William Shakespeare Books In Order

Comedy Plays In Publication Order

  1. The Tempest (1593)
  2. The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594)
  3. The Merry Wives of Windsor (1594)
  4. Measure for Measure (1594)
  5. The Comedy of Errors (1594)
  6. Much Ado About Nothing (1595)
  7. Love’s Labour’s Lost (1595)
  8. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595)
  9. The Merchant of Venice (1596)
  10. As You Like It (1599)
  11. The Taming of the Shrew (1599)
  12. All’s Well That Ends Well (1604)
  13. Twelfth Night (1605)
  14. The Winter’s Tale (1605)
  15. Pericles (1606)
  16. The Two Noble Kinsmen (1634)

History Plays In Publication Order

  1. King John (1590)
  2. Richard II (1590)
  3. Henry IV, Part I (1590)
  4. Henry IV, Part 2 (1590)
  5. Henry V (1591)
  6. Henry VI, Part 1 (1596)
  7. Henry VI, Part 2 (1597)
  8. Henry VI, Part 3 (1597)
  9. Richard III (1597)
  10. Henry VIII (1597)
  11. Edward III (1598)

Tragedy Plays In Publication Order

  1. Troilus and Cressida (1592)
  2. Coriolanus (1593)
  3. Titus Andronicus (1594)
  4. Romeo and Juliet (1595)
  5. Timon of Athens (1596)
  6. Julius Caesar (1599)
  7. Macbeth (1600)
  8. Hamlet (1603)
  9. King Lear (1605)
  10. Othello (1605)
  11. Antony and Cleopatra (1606)
  12. Cymbeline (1610)

Comedy Plays Book Covers

History Plays Book Covers

Tragedy Plays Book Covers

William Shakespeare Books Overview

The Tempest

Generally believed to be the last play written solely by Shakespeare, The Tempest centers on a banished noble who uses sorcery to confront his foes. In this play, Shakespeare offers some of his most insightful meditations on themes ranging from vengeance and forgiveness to nature and nurture. Under the editorial supervision of Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, two of today’s most accomplished Shakespearean scholars, this Modern Library series incorporates definitive texts and authoritative notes from William Shakespeare: Complete Works. Each play includes an Introduction, as well as an overview of Shakespeare s theatrical career; commentary on past and current productions based on interviews with leading directors, actors, and designers; scene by scene analysis; key facts about the work; a chronology of Shakespeare s life and times; and black and white illustrations. Ideal for students, theater professionals, and general readers, these modern and accessible editions set a new standard in Shakespearean literature for the twenty first century. Praise for William Shakespeare: Complete Works A remarkable edition, one that makes Shakespeare s extraordinary accomplishment more vivid than ever. James Shapiro, professor, Columbia University, bestselling author of A Year in the Life of Shakespeare: 1599 Two eminent Shakespeareans…
have applied modern editing techniques and recent scholarship to correct and update the First Folio…
. Superb. The New York Times A feast of literary and historical information. The Wall Street Journal I look forward to using it over many years, enjoying Bate s perceptive comments, trusting Rasmussen s textual scholarship. Peter Holland, president of the Shakespeare Association of America and editor of Shakespeare Survey

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Thought to be Shakespeare’s earliest surviving play, The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy filled with passionate lovers, women disguised as men, sword fights and sudden revelations, and a happy denouement, all underscored by a farcical subplot featuring the character Launce and his dog Crab. Perfect for theater professionals and general readers, this marvelous edition includes an extensive performance history, a commentary illuminating the complexities of Shakespeare’s language, and a setting of the song ‘Who is Silvia?’ prepared from an Elizabethan source. The introduction by Roger Warren explores the play as a theatrical counterpart to the sonnets a dramatization of competing kinds of love analyzes the lyrical language, and provides further evidence that The Two Gentlemen is indeed Shakespeare’s earliest play. Based on the text contained in The Oxford Shakespeare, this edition also includes substantive notes; a new, modern spelling text, collated and edited from all existing printings; and on page commentary and notes explain language, word play, and staging. Attractively illustrated and durably constructed for lasting use, this is the finest edition of The Two Gentlemen in print.

The Merry Wives of Windsor

William Shakespeare 1564 1616 was an English poet and playwright, now widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre eminent dramatist. He is often called England’s national poet and the ‘Bard of Avon’ or simply ‘The Bard’. His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Between 1585 and 1592 he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of the playing company the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later known as the King’s Men. He produced most of his known work between 1590 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century. Next he wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, producing plays, such as Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies and collaborated with other playwrights.

Measure for Measure

This Norton Critical Edition looks at the full range of opinion and interpretation of this major play from its origins to the present day, from its genius William Hazlitt to its being a hateful work, although Shakespearean throughout Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and beyond. The Norton Critical Edition is based on the 1623 First Folio text, the only authoritative edition of the play. The editor has modernized spelling but preserves, for the most part, the original lineation and characteristically heavy punctuation. The text of Measure for Measure is accompanied by a full introduction, a note on the text, textual variants, and related illustrations. Sources considers the probable, primary, and analogous sources Shakespeare drew upon while composing Measure for Measure, including excerpts from G. B. Giraldi Cinthio’s Hecatommithi and The Tragedy of Epitia, King James I s Basilikon Doron, and most directly George Whetstone s The History of Promos and Cassandra. Criticism collects seventeen important commentaries on Measure for Measure spanning four centuries, including, among others, those by Alexander Pope, Charlotte Lennox, Samuel Johnson, Elizabeth Inchbald, A. C. Bradley, G. Wilson Knight, Jonathan Dollimore, and Marliss C. Desens. Adaptations and Responses reprints alternative versions of the play: William D avenant s The Law Against Lovers 1662, Charles Gildon s Measure of Measure, or, Beauty the Best Advocate 1700, and Charles Marowitz s postmodern version 1975. A Selected Bibliography is also included.

