play text is amply annotated to clarify its language and allusions, and three appendices delineate the play's textual history, its rich use of music and its casting. Offering students and scholars alike a wealth of insight and new research, this edition maintains the rigorous standards of the Arden Shakespeare.
The Tragedy of Cymbeline (Yale Shakespeare) by
A story of Belarius and the kidnapped princes.
Cymbeline (Oxford Edition) by
This is the first full-scale edition of Cymbeline for thirty-seven years. During that time, there has been considerable interest in Shakespeare's late work in the theatre, and several notable productions have demonstrated the powerful impact of Cymbeline. Based firmly on Roger Warren'sextensive experience of the play in rehearsal and performance, this edition shows how Shakespeare draws upon a wide range of sources to create a self-sufficient dramatic universe, combining virtuoso theatrical and poetic means to present a story of a marriage imperilled by mistrust and painfullyrebuilt through the physical and spiritual journeys undertaken by the heroine and hero, set in a context of international conflict. A full and detailed commentary pays close attention to the play's complex, evocative language.
Synopsis: "A play performed at the Theatre Royal in London in 1727 which the producer, Lewis Theobald, claimed to have adapted from a Shakespeare play. The plot is a version of the story of Cardenio found in Cervantes' Don Quixote as translated by Thomas Shelton and published in 1612. Documentary records list a play by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher performed in 1613, probably entitled The History of Cardenio. Is this the missing play or a literary fraud?" -- Arden Third Series
Genre: Comedy / Disputed Authorship
Double Falsehood by
On December 1727 an intriguing play called Double Falshood; Or, The Distrest Lovers was presented for production by Lewis Theobald, who had it published in January 1728 after a successful run at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London. The title page to the published version claims that the play was 'Written Originally by W.SHAKESPEARE'. Double Falsehood's plot is a version of the story of Cardenio found in Cervantes's Don Quixote (1605) as translated by Thomas Shelton, published in 1612 though in circulation earlier. Documentary records testify to the existence of a play, certainly performed in 1613, by John Fletcher and William Shakespeare, probably entitled The History of Cardenio and presumed to have been lost. The audience in 1727 would certainly have recognised stage situations and dramatic structures and patterns reminiscent of those in Shakespeare's canonical plays as well as many linguistic echoes. This intriguing complex textual and performance history is thoroughly explored and debated in this fully annotated edition, including the views of other major Shakespeare scholars. The illustrated introduction provides a comprehensive overview of the debates and opinions surrounding the play and the text is fully annotated with detailed commentary notes as in any Arden edition.
Synopsis: "The young Prince Hamlet, returning from university, finds his Kingdom in disarray. With his father dead, and his uncle and mother marrying, Hamlet is confronted by an armored ghost, who, claiming to be the King, implores him to enact revenge upon the newlyweds and restore order to the realm. Yet, Hamlet's ability to act conflicts with his will to think: curing the rot and stabilising the kingdom will unleash a series of tragedies that threaten to ruin his entire family." -- Arden Performance Edition
Genre: Tragedy
Hamlet (Arden Third Series) by
This Arden edition of Hamlet, arguably Shakespeare's greatest tragedy, presents an authoritative, modernized text based on the Second Quarto text with a new introductory essay covering key productions and criticism in the decade since its first publication. A timely up-date in the 400th anniversary year of Shakespeare's death which will ensure the Arden edition continues to offer students a comprehensive and current critical account of the play, alongside the most reliable and fully-annotated text available.
Hamlet (Arden Performance Edition) by
The young Prince Hamlet, returning from university, finds his Kingdom in disarray: 'something is rotten in the state of Denmark'. With his father dead, and his uncle and mother marrying, Hamlet is confronted by an armored ghost, who, claiming to be the King, implores him to enact revenge upon the newlyweds and restore order to the realm. Yet, Hamlet's ability to act conflicts with his will to think: curing the rot and stabilising the kingdom will unleash a series of tragedies that threaten to ruin his entire family. Arden Performance Editions are ideal for anyone engaging with a Shakespeare play in performance. With clear facing-page notes giving definitions of words, easily accessible information about key textual variants, lineation, metrical ambiguities and pronunciation, each edition has been developed to open the play's possibilities and meanings to actors and students. Designed to be used and to be useful, each edition has plenty of space for personal annotations and the well-spaced text is easy to read and to navigate. Each edition offers: ·- F-Facing page notes · - Short, clear definitions of words · -Easily accessible information about key textual variants · -Notes on pronunciation of difficult names and unfamiliar words · -An easy to read layout · - Space to write notes · -A short introduction to the play
Hamlet (Oxford Edition) by
This edition of Hamlet represents a radically new text of the best known and most widely discussed of all Shakespearean tragedies. G.R. Hibbard argues, in a substantial introduction, that the presently accepted text is not, in fact, the most authoritative version of the play. Instead, he turns to the First Folio of 1623, Shakespeare's "fair copy" of the play that has been preserved for us in the Second Quarto. This revision of the play is more "theatrical" in the best sense of that word--it provides, as Shakespeare intended, a better, more practical acting script. Such changes as the omission of Horatio's account of the omens preceding Caesar's assassination, and Hamlet's on the drunkenness of Danes, give the play new momentum, and lend credence to Hibbard's claim that the familiar conflated text of Hamlet is a much more "problematic" play than it appears to have been in the First Folio.
Synopsis: "With his crown under threat from enemies both foreign and domestic, Henry IV prepares for war. As his father gets ready to defend his crown, Prince Hal is languishing in the taverns and brothels of London, revelling in the company of his friend, the notorious Sir John Falstaff. With the onset of war, Hal must confront his responsibilities to family and throne." -- Royal Shakespeare Company
Genre: History
King Henry IV Part 1 (Arden Third Series) by
David Scott Kastan lucidly explores the remarkable richness and the ambitious design of King Henry IV Part 1 and shows how these complicate any easy sense of what kind of play it is. Conventionally regarded as a history play, much of it is in fact conspicuously invented fiction, and Kastan argues that the non-historical, comic plot does not simply parody the historical action but by its existence raises questions about the very nature of history. The full and engaging introduction devotes extensive discussion to the play's language, indicating how its insistent economic vocabulary provides texture for the social concerns of the play and focuses attention on the central relationship between value and political authority.
The First Part of King Henry the Fourth (Yale Edition) by
Contents: Shakespeare and the Textus Receptus -- The text -- Notes -- Appendix A : Sources -- Appendix B : History of the play -- Index of words glossed.
Henry IV, Part I (Oxford Edition) by
During Shakespeare's lifetime, Henry IV was his most popular play. Today, Sir John Falstaff still towers above Shakespeare's other comic inventions. This edition considers the play in the context of various critical approaches, offers a history of the play in performance from Shakespeare's time to ours, and provides useful information on its historical background. Readers will also find detailed commentary on individual words and phrases, and selections from Shakespeare's sources. About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum 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, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
Synopsis: "More troubled and troubling than King Henry IV, Part 1, the play continues the story of King Henry's decline and Hal's reform. Though Part 2 echoes the structure of the earlier play, it is a darker and more unsettling world, in which even Falstaff's revelry is more tired and cynical, and the once-merry Hal sloughs off his tavern companions to become King Henry V. " -- Arden Third Edition
Genre: History
King Henry IV Part 2 (Arden Third Series) by
More troubled and troubling than King Henry IV Part 1, the play continues the story of King Henry's decline and Hal's reform. Though Part 2 echoes the structure of the earlier play, it is a darker and more unsettling world, in which even Falstaff's revelry is more tired and cynical, and the once-merry Hal sloughs off his tavern companions to become King Henry V. James C. Bulman's authoritative edition provides a wealth of incisive commentary on this complex history play.
The Second Part of King Henry the Fourth (Yale Shakespeare) by
Henry IV, Part 2 is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. It is the third part of a tetralogy, preceded by Richard II and Henry IV, Part 1 and succeeded by Henry V. The play is often seen as an extension of aspects of Henry IV, Part 1, rather than a straightforward continuation of the historical narrative, placing more emphasis on the highly popular character of Falstaff and introducing other comic figures as part of his entourage, including Ancient Pistol, Doll Tearsheet, and Justice Robert Shallow. Several scenes specifically parallel episodes in Part 1.
