Edited Dr. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine
One of Shakespeare's later plays and initially considered a rather lowly example of his work, Cymbeline was disregarded as poorly-conceived 'folly' by such eminent critics as Dr. Johnson. However, in the nineteenth century the play received praise and fondness and it is now fairly highly thought of, partially since it is now not seen as a tragedy but rather a 'romance' and it therefore fits in with The Tempest, Pericles and The Winter's Tale rather than being a poor relation of Coriolanus or Hamlet. It is likely to have been written 1609/10 and was first published in the First Folio of 1623. Its main sources are Holinshed for the English history, Boccaccio for the love story and A Mirror for Magistrates. The story concerns Imogen, the daughter of Cymbeline, King of Britain. Imogen has married Leonatus Posthumus secretly but the girl's stepmother - the queen - reveals this to the king and he banishes Posthumus. The queen's purpose is to bring together her ridiculous son Cloten with Imogen. Yet, Posthumus's certainty about Imogen's fidelity to him is such that in Rome he begins a wager with the Italian Iachimo over a diamond ring she has given him. After a grand deception on the part of the unsuccessful seducer Iachimo, Posthumus orders Imogen's death. Imogen, disguised as Fidele escapes the fatal punishment of Posthumus's jealousy only to be caught up in new disasters among the battles of the Britons and the Roman army. Eventually the truth is revealed and all is resolved but only after much pleading and mistaken identity. Virginia Woolf borrowed the dirge "Fear no more the heat of the sun" as a key theme of her novel Mrs Dalloway. Cymbeline is seen by some as a typical late-Shakespeare reconciliation play with the elements of a steadily darkening plot that involves murder before matters are straightened out to the benefit of all, as in The Winter's Tale and The Tempest.

An enlightening and entertaining collection of the most esteemed love poems in the English canon, retold in contemporary language everyone can understand
 
James Anthony has long enjoyed poetry with a strict adherence to beat, rhythm, and rhyming patterns, which he likens to the very best pop songs. This drew him to the rewarding 14-line structure of Shakespeare’s sonnets, yet he often found their abstract language frustratingly unintelligible. One day, out of curiosity, he rewrote Sonnet 18—Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day—line-by-line, in the strict five-beat iambic pentameter and rhyming patterns of the original, but in a contemporary language a modern reader could easily understand. The meaning and sentiment—difficult to spot, initially—came to life, revealing new intricacies in the workings of Shakespeare's heart.
 
And so, James embarked on a full-time, year-long project to rewrite all 154 of the Bard's eternal verses creating SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS, RETOLD. This collection of masterful reinterpretations brilliantly demystifies and breathes new life into Shakespeare's work, demonstrating the continued resonance of a playwright whose popularity remains over 400 years after his death. Now, the passion, heartbreak, deception, reconciliation, and mortality of Shakespeare’s originals can be understood by all, without the need to cross reference to an enjoyment-sapping study-guide. Coming with a foreword by Stephen Fry, this is a stunning collection of beautiful love poems made new.

The Oxford Shakespeare General Editor: Stanley Wells The Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative texts from leading scholars in editions designed to interpret and illuminate the plays for modern readers - The only single-volume, modern-spelling edition both to offer a reconstruction of the original play and to reproduce the corrupt Quarto text of 1609 exactly as first printed - On-page commentary and notes explains meaning, staging, language, and allusions - Detailed introduction explains the complex textual situation and Shakespeare's probable collaboration with George Wilkins - Illustrated with production photographs and related art - Full index to introduction and commentary - Durable sewn binding for lasting use 'not simply a better text but a new conception of Shakespeare. This is a major achievement of twentieth-century scholarship' ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

FROM THE WORLD FAMOUS ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY, THE FIRST AUTHORITATIVE, MODERNIZED, AND CORRECTED EDITION OF SHAKESPEARE’S FIRST FOLIO IN THREE CENTURIES.
Skillfully assembled by Shakespeare’s fellow actors in 1623, the First Folio was the original Complete Works. It is arguably the most important literary work in the English language. But starting with Nicholas Rowe in 1709 and continuing to the present day, Shakespeare editors have mixed Folio and Quarto texts, gradually corrupting the original Complete Works with errors and conflated textual variations.
Now Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, two of today’s most accomplished Shakespearean scholars, have edited the First Folio as a complete book, resulting in a definitive Complete Works for the twenty-first century.
Combining innovative scholarship with brilliant commentary and textual analysis that emphasizes performance history and values, this landmark edition will be indispensable to students, theater professionals, and general readers alike.
For more information on this Modern Library edition, visit www.therscshakespeare.com

