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1) Pericles
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Likely written around 1607 or 1608 and attributed at least in part to Shakespeare, "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" is an adventure-filled play that follows the extended sailing journeys of a young prince. Pericles, a young prince from Phoenicia, is forced to flee Antioch when he correctly guesses a riddle that reveals the incestuous activity of King Antiochus. Unable to stay at home in Tyre because of Antiochus' vengeance, he sails away and ends up shipwrecked...
2) King John
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First published in the "First Folio" in 1623 and likely written in the 1590s, "King John" is one of William Shakespeare's best historical plays. It centers on the events of King John's reign of England during the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. King John, son of Henry I of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, inherits the throne after the death of his older brother, King Richard I. John's claim to the throne is challenged by the King of...
3) The sonnets
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Since their first publication in 1609, William Shakespeare's sonnets have begged a tantalizing question--for whom were they intended? The dedication comes not from the author himself but from the publisher, and the address to "Mr. W.H." may well be a deliberate attempt at misdirection. In the sonnets themselves, the poet first devotes his thoughts to a beautiful young male friend; then shifts his focus to his mistress-a dark femme fatale. The continuing...
4) Henry VIII
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Henry VIII - William Shakespeare - King Henry VIII has one of the fullest theatrical histories of any play in the Shakespeare canon, yet has been consistently misrepresented, both in performance and in criticism. This edition offers a new perspective on this ironic, multi-layered, collaborative play, revealing it as a complex meditation on the progress of Reformation which sees English life since Henry VIII's day as a series of bewildering changes...
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"Timon of Athens has struck many readers as rough and unpolished, perhaps even unfinished, though to others it has appeared as Shakespeare's most profound tragic allegory. Described by Coleridge as 'the stillborn twin of King Lear', the play has nevertheless proved brilliantly effective in performance over the past thirty or forty years." "This edition accepts and contributes to the growing scholarly consensus that the play is not Shakespeare's solo...
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The acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series, now in a dazzling new series design. The Pelican Shakespeare series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare's time, an introduction to the individual play, and a detailed note on the text used. Updated by general editors Stephen Orgel and A. R. Braunmuller, these easy-to-read...
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The acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series edited by A.R. Braunmuller and Stephen Orgel The legendary Pelican Shakespeare series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare's time, an introduction to the individual play, and a detailed note on the text used. Updated by general editors Stephen Orgel and A.R. Braunmuller,...
8) Cymbeline
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Posthumus, has secretly married his childhood friend Imogen, daughter of King Cymbeline. Cymbeline, upon finding out, banishes Posthumus from the kingdom. Iachimo, a soldier in the Roman army, makes a bet with Posthumus that he can tempt Imogen to be unfaithful. He sneaks into her bedchamber and steels her bracelet. Then he tells Posthumus he has won the bet, offering the bracelet as proof. Posthumus orders his faithful servant Pisanio to murder Imogen....
9) Richard II
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Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, with marginal notes and explanations and full descriptions of each character.
Richard is King. A monarch ordained by God to lead his people. But he is also a man of very human weakness. A man whose vanity threatens to divide the great houses of England and drag his people into a dynastic civil war that will last 100 years.
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Cruel Angelo is left in charge of Vienna when the Duke pretends to leave town. Angelo revives an old law against fornication and sentences Claudio to death for seducing Juliet, Claudio's betrothed. Claudio's sister, Isabella, pleads for his life and Angelo offers to spare him in exchange for her virginity. Angelo's corruption and severity are punished when the Duke reveals that he has witnessed it all.
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The second play in Shakespeare's 'First Tetralogy,' this work continues the fictionalized account of King Henry VI's reign. It commences with the marriage of Henry VI with the French noblewoman Margaret of Anjou, whose influence in court is challenged by Duke Humphrey, the King's Protector. There is a large amount of aristocratic subversion in this play, in which the good Duke Humphrey is fatally ensnared. Richard, the Duke of York, emerges with a...
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Although one of his lesser known plays, Shakespeare's considerable abilities as a playwright are readily apparent in "Troilus and Cressida." This historical and tragic 'problem play', thought to be inspired by Chaucer, Homer, and some of Shakespeare's history-recording contemporaries, is initially a tale of a man and woman in love during the Trojan War. When Cressida is given to the Greeks in exchange for a prisoner of war, Troilus is determined to...
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Planning a school or amateur Shakespeare production? The best way to experience the plays is to perform them, but getting started can be a challenge: The complete plays are too long and complex, while scene selections or simplified language are too limited. "The 30-Minute Shakespeare" is a new series of abridgements that tell the "story" of each play from start to finish while keeping the beauty of Shakespeare's language intact. Specific stage directions...
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Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare's shortest play yet one of his most popular comedies. Here is a new modern-spelling edition, based on the 1623 Folio text with on-page commentary and notes that explain meaning, staging, language and allusions. A detailed and informative introduction describes the play's first performance at Gray's Inn in December 1594, its multiple sources and its uneven critical and theatrical history. Appendices include the complete...
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Featuring the images of some of the world's most famous stage and film actors, these additions to the all-new Oxford School Shakespeare introduce--and enthrall--young people to one of the greatest writers of all time. This season brings revised editions of five of the Bard's most famous plays--As You Like It, Othello, Hamlet, Love's Labour Lost and The Taming of the Shrew. Designed specifically for students unfamiliar with Shakespeare's rich literary...
18) As you like it
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"As You Like It, Shakespeare's most lighthearted comedy and one of the best-loved and most performed of all his plays, was probably written in 1599 or 1600, though it was not printed until the First Folio of 1623. As its witty heroine is Shakespeare's longest female role, the play's performance history is marked by notable Rosalinds, from Hannah Pritchard and Margaret Woffington (giving rival performances in 1741), to Helen Faucit, Ada Rehan, Peggy...
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In King Lear, one of Shakespeare's greatest and most enduring plays, an aging father's demand that his daughters publicly declare their love for him triggers a reaction that involves nations and brings suffering and death to his entire family. The play takes ordinary jealousies, demands for love, sibling rivalries, desires for money and power, and petty cruelties to the extreme. In this play, we see ourselves and our small vices magnified to gigantic...
20) Othello
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Featuring the images of some of the world's most famous stage and film actors, these additions to the all-new Oxford School Shakespeare introduce--and enthrall--young people to one of the greatest writers of all time. This season brings revised editions of five of the Bard's most famous plays--As You Like It, Othello, Hamlet, Love's Labour Lost and The Taming of the Shrew. Designed specifically for students unfamiliar with Shakespeare's rich literary...