William Shakespeare
1) Othello
Author
Publication Date
1901
Summary
"This third edition of Othello offers a completely new introduction by Christina Luckyj, providing readers with a nuanced understanding of early modern theatre and culture, and demonstrating how careful attention to Shakespeare's language, staging and dramaturgy can open up fresh interpretations of the play. Tracing critical and performance trends up to the present day, Luckyj shows how the drama taps into contemporary cultural paradoxes surrounding...
Author
Publication Date
1898
Summary
In The Merchant of Venice, the path to marriage is hazardous. To win Portia, Bassanio must pass a test prescribed by her father's will, choosing correctly among three caskets or chests. If he fails, he may never marry at all. Bassanio and Portia also face a magnificent villain, the moneylender Shylock. In creating Shylock, Shakespeare seems to have shared in a widespread prejudice against Jews. Shylock would have been regarded as a villain because...
Author
Series
Publication Date
1947
Lexile Measure
480L
Summary
Folger Shakespeare Library is the world's leading center for Shakespeare studies. Each edition includes: freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play; full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play; scene-by-scene plot summaries; a key to famous lines and phrases; an introduction to reading Shakespeare's language; an essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play;...
Author
Publication Date
1954
Lexile Measure
570L
Summary
Named for the twelfth night after Christmas, the end of the Christmas season, Twelfth Night plays with love and power. The Countess Olivia, a woman with her own household, attracts Duke Orsino. Two other would-be suitors are her pretentious steward, Malvolio, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Onto this scene arrive the twins Viola and Sebastian; previously caught in a shipwreck, each thinks the other has drowned. Viola disguises herself as a male page and...
Author
Series
Publication Date
1901
Summary
"For this updated critical edition of King Lear, Lois Potter has written a completely new introduction, taking account of recent productions and reinterpretations of the play, with particular emphasis on its afterlife in global performance and adaptation. The edition retains the Textual Analysis of the previous editor, Jay L. Halio, shortened and with a new preface by Brian Gibbons. Professor Halio, accepting that we have two versions of equal authority,...
Author
Publication Date
1925
Summary
The Oxford Shakespeare brings the modern reader closer to Shakespeare's plays as originally performed than has ever before been possible. Based on eight years of full-time research by a team of distinguished British and American scholars, this monumental volume offers many remarkable innovations, including a new chronological order, revised stage directions, two full versions of King Lear--as originally written and as revised later for performance--and...
7) Cymbeline
Author
Publication Date
1901
Lexile Measure
1310L
Summary
Cymbeline tells the story of a British king, Cymbeline, and his three children, presented as though they are in a fairy tale. The secret marriage of Cymbeline's daughter, Imogen, triggers much of the action, which includes villainous slander, homicidal jealousy, cross-gender disguise, a deathlike trance, and the appearance of Jupiter in a vision. Kidnapped in infancy, Cymbeline's two sons are raised in a Welsh cave. As young men, they rescue a starving...
Author
Series
Publication Date
1954
Summary
Two families, both esteemed,In fair Verona, where our tale unfolds,From age-old grudges ignite fresh conflict,Where spilled blood tarnishes noble hands.From the offspring of these two foesA pair of star-crossed lovers end their lives;Whose unfortunate, pitiful defeatsWith their deaths, bury their parents' strife.The fearful journey of their doomed love,And the continuation of their parents' fury,Which, save for their children's demise, nothing could...
Author
Publication Date
1985
Lexile Measure
600L
Summary
This third edition offers a completely new introduction to this rich, mysterious play, examining Shakespeare's transformation of an ancient Nordic legend into a drama whose philosophical, psychological, political, and spiritual complexities have captivated audiences world-wide for over 400 years. Focusing on the ways in which Shakespeare reimagined the revenge plot and its capacity to investigate the human experiences of love, grief, obligation, and...
12) Henry IV. Part I
Author
Series
Publication Date
[2002?]
Summary
A dramatization of William Shakespeare's historical play. Upon the murder of Richard II, Henry assumes the throne, and is immediately confronted with rebellion by Owen Glendower, Douglas of Scotland, Northumberland and his son Hotspur. The play also treats the moral development of the king's son Hal (later Henry V).
Author
Publication Date
2005
Summary
Shakespeare's Richard II presents a momentous struggle between Richard II and his cousin Henry Bolingbroke. Richard is the legitimate king; he succeeded his grandfather, King Edward III, after the earlier death of his father Edward, the Black Prince. Yet Richard is also seen by many as a tyrant. He toys with his subjects, exiling Bolingbroke for six years. When he seizes the title and property that should be Bolingbroke's, Richard threatens the very...
17) Henry IV
Author
Series
Publication Date
c2005
Summary
Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, with marginal notes and explanations and full descriptions of each character.
Author
Series
Publication Date
2006.
Summary
Presents the complete sonnets of William Shakespeare, as well as three major long poems, each with a brief introduction and explanatory notes on facing pages, and includes a discussion of Shakespeare's language, critical commentary, illustrations, and an index of first lines.
