Written near the end of Shakespeare's most phenomenally creative period, Antony and Cleopatra is perhaps the most ambitious of all Shakespeare's designs, in its unmatched geographical and historial sweep, its bold mingling of genres, and its extraordinary variety of style, mood, and effect. Yet the degree and nature of its success remain surprisingly contentious, and performances of the play have seldom matched the extravagant expectations of its admirers. The wideranging introduction to this new edition considers the paradoxes of the play's reception from a number of angles. A full discussion of Shakespeare's sources (the most important of which is excerpted in a generous appendix) considers ways in which these may have influenced the play's problematic design. A comprehensive stage history illustrates how the theatrical fortunes of Antony and Cleopatra continue to be affected by the inappropriate spectacular traditions of nineteenth-century staging, and by an enduring gender-inflected orientalism that has particularly distorted responses to the character of Cleopatra. A substantial critical section examines how the technique of the play - its deliberate frustrations of expectation, its carefully constructed tensions between rhetoric and action, and its daring exploitation of bathos and anti-climax - may have contributed to the sense of disappointment which colours so many accounts of performance. The editor argues that such effects are structural to the paradoxical vision of this tragedy and to its disturbed preoccupation with the unstable boundaries of gender and identity. The text has been freshly edited in accordance with the principles of the series, and the extensive commentary is attentive to the theatrical dimensions of the play as well as to the rich complexity of its poetic language.

Titus shoots his arrows bearing petitions for justice to the gods; Claudius asks 'what form of prayer can serve my turn?'; Lear wishes he could crack the vault of heaven with his prayers. Again and again, Shakespeare dramatises the scenario of the unheard prayer, in which the one who prays does so full well in the knowledge that no one is listening, interested, or even there at all. The scenario is keyed to the anxieties that surrounded the act of praying itself, so full as it was with controversy, the centrepiece of sectarian dispute over what was good and bad religion. This study reads the unheard prayer scenario as itself an appeal for a vision of tolerance, unobtainable perhaps, but nevertheless desired and imagined.

'The work of Shakespeare is virtually infinite' Jorge Luis Borges A jealous king, convinced that his wife has been unfaithful and is having another man's baby, imprisons her and puts her on trial. The child is abandoned to die, but when she is found and raised by a shepherd, it seems redemption may be possible. A bravura blend of tragedy, comedy and romance, Shakespeare's emotionally potent late play explores artifice and nature, mortality and renewal, and the destructive and consoling effects of time. Used and Recommended by the National Theatre General Editor Stanley Wells Edited by Ernest Schanzer Introduction by Russ McDonald

From the entry of Shakespeare's birth in the Stratford church register to a Norwegian production of Macbeth in which the hero was represented by a tomato, this enthralling and splendidly illustrated book tells the story of Shakespeare's life, his writings, and his afterlife.

Drawing on a lifetime's experience of studying, teaching, editing, and writing about Shakespeare, Stanley Wells combines scholarly authority with authorial flair in a book that will appeal equally to the specialist and the untutored enthusiast. Chapters on Shakespeare's life in Stratford and in London offer a fresh view of the development of the writer's career and personality. At the core of the book lies a magisterial study of the writings themselves--how Shakespeare set about writing a play, his relationships with the company of actors with whom he worked, his developing mastery of the literary and rhetorical skills that he learned at the Stratford grammar school, the essentially theatrical quality of the structure and language of his plays. Subsequent chapters trace the fluctuating fortunes of his reputation and influence. Here are accounts of adaptations, productions, and individual performances in England and, increasingly, overseas; of great occasions such as the Garrick Jubilee and the tercentenary celebrations of 1864; of the spread of Shakespeare's reputation in France and Germany, Russia and America, and, more recently, the Far East; of Shakespearian discoveries and forgeries; of critical reactions, favorable and otherwise, and of scholarly activity; of paintings, music, films and other works of art inspired by the plays; of the plays' use in education and the political arena, and of the pleasure and intellectual stimulus that they have given to an increasingly international public.

Shakespeare, said Ben Jonson, was not of an age but for all time. This is a book about him for our time.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, with marginal notes and explanations and full descriptions of each character.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

Shakespeare's enduring characters are set adrift in present-day Athens, but a present with a massive difference - an alternative history. Rigid class systems and 'god given' monarchies of the past have not been lost. Modern technologies meet ancient tradition; and the citizens of Athens are frustrated by continuing restrictions and hierarchies. Only the forest, home to the fairies and fey spirits can offer the illicit lovers what they seek.

* This is the first book on acting Shakespeare that incorporates modern clown techniques and historically informed performance principles in a way that synthesizes well with contemporary acting technique. * This book is pragmatic and clear for the 21st-century actor and director. All of the information is explained in a manner that can be easily translated into acting choices through a conventional rehearsal process. * The case study section presents several interpretive examples that show how the principles and techniques presented in this book can be used selectively and in concert to create a role.

