Special Collections
Wonderful William Shakespeare
Description: All his literature in all its many versions!
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The Merchant of Venice (PDF)
by Cedric Watts and William ShakespeareThe Wordsworth Classics' Shakespeare Series presents a newly-edited sequence of William Shakespeare's works. The textual editing takes account of recent scholarship while giving the material a careful reappraisal. The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies, but it remains deeply controversial. The text may seem anti-Semitic; yet repeatedly, in performance, it has revealed a contrasting nature. Shylock, though vanquished in the law-court, often triumphs in the theatre. In his intensity he can dominate the play, challenging abrasively its romantic and lyrical affirmations. What results is a bitter-sweet drama. Though The Merchant of Venice offers some of the traditional pleasures of romantic comedy, it also exposes the operations of prejudice. Thus Shakespeare remains our contemporary. Suitable for all secondary level study up to GCSE/Standard Grade, this edition contains two sets of differentiated activities at the end of each act. The activities are designed to develop student understanding of the play and its themes.
The Tempest (Wordsworth Classics) (PDF)
by William Shakespeare and Cedric WattsEdited, introduced and annotated by Cedric Watts, Research Professor of English, University of Sussex. The Wordsworth Classics' Shakespeare's Series presents a newly-edited sequence of William Shakespeare's works. The textual editing takes account of recent scholarship while giving the material a careful reappraisal. The Tempest is the most lyrical, profound and fascinating of Shakespeare's late comedies. Prospero, long exiled from Italy with his daughter Miranda, seeks to use his magical powers to defeat his former enemies. Eventually, having proved merciful, he divests himself of that magic, his ‘art’, and prepares to return to the mainland. The Tempest has often been regarded as Shakespeare's ‘farewell to the stage’ before his retirement. In the past, critics emphasised the romantically beautiful features of The Tempest, seeing it as an imaginative fantasia. In recent decades, however, The Tempest has also been treated as a potently political drama which offers controversial insights into colonialism and racism. Frequently staged and diversely filmed, the play has influenced numerous poets and novelists.
The Tempest (PDF)
by Rex Gibson and William ShakespeareAn active approach to classroom Shakespeare enables students to inhabit Shakespeare's imaginative world in accessible and creative ways. Students are encouraged to share Shakespeare's love of language, interest in character and sense of theatre.
King Richard III (PDF)
by William Shakespeare and James R. SiemonRichard 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 and of critical approaches to it. 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.
Twelfth Night
by William Shakespeare and Edward Hall and Roger WarrenTwelfth Night tells a twisted tale of mistaken identity, transformation and deception. With a man playing a girl disguised as a boy, illusion and reality are almost indistinguishable on Propeller’s island of Illyria. Dark and delightful, the play questions what happens when you fall in love with the wrong person, and the answer is both beautiful and bittersweet.
Oxford School Shakespeare
by William ShakespeareOxford School Shakespeare is an acclaimed edition especially designed for students, with accessible on-page notes and explanatory illustrations, clear background information, and rigorous but accessible scholarly credentials. In this edition of The Tempest, illustrations have been extended andupdated; the preliminary notes have been expanded; reading lists have been updated, and include websites; and the classroom notes have been brought in line with recent practice. The Tempest is a set text for 11-14 year olds in England and remains one of the most accessible and popular ofShakespeare's plays for secondary students the world over.
Romeo and Juliet (Cambridge School Shakespeare) (PDF)
by Rex Gibson and William ShakespeareThis new edition of Romeo and Juliet is part of the established Cambridge School Shakespeare series and has been substantially updated with new and revised activities throughout. Remaining faithful to the series' active approach it treats the play as a script to be acted, explored and enjoyed. As well as the complete script of Romeo and Juliet, you will find a variety of classroom-tested activities, an eight-page colour section and an enlarged selection of notes including information on characters, performance, history and language.
Graphic Shakespeare Series
by William ShakespeareDesigned for students with special educational needs, and for those with English as a second languge, this text gives a simplified retelling of the play in accessible yet vivid language. Strong illustrations bring the play to life. Readership age: 11 to 16.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
by William Shakespeare and Arthur Quiller-Couch and John Dover WilsonJohn Dover Wilson's New Shakespeare, published between 1921 and 1966, became the classic Cambridge edition of Shakespeare's plays and poems until the 1980s. The series, long since out-of-print, is now reissued. Each work is available both individually and as a set, and each contains a lengthy and lively introduction, main text, and substantial notes and glossary printed at the back. The edition, which began with The Tempest and ended with The Sonnets, put into practice the techniques and theories that had evolved under the 'New Bibliography'. Remarkably by today's standards, although it took the best part of half a century to produce, the New Shakespeare involved only a small band of editors besides Dover Wilson himself. As the volumes took shape, many of Dover Wilson's textual methods acquired general acceptance and became an established part of later editorial practice, for example in the Arden and New Cambridge Shakespeares.
The Tempest (PDF)
by William ShakespeareThe most poetic and magical of Shakespeare's comedies, this play contrasts lyrical fantasy surrounding the spirit Ariel and the savage Calaban, with a tale of political intrigue focused around Prospero, the banished Duke of Milan, now a wizard living on a remote island.