Henry IV, Part 2 (Oxford Edition) by
This edition offers a fully modernized text of one of Shakespeare's most fascinating plays. Henry IV, Part 2 is the only play in the canon whose structure almost exactly mirrors that of its predecessor, and thereby affords unique perspectives on Shakespeares art and craft. Far from being theimpoverished country cousin of an illustrious work, Part 2 introduces unforgettable new characters like Pistol and Shallow, and memorable minor players such as Doll Tearsheet and the reluctant Goucestershire recruits. Above all, it gives us more Falstaff. Although he is now politically distancedfrom Hal, he looms larger than ever as a mischievous figure who never ceases to fascinate with his unique blend of native wit, inventiveness, and corruption. Through a radical reconsideration of the play's text(s) and date, it is argued here for the first time that the character of Falstaff wascalled Oldcastle in Part 2 as well as in Part 1, and that it was the vetting of Part 2 for the 1596-7 Christmas performances at Court which led to the change of name in both plays. This edition moreover takes the view that the Folio-only passages in the play reflect the text of the originalprompt-book.
Synopsis: "After an insult from the French Dauphin, King Henry V of England invades France to claim the throne he believes should be his. Henry stops an assassination plot, gives powerful speeches, and wins battles against the odds. In the end, he woos and marries the Princess of France, linking the two nations." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: History
King Henry V (Arden Third Series) by
Distinguished editor T.W. Craik makes an independent and balanced examination of the many textual problems of Henry V, providing many new emendations. "Craik's commentary is particularly ample and detailed, with careful attention to the play's language, textual problems, the interpretation of stage directions, and Shakespeare's handling of source materials... he builds up a distinct though traditionalist reading which, critically sympathetic and undogmatic, finds the play at once simple and subtle." John Jowett, Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare Survey, 1997 'With the exceptionally thorough Arden notes, and the extensive editorial coverage, including recent stage history, this Henry V is the one to have.' Times Higher Education Supplement 'Craik's commentary is exemplary in its thorough treatment of critical concerns, glossaries and explanations, theatrical matters, and source material.' Barry Gaines, University of New Mexico, Shakespeare Quarterly
The Life of Henry the Fifth (Yale Shakespeare) by 
Henry V (Oxford Edition) by
Henry V, is an inspiring, often comic celebration of a young warrior-king. Gary Taylor shows how Shakespeare shaped his historical material, examines controversial critical interpretations, discusses the play's fluctuating fortunes in performance, and analyses the range and variety of Shakespeare's characterization.
Synopsis: "After Henry V's death and while Henry VI is young, nobles rule England and fight the French, including Joan of Arc. As Henry VI becomes King, the noble houses begin to divide and take sides between York and Lancaster. The war with France winds down, and the nobles try to find Henry a wife and disagree about who Henry chooses." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: History
The First Part of King Henry the Sixth (Yale Shakespeare) by 
Henry VI, Part I (Oxford Edition) by
1 Henry VI was the Rose's great draw in the Spring of 1592, and is a dramatic tale of the lives of soldiers, diplomats, kings, and insurrectionists; the fractious instability of the court and nobility of fifteenth-century England, and their squabbles with their French counterparts.Despite its debut performance in 1592, however, 1 Henry VI does not take a printed form until its appearance some thirty years later in the 1623 folio. There are many questions, therefore, surrounding exactly how many people wrote the play, when they did so, how it was performed, who played whatpart, and what was the nature of the manuscript behind the first performance. In his wide-ranging introduction, Michael Taylor offers answers to these questions, and discusses other key issues such as language, structure, performance history, and the role of women in the play.
Synopsis: "Against the wishes of the nobles, King Henry marries the penniless Margaret who plots against him with her lover. As tensions between York and Lancaster build, the Duke of York gathers supporters for his claim to the throne. York secretly leads a rebellion, his supporters proclaim him king, and Henry is forced to flee." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: History
King Henry VI Part 2 (Arden Third Series) by
This edition celebrates King Henry VI Part 2 as one of the most exciting and dynamic plays of the English renaissance theatre, with its exploration of power politics and social revolution and its focus on the relationship between divine justice and sin. An extensive discussion of performance history traces the play's progress on stage from abridgement and adaptation to full historical epic. A survey of criticism discusses the wide range of responses provoked by the play's handling of its historical theme, and concludes by focusing on the element of burlesque in the attempted social revolution portrayed.
The second part of King Henry the Sixth (Yale Shakespeare) by
A history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591 and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England. Whereas Henry VI, Part 1 deals primarily with the loss of England's French territories and the political machinations leading up to the Wars of the Roses, and Henry VI, Part 3 deals with the horrors of that conflict, 2 Henry VI focuses on the King's inability to quell the bickering of his nobles, the death of his trusted adviser Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the rise of the Duke of York and the inevitability of armed conflict. As such, the play culminates with the opening battle of the War, the First Battle of St Albans (1455).
Henry VI, Part II (Oxford Edition) by
Shakespeare's Henry VI plays have come fully into their own in the modern theatre. They dramatize contemporary as much as Elizabethan issues: the struggle for power, the manoeuvres of politicians, social unrest, civil war - no wonder they have struck a chord with modern audiences. Roger Warrendraws on his experience of Henry VI, Part Two in rehearsal as well as in performance to focus both the theatricality and the enduring contemporary relevance of the play, both in a wide-ranging Introduction and a detailed Commentary, which also provides a thorough explanation of the play's vividlanguage. The Textual Introduction offers a complete reconsideration of the complex relation between the two original texts.
Synopsis: "After York's claims to the throne, Henry changes the succession and makes York his heir, disinheriting his own son. Henry's queen kills York, and York's son Edward seizes the throne. Henry is imprisoned several times and eventually killed by King Edward's brother, Richard." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: History
King Henry VI Part 3 (Arden Third Series) by
In their lively and engaging edition of this sometimes neglected early play, Cox and Rasmussen make a strong claim for it as a remarkable work, revealing a confidence and sureness that very few earlier plays can rival. They show how the young Shakespeare, working closely from his chronicle sources, nevertheless freely shaped his complex material to make it both theatrically effective and poetically innovative. The resulting work creates, in Queen Margaret, one of Shakespeare's strongest female roles and is the source of the popular view of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick as `kingmaker'. Focusing on the history of the play both in terms of both performance and criticism, the editors open it to a wide and challenging variety of interpretative and editorial paradigms.
The Third Part of King Henry the Sixth (Yale Shakespeare) by
Contents:
The text -- Notes -- Appendix A : Sources of the play -- The history of the play -- Authorship -- The text of the present edition -- Suggestions for collateral reading -- Index of words glossed.
Henry VI, Part III (Oxford Edition) by
Shakespeare's early history plays have come into new prominence following their triumphant revival by the RSC under the title of This England. This new edition of the precursor to Richard III offers a fresh interpretation of the relationship between the two earliest texts - The True Tragedy ofRichard Duke of York (octavo, 1595) and the First Folio Henry VI Part Three (1623) - arguing that the former is a memorially reported and original version of the play later revised for the Folio. The two therefore represent Shakespeare's early and revised conceptions of the play. Unlike all previouseditions, the text here is based rigorously on the Folio, with a re-examination of the dates of composition, memorial reporting, and revision.The introduction provides a useful synopsis of the historical events dramatized by Shakespeare, and appendices present extracts from his two chronicle sources and a detailed analysis of his dramatization of particular passages. The play's stage history and critical interpretations are considered ascultural and artistic responses to its multiply-focused dramatic structure: they are thus integrated, instead of being treated in separated sections on characters and themes, critical fortunes, and stage performance.The commentary fully explains meanings of archaic words and phrases, identifies historical figures and events in relation to Shakespeare's sources, and illustrates characters and scenes by reference to a variety of modern stage performers and productions in England and the USA - the first edition ofthe play to do so.
