"The world's leading center for Shakespeare studies. Each edition includes: - Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play -Scene-by-scene plot summaries -A key to the play&;s famous lines and phrases -An introduction to reading Shakespeare&;s language -An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective -An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play -Fresh images...

Set in Medieval Scotland, in an atmosphere of civil unrest and mutual suspicion, this story of Macbeth and his wife-accomplice Lady Macbeth tells of the intellectual and emitional consequences of unbridled ambition and the cold-blooded murder it engenders.

"Shakespeare's "merry wives" are Mistress Ford and Mistress Page of the town of Windsor. The two play practical jokes on Mistress Ford's jealous husband and a visiting knight, Sir John Falstaff. Merry wives, jealous husbands, and predatory knights were common in a kind of play called "citizen comedy" or "city comedy." In such plays, courtiers, gentlemen, or knights use social superiority to seduce citizens' wives. The Windsor wives, though, do not...

"For this updated edition of one of Shakespeare's most problematic plays, Tom Lockwood has added a new introductory section on the latest scholarly trends, performance and adaptation practices which have occurred over the last two decades. Investigating the latest critical frames through which the play has been interpreted, the updated introduction also focuses on recent international performances on stage and screen (including Al Pacino's performances...

Richard of Gloucester crosses and double-crosses friends and foes alike in a no-holds-barred effort to solidify control of the throne once occupied by his brother, Edward IV. His antics prove fruitful until one final battle with Henry, Earl of Richmond.

"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 Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in the year approximately 1603, and based on the short story Un Capitano Moro ("A Moorish Captain") by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565. This tightly constructed work revolves around four central characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army; his beloved wife, Desdemona; his loyal lieutenant, Cassio;...

"Shakespeare everyone can understand--now in this new EXPANDED edition of MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM! Why fear Shakespeare? By placing the words of the original play next to line-by-line translations in plain English, this popular guide makes Shakespeare accessible to everyone. And now it features expanded literature guide sections that help students study smarter. The expanded sections include: --Five Key Questions: Five frequently asked questions...

Likely written around 1607 or 1608 and attributed at least in part to Shakespeare, "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" is an adventure-filled play that follows the extended sailing journeys of a young prince. Pericles, a young prince from Phoenicia, is forced to flee Antioch when he correctly guesses a riddle that reveals the incestuous activity of King Antiochus. Unable to stay at home in Tyre because of Antiochus' vengeance, he sails away and ends up shipwrecked...

"This is the third New Cambridge edition of The Taming of the Shrew, one of Shakespeare's most popular yet controversial plays. Ann Thompson considers its reception in the light of the hostility and embarrassment that the play often arouses, taking account of both scholarly defences and modern feminist criticism. For this version the editor pays lively attention to the problematic nature of debates about the play and its reception in the twenty-first...