A Lover's Complaint
by William Shakespeare"A Lover's Complaint" is a narrative poem published as an appendix to the original edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets. It is given the title "A Lover's Complaint" in the book, which was published by Thomas Thorpe in 1609.
Although published as Shakespeare's work, the poem's authorship has become a matter of critical debate. The majority opinion is that it is by Shakespeare, though of inferior quality to his other works.
The poem consists of forty-seven seven-line stanzas written in the rhyme royal (with the rhyme scheme ababbcc), a metre and structure identical to that of Shakespeare's poem The Rape of Lucrece. After a scene-setting introduction, the poem takes the form of a lengthy speech by an abandoned young woman, including a speech within her speech, as she recounts the words by which she was seduced.
Hamlet
by William ShakespeareThe letter "u" and the letter "v" are switched in this copy, due to an original printing error. Includes editor's note.
Richard III
by William ShakespeareAn account of the brutal and bloody rise of King Richard III to the throne, Shakespeare's play depicts the short-lived monarch's ruthless campaign for power, which resulted in the deaths of two of his brothers.
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
by William ShakespeareAfter Prince Pericles puzzles out a terrible secret about the king of Antioch, he flees the city and sets sail on his ship. His adventures bring him love and marriage, but his greatest tragedies and triumps lay ahead as he voyages home.
Hamlet
by William ShakespeareHamlet is Shakespeare's most popular, and most puzzling, play. It follows the form of a "revenge tragedy," in which the hero, Hamlet, seeks vengeance against his father's murderer, his uncle Claudius, now the king of Denmark. Much of its fascination, however, lies in its uncertainties. Among them: What is the Ghost--Hamlet's father demanding justice, a tempting demon, an angelic messenger? Does Hamlet go mad, or merely pretend to? Once he is sure that Claudius is a murderer, why does he not act? Was his mother, Gertrude, unfaithful to her husband or complicit in his murder?
The Phoenix and the Turtle
by William ShakespeareShakespeare's telling of the funeral arrangements for the Phoenix and the Turtledove embodies the depth of their love and the tragedy of their deaths.
La comedia de los errores
by William ShakespeareEscrita en 1954 o poco antes, La comedia de los errores adapta al genio shakespeariano la comedia de enredos con que Plauto divertía siglos antes a Roma. Junto a una incipiente capacidad para construir personajes, Shakespeare despliega en esta hilarante obra relativamente temprana un agudo ingenio verbal y una asombrosa maestría para complicar la trama. De allí que sea ésta una de sus obras más representadas en Inglaterra.
The 40 Minute Tempest / King Ram
by William Shakespeare and Lesley RossThe 40 Minute Tempest recreates the world of Shakespeare's great play as told by Prospero and Ariel as they journey towards Prospero's retirement and Ariel's freedom. Using puppetry, the modern idiom and Shakespeare's verse it magically brings to life the world of Prospero's island.King Ram, based on King Lear, is the story of an old king with a foolish plan to split his lands between his two daughters, and of a ten year old boy's desperate search for a baby's father. Songs and verse create a roller-coaster dramatic ride for children.
Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare and Carl HeapAdapted for The National Theatre by Carl Heap 'The day is hot, the capulets abroad, And, if we meet, we shall not scape a brawl; For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring.'What's in a name? Imagine being born into the wrong family in the wrong place at the wrong time; and then you meet your true love... Primary Classics, produced by the National Theatre's Discover programme, aims to introduce children aged 7 to 11 to Shakespeare. This version of Romeo and Juliet, adapted and originally directed by Carl Heap, preserves the core of Shakespeare's plot, retains the original langauge, yet is presented very much with the target age group in mind. Carl Heap's introduction will help readers, teachers and practitioners alike to imagine or produce their own version.
Macbeth (Livewire Shakespeare) (PDF)
by Marilyn Pettit and Philip Page and William ShakespeareThese highly illustrated books provide lower ability pupils or pupils with special educational needs access to the true text of Shakespeare's plays
A Midsummer Night's Dream
by William Shakespeare and Edward Hall and Roger WarrenOne of Shakespeare’s most original and eloquent plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream brilliantly interweaves four contrasting groups of characters to present a many-sided view of love in all its aspects: its joys and sadness, its idealism and selfishness, its physical and spiritual elements. This performing edition was prepared for Propeller’s all-male company of twelve actors, at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury, and toured the West End in 2003. Propeller’s markedly contemporary approach to Shakespeare brought great success for Rose Rage, their version of the Henry VI plays, whichwon the TMA/Barclays Theatre Award for the best touring production of 2001.
Romeo and Juliet (Cambridge School Shakespeare)
by Rex Gibson and William ShakespeareThis new edition of Romeo and Juliet is part of the established Cambridge School Shakespeare series and has been substantially updated with new and revised activities throughout. Remaining faithful to the series' active approach it treats the play as a script to be acted, explored and enjoyed. As well as the complete script of Romeo and Juliet, you will find a variety of classroom-tested activities, an eight-page colour section and an enlarged selection of notes including information on characters, performance, history and language.