The Comedy of Errors

A Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare’s shortest play yet one of his most popular comedies. Here is a new modern spelling edition, based on the 1623 Folio text with on page commentary and notes that explain meaning, staging, language and allusions. A detailed and informative introduction describes the play’s first performance at Gray’s Inn in December 1594, its multiple sources and its uneven critical and theatrical history. Appendices include the complete text of the play’s main source, Plautus’ Menaechmi, and extracts from Gesta Grayorum and the Geneva Bible. Illustrated with production photographs and related art, this edition vividly brings to life Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. ‘Not simply a better text but a new conception of Shakespeare. This is a major achievement of twentieth century scholarship.’ Times Literary SupplementAbout 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.

Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing boasts one of Shakespeare’s most delightful hero*ines, most dancing wordplay, and the endearing spectacle of intellectual and social self importance bested by the desire to love and be loved in return. It offers both the dancing wit of the ‘merry war’ between the sexes, and a sobering vision of the costs of that combat for both men and women. Shakespeare dramatizes a social world in all of its vibrant particulars, in which characters are shaped by the relations between social convention and individual choice. This edition of the play offers in its introduction and commentary an extensive discussion of the materials that informed Shakespeare’s compositional choices, both those conventional sources and other contexts, from cuckold jokes to conduct books, which inform the ideas and identities of this play. Particular attention is devoted to Renaissance understandings of gender identity and social rank, as well as to the social valences of Shakespeare’s stylistic choices. Among the elements of structure and style discussed are the two concurrent plots, the recurrence of verbal handshakes, and the use of music. A treatment of staging possibilities offers illustrations drawn from the earliest and recent theatrical practices, and a critical history examines the fate of the play in the changing trends of academic scholarship. A casting chart and a list of abbreviations and references are includes as appendices. The Arden Shakespeare has developed a reputation as the pre eminent critical edition of Shakespeare for its exceptional scholarship, reflected in the thoroughness of each volume. An introduction comprehensively contextualizes the play, chronicling the history and culture that surrounded and influenced Shakespeare at the time of its writing and performance, and closely surveying critical approaches to the work. Detailed appendices address problems like dating and casting, and analyze the differing Quarto and Folio sources. A full commentary by one or more of the play’s foremost contemporary scholars illuminates the text, glossing unfamiliar terms and drawing from an abundance of research and expertise to explain allusions and significant background information. Highly informative and accessible, Arden offers the fullest experience of Shakespeare available to a reader.

Love’s Labour’s Lost

William Shakespeare 1564 1616 was an English poet and playwright, now widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre eminent dramatist. He is often called England’s national poet and the ‘Bard of Avon’ or simply ‘The Bard’. His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Between 1585 and 1592 he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of the playing company the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later known as the King’s Men. He produced most of his known work between 1590 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century. Next he wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, producing plays, such as Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies and collaborated with other playwrights.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The Oxford School Shakespeare is a well established series which helps students understand and enjoy Shakespeare’s plays. As well as the complete and unabridged text, each play in this series has an extensive range of students’ notes. These include detailed and clear explanations of difficult words and passages, a synopsis of the plot, summaries of individual scenes, and notes on the main characters. Also included is a wide range of questions and activities for work in class, together with the historical background to Shakespeare’s England, a brief biography of Shakespeare, and a complete list of his plays. For this new edition, the text of the play, the notes, and the introductory matter have all been revised so as to make them clearer and more accessible. In addition, the entire text of the book has been redesigned and reset to make it easier to read. Photographs of recent stage productions have been included and there is a new, attractive cover design. Roma Gill, the series editor, has taught Shakespeare at all levels. She has acted in and directed Shakespeare’s plays, and has lectured on Shakespeare all over the world.

The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare’s most beautiful plays and, conversely, his ugliest. Juxtaposed within the same conceptual frame are heavenly and musical harmonies, romantic love, materialism, and racism. This Norton Critical Edition has been carefully edited to make The Merchant of Venice, its surrounding history, and the history of its critical reception and rewritings accessible to readers. The text of this edition is based on the 1600 First Quarto, with light editing and substantial explanatory annotations by Leah S. Marcus. ‘Sources and Contexts’ largely focuses on the character of Shylock and the issue of anti Semitism in the play. Materials included are diverse, and at times contradictory, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions. Examples include seventeenth century anti Semitic literature, an essay from the same period defending Jews and arguing for their repatriation in England, an examination of the Christian theology of the play, and readings of The Merchant of Venice as exclusionary for Jews, women, and people of color. ‘Criticism’ collects twenty one diverse interpretations. In addition to Shylock and the question of anti Semitism, these essays address The Merchant of Venice in the context of postcolonial, feminist, and queer theory and explore relevant issues of economic status and organization. ‘Rewritings and Appropriations’ includes excerpts from dramatic, musical, and other literary adaptations of The Merchant of Venice, as well as a selection of poems, most of them from the twentieth century, on the character of Shylock. A Selected Bibliography is also included.

