Special Collections
Wonderful William Shakespeare
Description: All his literature in all its many versions!
- Table View
- List View
The Tempest
by William ShakespeareThe Duke of Milan attempts to recapture his throne by conjuring a tempest that lures his deceitful brother, Prospero, to the duke's island hideaway.
Timon of Athens
by William ShakespeareWhen he loses his fortune, and he is forced to seek assistance from those he has helped in the past, Timon on Athens quickly learns who is friends are.`
The Rape of Lucrece
by William ShakespeareWhen the king's son hears the chastity of one of his father's advisors praised, he sets out to sully her name, with tragic consequences.
Henry VI, Part II
by William ShakespeareKing Henry VI's reign is beset with infighting among the nobility as the War of the Roses breaks out in full and the king faces open rebellion as the Duke of York makes a claim for the throne .
Henry IV, Part II
by William ShakespeareAfter defeat at the Battle of Shrewsbury the rebels regroup. But Prince Hal’s reluctance to inherit the crown threatens to destroy the ailing Henry IV’s dream of a lasting dynasty. Shakespeare’s portrait of the prodigal son’s journey from youth to maturity embraces the full panorama of society. Henry IV, Part 2 is believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. It is the third part of a tetralogy, preceded by Richard II and Henry IV, Part 1 and succeeded by Henry V.
Macbeth
by William ShakespeareMacbeth dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. A brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia. Forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion, he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler. The bloodbath and consequent civil war swiftly take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of madness and death.
The Merchant of Venice
by William ShakespeareVenetian nobleman Antonio stands to lose a pound of flesh when he is unable to repay a loan due to the Jewish moneylender Shylock.
Pericles (PDF)
by William Shakespeare and Suzanne GossettSuzanne Gossett offers a full and critical performance history, with an introduction showing how the play's performance history has paralled the criticism. It then gives an interpretation of this two-generation romance, with its successive male and female central characters, based on a reading 'through the family', and influenced by the feminist and new historicist criticism of the last two decades. The edition integrates cumulative research on Shakespeare's collaborative authorship and the transmission of the text without rewriting the play or ignoring years of emendations.
Julius Caesar (PDF)
by William Shakespeare and Roma GillThe Oxford School Shakespeare has become the preferred introduction to the literary legacy of the greatest playwright in the English language. This exclusive collection of the Bard's best works has been designed specifically for readers new to Shakespeare's rich literary legacy. Each play is presented complete and unabridged, in large print. Every book is well illustrated, and starts with a commentary and character summary. Scene synopses and character summaries clarify confusing plots, while incisive essays explore the historical context and Shakespeare's sources. Each book ends with a complete list of Shakespeare's plays and a brief chronology of the Bard's life. The detailed explanatory notes are written clearly and positioned right next to the text--no more squinting at microscopic footnotes or flipping pages back and forth in search of endnotes! The new edition of the series features new covers and new illustrations, including both new drawings and photos from recent productions of Shakespeare's plays around the globe. In addition, the notes and the introductory material have been completely revised in line with new research and in order to make them clearer and more accessible. Finally, the entire text has been redesigned and reset to enhance readability. The new edition achieves the feat of unprecedented clarity of presentation without any cuts to the original text or the detailed explanations.
Macbeth (Shakespeare Stories) (PDF)
by Andrew Matthews and William ShakespeareThis series gives young readers the chance to discover Shakespeare for themselves. The stories come originally from the highly successful gift collection The Orchard Book of Shakespeare Stories. Also included are useful notes on the themes within the stories and a background to the Globe theatre.
Shakespeare Complete Works (PDF)
by William Shakespeare and Ann Thompson and David Scott Kastan and Richard ProudfootThis revised edition of the Arden Shakespeare Complete Works includes the full text of Double Falsehood, which was published in the Arden Third series to critical acclaim in 2010. The play is an eighteenth century rewrite of Shakespeare's "lost" play Cardenio and as such is a fascinating testament to the original. A short introduction outlines its complex textual history and the arguments for including it within the Shakespeare canon. The Complete Works contains the texts of all Shakespeare's plays, poems and sonnets, edited by leading Shakespeare scholars for the renowned Arden series. A general introduction gives the reader an overall view of how and why Shakespeare has become such an influential cultural icon, and how perceptions of his work have changed in the intervening four centuries. The introduction summarises the known facts about the dramatist's life, his reading and use of sources, and the nature of theatrical performance during his lifetime. Brief introductions to each play, written specially for this volume by the Arden General Editors, discuss the date and contemporary context of the play, its position within Shakespeare's oeuvre, and its subsequent performance history. An extensive glossary explains vocabulary which may be unfamiliar to modern readers.
Romeo and Juliet (Orchard Shakespeare Stories) (PDF)
by Andrew Matthews and William ShakespeareThis series gives young readers the chance to discover Shakespeare for themselves. The stories come originally from the highly successful gift collection The Orchard Book of Shakespeare Stories. Also included are useful notes on the themes within the stories and a background to the Globe theatre. Andrew Matthews's vibrant and accessible retellings, coupled with expressive and funny illustrations by Tony Ross, provide an introduction to this important part of our cultural heritage in the most enjoyable way. Perfect for school use as the National Curriculum specifies that two Shakespeare stories are studied as part of English Literary Heritage KS3 and 4. Also optional at KS2. The notes highlighting themes in the specific stories will help to focus discussions.
The First Part of The History of Henry IV, Part 1
by John Dover Wilson and William ShakespeareJohn 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.
Much Ado About Nothing (PDF)
by William ShakespeareThis edition of Much Ado About Nothing iis especially designed for students, with accessible on-page notes and explanatory illustrations, clear background information, and rigorous but accessible scholarly credentials. This edition includes illustrations, preliminary notes, reading lists (including websites) and classroom notes, allowing students to master Shakespeare's work. About the Series: Newly redesigned and easier to read, each play in the Oxford School Shakespeare series includes the complete and unabridged text, detailed and clear explanations of difficult words and passages, a synopsis of the plot, summaries of individual scenes, and notes on the main characters. Also included is a wide range of questions and activities for work in class, together with the historical background to Shakespeare's England, a brief biography of Shakespeare, and a complete list of his plays.
Twelfth Night or What You Will
by William ShakespeareConfusion reigns when the shipwrecked Viola, disguised as Cesario, enters the service of Duke Orsino, only to find her brother, Sebastian, has also been shipwrecked.
The Merry Wives of Windsor
by William ShakespeareMistress Page and Mistress Ford set out to have some fun at the expense of John Falstaff, who courts both in the hopes of securing their fortunes.
Oxford Reading Tree, Level 17, TreeTops Classics, Pack A
by William ShakespeareNo dramatist has ever seen with more frightening clarity into the heart and mind of a murderer than has Shakespeare in this compelling tragedy of evil. Taunted into asserting his "masculinity" by his ambitious wife, Macbeth chooses to embrace the Weird Sisters' prophecy and kill his king-and thus, seals his own doom. Fast-moving and bloody, this drama has the extraordinary energy that derives from a brilliant plot replete with treachery and murder, and from Shakespeare's compelling portrait of the ultimate battle between a mind and its own guilt. [This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 9-10 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
The Tempest
by William Shakespeare and Loreto ToddYork Notes Advanced offer a fresh and accessible approach to English Literature. This market-leading series has been completely updated to meet the needs of today's A-level and undergraduate students. Written by established literature experts, York Notes Advanced intorduce students to more sophisticated analysis, a range of critical perspectives and wider contexts.