Synopses & Reviews
Shakespeare's timeless tragedy of conspiracy and betrayal tells the story of the murder of Julius Caesar and the gruesome aftermath as Rome descends into a violent mob.
This edition includes:
An overview of Shakespeare's life, canon, and dramaturgy
An introduction to the play by Barbara Rosen and William Rosen of the University of Connecticut
Selections from Plutarch's Lives of Noble Grecians and Romans, the source from which Shakespeare derived the play
Also included are the following commentaries:
Maynard Mack: The Modernity of Julius Caesar
Coppelia Kahn: A Voluntary Wound
Roy Walker: From Unto Caesar: A Review of Recent Productions
Richard David: A Review of Julius Caesar (Royal Shakespeare, 1972)
Ralph Berry: On Directing Shakespeare: An Interview with Trevor Nunn, Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company
Peggy Goodman Endel: Julio Cesar: The 1986 Florida Shakespeare Festival
Sylvan Barnet: Julius Caesar on the Stage and Screen
Synopsis
The Signet Classic Shakespeare Series
The work of the world's greatest dramatist edited by outstanding scholars The SonnetsUNIQUE FEATURES OF THE SIGNET CLASSICS SHAKESPEARE - An extensive overview of Shakespeare's life, world, and sonnets by the general editor of the Signet Classics Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University
- Special introduction to
The Sonnets, by W. H. Auden
- Literary criticism by William Empson, Hallett Smith, Winifred M. T. Nowottny, and Helen Vendler
- Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the sonnets
- List of recommended reading
- All text printed in the clearest, most readable type
Synopsis
The Signet Classic Shakespeare Series--the work of the world's greatest dramatist edited by outstanding scholars "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?", "Love is patient, love is kind", "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"--these are some of the most famous lines in all of literature. Originally published in 1609, here are the Bard's 154 sonnets which cover themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty, and mortality.
This title in the Signet Classics Shakespeare series includes:
- An overview of William Shakespeare's life, world, and sonnets
- A special introduction to the sonnets by W. H. Auden
- Literary criticism from William Empson, Hallett Smith, Winifred M. T. Nowottny, and Helen Vendler
- Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the sonnets
- Text, notes, and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable format
- Recommended readings
Synopsis
The Signet Classic Shakespeare Series
The work of the worlds greatest dramatist edited by outstanding scholars
The Sonnets
UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE SIGNET CLASSICS SHAKESPEARE
An extensive overview of Shakespeares life, world, and sonnets by the general editor of the Signet Classics Shakespeare series, Sylvan Barnet, Tufts University
Special introduction to The Sonnets, by W. H. Auden
Literary criticism by William Empson, Hallett Smith, Winifred M. T. Nowottny, and Helen Vendler
Detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page of the sonnets
List of recommended reading
All text printed in the clearest, most readable type
Synopsis
This edition of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1 uses a variety of approaches to Shakespeare, including historical and cultural studies approaches. Shakespeare's text is accompanied by an intriguing collection of thematically arranged historical and cultural documents and illustrations designed to give a firsthand knowledge of the contexts out of which Henry IV, Part 1 emerged. Hodgdon's intelligent and engaging introductions to the play and to the documents (most of which are presented in modern spelling and with annotations) offer a richly textured understanding of Elizabethan culture and Shakespeare's work within that culture.
Synopsis
Shakespeare's grand comedy casts the lovers Benedick and Beatrice in a witty war of words while the young Claudio is tricked into believing his love Hero has been unfaithful.
This edition features an overview of Shakespeare's works by Sylvan Barnet, former Chairman of the English Department at Tufts University, as well as a comprehensive stage and screen history, dramatic criticism from the past and present, and sources from which Shakespeare derived this great work.
Synopsis
Considered one of Shakespeare's greatest history plays,
The Tragedy of King Richard II concerns the ill-fated reign of a king whose eventual overthrow marks the beginning of Shakespeare's history cycle, including
Henry IV, Part I, Henry IV Part II; and
Henry V.
This edition features an overview of Shakespeare's works by Sylvan Barnet, former Chairman of the English Department at Tufts University, as well as a comprehensive stage and screen history, dramatic criticism from the past and present, and sources from which Shakespeare derived this great work.
Synopsis
Includes an overview of Shakespeare's life; commentary by Arthur Colby Sprague, Helen Gardener, and others; a stage and screen history, and more
The popular comedy in which Rosalind enters the Forest of Arden is a play about two enduring human illusions--the dream of the simple life, and the ideal of romantic love. This edition features not only the text of the play but many special features to help readers understand and enjoy this classic from the Bard.
Synopsis
1 Henry VI was the Rose Theatre's great draw in the spring of 1592, a dramatic tale of the lives of soldiers, diplomats, kings, and insurrectionists. It centres on 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 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.
Synopsis
Shakespeare's vision of the Trojan War reveals the love between Troilus, a prince of Troy, and Cressida, the daughter of a Trojan traitor.
Synopsis
The story of an Ancient Roman soldier whose political machinations and military might gain him heroic status, but ultimately lead to his assassination.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 204-205) and index.
