Folger Library general reader's Shakespeare

"Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well is the story of its heroine, Helen, more so than the story of Bertram, for whose love she yearns. Helen wins Bertram as her husband despite his lack of interest and higher social standing, but she finds little happiness in the victory as he shuns, deserts, and attempts to betray her. The play suggests some sympathy for Bertram. As a ward to the French king, he must remain at court while his friends go off to...

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.

This updated edition offers a strongly theatrical perspective on the origins of Shakespeare's The First Part of King Henry IV and the history of its interpretation. The introduction clarifies the play's surprising, de-centred dramatic structure, questioning the dominant assumption that the drama focuses on the education of Prince Hal. It calls attention to the effects of civil war upon a broad range of relationships. Falstaff's unpredictable vitality...

Features a duke who is so anxious about the decline in the moral quality of his subjects' lives that he temporarily removes himself from the government of his city-state and deputizes a member of his administration.

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...

Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, discusses the author and the theater of his time, and provides quizzes and other study activities.

Brutus, best friend of the Roman ruler Caesar, reluctantly joins a successful plot to murder Caesar and subsequently destroys himself. Includes notes and an introduction.

Presents Shakespeare's drama about a man who kills the king of Scotland in order to claim the throne for himself, and includes explanatory notes, plot summaries, a key to notable lines and phrases, and other reference information. "This updated edition includes: newly revised commentary notes ; scene-by-scene plot summaries ; a key to the play's famous lines and phrases ; an introduction to reading Shakespeare's language ; an essay by a leading Shakespeare...