Synopsis: "King Henry VIII listens to Cardinal Wolsey too much and gives him power, which the Cardinal uses to convict a duke of treason. Henry meets Anne Boleyn, divorces his wife Katharine, and marries Anne. Anne gives birth to Princess Elizabeth who the Archbishop prophesies will become great." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: History
King Henry VIII (Arden Third Series) by
King Henry VIII has one of the fullest theatrical histories of any play in the Shakespeare canon, yet has been consistently misrepresented, both in performance and in criticism. This edition offers a new perspective on this ironic, multi-layered, collaborative play, revealing it as a complex meditation on the progress of Reformation which sees English life since Henry VIII's day as a series of bewildering changes in national and personal allegiance and represents 'history' as the product of varied and contradictory testimony. McMullan makes a powerful claim for the rehabilitation of Henry VIII, providing the fullest performance history of any edition to date and reading the work not as a marginal 'late' Shakespeare play but as a play which is paradigmatic of the achievement of Renaissance drama as a whole.`This is a staggeringly brilliant, captivating edition that will undoubtedly occasion a huge surge of critical interest in this neglected play. For those of use who have never taken Henry VIII very seriously ' perhaps dismissing it as a late collaborative play of no consequence or as conservative propaganda ' McMullan's introduction is genuinely revelatory.'Eric Rasmussen, University of Nevada at Reno, Shakespeare Survey
The Life of King Henry the Eighth (Yale Shakespeare) by Synopsis: "Jealous conspirators convince Caesar's friend Brutus to join their assassination plot against Caesar. To stop Caesar from gaining too much power, Brutus and the conspirators kill him on the Ides of March. Mark Antony drives the conspirators out of Rome and fights them in a battle. Brutus and his friend Cassius lose and kill themselves, leaving Antony to rule in Rome." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Tragedy
Julius Caesar (Arden Third Series) by
This edition of Julius Caesar provides a cle ar and authoritative text, detailed notes and commentary on the same pages as the text and an in-depth survey of critica l approaches to the play. '
Julius Caesar by
Arthur Humphreys provides a fresh look at the play's date and its place in the Shakespeare canon and examines Shakespeare's transmutation of history into drama. He investigates the play's ethical and moral concerns and analyses its fortunes in performance, from its first staging to modern productions in different media.
Synopsis: "King Edward III ruled for fifty years. Under his genial splendor, the fractious wilderness inherited from his murdered father became transformed into an English nation. It was a reign outstandingly rich in dramatic events and sometimes violent in its contrasts. There were spectacular feats of war at Sluys, Crécy and Poitiers, as well as at Nájera beyond the Pyrenees. They made the king and his eldest son, the Black Prince, into figures of legend. Yet the brightly colored pageantry of the chivalric king and his sons and loyal captains has to be set against the horrors and miseries of the Black Death. Similarly, if less sensationally, the king founded his new Order of the Garter for the benefit of a select group of those whom he and future monarchs might delight to honor just when the humble Commons were repeatedly demanding that he show a quite new respect for their own, less exalted persons and in particular for their pockets." -- Arden Third Edition
Genre: History / Disputed authorship
King Edward III (Arden Third Edition) by
King Edward III is increasingly thought to have been written in significant part by Shakespeare. This landmark new edition by textual expert and General Editor of the Arden Shakespeare, Richard Proudfoot, offers a full account of the play's text and the evidence of Shakespeare's hand at work in it. Fully annotated with on-page notes and a lengthy critical introduction which also explores the play's production history and the impact of its historical context.
King Edward III by
King Edward III ruled for fifty years. Under his genial splendor, the fractious wilderness inherited from his murdered father became transformed into an English nation. It was a reign outstandingly rich in dramatic events and sometimes violent in its contrasts. There were spectacular feats of war at Sluys, Crécy and Poitiers, as well as at Nájera beyond the Pyrenees. They made the king and his eldest son, the Black Prince, into figures of legend. Yet the brightly colored pageantry of the chivalric king and his sons and loyal captains has to be set against the horrors and miseries of the Black Death. Similarly, if less sensationally, the king founded his new Order of the Garter for the benefit of a select group of those whom he and future monarchs might delight to honor just when the humble Commons were repeatedly demanding that he show a quite new respect for their own, less exalted persons and in particular for their pockets. - Preface.
Synopsis: "King John goes to war against the French after claims that his nephew should be king instead. John has conflict with the church, orders his nephew's death, and turns the nobles against himself. In the end, John dies from poison, the French retreat, and his son becomes King." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: History
King John (Arden Third Edition) by
The Arden Shakespeare is the established scholarly edition of Shakespeare's plays. Now in its third series, Arden offers the best in contemporary scholarship. Each volume guides you to a deeper understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare's plays.This edition of King John provides: - A clear and authoritative text, edited to the highest standards of scholarship.- Detailed notes and commentary on the same page as the text. - A full, illustrated introduction to the play's historical, cultural and performance contexts. - A full index to the introduction and notes. - A select bibliography of references and further reading. With a wealth of helpful and incisive commentary, The Arden Shakespeare is the finest edition of Shakespeare you can find.King John tells the story of John's struggle to retain the crown in the face of alternative claims to the throne from France and is one of the earlier history plays. The new Arden Third Series edition offers students a comprehensive introduction exploring the play's relationship to its source and to later plays in the history cycle, as well as giving a full account of its critical and performance history, including key productions in 2015 which marked the anniversary of Magna Carta. As such this is the most detailed, informative and up-to-date student edition available.
King John (Oxford Edition) by
This important new edition of one of Shakespeare's more neglected plays offers a wide-ranging critical introduction, concentrating on its relevance to Elizabethan political issues and on the role played in it by women, by legal concepts and practices, and by the family. The printing of theplay in the First Folio (1623) is studied in fresh detail, and there are illustrations of the play in performance, and a comprehensive stage history. Full and helpful annotation pays special attention to the play's language and staging.
Synopsis: "King Lear divides his kingdom among the two daughters who flatter him and banishes the third one who loves him. His eldest daughters both then reject him at their homes, so Lear goes mad and wanders through a storm. His banished daughter returns with an army, but they lose the battle and Lear, all his daughters and more, die." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Tragedy
King Lear (Arden Third Edition) by
'By far the best edition of King Lear - in respect of both textual and other matters - that we now have.'John Lyon, English Language Notes'This volume is a treasure-trove of precise information and stimulating comments on practically every aspect of the Lear-universe. I know of no other edition which I would recommend with such confidence: to students, professional colleagues and also the 'educated public'.'Dieter Mehl, Shakespeare Jahrbuch, vol 134
The Tragedy of King Lear (Yale Shakespeare) by
Lear, the King of Britain, has three daughters. Wishing to ease himself of the burden of rule, he determines to divide his kingdom between them, giving the largest share to she who can say she loves him the best.
King Lear (Yale Shakespeare) by
The Annotated Shakespeare Series allowsreaders to fully understand and enjoy the rich plays of the world's greatest dramatist King Lear, one of Shakespeare's darkest and most savage plays, tells the story of the foolish and Job-like Lear, who divides his kingdom, as he does his affections, according to vanity and whim. Lear's failure as a father engulfs himself and his world in turmoil and tragedy. This fully annotated version of King Lear makesthe play completely accessible to readers in the twenty-first century. It has been carefully assembled with students, teachers, and the general reader in mind. Eminent linguist and translator Burton Raffel offers generous help with vocabulary and usage of Elizabethan English, pronunciation, prosody, and alternative readings of phrases and lines. His on-page annotations provide readers with all the tools they need to comprehend the play and begin to explore its many possible interpretations.
Synopsis: "After vowing to avoid women, the King and three of his friends have to host a princess and her three ladies. The four men fall in love and decide to court the women. In the end, the women must return to their kingdom for a year after which they will marry the king and his friends, providing they remain true to them." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Comedy
Love's Labour's Lost (Arden Third Series) by
'With the publication of Woudhuysen's Arden 3 edition, the magisterial study of the play that will energise a new generation of readers and directors has now arrived.'Eric Rasmussen, University of Nevada at Reno, Shakespeare Survey
Love's Labour's Lost (Yale Shakespeare) by
Ferdinand, the king of Navarre, and three of his noblemen, are all dedicated to the study and the renunciation of women. These four meet the princess of France and her three attendants, and, inevitably, the men abandon their absurd principles.