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)
Shakespeare’s later comedies were written at the astonishing pace of about two plays a year. In them, he moves beyond the farce of his earlier comedies to richer and more varied dramas. These range from the famous “problem plays,” which blend humor with tragedy, to the idyllic romances set in such timeless locales as the Forest of Arden. They contain some of his wittiest and most memorable characters, from cross-dressing heroines, bantering lovers, and wisecracking fools to the villainous but sympathetic Shylock and the boisterous and bawdy Falstaff.
This volume contains The Merchant of Venice , The Merry Wives of Windsor , Much Ado About Nothing , As You Like It , Twelfth Night , All’s Well That Ends Well , and Measure for Measure . The authoritatively edited text of the plays is supplemented with footnotes, bibliographies, a detailed chronology of Shakespeare’s life and times, and a substantial introduction in which Tony Tanner discusses each play individually and in the context of Shakespeare’s work.

"Why does it make me think of murder?"

When he meets three witches Macbeth finds his life turned upside down. This revered soldier will now do anything to be King...including killing his cousin, the current monarch, King Duncan.
With his wife's encouragement Macbeth sets out on a journey of deceit, lust and murder.
In this book Aaron McCarthy retells the story for a modern audience. The dialogue is updated but the meanings remain the same.
A "book-form" adaptation that removes the language barrier holding so many back from truly enjoying William Shakespeare's masterpiece.

"She leant up for a kiss he did not return."

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Please Note: This eBook includes both Aaron McCarthy's "book-form" adaptation and a copy of William Shakespeare's original play.

NEW FOR 2011 Everything you need to know, do and say to get the grade you want! Now in full colour, updated for the new GCSE and available in a new, student-friendly size, York Notes for GCSE is now easier to use, easier to read so it's easier than ever to get top marks. Written by examiners and teachers to give you an expert understanding of the text you're studying, York Notes has the most in-depth coverage and analysis of everything from themes and contexts to characters, plots and language. You'll get the low-down on everything you'll need to demonstrate how well you understand the text and write the best essays. There are sample answers, essay plans and specialist guidance on understanding the questions you'll be asked in an exam, together with an array of handy quotes, checklists, study tips, grade boosters and revision activities to help you learn, revise efficiently and remember everything you'll need to write the very best answers. It's the ultimate guide to revision and exam success. For over 25 years, York Notes has been helping GCSE students just like you achieve the very best grade they can in their exam. So if you're looking for straightforward, easy-to-use advice on how to boost your grades to the next level, York Notes for GCSE is the only guide you're going to need.

Hailed by The Washington Post as "a definitive synthesis of the best editions" and by The Times of London as "a monument to Shakespearean scholarship," The Oxford Shakespeare is the ultimate anthology of the Bard's work: the most authoritative edition of the plays and poems ever published.
Now, almost two decades after the original volume, Oxford is proud to announce a thoroughly updated second edition, including for the first time the texts of The Reign of Edward III and Sir Thomas More, recognizing these two plays officially as authentic works by Shakespeare. This beautiful collection is the product of years of full-time research by a team of British and American scholars and represents the most thorough examination ever undertaken of the nature and authority of Shakespeare's work. The editors reconsidered every detail of the text in the light of modern scholarship and they thoroughly re-examined the earliest printed versions of the plays, firmly establishing the canon and chronological order of composition. All stage directions have been reconsidered in light of original staging, and many new directions for essential action have been added. This superb volume also features a brief introduction to each work as well as an illuminating General Introduction. Finally, the editors have added a wealth of secondary material, including an essay on language, a list of contemporary allusions to Shakespeare, an index of Shakespearean characters, a glossary, a consolidated bibliography, and an index of first lines of the Sonnets.
Compiled by the world's leading authorities, packed with information, and attractively designed, The Oxford Shakespeare is the gold standard of Shakespearean anthologies.

《莎士比亚喜剧悲剧全集（全六册）》完整收录了莎士比亚喜剧、悲剧总计二十三出戏剧。全集共六册，三册喜剧，三册悲剧。
1947年，朱生豪先生译著《莎士比亚戏剧全集》由世界书局出版。全书即以该版为底本进行甄选与编校。作为中国较早译介莎士比亚作品的翻译家，朱生豪译文首要宗旨系“保持原作之神韵”，其次为晓畅明白。译著至今已七十载有余，仍广受欢迎。
朱译与当今汉语格调基本一致，其中颇有特色的吴语方言及为现代读者不识却富含典故、文采斐然的语词，本版皆予以保留。若联系语境，这些表达既不会对理解原文造成障碍，读者也可由此领略原译神韵。

