Drama : Shakespeare

Macbeth is among the best-known of William Shakespeare's plays, and is his shortest tragedy, believed to have been written between 1603 and 1606. It is frequently performed at both amateur and professional levels, and has been adapted for opera, film, books, stage and screen. Often regarded as archetypal, the play tells of the dangers of the lust for power and the betrayal of friends. For the plot Shakespeare drew loosely on the historical account of King Macbeth of Scotland by Raphael Holinshed and that by the Scottish philosopher Hector Boece. There are many superstitions centred on the belief the play is somehow "cursed", and many actors will not mention the name of the play aloud, referring to it instead as "The Scottish play". [Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbeth] more...

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In The Age of Shakespeare , Frank Kermode uses the history and culture of the Elizabethan era to enlighten us about William Shakespeare and his poetry and plays. Opening with the big picture of the religious and dynastic events that defined England in the age of the Tudors, Kermode takes the reader on a tour of Shakespeare’s England, vividly portraying London’s society, its early capitalism, its court, its bursting population, and its epidemics, as well as its arts—including, of course, its theater. more...

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This study suggests that Shakespeare's plays represent the pathos of our civilization with extraordinary force and clarity. His characters remain interesting because we recognize what they are going through. Shakespeare's contradictory understanding of the social and cultural past is examined. more...

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This Modern Library edition presents all fourteen comedies--each complete and unabridged--in the Shakespearean canon, along with notes and glossary. Here are: The Tempest The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Merry Wives of Windsor Measure for Measure The Comedy of Errors Much Ado About Nothing Love's Labour's Lost A Midsummer-Night's Dream The Merchant of Venice As You Like It The Taming of the Shrew All's Well That Ends Well Twelfth-Night The Winter's Tale more...

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This Modern Library edition presents all ten histories--each complete and unabridged--in the Shakespearean canon, along with notes and glossary. Here are: King John Richard II Henry IV, Part I Henry IV, Part II Henry V Henry VI, Part I Henry VI, Part II Henry VI, Part III Richard III Henry VIII Included also are the Bard's great narrative poems: Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece, the two works that first established Shakespeare's reputation, plus all 154 of his sonnets. more...

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