Love's Labour's Lost (Oxford Edition) by
Love's Labour's Lost, now recognized as one of the most delightful and stageworthy of Shakespeare's comedies, came into its own both on the stage and in critical esteem only during the 1930s and 1940s--after nearly three hundred years of neglect by the theater and misuse by critics. In this new critical edition, Hibbard pays particular attention to this process of rehabilitation. Based on the quarto of 1598, and drawing on recent scholarly analysis, he proposes that the quarto goes way back, probably by way of a "lost" quarto, to an authorial manuscript representing the play in a state prior to "fair copy." He offers numerous new readings of difficult and disputed passages, and a helpful commentary to the play's scintillating language.
Synopsis: "Three witches tell the Scottish general Macbeth that he will be King of Scotland. Encouraged by his wife, Macbeth kills the king, becomes the new king, and kills more people out of paranoia. Civil war erupts to overthrow Macbeth, resulting in more death." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Tragedy
Macbeth (Arden Third Series) by
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most performed and studied tragedies. This major new Arden edition offers students detailed on-page commentary notes highlighting meaning and theatrical ideas and themes, as well as an illustrated, lengthy introduction setting the play in its historical, theatrical and critical context and outlining the recent debates about Middleton's possible co-authorship of some scenes.A comprehensive and informative edition ideal for students and teachers seeking to explore the play in depth, whether in the classroom or on the stage.
Macbeth (Arden Performance Edition) by
'I wish I had copies like this at Drama School. Essential notes on the language for those who will get up and speak it, not purely for those who will sit and study it. An incredibly useful tool with room on every page to make notes. Next time I'm in rehearsal on a Shakespeare play, I have no doubt that a copy from this series will be in my hand.' ADRIAN LESTER, Actor, Director and Writer Arden Performance Editions are ideal for anyone engaging with a Shakespeare play in performance. With clear facing-page notes giving definitions of words, easily accessible information about key textual variants, lineation, metrical ambiguities and pronunciation, each edition has been developed to open the play's possibilities and meanings to actors and students. Each edition offers: -Facing-page notes -Short, clear definitions of words -Easily accessible information about key textual variants -Notes on pronunciation of difficult names and unfamiliar words -An easy to read layout -Space to write notes -A short introduction to the play
Macbeth by
"To be able to read Macbeth with the eye of one of our profession's top linguists and scholars is a treat for the heart as well as the mind."--Tita French Baumlin, Southwest Missouri State University Perhaps no other Shakespearean drama so engulfs its readers in the ruinous journey of surrender to evil as does Macbeth. A timeless tragedy about the nature of ambition, conscience, and the human heart, the play holds a profound grip on the Western imagination. This extensively annotated edition makes Macbeth completely accessible to twenty-first century readers and provides a rich resource for students, teachers, and general readers. Burton Raffel's on-page annotations offer generous help with vocabulary and usage of Elizabethan English, pronunciation, prosody, and alternative readings of phrases and lines. And in his introduction he provides religious and social contexts that increase the reader's understanding of the play. In a concluding essay, Harold Bloom argues that Macbeth--his favorite of Shakespeare's high tragedies--is the playwright's most internalized drama.
Synopsis: "Angelo rules as a religious tyrant, tries to manipulate a nun to sleep with him, is foiled, and ultimately punished." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Comedy
Measure for Measure (Arden Third Edition) by
Often described as one of Shakespeare's 'problem plays', Measure for Measure explores issues of mercy and justice in corrupt Vienna. The Duke makes his strict moralistic deputy, Angelo, temporary leader of Vienna, while he disguises himself as a friar to witness all that ensues. In the comprehensive introduction to this new, fully-illustrated Arden edition, with commentary and notes from A. R. Braunmuller, Robert N. Watson explores the recent increased attention to the play and the shifting judgements of key characters such as the Duke and Isabella. He analyses the social foundations of these changes, their validity as readings of the text, and their manifestations in performance. It also explores the play's implications on topics including love, marriage, sexuality, consent, mortality, religion, statecraft, moderation, and theatre itself.
Measure for measure (Yale Shakespeare) by
This play examines the nature of mercy and justice, proposing that a good government is one that is flexible and based on common sense.
Measure for Measure (Oxford Edition) by
Shakespeare's vivid dramatic projection of moral and ethical issues in Measure for Measure has given the play great appeal to both readers and theatergoers. Exploring the play's qualities as a complex work of art written specifically for the theatre, the introduction to this new edition sets the play in its historical context, discussing the originality of Shakespeare's treatment of a well-known story. Bawcutt explains the obsolete marriage customs, and also offers a comprehensive account of the text's theatrical afterlife from Restoration adaptations to recent productions.
Synopsis: "Antonio, an antisemitic merchant, takes a loan from the Shylock to help his friend to court Portia. Antonio can't repay the loan, and without mercy, Shylock demands a pound of his flesh. The heiress Portia, now the wife of Antonio's friend, dresses as a lawyer and saves Antonio." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Comedy
The Merchant of Venice (Arden Third Series) by
The 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.
The Merchant of Venice by
"I feel that I have spent half my career with one or another Pelican Shakespeare in my back pocket. Convenience, however, is the least important aspect of the new Pelican Shakespeare series. Here is an elegant and clear text for either the study or the rehearsal room, notes where you need them and the distinguished scholarship of the general editors, Stephen Orgel and A. R. Braunmuller who understand that these are plays for performance as well as great texts for contemplation." (Patrick Stewart) The distinguished Pelican Shakespeare series, which has sold more than four million copies, is now completely revised and repackaged. Each volume features: * Authoritative, reliable texts * High quality introductions and notes * New, more readable trade trim size * An essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare and essays on Shakespeare's life and the selection of texts
The Merchant of Venice (Oxford Edition) by
The Introduction to this edition of The Merchant of Venice addresses one of the most important issues raised by the play, the question of Shakespeare's attitude toward Semitism. There follows a study of the play's sources, background, and date, including a discussion of Freud's essay on "The Three Caskets." The critical interpretation of the play focuses on its contradictions and inconsistencies, especially as they relate to the overarching theme of bonds and bondage. The text, based on a fresh examination of the early editions, is presented in modernized spelling and punctuation, and helpful commentary includes new interpretations of particular passages and characters. Unfailingly lucid and helpful, this is an ideal edition for students at all levels as well as for the general reader.
Synopsis: "Falstaff decides to fix his financial woe by seducing the wives of two wealthy merchants. The wives find he sent them identical letters and take revenge by playing tricks on Falstaff when he comes calling. With the help of their husbands and friends, the wives play one last trick in the woods to put Falstaff's mischief to an end." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Comedy
The Merry Wives of Windsor (Arden Third Series) by
The Merry Wives of Windsor, Shakespeare's only thoroughly English comedy, created an archetypal literary figure in the shape of the devious, irrepressible John Falstaff. This stimulating new edition celebrates the play as a joyous exploration of language, but also places elements of its plot firmly in a continental, specifically Italian, tradition of romantic comedy. It draws out the complexities of Merry Wives as a multi-plot play, and takes a fresh and challenging look at both textual and dating issues; a facsimile of the first Quarto is included as an appendix. The play's extensive performance history, both dramatic and operatic, is fully explored and discussed.`This is a significant and substantive edition, in that nothing has been taken for granted, everything has been opened to reconsideration. The commentary is exceptionally detailed and attentive to questions of language and meaning.'John Jowett, Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, Shakespeare Quarterly
The Merry Wives of Windsor (Yale Shakespeare) by
Sir John Falstaff, knowing that Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Page control the money in their respective households, decides to seduce them, but they learn of his scheme and resolve to make a fool of him. A comic series of disguises and misadventures follows.
