**Read Shakespeare’s plays in all their brilliance—and understand what every word means!**
Don’t be intimidated by Shakespeare! These popular guides make the Bard’s plays accessible and enjoyable.
*Each No Fear guide contains*:
- The complete text of the original play
- A line-by-line translation that puts the words into everyday language
- A complete list of characters, with descriptions
- Plenty of helpful commentary

'With the publication of Woudhuysen's Arden 3 edition, the magisterial study of the play that will energise a new generation of readers and directors has now arrived.' Eric Rasmussen, University of Nevada at Reno, Shakespeare Survey

David Scott Kastan lucidly explores the remarkable richness and the ambitious design of King Henry IV Part 1 and shows how these complicate any easy sense of what kind of play it is. Conventionally regarded as a history play, much of it is in fact conspicuously invented fiction, and Kastan argues that the non-historical, comic plot does not simply parody the historical action but by its existence raises questions about the very nature of history. The full and engaging introduction devotes extensive discussion to the play's language, indicating how its insistent economic vocabulary provides texture for the social concerns of the play and focuses attention on the central relationship between value and political authority.

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. 'Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably.' One of Shakespeare's most witty and enjoyable comedies, Much Ado About Nothing is a play that explores courtship, romance and marriage through a number of relationships. Most famously, that of the irrepressible Beatrice and Benedick as they trade their wits against one another, criticising the notion of marriage, yet slowly falling in love with one another as they do so.

FOLGER Shakespeare Library The world's leading center for Shakespeare studies Each edition includes: • Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play • Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play • Scene-by-scene plot summaries • A key to famous lines and phrases • An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language • An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play • Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books Essay by A. R. Braunmuller The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit www.folger.edu.

FOLGER Shakespeare Library THE WORLD'S LEADING CENTER FOR SHAKESPEARE STUDIES Each edition includes: · Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play · Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play · Scene-by-scene plot summaries · A key to famous lines and phrases · An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language · An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play · Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books Essay by Alexander Leggatt The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit www.folger.edu.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English poet and playwright, now widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Between 1585 and 1592 he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of the playing company the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He produced most of his known work between 1590 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century. Next he wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, producing plays, such as Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies and collaborated with other playwrights.

The world's leading center for Shakespeare studies Each edition includes: • printed version of the play
•Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play
•Scene-by-scene plot summaries
•A key to famous lines and phrases
•An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language
•An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
•Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books Essay by Jeffrey Masten

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Harold Bloom begins his introduction to this text by claiming that nothing in language goes beyond The Tragedy of King Lear. This text includes a brief biography of William Shakespeare, thematic and structural analysis of the play, as well as a host of critical essays by some of the most prominent experts on the text. This series is edited by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University; Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Professor of English, New York University Graduate School. These texts are the ideal aid for all students of literature, presenting concise, easy-to-understand biographical, critical, and bibliographical information on a specific literary work. Also provided are multiple sources for book reports and term papers with a wealth of information on literary works, authors, and major characters. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The Winter's Tale was one of the very last plays Shakespeare wrote, a moving romance whose themes are sin, forgiveness, death, rebirth, and the power of Time and Nature to heal all wounds. Based on a novella by Shakespeare's enemy and arch rival Robert Greene, The Winter's Tale introduces Perdita, perhaps the Bard's most richly symbolic character. At times tragic, at times humorous, but always entertaining and instructive, The Winters Tale is a complex and rewarding work by the greatest dramatist of all time.
A Shakespeare Society Production.
The complete play in four acts.

Eminent Shakespearean scholars Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen provide a fresh new edition of Richard II, chronologically the first of the eight plays in Shakespeare’s History Cycle, which marks the beginning of a great schism within the nobility of England that will leave the nation riven by bloody conflict for the next hundred years. This volume also includes more than a hundred pages of exclusive features, including:
• an original Introduction to Richard II
• incisive scene-by-scene synopsis and analysis with vital facts about the work
• commentary on past and current productions based on interviews with leading directors, actors, and designers
• photographs of key RSC productions
• an overview of Shakespeare’s theatrical career and chronology of his plays
Ideal for students, theater professionals, and general readers, these modern and accessible editions from the Royal Shakespeare Company set a new standard in Shakespearean literature for the twenty-first century.

The authoritative edition of Henry V from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers.

Henry V is Shakespeare’s most famous “war play”; it includes the storied English victory over the French at Agincourt. Some of it glorifies war, especially the choruses and Henry’s speeches urging his troops into battle. But we also hear bishops conniving for war to postpone a bill that would tax the church, and soldiers expecting to reap profits from the conflict. Even in the speeches of Henry and his nobles, there are many chilling references to the human cost of war.

This edition includes:
-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play
-Scene-by-scene plot summaries
-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases
-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language
-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books
-An annotated guide to further reading

Essay by Michael Neill

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

One of Shakespeare's comedies, Much Ado About Nothing is the tale of the feisty Beatrice, who wants never to get married and be submissive to a husband - and wants, in particular, never to marry Benedick: or so she says. And so he says. They are tricked into believing each is in love with the other, and this brings about a genuine sympathy between them. Meanwhile, and less in the comic vein, a contrasting love match is brought into jeopardy by conniving and lies when Hero is slandered and Claudio believes what he hears. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

A romantic tragedy about the relationship between Mark Antony and the Queen of Egypt, including notes and critical commentary.

Pericles tells of a prince who risks his life to win a princess, but discovers that she is in an incestuous relationship with her father and flees to safety. He marries another princess, but she dies giving birth to their daughter. The adventures continue from one disaster to another until the grown-up daughter pulls her father out of despair and the play moves toward a gloriously happy ending.

The complete works of Shakespeare have to be considered among the greatest works in all of English literature. This Kindle ebook contains Shakespeare's complete plays and complete poems in a new, easy-to-read and easy-to-navigate format.
What's included:
COMEDIES
All's Well That Ends Well
As You Like It
The Comedy of Errors
Cymbeline
Love's Labours Lost
Measure for Measure
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merchant of Venice
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Much Ado About Nothing
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Taming of the Shrew
The Tempest
Troilus and Cressida
Twelfth Night
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Winter's Tale
HISTORIES
Henry IV, part 1
Henry IV, part 2
Henry V
Henry VI, part 1
Henry VI, part 2
Henry VI, part 3
Henry VIII
King John
Richard II
Richard III
TRAGEDIES
Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Hamlet
Julius Caesar
King Lear
Macbeth
Othello
Romeo and Juliet
Timon of Athens
Titus Andronicus
THE COMPLETE POEMS
154 Sonnets
A Lover's Complaint
The Rape of Lucrece
Venus and Adonis
A Funeral Elegy
This version has been optimized for readability on the Kindle and includes:
BEAUTIFUL FORMATTING
Character names are offset from the dialogue so it is easy to discern who is speaking. There is plenty of white-space which makes reading easy on the eyes.
FULLY FEATURED TABLE OF CONTENTS
The full TOC appears at the beginning of the book and can be accessed through the MENU or GO TO button.