As You Like It

Uncertain of their standing in court and fearing for their lives, Rosalind and Orlando are forced into exile in the Forest of Arden, only to become entangled in a beguiling game of love, lust, and mistaken identity. One of Shakespeare’s great comedies, As You Like It subverts the traditional rules of romance, confusing gender roles, nature, and politics. Under the editorial supervision of Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, two of today s most accomplished Shakespearean scholars, this Modern Library series incorporates definitive texts and authoritative notes from William Shakespeare: Complete Works. Each play includes an Introduction as well as an overview of Shakespeare s theatrical career; commentary on past and current productions based on interviews with leading directors, actors, and designers; scene by scene analysis; key facts about the work; a chronology of Shakespeare s life and times; and black and white illustrations. Ideal for students, theater professionals, and general readers, these modern and accessible editions from the Royal Shakespeare Company set a new standard in Shakespearean literature for the twenty first century.

The Taming of the Shrew

More than 60 minutes of audio on the CD including 20 classic scenes and excerpts from famous performances past and present

The Sourcebooks Shakespeare brings The Taming of the Shrew to life in a revolutionary new book and audio CD format

In the Book:
Photographs from notable productions including:
Allison Janney as Katherine in the 1999 production at The Public Theater in New York City
Jonathan Pryce as Christopher Sly in the Royal Shakespeare Company 1978 production
Tracey Ullman as Katherina and Helen Hunt as Bianca in the 1989 1990 production at The Public Theater
Timothy Dalton as Petruchio and Vanessa Redgrave as Katherina in the 1986 production at the Theatre Royal Haymarket

Hear 20 great scenes on audio CD:
Memorable performances by Sian Phillips and Peter O’Toole as Katharina and Petruchio 1962, Fredi Olster and Marc Singer from William Ball’s American Conservatory Theatre production 1976, and Frances Barber and Roger Allam 2003 from The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare
Narrated by Sir Derek Jacobi

All’s Well That Ends Well

William Shakespeare 1564 1616 was an English poet and playwright, now widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre eminent dramatist. He is often called England’s national poet and the ‘Bard of Avon’ or simply ‘The Bard’. His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Between 1585 and 1592 he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of the playing company the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later known as the King’s Men. He produced most of his known work between 1590 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century. Next he wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, producing plays, such as Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies and collaborated with other playwrights.

Twelfth Night

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 center 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, emphasizing the role of the spectator both within the comedy and the playhouse. He also discusses the themes of perspective and interpreting visual images, theatric and film adaptations of the play, and Twelfth Night‘s comedic elements, and provides individual analyses of Malvolio, Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Feste, Orsino, Olivia, and Viola. Editorial craft, casting and the use of music are addressed in the appendices, which also include a list of abbreviations and references, a catalog of Shakespeare’s works and works partly by Shakespeare, and citations for the modern productions mentioned in the text, other collated editions of Twelfth Night, and other related reading. The Arden Shakespeare has developed a reputation as the pre eminent critical edition of Shakespeare for its exceptional scholarship, reflected in the thoroughness of each volume. An introduction comprehensively contextualizes the play, chronicling the history and culture that surrounded and influenced Shakespeare at the time of its writing and performance, and closely surveying critical approaches to the work. Detailed appendices address problems like dating and casting, and analyze the differing Quarto and Folio sources. A full commentary by one or more of the play s foremost contemporary scholars illuminates the text, glossing unfamiliar terms and drawing from an abundance of research and expertise to explain allusions and significant background information. Highly informative and accessible, Arden offers the fullest experience of Shakespeare available to a reader. Keir Elam is a Professor of English Literature at the University of Bologna, where he is Head of the Department of Modern Languages. 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 center 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, emphasizing the role of the spectator both within the comedy and the playhouse. He also discusses the themes of perspective and interpreting visual images, theatric and film adaptations of the play, and Twelfth Night‘s comedic elements, and provides individual analyses of Malvolio, Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Feste, Orsino, Olivia, and Viola. Editorial craft, casting and the use of music are addressed in the appendices, which also include a list of abbreviations and references, a catalog of Shakespeare s works and works partly by Shakespeare, and citations for the modern productions mentioned in the text, other collated editions of Twelfth Night, and other related reading. The Arden Shakespeare has developed a reputation as the pre eminent critical edition of Shakespeare for its exceptional scholarship, reflected in the thoroughness of each volume. An introduction comprehensively contextualizes the play, chronicling the history and culture that surrounded and influenced Shakespeare at the time of its writing and performance, and closely surveying critical approaches to the work. Detailed appendices address problems like dating and casting, and analyze the differing Quarto and Folio sources. A full commentary by one or more of the play s foremost contemporary scholars illuminates the text, glossing unfamiliar terms and drawing from an abundance of research and expertise to explain allusions and significant background information. Highly informative and accessible, Arden offers the fullest experience of Shakespeare available to a reader. Table of Contents List of IllustrationsGeneral Editor’s prefacePrefaceIntroduction Ay, That’s the Theme: Topics in Twelfth Night Endings and Beginnings Or What You Will: The Pleasures and Trials of Spectatorship We Three: The Interpretation Compulsion Around Twelfth Night A Very Opal: The Play of Perspective ‘Tis My Picture: Deciphering Visual Images Changeable Taffeta: Materials and Materiality In What Chapter of his Bosom?: Reading the Body Sicken and So Die: Disease, Contagion and Death As an Eunuch: Castration, Civility, and Intertextuality This is Illyria, Lady: Space and Place The Whirligig of Time: Levels of Temporality Words are Very Rascals: Language and Discourse Make a Good Show On’t: Twelfth Night in Performance If This Were Played Upon a Stage: Performances Virtual and Actual First Night Later Nights: Adaptations and Rearrangements Our Shows Are More than Will: Victorian Special Effects and Modernist Experiments Seasonal Nights Illyrian Variations The Mettle of Your Sex: Gender and Homoeroticism Show You the Picture: Twelfth Night on Film Are You A Comedian?: Players and Parts Art Any More Than a Steward?: Malvolio Your Drunken Cousin: Sir Toby An Ass head and a Coxcomb and a Knave: Sir Andrew An Allowed Fool: Feste A Noble Duke: Orsino Here Comes the Countess: Olivia I Am Not That I Play: ViolaTwelfth Night, or What You WillAppendix 1: The Text and Editorial ProceduresAppendix 2: CastingAppendix 3: MusicAbbreviations and References Abbreviations Used in Notes Works By and Partly By Shakespeare Editions of Shakespeare Collated Other Works CitedIndex Critically acclaimed as one of Shakespeare’s most complex and intriguing plays, Twelf