The Merry Wives of Windsor (Oxford Edition) by
The Merry Wives of Windsor was almost certainly required at short notice for a court occasion in 1597: Shakespeare threw into it all the creative energy that went into his Henry IV plays. Falstaff is here, with Pistol, Mistress Quickly, and Justice Shallow, in a spirited and warm-hearted`citizen comedy'. Boisterous action is combined with situational irony and rich characterization.In his introduction T. W. Craik discusses the play's probable occasion (the Garter Feast of 1597 at court), its relationship to Shakespeare's English history plays and to other sources, its textual history (with particular reference to the widely diverging 1623 Folio and 1602 Quarto), and itsoriginal quality as drama. He assesses various interpretations of the play, topical, critical, and theatrical. In the commentary he pays particular attention to expounding the literal sense (he proposes some new readings) and evoking the stage business.
Synopsis: "Four Athenians run away to the forest only to have Puck the fairy make both of the boys fall in love with the same girl. The four run through the forest pursuing each other while Puck helps his master play a trick on the fairy queen. In the end, Puck reverses the magic, and the two couples reconcile and marry." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Comedy
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Arden Third Series) by
The Arden Shakespeare is the established edition of Shakespeare's work. Justly celebrated for its authoritative scholarship and invaluable commentary, Arden editions guide you to a richer understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare's plays. This edition of A Midsummer Night's Dream provides a clear and authoritative text, detailed notes and commentary on the same page as the text and a full introduction discussing the critical and historical background to the play. The editor brings fresh perspectives on global productions and adaptations of this most-loved of Shakespeare's comedies.
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Arden Performance Edition) by
For the first time, the world-renowned Arden Shakespeare is producing Performance Editions, aimed specifically for use in the rehearsal room. Published in association with the Shakespeare Institute, the text features easily accessible facing page notes - including short definitions of words, key textual variants, and guidance on metre and pronunciation; a larger font size for easier reading; space for writing notes and reduced punctuation aimed at the actor rather than the reader. With editorial expertise from the worlds of theatre and academia, the series has been developed in association with actors and drama students. The Series Editors are distinguished scholars Professor Michael Dobson and Dr Abigail Rokison and leading Shakespearean actor, Simon Russell Beale.
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Yale Shakespeare) by
From the hilarious mischief of the elf Puck to the rough humor of the self-centered Bottom and his fellow players, from the palace of Theseus in Athens to the magic wood where fairies play, Shakespeare's marvelous A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play of enchantment and an insightful portrait of the predicaments of love.
Synopsis: "Count Claudio falls in love with Hero, the daughter of his host. Hero's cousin Beatrice (a confirmed spinster) and Benedict (an eternal bachelor) are each duped into believing the other is in love with them. Claudio is deceived by a malicious plot and denounces Hero as unchaste before they marry. She faints and is believed dead, but recovers to be proved innocent by a chance discovery. Benedict wins Beatrice’s love defending her cousin’s honour, and to his surprise, Claudio is reunited with Hero, who he believed dead." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Comedy
Much Ado about Nothing (Arden Third Series) by
Much Ado About Nothing presents a battle of the sexes in more ways than one: as both a lightning-fast skirmish of wits between two famously disputatious lovers, and a near-deadly conflict built on conventions of gender and male rivalry. Claire McEachern's new introduction brings this best-seller right up to date, analysing recent developments in criticism and the latest productions of this comedy.
Much Ado about Nothing (Arden Performance Edition) by
Arden Performance Editions are ideal for anyone engaging with a Shakespeare play in performance. With clear facing-page notes giving definitions of words, easily accessible information about key textual variants, lineation, metrical ambiguities and pronunciation, each edition has been developed to open the play's possibilities and meanings to actors and students.Designed to be used and to be useful, each edition has plenty of space for personal annotations and the well-spaced text is easy to read and to navigate.
Much Ado about Nothing by
Shakespeare's comedy play Much Ado About Nothing pivots around the impediments to love for young betrothed Hero and Claudio when Hero is falsely accused of infidelity and the "lover's trap" set for the arrogant and assured Benedick who has sworn of marriage and his gentle adversary Beatrice. The merry war between Benedick and Beatrice with the promptings of their friends soon dissolves into farcical love, while Hero's supposed infidelity is shown to be little more than "much ado about nothing".
Synopsis: "Iago is furious about being overlooked for promotion and plots to take revenge against his General; Othello, the Moor of Venice. Iago manipulates Othello into believing his wife Desdemona is unfaithful, stirring Othello's jealousy. Othello allows jealousy to consume him, murders Desdemona, and then kills himself." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Tragedy
Othello (Arden Third Series) by
This second edition of Othello has a new, illustrated introduction by leading American scholar Ayanna Thompson, which addresses such key issues as race, religion and gender, as well as looking at ways in which the play has been adapted in more recent times.Othello is one of Shakespeare's great tragedies--written in the same five-year period as Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth. The new introduction attends to the play's different meanings throughout history, while articulating the historical context in which Othello was created, paying particular attention to Shakespeare's source materials and the evidence about early modern constructions of racial and religious difference. It also explores the life of the play in different historical moments, demonstrating how meanings and performances develop, accrue, and metamorphose over time. The volume provides a rich and current resource, making this best-selling play edition ideal for today's students at advanced school and undergraduate level.
Othello (Arden Performance Editions) by
'I wish I had copies like this at Drama School. Essential notes on the language for those who will get up and speak it, not purely for those who will sit and study it. An incredibly useful tool with room on every page to make notes. Next time I'm in rehearsal on a Shakespeare play, I have no doubt that a copy from this series will be in my hand.' ADRIAN LESTER, Actor, Director and Writer Arden Performance Editions are ideal for anyone engaging with a Shakespeare play in performance. With clear facing-page notes giving definitions of words, easily accessible information about key textual variants, lineation, metrical ambiguities and pronunciation, each edition has been developed to open the play's possibilities and meanings to actors and students. Each edition offers: -Facing-page notes -Short, clear definitions of words-Easily accessible information about key textual variants-Notes on pronunciation of difficult names and unfamiliar words-An easy to read layout -Space to write notes -A short introduction to the play
Othello (Oxford Edition) by
Written at some time between 1602 and 1604, Othello belongs to the period in which Shakespeare's powers as a tragic dramatist were at their peak. On stage, the romantic cast of its story and the remorseless drive of its plotting, combined with operatic extravagance of its emotion and the swelling music of its poetry, have made it amongst the most consistently successful of his tragedies; and numerous anecdotes testify to its extraordinary capacity to overwhelm the imagination of the audience. In recent times the play's bold treatment of love and marriage across the divide of race, has made it a work of particular interest to theatre directors and scholars alike. Yet Othello's critical fortunes have been uneven; for, since Rymer's notorious denunciation of this 'tragedy of a handkerchief, ' at the end of the seventeenth century, its claim to rank amongst Shakespeare's greatest achievements has been challenged by critics, who have found its plot too strained, its characters too improbable, and its tale of marital jealousy and murder too meanly domestic to challenge comparison with Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, or even that saga of tragic infatuation, Antony and Cleopatra.; The extensive introduction to this new edition answers the play's detractors, by stressing the public dimensions of the tragedy, paying particular attention to its treatment of colour and social relations. Although 'race' in the early modern period was still an embryonic category, Othello is explored as a text that-not least in its performance history-has played a formative role (for both good and ill) in the emergence of racial thinking, and that as a result remains deeply controversial. In the play's own time, however, the sensitivities aroused by the hero's colour might well have seemed less significant than the way in which Iago's perfidious role plays out a crisis in the institution of service on which the entire social order, including its treatment of gender, was founded. In this respect, too, Othello emerges as a work profoundly involved in the social and political processes that helped to shape the modern world. The text has been freshly edited in accordance with the general principles of the series.; Othello has come down to us in two markedly different early texts; and the substantial differences between the 1622 Quarto and the 1623 Folio have led to its becoming involved, along with Hamlet and Lear, in an intense debate over Shakespearian revision. Michael Neill argues however, that, in the case of Othello, variation is much less likely to be the result of changed authorial intentions than of theatrical cutting and the peculiar circumstances of textual transmission. While the Folio is generally the more reliable of the rival versions, the Quarto's origin in a text that has been modified for performance text make it indispensable, and the two have been fully collated. This edition also makes full use of the Second Quarto (1632) a text which, although it is without independent authority, preserves important textual decisions made by an intelligent and well-informed editor nearly contemporary with the dramatist himself. Further appendices include a discussion of dating problems, an account of the music in the play, and a full translation of the Italian novella from which the story derives.; The detailed commentary is designed to alert readers to the play's theatrical life, as well as helping them to explore its rich language and notoriously treacherous word-play
Synopsis: "Pericles, Prince of Tyre leaves home to escape death only to win a jousting contest and marry a princess. Once he can return home, his family sails with him, but a storm separates them, so Pericles returns alone. Years later, Pericles finds his daughter and reunites with the wife he had thought was dead." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: History
Pericles (Arden Third Series) by
Suzanne Gossett offers a full and critical performance history, with an introduction showing how the play's performance history has paralled the criticism. It then gives an interpretation of this two-generation romance, with its successive male and female central characters, based on a reading 'through the family', and influenced by the feminist and new historicist criticism of the last two decades. The edition integrates cumulative research on Shakespeare's collaborative authorship and the transmission of the text without rewriting the play or ignoring years of emendations.
