Special Collections
Wonderful William Shakespeare
Description: All his literature in all its many versions!
- Table View
- List View
A Midsummer Night's Dream (PDF)
by Hilary Burningham and William ShakespeareA young woman flees Athens with her lover, only to be pursued by her would-be husband and by her best friend. Unwittingly, all four find themselves in an enchanted forest where fairies and sprites soon take an interest in human affairs, dispensing magical love potions and casting mischievous spells. In this dazzling comedy, confusion ends in harmony, as love is transformed, misplaced, and - ultimately - restored. A retelling of Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is part of a series of titles which are designed to introduce children to Shakespeare, but can also be used as revision aids. The main characters and key events are brought to life in the simplified story and pictures, and the short extracts from the original play focus on key speeches in Shakespeare's language. Each title in the Graphic Shakespeare series is set out into acts in the same way as the original play, although the story is told in narrative text with only key speeches remaining in the original form. A portrait gallery of key characters is included for easy reference.
Otelo
by William ShakespeareOtelo, el moro de Venecia es la única entre las grandes tragedias de Shakespeare que transcurre en el ámbito doméstico; no hay reinados en peligro, ni se derroca al soberano. Se trata de un estudio de los celos en el que el amor, la lujuria y el odio ocasionan la muerte de los protagonistas. Otelo, llevado por las maquinaciones de Yago, es el elemento disruptor que instala el caos en una Venecia que simboliza la razón, la ley y el orden. La crítica ha descripto con acierto al protagonista de esta tragedia como la figura más romántica de todos los héroes de Shakespeare, por su vida aventurera y sus batallas en lugares exóticos. Otelo parece provenir de Las Mil y Una Noches, no posee la imaginación especulativa de Hamlet, pero demuestra ser, en sus soliloquios, el mayor poeta del universo shakespeariano.
Romeo y Julieta
by William ShakespeareEn medio de la lucha entre familias rivales dos personajes juveniles viven un amor tan apasionado como imposible. La reconciliación llegará tarde, cuando ya se ha consumado la tragedia. La traición, la lealtad, el odio, los celos, la pasión, son algunos de los temas que William Shakespeare llevó a las tablas permitiendo a sus personajes la libertad de elegir entre los caminos posibles, para luego atenerse a las consecuencias de su proceder. Escrita en cinco actos, Romeo y Julieta expresa de modo insuperable el mito del amor romántico arquetípico en la civilización moderna.
Sueño de una noche de verano
by William ShakespeareAl bosque mágico de Atenas, en el que reinan Titania y Oberon (enfrentados en agria disputa), y donde unos artesanos ensayan una obra para celebrar la boda de Teseo e Hipolita, llega un par de amantes en fuga, Lisandro y Hermia. Demetrio, el desairado prometido de Hermia, acude allí por Helena, a su vez enamorada de él. Entra en acción Puck, un malicioso duende acolito de Oberon, provisto de un filtro de amor que supuestamente zanjará todo conflicto entre los amantes, no sin antes desatar numerosas confusiones de amor y equívocos. Con la estructura onírica de una extravagante mascarada, Sueño de una noche de verano es una pieza de rigor formal y sofisticación, en la que el mundo de los amantes nobles y los artesanos -basado en la realidad histórica inglesa de la época- coexiste con el mundo fantástico de las hadas, arraigado al folclore y la mitología céltica.
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.
El rey Lear
by William ShakespeareLa tragedia del Rey Lear fue escrita probablemente entre 1605 y 1606. Su protagonista es un anciano monarca que, antes de dividir el reino entre sus tres hijas, les pide que halaguen su vanidad. Mientras Regan y Goneril lo complacen, la tercera, Cordelia, rechaza obrar con hipocresía. Tal actitud desata la hybris del rey y lo lleva a destruir la felicidad de su familia, de sus súbditos y la suya propia. La historia secundaria, la del Duque de Gloucester y sus hijos Edmundo y Edgardo, pone en escena un conflicto similar al principal, Tanto Lear como Gloucester llegarán a la verdad sólo al término de una serie de padecimientos. Con un lenguaje coherente, poético y vital, los personajes de las obras de Shakespeare nos hablan desde lo más hondo de su situación existencial: ciegos de amor, consumiéndose de celos, agitados por la duda, devorados por la ambición y el remordimiento, debatiéndose entre el bien y el mal, ebrios de fanfarronería, y, lo que resulta más inquietante, sin ninguna finalidad moral.
King John
by William ShakespeareTreachery and betrayal are the order of the day during the reign of King John of England (1199-1216). After he is forced to recognize the illegitimate son of his dead brother, King Richard I, King John finds himself under siege by the French king, Philip. Dealing with themes of royal legitimacy, succession, and the tenuous nature of diplomatic relationships, King John parallels issues prevalent in Shakespeare's own society at the time.