The Winter’s Tale

This is the first edition of ‘The Winter’s Tale‘ to be developed by and for the RSC, the world’s leading Shakespeare theatre company and it includes unique material to help the reader understand and enjoy Shakespeare on the stage as well as on the page. It is illustrated with photographs of classic and unusual performances. It contains outstanding on page notes which explain words and phrases unfamiliar to a modern audience, including the slang, political references and bawdy humour often ignored or censored in competing editions. The book includes scene by scene summary, offering an easily understandable way into the play; contains a completely new introduction by Jonathan Bate, exploring the text and critical debates around it; a summary of the play’s performance history at the RSC and elsewhere; and interviews with important Shakespearean directors Dominic Cooke, Adrian Noble and Barbara Gaines discussing key productions at the RSC. This fresh new edition of one of Shakespeare’s last plays, developed with the RSC, presents an easy to read overview of the play’s performance history, including interviews with directors Dominic Cooke, Adrian Noble and Barbara Gaines, and provides concise scene by scene analyses and textual notes offering innovative new insights into the text.

Pericles

Controversy has surrounded Pericles for centuries, due to the fact that critics and editors have argued that much of the play was written between 1607 and 1608 by one of Shakespeare’s inferior collaborators, and that it shows in both its style and content. However, Shakespeare was clearly the driving force behind the play, and it is important to remember that it was one of the most popular plays of its time. In the Arden Shakespeare Third Series edition, Suzanne Gossett gives readers a detailed introduction to the probable circumstances by which this anomaly of the Shakespeare canon was created, but also provides a thorough critical interpretation of the text, its characters, and its themes. A doubling chart for casting is included as an appendix. The Arden Shakespeare has developed a reputation as the pre eminent critical edition of Shakespeare for its exceptional scholarship, reflected in the thoroughness of each volume. An introduction comprehensively contextualizes the play, chronicling the history and culture that surrounded and influenced Shakespeare at the time of its writing and performance, and closely surveying critical approaches to the work. Detailed appendices address problems like dating and casting, and analyze the differing Quarto and Folio sources. A full commentary by one or more of the play’s foremost contemporary scholars illuminates the text, glossing unfamiliar terms and drawing from an abundance of research and expertise to explain allusions and significant background information. Highly informative and accessible, Arden offers the fullest experience of Shakespeare available to a reader. Table of ContentsList of illustrationsGeneral Editors’ preface Preface INTRODUCTION’Everyone with claps can sound’: the popularity of Pericles ‘Incke, and paper’: text and printing history The condition of Q Proposed explanations for Q Early reprints ‘To foster is not always to preserve’: editing Pericles The editorial task Editing and interpretation ‘Her art sisters the natural roses’: the creation of Pericles ‘Winged time’: date and circumstances ‘Fit counsellor and servant for a prince’: evidence for collaboration ‘From ashes ancient Gower is come’: sources of Pericles ‘What pageantry, what feats, what shows’: the theatrical context ‘The stages of our story’: Gower and the structure of Pericles ‘It hath been sung at festivals’: production history Interpretation and critical history ‘The heavens through you increase our wonder’: reading Pericles ideologically ‘A book of all that monarchs do’: reading Pericles politically ‘Hark you, sir, do you know where ye are?’: reading Pericles geographically ‘You not your child well loving’: reading Pericles through the family ‘Make us love your goodly gifts: Pericles and the gift ‘Her way to go with warrant’: imperatives for a conclusion Collaboration, one last time Pericles, PRINCE OF TYRE Longer notesAppendix on casting Doubling chart Abbreviations and References Abbreviations Used in Notes Works By and Partly By Shakespeare Editions of Shakespeare Collated Other Works Cited Modern Productions CitedIndex

The Two Noble Kinsmen

Henry VI: Part One is a dramatic tale of the lives of soldiers, diplomats, kings, and insurrectionists. It depicts 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, Henry VI: Part One does not appear in printed form until 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 what part, and 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. Taylor edits the play for students, scholars, and theater goers with an informative commentary on all aspects of the language, action, characters, and staging. 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.