Pericles (Oxford Edition) by
Pericles was one of the most popular plays in the Jacobean theatre, and it has regained much of that popularity in the modern theatre. In a wide-ranging introduction, Roger Warren draws on his experience of the play in rehearsal and performance to explore the reasons for this enduringpopularity. Unfortunately Pericles survives only in a corrupt text, the Quarto of 1609: many passages are nonsensical, others appear to be missing altogether. Earlier editions have merely published a cleaned-up version of the Quarto, leaving crucial differences unaddressed; but this edition offers aconjectural reconstruction of what the original play might have been like. It is based on that published in the Oxford Complete Works of 1986, modified in the light of its use in several productions since then. It draws upon George Wilkin's narrative The Painful Adventures of Pericles (1608) toemend some of the Quarto's errors and to supply some of the missing material. It does so in the belief that the play is a collaboration between Shakespeare and Wilkins himself. The case for this is fully argued in the Introduction, which also explains the complex textual situation for the generalreader. The entire Quarto text is reprinted in an appendix, together with the passages from Wilkin's narrative that have particularly contributed to the reconstruction, so that readers can see for themselves how the reconstruction has been made. It is hoped that this treatment of the play provides amuch more comprehensive edition than has so far been available, making it more useful for actors, students, and the general reader.
Synopsis: "King Richard II banishes Henry Bolingbroke, seizes noble land, and uses the money to fund wars. Henry returns to England to reclaim his land, gathers an army of those opposed to Richard, and deposes him. Now as Henry IV, Henry imprisons Richard, and Richard is murdered in prison. " -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: History
King Richard II (Arden Third Series) by
This richly annotated edition takes a fresh look at the first part of Shakespeare's second tetralogy of history plays, showing how it relates to the other plays in the sequence. Forker places the play in its political context, discussing its relation to competing theories of monarchy, looking at how it faced censorship because of possible comparisons between Richard II and Elizabeth I, and how Bolingbroke's rebellion could be compared to the Essex rising of the time. This edition also reconsiders Shakespeare's use of sources, asking why he chose to emphasise one approach over another. Forker also looks at the play's rich afterlife, and the many interpretations that actors and directors have taken. Finally, the edition looks closely at the aesthetic relationship between language, character, structure and political import.
The Tragedy of King Richard the Second (Yale Shakespeare) by Richard II (Oxford Edition) by
The Oxford ShakespeareGeneral Editor: Stanley WellsThe Oxford Shakespeare offer authoritative texts from leading scholars in editions designed to interpret and illuminate the plays for modern readers* a new, modern-spelling text, collated and edited from the early texts* wide-ranging introduction discusses the play's historical contexts, political significance, characters, sources, and language* detailed stage history designed to meet the needs of students and theatre professionals* on-page commentary and notes explain meaning, allusions, staging, and much else* illustrated with production photographs, historical portraits, textual facsimiles, and map* full index to introduction and commentary* durable sewn binding for lasting use'not simply a better text but a new conception of Shakespeare' Times Literary Supplement
Synopsis: "Jealous and crippled, Richard of Gloucester wants to be King of England and uses manipulation and deceit to achieve his goal. He murders his brothers, nephews, and any opposition to become King Richard III. In the end, Henry of Richmond raises an army, kills Richard in battle, and becomes King Henry VII. " -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: History
King Richard III (Arden Third Edition) by
Richard III is one of the great Shakespearean characters and roles. James R Siemon examines the attraction of this villain to audiences and focuses on how beguiling, even funny, he can be, especially in the earlier parts of the play. Siemon also places King Richard III in its historical context; as Elizabeth I had no heirs the issue of succession was a very real one for Shakespeare's audience. The introduction is well-illustrated and provides a comprehensive account of the play and of critical approaches to it. The edition also provides a clear and authoritative playtext, edited to the most rigorous standards of scholarship, with detailed notes and commentary on the same page. With a wealth of helpful and incisive commentary the Arden Shakespeare is the finest edition of Shakespeare you can find, giving a deeper understanding and appreciation of his work.
The Tragedy of King Richard III (Oxford Edition) by
Richard III is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays on the stage and has been adapted successfully for film. This new and innovative edition recognizes the play's pre-eminence as a performance work: a perspective that informs every aspect of the editing. Challenging traditional practice,the text is based on the 1597 Quarto which, it is argued, brings us closest to the play as it would have been staged in Shakespeare's theatre. The introduction, which is illustrated, explores the long performance history from Shakespeare's time to the present. Its critical engagement with the playresponds to recent historicist and gender-based approaches. The commentary gives detailed explication of matters of language, staging, text, and historical and cultural contexts, providing coverage that is both carefully balanced and alert to nuance of meaning.Documentation of the extensive textual variants is organized for maximum clarity: the readings of the Folio and the Quarto are presented in separate banks, and more specialist information is given at the back of the book. Appendices also include selected passages from the main source and a specialindex of actors and other theatrical personnel.
Synopsis: "An age-old vendetta between two powerful families erupts into bloodshed. A group of masked Montagues risk further conflict by gatecrashing a Capulet party. A young lovesick Romeo Montague falls instantly in love with Juliet Capulet, who is due to marry her father’s choice, the County Paris. With the help of Juliet’s nurse, the women arrange for the couple to marry the next day, but Romeo’s attempt to halt a street fight leads to the death of Juliet’s own cousin, Tybalt, for which Romeo is banished. In a desperate attempt to be reunited with Romeo, Juliet follows the Friar’s plot and fakes her own death. The message fails to reach Romeo, and believing Juliet dead, he takes his life in her tomb. Juliet wakes to find Romeo’s corpse beside her and kills herself. The grieving family agree to end their feud." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Tragedy
Romeo and Juliet (Arden Third Series) by
This 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.
Romeo and Juliet (Arden Performance Edition) by
In the heat of renaissance Italy two houses are at war. One son and one daughter from the opposing families break this bitter conflict by falling in love. Yet, in this whirlwind of enmity, Romeo and Juliet's passion agitates rather than unites the clashing houses, causing a trail of destruction. Locked in a burning embrace, the two young lovers are tragically doomed to live or die together.For the first time, the world-renowned Arden Shakespeare is producing Performance Editions, aimed specifically for use in the rehearsal room. Published in association with the Shakespeare Institute, the text features easily accessible facing page notes - including short definitions of words, key textual variants, and guidance on metre and pronunciation; a larger font size for easier reading; space for writing notes and reduced punctuation aimed at the actor rather than the reader. With editorial expertise from the worlds of theatre and academia, the series has been developed in association with actors and drama students. The Series Editors are distinguished scholars Professor Michael Dobson and Dr Abigail Rokison-Woodall and leading Shakespearean actor, Simon Russell Beale.
Romeo and Juliet (Oxford Edition) by
This edition of one of Shakespeare's most popular and attractive plays adopts a radically new approach to the text. It offers modernized texts not only of the 1599 'good' quarto, but also of the short, or 'bad' quarto of 1597, regarding each as an independent witness to a 'mobile text' whichchanged in composition as Shakespeare wrote it and which has continued to evolve throughout its richly varied performance history, not only in the theatre but also in film, television, opera, and even ballet. The longer and more familiar text, first printed in 1599, is presented along with adetailed explanatory commentary sensitive to both literary and theatrical issues. The earlier, shorter text is annotated only where it differs significantly from the later.In addition to considering issues of performance, the Introduction traces the Romeo and Juliet narrative from its origins in myth through its adaptation in the novella, a form which changed the story in subtle ways as it crossed national boundaries from Italy to France to England. It shows howShakespeare's transmutation of the story reflects contemporary concerns with love, death, adolescence, and patriarchism, and illuminates his artistic experimentations with poetry, style, rhetoric, and dramatic form.