Edited, introduced and annotated by Cedric Watts, M.A., Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of English, University of Sussex. The Winter's Tale, one of Shakespeare's later romantic comedies, offers a striking and challenging mixture of tragic and violent events, lyrical love-speeches, farcical comedy, pastoral song and dance, and, eventually, dramatic revelations and reunions. Thematically, there is a rich orchestration of the contrasts between age and youth, corruption and innocence, decline and regeneration. Both Leontes' murderous jealousy and Perdita's love-relationship with Florizel are eloquently intense. In the theatre, The Winter's Tale often proves to be diversely entertaining and deeply moving.

Pivotal Lines in Shakespeare and Others defines a pivotal line as "a moment in the script that serves as a pathway into the larger play ... a magnet to which the rest of the play, scenes before and after, adheres." Homan offers his personal choices of such lines in five plays by Shakespeare and works by Beckett, Brecht, Pinter, Shepard, and Stoppard. Drawing on his own experience in the theatre as actor and director and on campus as a teacher and scholar, he pairs a Shakespearean play with one by a modern playwright as mirrors for each other. One reviewer calls his approach "ground-breaking." Another observes that his "experience with the particular plays he has chosen is invaluable" since it allows us to find "a wedge into such ironic texts." Academics and students alike will find this volume particularly useful in aiding their own discovery of a pivotal line or moment in the experience of reading about, watching, or performing in a play.

Building Embodiment: Integrating Acting, Voice, and Movement to Illuminate Poetic Text offers a collection of strategic and practical approaches to understanding, analyzing, and embodying a range of heightened text styles, including Greek Tragedy, Shakespeare, and Restoration/Comedy of Manners. These essays offer insights from celebrated teachers across the disciplines of acting, voice, and movement, and are designed to help actors find deeper vocal and physical connections to poetic text. Although each dramatic genre offers a unique set of challenges, Building Embodiment highlights instances where techniques can integrate and overlap, and illustrates how the synthesis of body, brain, and word results in a fuller sense of character experiencing for both the actor and the audience. This book bridges the gap between academic and professional application, and invites the student and professional actor into a deeper experience of character and story.

Building Embodiment: Integrating Acting, Voice, and Movement to Illuminate Poetic Text offers a collection of strategic and practical approaches to understanding, analyzing, and embodying a range of heightened text styles, including Greek Tragedy, Shakespeare, and Restoration/Comedy of Manners. These essays offer insights from celebrated teachers across the disciplines of acting, voice, and movement, and are designed to help actors find deeper vocal and physical connections to poetic text. Although each dramatic genre offers a unique set of challenges, Building Embodiment highlights instances where techniques can integrate and overlap, and illustrates how the synthesis of body, brain, and word results in a fuller sense of character experiencing for both the actor and the audience. This book bridges the gap between academic and professional application, and invites the student and professional actor into a deeper experience of character and story.

The New Cambridge Shakespeare appeals to students worldwide for its up-to-date scholarship and emphasis on performance. The series features line-by-line commentaries and textual notes on the plays and poems. Introductions are regularly refreshed with accounts of new critical, stage and screen interpretations. In this second edition of The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Kurt Schlueter approaches Shakespeare's early comedy as a parody of two types of Renaissance educational fiction: the love-quest story and the test-of-friendship story, which in combination show high-flown human ideals as incompatible with each other and with human nature. Since the first known production at David Garrick's Drury Lane Theatre, the play has tempted major directors and actors, though changing conceptions of the play often fail to recognise its subversive impetus. This updated edition includes a new introductory section by Lucy Munro on recent stage and critical interpretations, bringing the thoroughly researched, illustrated performance history up to date.

Macbeth, a successful solider, is visited by Three Witches who claim he will soon become king, but his ascension may be thwarted by other parties. Macbeth is driven by ambition and takes drastic steps to secure his place on the throne. After a successful military career in the Scottish army, Macbeth receives life-changing news. Three Witches deliver a prophesy stating that he will be the country's future king. He shares this information with his wife, Lady Macbeth, who is intrigued by his fate. The duo is concerned about potential threats to his position including the king's son Malcolm and the army captain, Banquo. Macbeth becomes obsessed with the prophesy, committing acts of violence towards the current King Duncan, his heir and the captain. As Macbeth's desire for power grows, so does the bloodshed across the kingdom. Macbeth is a haunting prophecy that hinges on the moral decisions of its protagonist. This captivating story highlights the many flaws of man including ego, greed and fear. It's a brilliant character-driven piece that's one of Shakespeare's most adapted and performed plays. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Macbeth is both modern and readable.

Julius Caesar was a general and stateman whose favor among the Roman people was viewed as a threat and source of conflict with other consuls. He was eventually targeted by a group of conspirators who sought to neutralize his power and influence. After defeating his longtime enemy, Pompey, Caesar is celebrated upon his return home. Roman citizens are enamored by the general, while politicians are concerned with his growing accomplishments. They fear Caesar will become driven by ambition, coveting a position as the king of Rome. A group of conspirators, including the reluctant Brutus, create a plot to assassinate Caesar, effectively ending his rise to power. The action sparks civil unrest, leading to the discovery of the participants true motivations. William Shakespeare's interpretation of Julius Caesar's story is arguably the most famous version. It's been adapted across various mediums including film and television. The story is ripe with deception and betrayal but also guilt and retribution. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Julius Caesar is both modern and readable.