King John

William Shakespeare 1564 1616 was an English poet and playwright, now widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre eminent dramatist. He is often called England’s national poet and the ‘Bard of Avon’ or simply ‘The Bard’. His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Between 1585 and 1592 he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of the playing company the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later known as the King’s Men. He produced most of his known work between 1590 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century. Next he wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, producing plays, such as Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies and collaborated with other playwrights.

Richard II

Written in 1595, Richard II occupies a significant place in the Shakespeare canon. It marks the transition from the earlier history plays dominated by civil war and stark power to a more nuanced representation of the political conflicts of England’s past where character and politics are inextricably intertwined. Deftly combining history with tragedy, its tale of bad government and usurpation had great political immediacy for its first audiences in late Elizabethan England and continues to resonate today. This scholarly but student friendly edition features a freshly edited version of the text based on the early quartos and first Folio of 1623. The thorough set of textual notes and full commentary are designed to aid the modern reader to better understand and appreciate the language, the characters, and the dramatic action. The introduction places the play squarely in its own time, describing its topical significance and its political perspectives, and showing how carefully Shakespeare positioned his play within an ongoing political conversation. Together with this historical perspective, the introduction focuses as well on the play’s richly poetic language and its great success over the centuries as a play for the stage.

Henry IV, Part I

The ‘New Penguin Shakespeare’ offers a complete edition of the plays and poems. ‘Henry IV, Part One’ has been prepared from the original text, and includes an introduction, a list of further reading, a full commentary and a short account of the textual problems of the play.

Henry IV, Part 2

After defeat at the Battle of Shrewsbury the rebels regroup. But Prince Hal’s reluctance to inherit the crown threatens to destroy the ailing Henry IV s dream of a lasting dynasty. Shakespeare s portrait of the prodigal son s journey from youth to maturity embraces the full panorama of society. Under the editorial supervision of Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, two of today s most accomplished Shakespearean scholars, this Modern Library series incorporates definitive texts and authoritative notes from William Shakespeare: Complete Works. Each play includes an Introduction as well as an overview of Shakespeare s theatrical career; commentary on past and current productions based on interviews with leading directors, actors, and designers; scene by scene analysis; key facts about the work; a chronology of Shakespeare s life and times; and black and white illustrations. Ideal for students, theater professionals, and general readers, these modern and accessible editions from the Royal Shakespeare Company set a new standard in Shakespearean literature for the twenty first century.

Henry V

For this updated edition of Shakespeare’s most celebrated war play, Andrew Gurr has added a new section to his introduction which considers recent critical and stage interpretations. He analyzes the play’s double vision of Henry as both military hero and self seeking individual and demonstrates how the patriotic declarations of the Chorus are contradicted by the play’s action. Gurr analyzes the play’s more controversial sequences in the context of Elizabethan thought, in particular, the studies of the laws and morality of war written in the years before Henry V. An updated reading list completes the edition. First Edition Hb 1992 0 521 22154 4 First Edition Pb 1992 0 521 29369 3

Henry VI, Part 2

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 Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books Essay by Nina Levine The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit www. folger. edu.

Henry VI, Part 3

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 Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books Essay by Nina Levine The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit www. folger. edu.

Richard III

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, critical approaches to it and its varied stage history. 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. Editor James R Siemon is a Professor of English at Boston University. 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, critical approaches to it and its varied stage history. 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. 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, critical approaches to it and its varied stage history.

Troilus and Cressida

This volume offers the most comprehensive and critically up to date edition of Troilus and Cressida available today. Bevington’s learned and engaging introduction discusses the ambivalent status and genre of the play, variously presented in its early printing as a comedy, a history and a tragedy. He examines and assimilates the wide variety of critical responses the play has elicited, and argues its importance in today s culture as an experimental and open ended work. He also, however, suggests that this experimentalism may have contributed to its lack of immediate stage success, and goes on to place the work in its late Elizabethan context of political instability and theatrical rivalry. A thorough performance history focuses chiefly on recent productions. The complex text situation is re examined and the differing textual readings carefully explicated. ‘Bevington’s edition is so clearly the best now available that it will no doubt quickly become standard practice for all study of this remarkable play to begin with this remarkable edition.’ Eric Rasmussen, University of Nevada at Reno, Shakespeare Survey

Coriolanus

Philip Brockbank was Director of the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham in England from 1979 1988, and General Editor of the New Cambridge Shakespeare from 1984 1990. He wrote On Shakespeare: Jesus, Shakespeare and Karl Marx, and Other Essays and edited Players of Shakespeare 1: Essays in Shakespearean Performance. His other publications include The Creativity of Perception: Essays in the Genesis of Literature and Art and Urban Mysteries of the Renaissance: Shakespeare and Carpaccio. The Arden Shakespeare edition of Coriolanus includes a detailed introduction to the text of the play, including the original printing, language and grammar, lineation, act and scene structure, stage directions, and anomalies of the text, some of which are thought to indicate editorial intervention in the printing process. Further analysis of the play’s content covers the accepted date of composition and historical context for that time, sources, a discussion of tragedy, language, and a description of the play as it was produced on Shakespeare’s stage and has been produced in the theater in its afterlife. Two appendices follow The Tragedy of Coriolanus: ‘The Life of Caius Martius Coriolanus‘ from Plutarch’s Lives, and an extract from Camden’s Remaines. The Arden Shakespeare has developed a reputation as the pre eminent critical edition of Shakespeare for its exceptional scholarship, reflected in the thoroughness of each volume. An introduction comprehensively contextualizes the play, chronicling the history and culture that surrounded and influenced Shakespeare at the time of its writing and performance, and closely surveying critical approaches to the work. Detailed appendices address problems like dating and casting, and analyze the differing Quarto and Folio sources. A full commentary by one or more of the play’s foremost contemporary scholars illuminates the text, glossing unfamiliar terms and drawing from an abundance of research and expertise to explain allusions and significant background information. Highly informative and accessible, Arden offers the fullest experience of Shakespeare available to a reader.

