"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...

The Oresteia by Aeschylus, the only extant trilogy among the Greek tragedies, is one of the great foundational texts of Western culture. Beginning with Agamemnon, which describes Agamemnon's return from the Trojan War and his murder at the hands of his wife, Clytemnestra, and continuing through Orestes' murder of Clytemnestra in Libation Bearers and his acquittal at Athena's court in Eumenides, the trilogy traces the evolution of justice in human...

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...

"Dark and violent, Macbeth is also the most theatrically spectacular of Shakespeare's tragedies. Indeed, for 250 years it was performed with grand operatic additions set to baroque music. In his introduction Nicholas Brooke relates the play's changing fortunes to changes within society and the theatre and investigates the sources of its enduring appeal. He examines its many layers of illusion and interprets its linguistic turns and echoes, arguing...

Shakespeare's play about an indecisive Danish prince urged on to revenge against his uncle by his murdered father.

"Othello, the general of the Venetian army, holds much power and influence but becomes the target of an insidious plot to steal his coveted position. He is overcome with paranoia and enthralled with rumors of his wife's potential infidelity. Othello has fallen in love with a senator's daughter, Desdemona, and the two secretly marry. Their partnership generates shock and confusion as Desdemona was also loved by Roderigo, who'd already asked for her...

Timon is a wealthy and generous Athenian gentleman. He gives a large banquet, attended by nearly all the main characters. Timon gives away money wastefully, and everyone wants to please him to get more, except for Apemantus, whose cynicism Timon cannot yet appreciate.

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.

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,...

This is the most extensively annotated edition of Macbeth currently available, offering a thorough reconsideration of one of Shakespeare's most popular plays. A full and accessible introduction studies the immediate theatrical and political contexts of Macbeth's composition, especially the Gunpowder Plot and the contemporary account of an early performance at the Globe. It treats such celebrated issues as whether the Witches compel Macbeth to murder;...