★流行70余年、呈现莎剧原作神韵经典译本
★民国36年世界书局定本全新简体修订版
★台本形式排版，充分展现“可供阅读的剧本”，方便读者
★完整收录莎士比亚、朱生豪年谱
★全套六册囊括所有莎士比亚代表作品

作者
威廉·莎士比亚 （1564-1616）
英国剧作家、诗人、演员
现存剧本39部、长诗2首、十四行诗154首等
“他不属于一个时代，而是属于永远。”

译者
朱生豪 （1912-1944）
原名朱文森，浙江嘉兴人，诗人、翻译家。
1936年开始翻译莎士比亚戏剧。至去世，共译成莎剧31部。
他是中国较早翻译莎士比亚作品的译者。

Dark and violent, Macbeth is also the most theatrically spectacular of Shakespeare's tragedies. Promised a golden future as ruler of Scotland by three sinister witches, Macbeth murders the king to ensure his ambitions are realized. But he soon learns the meaning of terror - killing once, he must kill again and again, and the dead return to haunt him. A story of war and witchcraft, Macbeth also explores the relationship between husband and wife, and the risks they are prepared to take to achieve their desires.
This Macmillan Collector's Library edition is illustrated throughout by renowned artist Sir John Gilbert (1817-1897), and features and introduction by Dr Robert Mighall.
Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

Henry VIII is a history play generally believed to be a collaboration between William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, based on the life of Henry VIII of England. An alternative title, All is True, is recorded in contemporary documents, the title Henry VIII not appearing until the play's publication in the First Folio of 1623. Stylistic evidence indicates that individual scenes were written by either Shakespeare or his collaborator and successor, John Fletcher. It is also somewhat characteristic of the late romances in its structure. It is noted for having more stage directions than any of Shakespeare's other plays.[1]

During a performance of Henry VIII at the Globe Theatre in 1613, a cannon shot employed for special effects ignited the theatre's thatched roof (and the beams), burning the original building to the ground.

King Cymbeline rules over Britain under the protection of Rome. His kingdom must pay tribute. Cymbeline learns that his only daughter, Imogen, has secretly married his ward, Posthumus Leonatus, a man of low birth. Furious with the couple's disobedience, Cymbeline decides to banish Posthumus from Britain.

The newly revised, wonderfully authoritative First Folio of William Shakespeare’s Complete Works, edited by acclaimed Shakespearean scholars and endorsed by the world-famous Royal Shakespeare Company
Skillfully assembled by Shakespeare’s fellow actors in 1623, the First Folio was the original Complete Works—arguably the most important literary work in the English language. But starting with Nicholas Rowe in 1709 and continuing to the present day, Shakespeare editors have mixed Folio and Quarto texts, gradually corrupting the original Complete Works with errors and conflated textual variations.
The second edition of the Complete Works features annotations and commentary from Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen—two of today’s preeminent Shakespeare scholars—as well as cutting-edge textual design, on-page glossaries for contemporary readers, stage directions from RSC directors, a sixteen-page insert of photographs from RSC production shorts, a timeline of the plays and poems, and family trees for the Histories.
Combining innovative scholarship with brilliant commentary and textual analysis that emphasizes performance history and values, this landmark edition is indispensable to students, theater professionals, and general readers alike.

"King Lear", one of Shakespeare's darkest and most savage plays, tells the story of the foolish and Job-like Lear, who divides his kingdom, as he does his affections, according to vanity and whim. Lear's failure as a father engulfs himself and his world in turmoil and tragedy. He changes from king to beggar, and finally, to man, in a pattern of loss and discovery which reflects the archetype of tragic wisdom.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is acknowledged as the greatest dramatist of all time. He excels in plot, poetry and wit, and his talent encompasses the great tragedies of Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth as well as the moving history plays and the comedies such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew and As You Like It with their magical combination of humour, ribaldry and tenderness. This volume is a reprint of the Shakespeare Head Press edition, and it presents all the plays in chronological order in which they were written. It also includes Shakespeare's Sonnets, as well as his longer poems Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece.

Adopted at more than 1,000 colleges and universities, Bedford/St. Martin's innovative "Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism" series has introduced more than a quarter of a million students to literary theory and earned enthusiastic praise nationwide. Along with an authoritative text of a major literary work, each volume presents critical essays, selected or prepared especially for students, that approach the work from several contemporary critical perspectives, such as gender criticism and cultural studies. Each essay is accompanied by an introduction (with bibliography) to the history, principles, and practice of its critical perspective. Every volume also surveys the biographical, historical, and critical contexts of the literary work and concludes with a glossary of critical terms. New editions reprint cultural documents that contextualize the literary works and feature essays that show how critical perspectives can be combined.