About the Author
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE was born at Stratford upon Avon in April, 1564. He was the third child, and eldest son, of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. His father was one of the most prosperous men of Stratford, who held in turn the chief offices in the town. In December, 1582, Shakespeare married Ann Hathaway, a farmer's daughter; their first child Susanna was baptized on May 6, 1583, and twins, Hamnet and Judith, on February 22, 1585. Little is known of Shakespeares early life; but it is unlikely that a writer who dramatized such an incomparable range and variety of human kinds and experiences spent his early manhood entirely in a country town. There is one popular theory that he fled from Stratford because he was in trouble for deer stealing, another that he was for some time a schoolmaster.
From 1592 onwards the records are much fuller. In March, 1592, the Lord Stranges players produced a new play at the Rose Theatre called Harry the Sixth, which was very successful, and was probably the First Part of Henry VI. In the autumn of 1592 Robert Greene, the best known of the professional writers, as he was dying wrote a letter to three fellow writers in which he warned them against the ingratitude of players in general, and in particular against an upstart crow who supposes he is as much able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes Factotum is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country. This is the first reference to Shakespeare, and the whole passage suggests that Shakespeare had become suddenly famous as a playwright.
In April, 1593, Shakespeare published his poem Venus and Adonis, which was dedicated to the young Earl of Southampton: it was a great and lasting success, and was reprinted nine times in the next few years. In May, 1594, his second poem, The Rape of Lucrece, was also dedicated to Southampton.
In 1593, theaters were mostly shut down due to a severe outbreak of the plague; but in the autumn of 1594 the playing companies were reorganized, and Shakespeare became a member of the Lord Chamberlains company, which appeared at the Theatre in Shoreditch. Shakespeare had already written the three parts of Henry VI, Richard III, Titus Andronicus, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Loves Labours Lost, The Comedy of Errors, and The Taming of the Shrew. Soon afterwards he wrote the first of his greater plays Romeo and Juliet and he followed this success in the next three years with A Midsummer Nights Dream, Richard II, and The Merchant of Venice. The two parts of Henry VI, introducing Falstaff, the most popular of all his comic characters, were written in 15978.
The company left the Theatre in Shoreditch in 1597 owing to disputes over a renewal of the ground lease, and went to appear at the Curtain in the same neighborhood. The disputes continued throughout 1598, and at Christmas the players settled the matter by demolishing the old Theatre and re-erecting a new playhouse on the south bank of the Thames, near Southwark Cathedral. This playhouse was named the Globe. The expenses of the new building were shared by the chief members of the Company, including Shakespeare, who was now a man of some means. In 1596 he had bought New Place, a large house in the center of Stratford, for £60, and through his father purchased a coat-of-arms from the Heralds, which was the official recognition that he and his family were gentlefolk.
By the summer of 1598 Shakespeare was recognized as the greatest of English dramatists. Booksellers were printing his more popular plays, at times even in pirated or stolen versions. Shortly before the Globe was opened, Shakespeare had completed the cycle of plays dealing with the whole story of the Wars of the Roses with Henry V. It was followed by As You Like it, and Julius Caesar, the first of the maturer tragedies. In the next three years he wrote Troilus and Cressida, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Hamlet, and Twelfth Night.
On March 24, 1603, Queen Elizabeth died. The company had often performed before her, but they found her successor a far more enthusiastic patron. One of the first acts of King James was to take over the company and to promote them to be his own servants, so that henceforward they were known as the Kings Men. They acted now very frequently at Court, and prospered accordingly. In the early years of the reign Shakespeare wrote the more somber comedies Alls Well that Ends Well and Measure for Measure, which were followed by Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear. Then he returned to Roman themes with Antony and Cleopatra and Coriolanus.
In 1608 the Kings Men acquired a second playhouse, a private theater in the fashionable quarter of the Blackfriars. At private theaters, plays were performed indoors; the prices charged were higher, and the audience consequently was more select. Shakespeare seems to have retired from the stage about this time: his name does not occur in the various lists of players after 1607. Henceforward he lived for the most part at Stratford, where he was regarded as one of the most important citizens. He still wrote a few plays, and he tried his hand at the new form of tragi-comedy a play with tragic incidents but a happy ending. He wrote four of these Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winters Tale, and The Tempest, which was acted at Court in 1611. Shakespeare died at Stratford upon Avon on April 23, 1616, and was buried in the chancel of the church, before the high altar.
Table of Contents
Samuel Johnson:
From The Plays of William Shakespeare
Samuel Taylor Coleridge: From H. C. Robinson?s Memoranda and Seven Lectures
John Dover Wilson: From The Fortunes of Falstaff
Derek Travers: The Battle Scenes
James Winny: From The Player King: A Theme of Shakespeare?s Histories
Robert Ornstein: From A Kingdom for a Stage
Michael Goldman: From Shakespeare and the Energies of Drama
Coppelia Kahn: From Man?s Estate: Masculine Identity in Shakespeare
Cleanth Brooks and Robert S. Heilman: From Understanding Drama
Sylvan Barnet: ?Henry IV, Part I? on the Stage and Screen
NEWLY ADDED ESSAYS:
T. F. Wharton: Interpreting ?Henry IV?: Four Productions