Catalog Search Results
Author
Language
English
Description
Believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598, William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" is considered by some critics as one of his "problem plays." The controversy over the work stems from its portrayal of the character Shylock, a rich Jewish moneylender. The stereotypical depiction of Jews as avaricious usurers was common to the drama of the Elizabethan period. The story centers on the love of Bassanio, a young Venetian nobleman, who...
2) The tempest
Author
Language
English
Description
It is entirely probable that the date of "The Tempest" is 1611, and that this was the last play completed by Shakespeare before he retired from active connection with the theater to spend the remainder of his life in leisure in his native town of Stratford-on-Avon. The main thread of the plot of the drama seems to have been some folk-tale of a magician and his daughter, which, in the precise form in which Shakespeare knew it, has not been recovered....
Author
Series
Publisher
Duke Classics
Language
English
Formats
Description
The Taming of the Shrew (1592) is a comedy by William Shakespeare. Written between 1590 and 1592, The Taming of the Shrew is one of Shakespeare's earliest works. Frequently critiqued by scholars for its demeaning portrayal of Katherina and for Petruchio's violence, the play has also been considered as an ironic treatment of the inequality experienced by women in marriage. The Taming of the Shrew has served as source material for countless film and...
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
Geoffrey Chaucer's fourteenth-century masterpiece The Canterbury Tales is such a rollicking good read that you'll forget many critics and scholars also regard it as one of the most important literary works in English. A group of pilgrims are traveling together to visit a holy shrine at the Canterbury Cathedral. Along the way, they decide to hold a storytelling contest to pass the time, with the winner to be awarded a lavish feast on the
...5) King Lear
Author
Publisher
Duke Classics
Language
English
Description
The story of a king who craves flattery-and the daughter who refuses him even at the cost of her own inheritance.
King Lear wants nothing more than to be praised, and when he decides to divide his realm according to how much each of his daughters can impress him with their declarations of love, Goneril and Regan are quick to oblige. Only the youngest, Cordelia, cannot give him what he wants-and she is promptly cut out of his will.
Lear's decision...
Author
Series
Publisher
Duke Classics
Language
English
Formats
Description
Based on Plutarch's account of the lives of Brutus, Julius Caesar, and Mark Antony, Julius Caesar was the first of Shakespeare's Roman history plays. Presented for the first time in 1599, the play reveals the great dramatist's consummate ability to explore and express the most profound human emotions and instincts. So clearly and urgently does it impact its insights into history and human behavior, Julius Caesar is traditionally among the first of...
Author
Publisher
Duke Classics
Language
English
Formats
Description
Romeo and Juliet (1597) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. Inspired by an Italian tale adapted for an English audience in 1562 by Arthur Brooke and in 1567 by William Painter, Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet sometime between 1591 and 1595. Alongside Hamlet, it is one of Shakespeare's most performed plays and has served as source material for countless film and television adaptations. "Two households, both alike in dignity, / In fair Verona, where...
Author
Publisher
Duke Classics
Language
English
Description
Classic Books Library presents this new beautiful edition of "Shakespeare's Sonnets" (1609). Featuring a specially commissioned new biography of William Shakespeare, it is a must for classical poetry enthusiasts and newcomers alike. Shakespeare's collection of 154 sonnets beautifully explore the age-old human themes of love and beauty, time and mortality, and contain some of the most revered lines in poetry such as, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's...
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
Presents the text of Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors" in which confusion reigns when twin brothers, both named Antipholus, arrive in the same town with their twin servants, both named Dromios, after a lifetime apart; and includes explanatory notes, scene-by-scene plot summaries, and other resources.
Author
Language
English
Description
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...
11) Pygmalion
Author
Publisher
Duke Classics
Language
English
Description
One of George Bernard Shaw's best-known plays, Pygmalion is based on ancient Greek mythology. Pygmalion fell in love with one of his sculptures, which then came to life. The general idea of that myth was a popular subject for Victorian era British playwrights.
Shaw's updated and revised version of this ancient Greek legend was first presented in England in 1914. Poking fun of the antiquated British class system, it introduces Henry Higgins, a professor...
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
The marriage between a duke and Amazon queen sparks a massive celebration, which leads to a congregation of woodland residents, Fairyland creatures and surprising lovers. Set in Athens, A Midsummer Night's Dream follows unsuspecting couples as they fall prey to a supernatural ploy.
Four plots simultaneously take place during the wedding preparations for Theseus, the duke of Athens and Hippolyta, the Amazon queen. Four young people, Hermia, Demetrius,...
Didn't find it?
Can't find what you are looking for? Try our Materials Request Service. Submit Request