Titus Andronicus

Jonathan Bate is Professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature at the University of Warwick, an honorary Fellow of St. Catharine’s College Cambridge, and a Fellow of the British Academy. He has written several books on Shakespeare, including Shakespeare and Ovid and The Genius of Shakespeare. Well known as a reviewer and broadcaster, he is also the author of Romantic Ecology and a novel, The Cure for Love. After centuries of vilification and neglect by both scholars and actors, Titus Andronicus has at last come to be recognized as one of Shakespeare’s early masterpieces. In this powerful edition, Bate offers a complete and radical reappraisal of Shakespeare’s bloodiest tragedy, seeing it as one of the dramatist’s most inventive plays, a complex and self conscious improvisation upon classical sources. Bate’s introduction does full justice to the play’s textual and technical artfulness and sophistication, putting forward new arguments regarding the play’s date, sources and early stage history, including the technical descriptions and illustrations. He devotes extended discussion to great modern productions with black and white photographs such as those of Peter Brook and Deborah Warner. In an appendix, patterns and precedents in plot and speech are addressed and sources Metamorphoses, The Spanish Tragedy, The Jew of Malta, and others transcribed. A reference guide including abbreviations, references, and citations is also provided. In an age in which dramatic representation of violence has become an issue of enormous controversy, Titus Andronicus is the essential play; Bate’s seminal edition indicates just how far, with this early work, the young Shakespeare has already travelled towards the masterpiece of his maturity, King Lear. The Arden Shakespeare has developed a reputation as the pre eminent critical edition of Shakespeare for its exceptional scholarship, reflected in the thoroughness of each volume. An introduction comprehensively contextualizes the play, chronicling the history and culture that surrounded and influenced Shakespeare at the time of its writing and performance, and closely surveying critical approaches to the work. Detailed appendices address problems like dating and casting, and analyze the differing Quarto and Folio sources. A full commentary by one or more of the play’s foremost contemporary scholars illuminates the text, glossing unfamiliar terms and drawing from an abundance of research and expertise to explain allusions and significant background information. Highly informative and accessible, Arden offers the fullest experience of Shakespeare available to a reader. ‘This is an outstanding edition of Titus, especially for its treatment of textual questions and of recent performance history. It supersedes all previous editions.’ Dr. Paul Hartle, St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge ‘Bate makes a really positive virtue of his treatment of the play in performance…
putting a vigorous account of Titus on stage at very stage centre in his Introduction. Using this section as a means for raising fundamental questions as to the play’s style, coherence, and meaning, Bate achieves a remarkable fusion between performance history and criticism.’ John Jowett, Shakespeare Survey

Romeo and Juliet

The Annotated Shakespeare series enables readers to fully understand and enjoy the plays of the world’s greatest dramatistShakespeare s Romeo and Juliet is perhaps the most read and beloved of all stage works. Now the most extensively annotated version of the play to date makes it completely accessible to readers in the twenty first century. The new edition is a rich resource for students, teachers, and the general reader. 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 the tools they need to comprehend the play and begin to explore its many possible interpretations. This version of Romeo and Juliet is unparalleled for its thoroughness and adherence to sound linguistic principles. In his introduction, Raffel provides historical and social contexts that increase the reader s understanding of the play. And in a concluding essay, Harold Bloom argues that Romeo and Juliet is unmatched in the world s literature as a vision of an uncompromising love that perishes of its own idealism and intensity. Burton Raffel is professor of arts and humanities emeritus and professor of English emeritus at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Among his many edited and translated publications are Poems and Prose from the Old English, Clig s, Lancelot, Perceval, Erec and Enide, and Yvain, all published by Yale University Press. Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University and Berg Professor of English at New York University, is the author of many books, including The Western Canon, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human, and Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds.

