William Shakespeare

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This Critical Guide helps students sift through and make sense of nearly three centuries of Lear criticism, providing in... (more)

This Critical Guide helps students sift through and make sense of nearly three centuries of Lear criticism, providing insight into different assessments of the play's merit and its place within Shakespeare's work and the canon of English literature. Highlights include excerpts from the neoclassical and Romantic receptions of King Lear -- material from John Dryden, Samuel Johnson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Victor Hugo -- and a discussion of recent and current trends in criticism of the play. (less)

"Othello" is perhaps Shakespeare's most troublesome tragedy. While it has retained its popularity on the stage, many cri... (more)

"Othello" is perhaps Shakespeare's most troublesome tragedy. While it has retained its popularity on the stage, many critics have struggled to come to terms with it. The Romantics warmed to the figure of Othello himself and wrung their hands over the plight of Desdemona; the Modernists looked down on the play as an achievement of Shakespeare's stagecraft rather than of his imagination. Excerpting and discussing the critical history of the play from the earliest pronouncements to present-day criticism, this guide does justice to the variety of opinion and points out significant themes and recurring critical concerns, without glossing over the ugly racism of many critical accounts and the inadequacy of many attempts to face up to the issues raised by the play. (less)

Describes Shakespeare's experiences in London and his retirement to the country in a fictional account that includes exc... (more)

Describes Shakespeare's experiences in London and his retirement to the country in a fictional account that includes excerpts from his works. (less)

Skillfully assembled by Shakespeare{u2019}s fellow actors in 1623, the First Folio was the original Complete Works{u2014... (more)

Skillfully assembled by Shakespeare{u2019}s fellow actors in 1623, the First Folio was the original Complete Works{u2014}arguably the most important literary work in the English language. But starting with Nicholas Rowe in 1709 and continuing to the present day, Shakespeare editors have mixed Folio and Quarto texts, gradually corrupting the original Complete Works with errors and conflated textual variations. The second edition of the Complete Works features annotations and commentary from Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen{u2014}two of today{u2019}s preeminent Shakespeare scholars{u2014}as well as cutting-edge textual design, on-page glossaries for contemporary readers, stage directions from RSC directors, a sixteen-page insert of photographs from RSC production shorts, a timeline of the plays and poems, and family trees for the Histories. (less)

Provides an overview of the life of William Shakespeare and the culture and society of Shakespeare's England. (more)

Provides an overview of the life of William Shakespeare and the culture and society of Shakespeare's England. (less)

Provides a critical overview and succinct explication of Shakespeare's sonnets and poems. (more)

Provides a critical overview and succinct explication of Shakespeare's sonnets and poems. (less)

Provides a critical overview and succinct explication of Shakespeare's comedies. (more)

Provides a critical overview and succinct explication of Shakespeare's comedies. (less)

Provides a critical overview and succinct explication of Shakespeare's history plays. (more)

Provides a critical overview and succinct explication of Shakespeare's history plays. (less)

Provides a critical overview and discussion of Shakespeare's problem plays. (more)

Provides a critical overview and discussion of Shakespeare's problem plays. (less)

Provides a critical overview and succinct explication of Shakespeare's romances. (more)

Provides a critical overview and succinct explication of Shakespeare's romances. (less)

Provides a critical overview and succinct explication of Shakespeare's tragedies. (more)

Provides a critical overview and succinct explication of Shakespeare's tragedies. (less)