William Shakespeare

"The permanent popularity, now of mythic intensity, of Romeo and Juliet is more than justified," writes eminent scholar Harold Bloom, "since the play is the largest and most persuasive celebration of romantic love in Western literature." William Shakespeare (1564-1616) based his early romantic tragedy on Arthur Brooke's 1562 poem The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet. Shakespeare's resulting masterpiece, in turn, has inspired countless retellings...

William Shakespeare's classic tragedy about Macbeth and his wife, who plot to kill the king and his heirs in order to seize the crown of Scotland. Includes textual notes, chronology, and scene-by-scene analysis.

Eminent Shakespearean scholars Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen provide a fresh new edition of this masterpiece of political power play and manipulation--along with more than a hundred pages of exclusive features.

Midsummer Night's Dream is Shakespeare's classic tale of two couples who can't quite pair up to everyone's satisfaction. Demetrius and Lysander love Hermia. Hermia loves Lysander but has been promised to Demetrius by her father. Hermia's best friend Helena loves Demetrius, but in his obsession for Hermia Demetrius barely even notices her smitten friend. When Hermia and Lysander plan to elope all four find themselves in the forest late at

...

PASSIONATE LOVE IN A PREJUDICED WORLD

In Shakespeare's most intimate tragedy, director Bill Rauch explores racism, religious bias, xenophobia, and the more disturbing aspects of relationships in the context of our society's ongoing struggle with polarizing differences.

Consumed by their bigotry, those who praised the Moorish general Othello's military successes now reject his marriage to Desdemona. The newlyweds are determined to overcome

...

The Tempest is thought by many to be Shakespeare's greatest and most perfect play. When the magician Prospero deliberately summons a storm to overcome his enemy King Alonso of Naples ship the passengers are washed ashore on a fantastical island. Prospero manipulates the king, his entourage, apparitions and fiends as he schemes revenge on the hapless Alonso. Prospero's daughter and the King's son Ferdinand fall in love and their fraught lover

...

Another case of mistaken identity from the king of the plot twist, Twelfth Night tells the tale of the beautiful young Viola who is separated from her twin brother, Sebastian, when their ship is lost at sea. Believing Sebastian to be dead Viol poses as a man and enters service with the Duke Orisino. When Olivia, the woman that Orisino loves, falls for his messenger "boy" Viola and she in turn falls for the Duke the stage is set for a classic

...

Edition of William Shakespeare's Much ado about nothing, with extensive explanatory notes on facing pages, and essays about Shakespeare's life, plays, and interpretation.