Shakespeare Study

In the first scene, a father asks the law for the right to have his daughter put to death for refusing the husband he has chosen. The duke confirms that the right exists. She has four days to decide, and the whole play happens because she runs. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is remembered for school productions, fairy wings and summer festivals. The text is stranger and sharper than that reputation. Four Athenian lovers in the wrong arrangement, six workmen rehearsing a tragedy, and a king and queen of the fairies quarrelling over a child all meet in one wood, in one night, and none of them is...

This annotated edition of King Lear includes: • A 16,000-word critical study, "An O Without a Figure" • A Note on the Text: the two Lears, and why this is neither • On the mock trial and the scenes that exist in only one text • A full life of Shakespeare — and the thin record behind it • The complete received tragedy, all five acts An old king asks his three daughters how much they love him, believes the two who lie, and banishes the one who tells the truth. Everything after is the ruin. King Lear is the bleakest and largest of the tragedies — a play that strips a king to ...

William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic prose and verse read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly remastered stories are now available to download for the first time...

This annotated edition of Macbeth includes: • A 16,000-word critical study, "The Future in the Instant" • A Note on the Text: the 1623 Folio, and the Middleton question • On the Hecate scenes — Shakespeare's hand, or another's? • A full life of Shakespeare — and the thin record behind it • The complete play: the shortest and fastest of the tragedies A soldier meets three witches on a heath, and by nightfall a king lies dead in his imagination long before the knife is in his hand. Macbeth is the most interior of the tragedies, and the most terrifying, because almost everything ...

Bloomsbury presents Shakespeare's House by Richard Schoch, read by Mike Read. '[A] page-turning story' - Laurie Maguire, Times Literary Supplement 'A terrific addition to the Shakespeare library ... eye-opening.' - Michael Billington, Country Life Richard's Schoch's compelling history of...

Discover the genius of William Shakespeare in this entertaining and educational full-cast drama, designed to whet the appetite and introduce you to the man, the life, the legacy. Includes key scenes from the major plays.

Bloomsbury presents The Complete Life of William Shakespeare by Paul Menzer, read by Mike Read. Shakespeare’s extraordinarily ordinary life condenses into a charming but brief biography in this arresting tale of love, loss and return. Beginning with the early departure to the final homecoming...

Combined for great value! The multi-award-winning SmartPass study guide with and without commentary options. Full-cast, unabridged performance with comprehensive commentary and analysis for any student to fully understand and appreciate the play.

"And nothing is, but what is not." Macbeth may be mystified by the Weird Sisters' words but this intense performance with incisive commentary cuts to the heart of Shakespeare's complex psychological tragedy.

This annotated edition of Hamlet includes: • A 16,000-word critical study, "Frighted With False Fire" • A Note on the Text naming which early text each passage comes from • A full life of Shakespeare — and the thin record behind the legend • The complete, unabridged received text: all five acts • On the three Hamlets of 1603, 1604, and 1623 — and why they differ There is no such object as Hamlet. There are three early printed texts, they disagree, and the play everyone knows is a hybrid of two of them, stitched together by editors in the eighteenth century. No version ...

He told you he came, he saw, he conquered — and you believed him. This is the story of how Julius Caesar invented Julius Caesar: the most successful act of self-mythology in Western history, traced through the documents that built the legend, with an original critical study. Every other great figure was invented after death, by other hands. Caesar invented himself — in his own lifetime, in his own words, writing of his conquests in the cool third person ("Caesar advanced," "Caesar decided") so that propaganda would read as objective history. This volume gathers, for the first time as a ...

This annotated edition of Othello includes: • A 16,000-word critical study, "Begot Upon Itself" • A Note on the Text: the 1622 Quarto and the 1623 Folio • On the Willow Song, present in only one early text • A full life of Shakespeare — and the thin record behind it • The complete tragedy, the restored oaths and all A great general, newly married and newly happy, is destroyed in five acts by a man who will not say why he did it. Othello is the most intimate and the most unbearable of the tragedies, because its engine is not fate or ambition but a single man's malice with no ...

The multi award-winning SmartPass study guide with and without commentary options. This is a full-cast, unabridged performance with comprehensive commentary and analysis for any student to fully understand and appreciate the play. Universally accepted as Shakespeare's finest play, we peel back the layers of Hamlet to discover how and why it deserves such a place of honour in world literature.

Shakespeare: The Illustrated Edition is an exquisitely illustrated, updated edition of Bill Bryson’s bestselling biography of William Shakespeare that takes the reader on an enthralling tour through Elizabethan England and the eccentricities of Shakespearean scholarship. With more than 100...

This audio study guide for Othello by William Shakespeare includes detailed summary and analysis of each act and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as objectification, stereotypes, and reputation as a means of manipulation. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.   

Why do Shakespeare's plays continue to be read, studied, and performed more than four hundred years after they were written? Because the world changes—but human nature does not. The ambition that destroys Macbeth, the jealousy that consumes Othello, the love that unites and divides Romeo and Juliet, the pride that ruins King Lear, and the political intrigue that shapes Julius Caesar are not merely stories from a distant age. They are reflections of the same emotions, conflicts, desires, and struggles that continue to define human life today. Shakespeare's genius lies in his extraordinary ...

The multi award-winning SmartPass study guide, with and without commentary options. This is a full-cast, unabridged performance with comprehensive commentary and analysis for any student to fully understand and appreciate the play. Soak up the atmosphere of ancient Rome. Decide for yourself whether Caesar's power and ambition was a threat to the Republic, and whether assassination can ever be justified.

This annotated edition of Romeo and Juliet includes: • A 15,000-word critical study, "A Lightning Before Death" • A full life of Shakespeare — and the thin record behind the legend • A Note on the Text: collated word-by-word against the 1599 Quarto • The complete, unabridged play: Prologue, Chorus, all five acts • On Queen Mab, the Nurse, and a heroine aged thirteen There is no reading Romeo and Juliet for the first time. The play arrives pre-digested, pre-quoted, pre-parodied — a balcony, a vial, two names that stopped being names long ago and became a unit of measurement. It...

Here is the multi award-winning SmartPass study guide, with and without commentary options. This is a full-cast, unabridged performance with comprehensive commentary and analysis to allow any student to fully understand and appreciate the play. Meet literature's greatest villain in this tragedy, fuelled by jealous rage. Journey into the twisted mind of Iago, who freely admits, "I am not what I am", and truly get under the skin of this wondrous play.

Learn It in a Day: Macbeth by William Shakespeare Complete Overview • 15 Multiple-Choice Questions • Essay Prompts • Key Quotes Macbeth is often read as a story about unchecked ambition or the corrupting lure of power. But its deeper argument focuses on how interpretation—of prophecy, language, and authority—drives moral collapse. Many readers follow the plot, yet struggle to explain why Macbeth acts when he does, how violence escalates, or what the play ultimately argues about legitimacy and control. Learn It in a Day is designed to solve that problem. This study companion breaks...

Learn It in a Day: Hamlet by William Shakespeare Complete Overview • 15 Multiple-Choice Questions • Essay Prompts • Key Quotes Hamlet is often taught as a story about indecision or revenge, but its real complexity lies in how truth, power, and moral action collide in a corrupt political system. Many readers follow the plot—yet struggle to explain why Hamlet delays, what the play argues about justice, or how language itself becomes a form of control. Learn It in a Day is designed to solve that problem. This study companion breaks the play down into a clear, accessible format built ...