Timon of Athens

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 Arden Shakespeare has developed a reputation as the pre eminent critical edition of Shakespeare for its exceptional scholarship, reflected in the thoroughness of each volume. An introduction comprehensively contextualizes the play, chronicling the history and culture that surrounded and influenced Shakespeare at the time of its writing and performance, and closely surveying critical approaches to the work. Detailed appendices address problems like dating and casting, and analyze the differing Quarto and Folio sources. A full commentary by one or more of the play’s foremost contemporary scholars illuminates the text, glossing unfamiliar terms and drawing from an abundance of research and expertise to explain allusions and significant background information. Highly informative and accessible, Arden offers the fullest experience of Shakespeare available to a reader. Anthony B. Dawson is Professor of English Emeritus at the University of British Columbia. Gretchen E. Minton is an Assistant Professor of English at Montana State University in Bozeman. She specializes in Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as the literature of the English Reformation and has published articles on Augustine, Erasmus, John Foxe, John Bale, and Shakespeare, as well as contemporary film and drama. 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 Arden Shakespeare has developed a reputation as the pre eminent critical edition of Shakespeare for its exceptional scholarship, reflected in the thoroughness of each volume. An introduction comprehensively contextualizes the play, chronicling the history and culture that surrounded and influenced Shakespeare at the time of its writing and performance, and closely surveying critical approaches to the work. Detailed appendices address problems like dating and casting, and analyze the differing Quarto and Folio sources. A full commentary by one or more of the play s foremost contemporary scholars illuminates the text, glossing unfamiliar terms and drawing from an abundance of research and expertise to explain allusions and significant background information. Highly informative and accessible, Arden offers the fullest experience of Shakespeare available to a reader. 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. The editors provide 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. Their survey of scholarly issues…
and authorship is excellent, and their lively awareness of Middleton s contribution is built into a critical introduction that…
could scarcely be bettered…
Illuminating comparisons to other works…
Pages are spiced with details from a range of stage productions, besides including a separate performance history…
. Dawson and Minton are judicious editors…
and have provided an admirable edition of Shakespeare and Middleton s challenging collaborative play. Shakespeare Quarterly

Julius Caesar

The Oxford School Shakespeare has become the preferred introduction to the literary legacy of the greatest playwright in the English language. This exclusive collection of the Bard’s best works has been designed specifically for readers new to Shakespeare’s rich literary legacy. Each play is presented complete and unabridged, in large print. Every book is well illustrated, and starts with a commentary and character summary. Scene synopses and character summaries clarify confusing plots, while incisive essays explore the historical context and Shakespeare’s sources. Each book ends with a complete list of Shakespeare’s plays and a brief chronology of the Bard’s life. The detailed explanatory notes are written clearly and positioned right next to the text no more squinting at microscopic footnotes or flipping pages back and forth in search of endnotes!The new edition of the series features new covers and new illustrations, including both new drawings and photos from recent productions of Shakespeare’s plays around the globe. In addition, the notes and the introductory material have been completely revised in line with new research and in order to make them clearer and more accessible. Finally, the entire text has been redesigned and reset to enhance readability. The new edition achieves the feat of unprecedented clarity of presentation without any cuts to the original text or the detailed explanations.

Hamlet

Ann Thompson is Professor of English Language and Literature and Head of the School of Humanities at King’s College London. She has edited The Taming of the Shrew, and her other publications include Shakespeare’s Chaucer, Shakespeare, Meaning and Metaphor with John O. Thompson, and Women Reading Shakespeare, 1660 1900 with Sasha Roberts. She has also published widely on editing Shakespeare and Shakespeare’s language. She is one of the general editors of the Arden Shakespeare. Neil Taylor is Dean of Research and Dean of the Graduate School at Roehampton University. He has edited Henry IV, Part 2 and with Brian Loughrey Thomas Middleton: Five Plays. He has also published widely on editing Shakespeare, Shakespeare on film, and other aspects of Renaissance and modern drama. This self contained, free standing volume gives readers the Second Quarto text. In his illustrated introduction to the play’s historical, cultural, and performance contexts, Neil Taylor presents a thorough survey of critical approaches to the play. He addresses the challenges faced in reading, editing, or acting a play with the depth of content and tradition that Hamlet possesses. He also establishes the historical and cultural context in which the play was written and explains the arguments about the merits and deficiencies of the First and Second Quarto and the First Folio. Taylor points to the many novelists, both men and women, whose work refers to or bears commonalities with Hamlet, to suggest an ongoing to need to resolve ‘the continuing mystery of Hamlet‘ in print and on stage. An appendix contains the additional passages found only in the 1623 text, and other appendices on the editorial process, the traditions regarding the act division at 3.4/4.1, casting, and music are also included. ‘A pathbreaking edition, one that promises to change irrevocably our understanding of Shakespeare’s greatest play.’ Professor James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare ‘Hamlet‘s latest editors have undertaken a heroic task with great skill and thoroughness.’ Stanley Wells, The Observer UK ‘Quite simply the most comprehensive edition of the play currently available, a status I suspect it will enjoy for many years to come.’ The British Theatre Guide ‘Stunning! There is absolutely no doubt about this being the text to buy…
for those students who will be studying the play at university. This critical edition gives the reader the Second Quarto Text 1604 1605, annotated with intelligence and care, a wealth of historical and cultural references and a survey of different critical approaches to the play.’ The Use of EnglishTable of ContentsList of illustrationsGeneral editors prefacePrefaceINTRODUCTION The challenges of Hamlet The challenge of acting Hamlet The challenge of editing Hamlet The challenge to the greatness of Hamlet: Hamlet versus Lear Hamlet in our time The soliloquies and the modernity of Hamlet Hamlet and Freud Reading against the Hamlet traditionHamlet in Shakespeare s time Hamlet at the turn of the century The challenge of dating Hamlet Was there an earlier Hamlet play? Are there any early references to Shakespeare s play? Can we date Hamlet in relation to other contemporary plays? Hamlet s first performancesThe story of Hamlet Murder most foul An antic disposition Sentences , speeches and thoughtsThe composition of Hamlet The quartos and the Folio The quartos The First Folio The relationship of Q2 to Q1 The relationship of F to Q2 What, then, of Q1? Editorial practice Why a three text edition?Hamlet on stage and screen Hamlet and his points Enter the director Hamlet and politicsNovel Hamlets Hamlet meets Fielding, Goethe, Dickens and others Hamlet and women novelists Prequels and sequelsThe continuing mystery of HamletTHE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF Hamlet, PRINCE OF DENMARK The Second Quarto, 1604 5APPENDICESAppendix 1: Folio only passagesAppendix 2: Textual discussionAppendix 3: Editorial conventions, sample edited passages and a comparison of scenes across the three textsAppendix 4: The act division at 3.4/4. 1Appendix 5: CastingAppendix 6: MusicAbbreviations and references Abbreviations used in notes Works by and partly by Shakespeare Editions of Shakespeare collated Other works citedIndex