Shakespeare and Cultural Appropriation pushes back against two intertwined binaries: the idea that appropriation can only be either theft or gift, and the idea that cultural appropriation should be narrowly defined as an appropriative contest between a hegemonic and marginalized power. In doing so, the contributions to the collection provide tools for thinking about appropriation and cultural appropriation as spectrums constantly evolving and renegotiating between the poles of exploitation and appreciation. This collection argues that the concept of cultural appropriation is one of the most undertheorized yet evocative frameworks for Shakespeare appropriation studies to address the relationships between power, users, and uses of Shakespeare. By robustly theorizing cultural appropriation, this collection offers a foundation for interrogating not just the line between exploitation and appreciation, but also how distinct values, biases, and inequities determine where that line lies. Ultimately, this collection broadly employs cultural appropriation to rethink how Shakespeare studies can redirect attention back to power structures, cultural ownership and identity, and Shakespeare's imbrication within those networks of power and influence. Throughout the contributions in this collection, which explore twentieth and twenty-first century global appropriations of Shakespeare across modes and genres, the collection uncovers how a deeper exploration of cultural appropriation can reorient the inquiries of Shakespeare appropriation studies. This collection will be of great interest to students and scholars in theatre and performance studies, Shakespeare studies and adaption studies.

This book analyses the epistemological problems that Shakespeare explores in Othello. In particular, it uses the methods of analytic philosophy, especially the work of the later Wittgenstein, to characterize these problems and the play.

This book lays bare the dialogue between Shakespeare and critics of the stage, and positions it as part of an ongoing cultural, ethical, and psychological debate about the effects of performance on actors and on spectators. In so doing, the book makes a substantial contribution both to the study of representations of theatre in Shakespeare's plays and to the understanding of ethical concerns about acting and spectating-then, and now. The book opens with a comprehensive and coherent analysis of the main early modern English anxieties about theatre and its power. These are read against 20th- and 21st-century theories of acting, interviews with actors, and research into the effects of media representation on spectator behaviour, all of which demonstrate the lingering relevance of antitheatrical claims and the personal and philosophical implications of acting and spectating. The main part of the book reveals Shakespeare's responses to major antitheatrical claims about the powerful effects of poetry, music, playacting, and playgoing. It also demonstrates the evolution of Shakespeare's view of these claims over the course of his career: from light-hearted parody in A Midsummer Night's Dream, through systematic contemplation in Hamlet, to acceptance and dramatization in The Tempest. This study will be of great interest to scholars and students of theatre, English literature, history, and culture.

This volume takes a deep dive into the philosophical hermeneutics of Shakespearean tradition providing insight into the foundations, theories, and methodologies of hermeneutics in Shakespeare. Central to this research, this volume investigates fundamental questions including: what is philosophical hermeneutics, why philosophical hermeneutics, what do literary and cultural Hermeneutics do, and in what ways can literary and cultural hermeneutics benefit the interpretation of Shakespearean plays? Hermeneutic Shakespeare guides the readers through two main discussions. Beginning with the understanding of "Philosophical Hermeneutics," and the general principles of literary and cultural Hermeneutics, the volume includes philosophers such as Fredrich Ast, Daniel Friedrich Schleiermacher, and Wilhelm Dilthey, as well as Ludwig Wittgenstein, Martin Heidegger, Hans-Georg Gadamer, and more recently, Steven Connor. Part two of this volume applies universal principles of philosophical hermeneutics to explicate the historical, philosophical, acquired, and applied literary interpretations through the critical practices of Shakespeare's plays or their adaptations, including The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, and Comedy of Errors. Aimed at scholars and students alike, this volume aims to contribute to contemporary understanding of Shakespeare and literature hermeneutics.

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 hand. Othello's ensign, Iago, is envious of the general and is spurned when he promotes the young Cassio to a higher position. This marks the beginning of a plot in which Iago plans to destroy Othello's personal and professional life. He attacks his marriage by stoking the flames of jealousy, insinuating Desdemona's infidelity. This leads to a violent confrontation with a morbid outcome. Othello is one of William Shakespeare's most well-known plays. It tackles multiple topics including race, gender, politics and revenge. It's a gripping drama that details the dangers of greed, envy and their inescapable consequences. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Othello is both modern and readable.

In a race against the clock, identical twin brothers unexpectedly trade places, which threatens one brother's marriage, the other's sanity and both of their freedom. It's a slapstick comedy full of hijinks and convoluted conflicts. When their family is shipwrecked, two identical twin boys are separated and forced to grow up with a single parent. One went with their mother, while the other was raised by their father. Years later, the brothers, both named Antipholus, unexpectedly swap lives when one attempts to search for the other. Antipholus of Syracuse is mistaken for Antipholus of Ephesus, who is married to a slightly overbearing wife, Adriana. Despite his reservations, Adriana brings Antipholus of Syracuse to their home where his strange behavior leads to a major debacle. The Comedy of Errors delivers on its descriptive title. It's a multilayered story filled with tongue twisters and a complex plot. The clever writing and captivating characters make this a timeless farce. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Comedy of Errors is both modern and readable.