William Shakespeare

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...

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...

Believed to have been written in 1603, Shakespeare's Othello is a tragedy that puts the playwright's prodigious creative gifts on full display. Based loosely on a Renaissance-era Italian tale, Othello follows the stormy relationship of the Moorish general Othello and his lovely wife Desdemona. Addressing timeless themes of love and betrayal, as well as surprisingly contemporary concepts such as race-based stereotypes, Othello

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Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, discusses the author and the theater of his time, and provides quizzes and other study activities.

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...

Performed as early as 1611 and published in the "First Folio" in 1623, Shakespeare's "Cymbeline" weaves an elaborate tale of palatial envy and power in Ancient Britain. Cymbeline, King of Britain, commands that his lovely young daughter Imogen marry Cloten, the violent and callous son of the current Queen by her former husband. With her heart already promised to the poor yet heroic Posthumus, Imogen refuses. Disgusted at the prospect of his daughter...

Presents William Shakespeare's play in which Timon, plagued with financial difficulties and with no one to help him, takes up residence in a cave where he finds buried treasure. Includes detailed notes on facing pages, historical background, and scholarly essay.

"Henry VIII" is one of the last plays by William Shakespeare and is considered to be among his finest historical dramas. The play was likely written sometime between the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603 and the burning of the original Globe Theatre in 1613, as "Henry VIII" was being performed the night of the fire when a canon shot for special effects set the theatre's thatched roof alight. The play appeared in print for the first time in the "First...

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...

The epic tale of Macbeth retold in graphic-novel format. Macbeth and Banquo are Scottish generals returning home from a victorious war campaign. Their journey is interrupted when three strange witches come upon them and predict their futures. They claim that Macbeth will one day become King of Scotland! Macbeth is stirred by the prophesy. With the help of his scheming wife, he sets into motion a sinister plan that will paint bloody strokes across...