Synopsis: "An Elizabethan play by Anthony Munday and others that depicts the life of Thomas More. It survives only in a single manuscript, now owned by the British Library. Its main claim to fame is that three pages of it may have been written by William Shakespeare's hand, but the manuscript is also important for what it reveals about censorship of Elizabethan drama." -- Arden Third Series
Genre: History / Disputed Authorship
Sir Thomas More (Arden Third Series) by
This 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.
Synopsis: "Lucentio loves Bianca but cannot court her until her shrewish older sister Katherina marries. The eccentric Petruccio marries the reluctant Katherina and uses a number of tactics to render her an obedient wife. Lucentio marries Bianca and, in a contest at the end, Katherina proves to be the most obedient wife." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Comedy
The Taming of the Shrew (Arden Third Series) by
The Taming of the Shrew is unique among Shakespeare's plays and is a perennial and compelling success in the theatre. Its reception is marked, however, by ongoing polarised debate over the meaning and worth of the play. This edition disengages Shakespeare's exuberant and disturbing marital farce from the tangled history of its reception. It views the two sixteenth-century Shrew plays as textually independent but theatrically interdependent and so includes the full text of The Taming of A Shrew in an appendix. While the Introduction and Commentary focus on the critical and theatrical debate surrounding the play, the original and comprehensive editing of the playtext makes available a 'different' Shrew, more open to the reader's interpretation than is usually the case. Barbara Hodgdon is a distinguished feminist scholar whose reading of the play offers a stimulating array of ideas and questions about this enduringly popular yet challenging comedy.
The Taming of the Shrew (Yale Shakespeare) by 
The Taming of the Shrew (Oxford Edition) by
Shakespeare, who clearly preferred his women characters to his men (always excepting Falstaff and Hamlet), enlarges the human from the start, by subtly suggesting that women have the truer sense of reality.
Synopsis: "Prospero uses magic to conjure a storm and torment the survivors of a shipwreck, including the King of Naples and Prospero’s treacherous brother, Antonio. Prospero’s slave, Caliban, plots to rid himself of his master, but is thwarted by Prospero’s spirit-servant Ariel. The King’s young son Ferdinand, thought to be dead, falls in love with Prospero’s daughter Miranda. Their celebrations are cut short when Prospero confronts his brother and reveals his identity as the usurped Duke of Milan. The families are reunited and all conflict is resolved. Prospero grants Ariel his freedom and prepares to leave the island." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Comedy
The Tempest (Arden Third Edition) by
The Tempest is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, both in the classroom and in the theatre, and this revision brings the Arden 3 edition right up-to-date. A completely new section of the introduction discusses new thinking about Shakespeare's sources for the play and examines his treatment of colonial themes, as well as covering key productions since this edition was first published in 1999. Most importantly it looks at Julie Taymor's ground-breaking 2010 film starring Helen Mirren as "Prospera." Alden and Virginia Vaughan's edition of The Tempest is much valued for its authority and originality and their revision brings it up-to-date, making it even more relevant and useful to students and theatre practitioners.
The Tempest (Arden Performance Edition) by
Arden Performance Editions are ideal for anyone engaging with a Shakespeare play in performance. With clear facing-page notes giving definitions of words, easily accessible information about key textual variants, lineation, metrical ambiguities and pronunciation, each edition has been developed to open the play's possibilities and meanings to actors and students. Each edition offers: -Facing-page notes -Short, clear definitions of words -Easily accessible information about key textual variants -Notes on pronunciation of difficult names and unfamiliar words -An easy-to-read layout -Space to write notes -A short introduction to the play
The Tempest (Yale Shakespeare) by
Shakespeare's valedictory play is also one of his most poetical and magical. The story involves the spirit Ariel, the savage Caliban, and Prospero, the banished Duke of Milan, now a wizard living on a remote island who uses his magic to shipwreck a party of ex-compatriots.
Synopsis: "This tragi-comedy is one of the plays we know Shakespeare worked with a collaborator on -- John Fletcher -- and is based on Chaucer's Knight's Tale." -- Arden Third Series
Genre: Comedy /Tragedy / Disputed Authorship (dual authorship John Fletcher and William Shakespeare)
The Two Noble Kinsmen, Revised Edition (Arden Third Edition) by
This tragi-comedy is one of the plays we know Shakespeare worked with a collaborator on -- John Fletcher -- and is based on Chaucer's Knight's Tale. This revised edition includes a new introductory essay bringing the edition up-to-date in terms of both the play's performance and critical history, and in particular with current thinking about the nature of Shakespeare's collaboration with other playwrights. As scholars have begun to discover more about this aspect of his career, interest in the play has grown. This revised edition is ideal for undergraduate study, offering on-page annotations to the play text as well as a lengthy, illustrated introduction.
The Two Noble Kinsmen (Oxford Edition) by
Based on Chaucer's Knight's Tale the central themes of this humourous and moving play are the claims of love and friendship. The introduction to this new edition offers an illuminating account of Shakespeare's collaboration with his younger colleague John Fletcher, and there are full andhelpful notes on unfamiliar words, stage business, allusions, and the play's often complex language.Eugene Waith is Douglas Tracy Smith Professor of English Literature Emeritus at Yale University, USA
Synopsis: "Wealthy and popular, Timon of Athens helps his friends, gives many gifts, and holds a feast. After ignoring his true friends' warnings, Timon runs out of money, and none of his "friends" will help him. He runs away to a cave where he curses humanity, finds gold, funds someone to destroy Athens, and dies." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Tragedy
Timon of Athens (Arden Third Edition) by
Timon of Athens has struck many readers as rough and unpolished, perhaps even unfinished, though to others it has appeared as Shakespeare's most profound tragic allegory. Described by Coleridge as `the stillborn twin of King Lear', the play has nevertheless proved brilliantly effective in performance over the past thirty or forty years.This edition accepts and contributes to the growing scholarly consensus that the play is not Shakespeare's solo work, but is the result of his collaboration with Thomas Middleton, who wrote about a third of it. The editors offer an account of the process of collaboration and discuss the different ways that each author contributes to the play's relentless look at the corruption and greed of society. They provide, as well, detailed annotation of the text and explore the wide range of critical and theatrical interpretations that the play has engendered. Tracing both its satirical and tragic strains, their introduction presents a perspective on the play's meanings that combines careful elucidation of historical context with analysis of its relevance to modern-day society. An extensive and well-illustrated account of the play's production history generates a rich sense of how the play can speak to different historical moments in specific and rewarding ways.
The Life of Timon of Athens (Yale Shakespeare) by 
Timon of Athens (Oxford Edition) by
Timon of Athens is a bitterly intriguing study of a fabulously rich man who wastes his wealth on his friends, and, when he is finally impoverished, learns to despise humanity with a hatred that drives him to his grave. The play's response to matters topical in Jacobean London sharpens itsthrust as satire. Yet the setting in ancient Athens allows it to read as a timeless fable, deeply relevant to a modern society that sees itself as pursuing material prosperity to the point of self-destruction. The first half of the play offers a satirical vision of a world of artifice andinsincerity. The second half is a startlingly experimental drama in which a succession of Timon's real and false friends unsuccessfully challenge his commitment to his life as a misanthropic recluse in the woods.The play's plot structure is schematically clear, and the poetry of Timon's rage is arresting in its savage intensity. Yet readers have often detected loose ends, and the tone of writing is uneven. In his Introduction, John Jowett explains how these characteristics arise because the play waswritten as a collaboration between Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton. This edition pays full justice to Middleton's presence, explaining how his contribution gave the play its distinctive edge. We as readers need to read this play as a dialogue between writers of different temperaments, and thisedition is the first to make such a reading possible.The Introduction provides the fullest account of the play's performance history available. The commentary is the most detailed ever to have been published. Appendices include source materials and a listing of major productions world-wide.