Henry VIII
by William ShakespeareKing Henry VIII risks both his realm and his immortal soul when he divorces Katherine of Aragon in favour of Anne "Bullen". With a cast of characters that includes Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cranmer, the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, and Sir Thomas Cromwell, Shakespeare explores one of the most fascinating periods in English history, which was still shaping and influencing his world under Henry's daughter, Elizabeth I.
Romeo and Juliet
by William ShakespeareShakespeare's famous story of "star-crossed lovers" whose families are engaged in a bitter feud.
The Tempest
by William ShakespeareThis bewitching play, Shakespeare's final work, articulates a wealth of the playwright's mature reflections on life and contains some of his most familiar and oft-quoted lines. The story concerns Miranda, a lovely young maiden, and Prospero, her philosophical old magician father, who dwell on an enchanted island, alone except for their servants — Ariel, an invisible sprite, and Caliban, a monstrous witch's son. Into their idyllic but isolated lives comes a shipwrecked party that includes the enemies who usurped Prospero's dukedom years before, and set him and his daughter adrift on the ocean. Also among the castaways is a handsome prince, the first young man Miranda has ever seen. Comedy, romance, and reconciliation ensue, in a masterly drama that begins with a storm at sea and concludes in joyous harmony.
Romeo and Juliet
by William ShakespearePerhaps the most famous love story in the world, Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare's most enduring work, and from Shakespeare in Love to Shakespeare in the Park, these star-crossed lovers have met across a crowded stage for over four hundred years.
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.
King Henry V
by William ShakespeareHistory play about the man Shakespeare portrays as the ideal king.
The Taming of the Shrew
by William ShakespeareThe marriage hopes of the beautiful Bianca depend on her older and more disagreeable sister, Katherina, making her match first.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
by William ShakespeareThe fairies of the forest interfere with the lives of mortals attending the wedding feast of Theseus, Duke of Athens, and Hipployta, and the realms of mortals and fairies collide on one magical midsummer night.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
by William ShakespearePerhaps the most popular of all of Shakespeare's comedies, A Midsummer Night's Dream humorously celebrates the vagaries of love. The approaching wedding festivities of Theseus, Duke of Athens, and his bride-to-be, Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, are delightfully crisscrossed with in-again, off-again romances of two young pairs of Athenian lovers; a fateful rivalry between the King and Queen of the Fairies; and the theatrical aspirations of a bumbling troupe of Athenian laborers. It all ends happily in wedding-night revelry complete with a play-within-a-play presented by the laborers to the ecstatic amusement of all. This edition, complete with explanatory footnotes, is reprinted from a standard British edition.
Othello
by William ShakespeareOthello loves his wife Desdemona, and the two live happily—at first. A spurned suitor of Desdemona's and Iago, an ambitious officer under Othello's command, plan to tear the couple apart out of revenge for perceived slights suffered at their hands.
Hamlet
by William ShakespeareOne of the greatest plays of all time, the compelling tragedy of the tormented young prince of Denmark continues to capture the imaginations of modern audiences worldwide. Confronted with evidence that his uncle murdered his father, and with his mother’s infidelity, Hamlet must find a means of reconciling his longing for oblivion with his duty as avenger. The ghost, Hamlet’s feigned madness, Ophelia’s death and burial, the play within a play, the “closet scene” in which Hamlet accuses his mother of complicity in murder, and breathtaking swordplay are just some of the elements that make Hamlet an enduring masterpiece of the theater.
Othello
by William ShakespeareThis is our best-selling York Notes Advanced title. This book will be packed with features to help the students improve their grade. Talking extensively to teachers, examiners and students there seems to be a need for more information outside what the students already know. Features like check the book, check the film and check the net will now offer students more opportunity to develop their researching skills and provide that extra information. More importantly there will be features that address the specific needs of students studying for the new AS and A2 exams. There will now be text boxes in the margin labelled 'Context' which will describe the literary, historical, cultural, religious, or philisophical context of specific references in the text (contextualisation is the new buzz word in the exam syllabuses). There will be at least 20 of these boxes in every book. The glossaries are now integrated in the text so that students don't need to turn the page to find out the meaning of a word. There will also be regular exam questions integrated in the text which will help students revise. Summaries will be cut down and bulleted where appropriate to make way for extra features (meaning extent remains the same) so that the books are now not only appropriate for students who buy the book to cram, they are also important for higher-level students who need more information to get themselves the top grade.
The Taming of the Shrew
by William ShakespeareShakespearean comedy in which a woman rebels against the man she is forced to marry.
Much Ado About Nothing
by William ShakespeareThis new edition of Much Ado About Nothing 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 Much Ado About Nothing, 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.