Barbara A Mowat

King Henry VIII schemes to divorce his wife Katherine of Aragon in order to marry the beautiful Anne Boleyn, even as political intrigues disrupt the court. Includes explanatory notes, scene-by-scene plot summaries, a key to famous lines and phrases, scholarly essay, and illustrations.

"Timon of Athens has struck many readers as rough and unpolished, perhaps even unfinished, though to others it has appeared as Shakespeare's most profound tragic allegory. Described by Coleridge as 'the stillborn twin of King Lear', the play has nevertheless proved brilliantly effective in performance over the past thirty or forty years." "This edition accepts and contributes to the growing scholarly consensus that the play is not Shakespeare's solo...

Presents part two of the trilogy on Henry VI by William Shakespeare, that charts the rise and fall of many of the court nobles and lords within Henry's kingdom; and contains explanatory and textual notes, plot summaries, critical commentaries, and introduction to Shakespearean language.

Presents the annotated text of Shakespeare's tragedy in which Cassius, fearing Julius Caesar's ambition, forms a conspiracy among Roman republicans, including Caesar's trusted friend Brutus, to assassinate him on the Ides of March; includes supplemental materials.

"Titus Andronicus is still regarded by many as a bad play of dubious authorship. Its adversaries have abhorred the violence of the action and the apparent lapses in the quality of the verse. Since 1945, however, the play has been taken increasingly seriously in both the theatre and the study: the violence and cruelty it depicts were disconcertingly matched by the events of two World Wars. Alan Hughes joins those critics who take the play seriously,...

In Othello, William Shakespeare creates powerful drama from a marriage between the exotic Moor Othello and the Venetian lady Desdemona that begins with elopement and mutual devotion and ends with jealous rage and death. Shakespeare builds many differences into his hero and heroine, including race, age, and cultural background. Yet most readers and audiences believe the couple's strong love would overcome these differences were it not for Iago, who...

"This new edition of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor focuses on a theatrical understanding of the play. While emphasising the liveliness of the play in stage terms, David Crane also claims that this citizen comedy needs to be taken much more seriously than in the past, as an expression of Shakespeare's fundamental understanding of human life, conveyed centrally in the character of Falstaff. In the process he also examines Shakespeare's free...

This exclusive collection of the Bard's works has been designed specifically for readers new to Shakespeare's rich literary legacy. Each of the plays is presented unabridged and in large print, copiously annotated and preceded by a character summary and commentary. Brief scene synopses clarify confusing plots, while incisive essays describe the historical context and Shakespeare's sources. The explanatory notes are written clearly and simply, illustrated,...

The third play of Shakespeare's "War of the Roses Tetralogy", this "Part III" is widely regarded as the best of the three works on Henry VI. The Bard's skill in producing scenes of moving drama is readily apparent, for Queen Margaret journeys to France in search of military aid, after King Henry brokers a deal with his enemy Richard, Duke of York, for physical protection. Many bloody and heart-rending battles take place in this play as the War of...

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...