Synopsis: "The Roman general Titus Andronicus returns from war with four prisoners who vow to take revenge against him. They rape and mutilate Titus' daughter and have his sons killed and banished. Titus kills two of them and cooks them into a pie, which he serves to their mother before killing her too. The Roman emperor kills Titus, and Titus' last remaining son kills the emperor and takes his place." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Tragedy
Titus Andronicus (Arden Third Edition) by
Titus Andronicus is one of Shakespeare's earliest and bloodiest tragedies and was hugely successful in his lifetime. Subsequent generations have struggled with its bold confrontation of violence but in the 20th and 21st centuries the play has chimed with audiences again, perhaps because of its simultaneously shocking and playful approach to violent revenge and bodily mutilation. Jonathan Bate's original Arden edition was first published in 1995 and has had a significant influence on how the play has been performed and studied in the past 20 years. This revised edition includes a new 10,000 word introductory essay in which Bate reassess his views on the play's co-authorship with George Peele in the light of contemporary textual scholarship and updates his lively account of the play's performance history, on the international stage and screen. With detailed on-page commentary notes this will continue to be the edition of choice for students, scholars and theatre-makers.
The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus (Yale Shakespeare) by 
Titus Andronicus (Oxford Edition) by
The introduction reviews the few known facts about this early Shakespeare play and discusses the puzzling problems of its date and authorship. The text has been freshly edited with the aim of presenting the play as revised for the first recorded performance in 1594, with the addition of stage business from the prompt-copy from which the Folio edition derives. About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum 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, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
Synopsis: "Trojan prince Troilus falls in love with Cressida, as war rages around them. After vowing to be faithful, Cressida is traded to the Greek camp, where she then agrees to see another man. Troilus witnesses Cressida's unfaithfulness and vows to put more effort into the war. The play ends after further deaths on both sides, and with no resolution in sight." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Tragedy
Troilus and Cressida (Arden Third Series) by
A revised edition of this intriguing and complex play, updated to cover recent critical thinking and stage history. Troilus and Cressida is a tragedy often labelled a "problem" play because of its apparent blend of genres and its difficult themes. Set in the Trojan Wars it tells a story of doomed love and honour, offering a debased view of human nature in war-time and a stage peopled by generally unsympathetic characters. The revised edition makes an ideal text for study at undergraduate level and above.
The Tragedy of Troilus and Cressida (Yale Shakespeare) by
A tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1602. It was described by Frederick S. Boas as one of Shakespeare's problem plays. The play ends on a very bleak note with the death of the noble Trojan Hector and destruction of the love between Troilus and Cressida.
Synopsis: "Viola, separated from her twin Sebastian, dresses as a boy and works for the Duke Orsino, whom she falls in love with. Orsino is in love with the Countess Olivia, and sends Viola to court her for him, but Olivia falls for Viola instead. Sebastian arrives, causing a flood of mistaken identity, and marries Olivia. Viola then reveals she is a girl and marries Orsino." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Comedy
Twelfth Night (Arden Third Series) by
Critically acclaimed as one of Shakespeare's most complex and intriguing plays, Twelfth Night is a classic romantic comedy of mistaken identities. In recent years it has returned to the centre of critical debate surrounding gender and sexuality. The Introduction explores the multiple factors that make up the play's rich textual, theatrical, critical and cultural history. Keir Elam surveys the play's production and reception, emphasising the role of the spectator both within the comedy and the playhouse.
Twelfth Night (Arden Performance Edition) by
For the first time, the world-renowned Arden Shakespeare is producing Performance Editions, aimed specifically for use in the rehearsal room. Published in association with the Shakespeare Institute, the text features easily accessible facing page notes - including short definitions of words, key textual variants, and guidance on metre and pronunciation; a larger font size for easier reading; space for writing notes and reduced punctuation aimed at the actor rather than the reader. With editorial expertise from the worlds of theatre and academia, the series has been developed in association with actors and drama students. The Series Editors are distinguished scholars Professor Michael Dobson and Dr Abigail Rokison and leading Shakespearean actor, Simon Russell Beale.
Twelfth Night, or What You Will (Oxford Edition) by
Twelfth Night is one of the most popular of Shakespeare's plays in the modern theatre, and this edition places particular emphasis on its theatrical qualities throughout. The introduction analyses the many views of love in the play, and the juxtaposition of happiness and melancholy used todramatize them. The presentation of the text has been re-thought in theatrical terms, and the exceptionally full an detailed commentary pays close attention to the often difficult language. The play's contrastig moods are emphasized by the use of music, which plays an important role in TwelfthNight; James Walker has re-edited the existing music from the original sources, and where none exist has composed settings compatible in style with the surviving originals, so that this edition offers material for all the music required in a performance, the only modern edition to do so. Theedition will be invaluable to actors, directors, and students at all levels.
Synopsis: "Two best friends, Proteus and Valentine, travel to Milan where they both fall in love with Silvia. Silvia loves Valentine, but Proteus pursues her despite having a girlfriend at home. After an apology, Proteus and Valentine reconcile, Proteus falls in love with his girlfriend again, and both couples marry." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Comedy
Two Gentlemen Verona (Arden Third Series) by
Two Gentlemen of Verona is commonly agreed to be Shakespeare's first comedy, and probably his first play. A comedy built around the confusions of doubling, cross - dressing and identity, it is also a play about the ideal of male friendship and what happens to those friendships when men fall in love.William Carroll's engaging Introduction focuses on the traditions and sources that stand behind the play and explores Shakespeare's unique and bold treatment of them. Special attention is given to the strong female figure of Julia and the controversial final scene.
Two Gentlemen of Verona (Yale Shakespeare) by
Contains facsimile reproduction of "the t.-p. of Bartholomew Yonge's translation (1598) of Montemayor's Diana."
Synopsis: "The jealous King Leontes falsely accuse his wife Hermione of infidelity with his best friend, and she dies. Leontes exiles his newborn daughter Perdita, who is raised by shepherds for sixteen years and falls in love with the son of Leontes' friend. When Perdita returns home, a statue of Hermione "comes to life", and everyone is reconciled." -- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Genre: Comedy
The Winter's Tale (Arden Third Series) by
One of Shakespeare's later plays, best described as a tragi-comedy, the play falls into two distinct parts. In the first Leontes is thrown into a jealous rage by his suspicions of his wife Hermione and his best-friend, and imprisons her and orders that her new born daughter be left to perish. The second half is a pastoral comedy with the "lost" daughter Perdita having been rescued by shepherds and now in love with a young prince. The play ends with former lovers and friends reunited after the apparently miraculous resurrection of Hermione. John Pitcher's lively introduction and commentary explores the extraordinary merging of theatrical forms in the play and its success in performance. As the recent Sam Mendes production at the Old Vic shows, this is a play that can work a kind of magic in the theatre.
The Winter's Tale (Yale Shakespeare) by
Contains facsimile reproduction of "the first page of 'The winter's tale' from the earliest printed edition, the Shakespeare folio of 1623 ... The facsimile has been made from the Elizabethan club copy ... and is about one-third the size of the original."
The Winter's Tale (Oxford Edition) by
The Winter's Tale is Shakespeare's most perfectly realized tragicomedy, as notable for its tragic intensity as for its comic grace and, throughout, for the richness and complexity of its poetry. It concludes, moreover, with the most daring and moving reconciliation scene in all Shakespeare'splays. Though the title may suggest an escapist fantasy, recent criticism has seen in the play a profoundly realistic psychology and a powerful commentary on the violence implicit in family relationships and deep, longlasting friendships. Stephen Orgel's edition considers the play in relation toRenaissance conceptions of both dramatic genre and the family, traced the changing critical and theatrical attitudes towards it, and places its psychological and dramatic conflicts within the Jacobean cultural and political context. The commentary pays special attention to the play's linguisticcomplexity, and the edition also includes a complete reprint of Shakespeare's source, Pandosto, by Robert Greene.
Windward Community College Library