King Lear

The Ignatius Critical Editions represent a tradition oriented alternative to popular textbook series such as the Norton Critical Editions or Oxford World Classics, and are designed to concentrate on traditional readings of the Classics of world literature. Whereas many modern critical editions have succumbed to the fads of modernism and post modernism, this series will concentrate on tradition oriented criticism of these great works. Edited by acclaimed literary biographer, Joseph Pearce, the Ignatius Critical Editions will ensure that traditional moral readings of the works are given prominence, instead of the feminist, or deconstructionist readings that often proliferate in other series of ‘critical editions’. As such, they represent a genuine extension of consumer choice, enabling educators, students and lovers of good literature to buy editions of classic literary works without having to ‘buy into’ the ideologies of secular fundamentalism. The series is particularly aimed at tradition minded literature professors offering them an alternative for their students. The initial list will have about 15 20 titles. The goal is to release three books a season, or six in a year. The first three titles to release in April 2008 are King Lear, Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights. One of the most popular of Shakespeare’s plays, King Lear is also one of the most thought provoking. The play turns on the practical ramifications of the words of Christ that we should render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s. When confronted with the demand that she should render unto Caesar that which is God’s, Cordelia chooses to ‘love and be silent’. As the play unfolds each of the principal characters learns wisdom through suffering. This edition includes new critical essays by some of the leading lights in contemporary literary scholarship.

Othello

PREFACE THERE is a peculiar charm about the relics found in an old home a home from which many generations of fledglings have flown. As each milestone in family history is passed some once common object of use or ornament is dropped by the way. Such interesting mementoes of past generations accumulate, and in course of time the older ones become curios. I t is to create greater interest in these old world odds and ends some of trifling value to an outsider, others pf great intrinsic worth that this book has been written. The love of possession is to some possessors the chief delight; to others knowledge of the original purposes and uses of the objects acquired affords still greater pleasure. My intention has been rather to assist the latter class of collectors than to facilitate the mere assemblage of additional stores of curiosities. It is truly astonishing how rapidly the common uses of even household furnishings and culinary utensils are forgotten ‘1 when they Table of Contents CONTENTS; PREFACE; CHAPTER I; THE LOVE OF THE ANTIQUE ?; No place like home Curios in the making The influence; of prevailing styles A cultivated taste; CHAPTER II; THE INGLE SIDE; Fire making appliances Tinder boxes The fireplaceAndirons; and fire dogs Sussex backs Fireirons and; fenders Trivets and stools Bellows; CHAPTER III; THE LIGHTS OF FORMER DAYS; Rushlights and holders Candles, moulds, and boxesSnuffers,; trays, and extinguishers Oil lamps Lanterns; 11; PAGE; 7; 19; 33; 59 CHAPTER IV; TABLE APPOINTMENTS; Cutlery: Knives, forks, and spoons Salt cellars Cruet; stands Punch and toddy Porringers and cups Trays and; waiters The tea table Cream jugs Sugar tongs and; nippers Caddies Cupids Nutcrackers Turned woodware; CHAPTER V; PAGE; 77; THE KITCHEN ? ? 121; The kitchen grate Boilers and kettles Grills and gridirons

Antony and Cleopatra

The first edition of ‘Antony and Cleopatra‘ developed by and for the RSC, with unique material including a new introduction from Jonathan Bate and interviews with important RSC directors. This is the first edition of ‘Antony and Cleopatra‘ to be developed by and for the RSC, the world’s leading Shakespeare theater company and it includes unique material to help the reader understand and enjoy Shakespeare on the stage as well as on the page. It is illustrated with photographs of classic and unusual performances. It features outstanding on-page notes which explain words and phrases unfamiliar to a modern audience, including the slang, political references and bawdy humor often ignored or censored in competing editions. It includes scene-by-scene summary, offering an easily understandable way into the play. This book features: completely new introduction by Jonathan Bate, exploring the text and critical debates around it; summary of the play’s performance history, at the RSC and elsewhere; and, interviews with important Shakespearean directors Adrian Noble, Gregory Doran and Braham Murray discussing key productions at the RSC. This new edition of Shakespeare’s classic love story, developed by and for the RSC, includes new interviews with acclaimed directors Adrian Noble, Gregory Doran and Braham Murray, looks at specific productions in the play’s history, and a completely new introduction by acclaimed scholar Jonathan Bate.

Cymbeline

William Shakespeare 1564 1616 was an English poet and playwright, now widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre eminent dramatist. He is often called England’s national poet and the ‘Bard of Avon’ or simply ‘The Bard’. His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Between 1585 and 1592 he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of the playing company the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later known as the King’s Men. He produced most of his known work between 1590 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century. Next he wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, producing plays, such as Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies and collaborated with other playwrights.

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