William Shakespeare

When it was published in 1968, The Norton Facsimile set a new standard for scholarly accuracy. It was the first facsimile in which every page had been selected from a large number of copies in an attempt to find a clean, clear example with minimal show-through. Even more important, it offered the latest, most corrected state of pages known to...

LARGE PRINT EDITION. Romeo and Juliet (1597) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. Inspired by an Italian tale adapted for an English audience in 1562 by Arthur Brooke and in 1567 by William Painter, Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet sometime between 1591 and 1595. Alongside Hamlet, it is one of Shakespeare's most performed plays and has served as source material...

LARGE PRINT EDITION. 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 rumours 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...

A revised edition of this intriguing and complex play, updated to cover recent critical thinking and stage history. Troilus and Cressida is a tragedy often labelled a "problem" play because of its apparent blend of genres and its difficult themes. Set in the Trojan Wars, it tells a story of doomed love and honour, offering a debased view of human...

Two Gentlemen of Verona is commonly agreed to be Shakespeare's first comedy, and probably his first play. A comedy built around the confusions of doubling, cross-dressing, and identity, it is also a play about the ideal of male friendship and what happens to those friendships when men fall in love. William Carroll's engaging introduction focuses on the traditions and sources...

Arden Performance Editions are ideal for anyone engaging with a Shakespeare play in performance. With clear facing-page notes offering definitions of words, easily accessible information about key textual variants, lineation, metrical ambiguities, and pronunciation, each edition has been developed to open the play’s possibilities and meanings to actors and students. Each edition offers: Facing-page notes Short, clear definitions of words...

Who said "Neither a lender nor a borrower be"? Who are the star-crossed lovers? Which Shakespearean lady protests "too much"? If you have ever been stuck trying to identify a Shakespearean quote then this is the book for you! With over 3,000 quotes, from single lines to quite long extracts, organised by topic and by play, this is an essential...

Suzanne Gossett offers a full and critical performance history, with an introduction showing how the play's performance history has paralleled the criticism. It then gives an interpretation of this two-generation romance, with its successive male and female central characters, based on a reading 'through the family', and influenced by the feminist and new historicist criticism of the last two decades....

‘I wish I had copies like this at Drama School. Essential notes on the language for those who will get up and speak it, not purely for those who will sit and study it. An incredibly useful tool with room on every page to make notes. Next time I’m in rehearsal on a Shakespeare play, I have no doubt that...

Othello is one of Shakespeare's most contemporary and moving plays, with its emphasis on race, revenge, murder, and lost love. Chris Ofili's new edition highlights the tragedy of Othello's plight in ways no other previous edition of this play has. In twelve etchings that Ofili has produced to illustrate this play, Othello is depicted with tears in his eyes, which...

For the first time, the world-renowned Arden Shakespeare is producing Performance Editions, aimed specifically for use in the rehearsal room. Published in association with the Shakespeare Institute, the text features easily accessible facing page notes – including short definitions of words, key textual variants, and guidance on metre and pronunciation. The edition includes a larger font size for easier reading,...

One of Shakespeare's later plays, best described as a tragi-comedy, The Winter's Tale falls into two distinct parts. In the first, Leontes is thrown into a jealous rage by his suspicions of his wife, Hermione, and his best friend. He imprisons her and orders that her new born daughter be left to perish. The second half is a pastoral comedy,...

This tragi-comedy is one of the plays we know Shakespeare worked with a collaborator on—John Fletcher—and is based on Chaucer's Knight's Tale. This revised edition includes a new introductory essay bringing the edition up-to-date in terms of both the play's performance and critical history, and in particular with current thinking about the nature of Shakespeare's collaboration with other playwrights. As...

This Norton Critical Edition has been carefully edited to make The Merchant of Venice, its surrounding history, and the history of its critical reception and rewritings accessible to readers. The text of this edition is based on the 1600 First Quarto, with light editing and substantial explanatory annotations by Leah S. Marcus. Sources and Contexts largely focuses on the character...

Richard III is one of Shakespeare's enduring villains as the troubled and troubling figure at the heart of this popular succession drama. Traversing the familiar terrain of scheming plots, proposals, betrayals, and kingly power, this edition is presented in an easy-to-read format with notes for performance and rehearsal by directors and actors. It is edited by academic and director, Abigail...

One of Shakespeare's greatest and, in recent years, most controversial plays. After borrowing a large sum of money from the Jewish money-lender Shylock, the merchant Antonio faces a devastating credit crunch when his fleet of ships is sunk in a storm. Shylock insists on the small print of his terms and conditions, seeking a literal 'pound of flesh'. Merchant of...

This legendary Shakespeare series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Updated for the 21st century by editors Stephen Orgel of Stanford University and A. R. Braunmuller of UCLA, each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare's time, an introduction to the individual play, and a detailed note on the text used....

A fresh look at a play usually regarded as the first component of a three-part historical epic, this edition argues that Henry VI Part 1 is a "prequel," a freestanding piece that returns for ironic and dramatic effect to a story already familiar to its audience. The play's ingenious use of stage space is closely analysed, as is its manipulation...

King Edward III is increasingly thought to have been written in significant part by Shakespeare. This landmark new edition by textual expert and General Editor of the Arden Shakespeare, Richard Proudfoot, offers a full account of the play's text and the evidence of Shakespeare's hand at work in it. Fully annotated with on-page notes and a lengthy critical introduction which...

The young Prince Hamlet, returning from university, finds his Kingdom in disarray: ‘something is rotten in the state of Denmark’. With his father dead, and his uncle and mother marrying, Hamlet is confronted by an armored ghost, who, claiming to be the King, implores him to enact revenge upon the newlyweds and restore order to the realm. Yet, Hamlet’s ability...

This Norton Critical Edition includes: The Second Quarto text, edited by Robert S. Miola and accompanied by his footnotes, headnotes, and introductory materials. Eighteen illustrations from 1604 to 2008, three of them new to the Second Edition. The Actors' Gallery, presenting actors from Sarah Bernhardt and Ellen Terry to Kenneth Branagh and David Tennant, two of them new to the...

In All’s Well That Ends Well, Helen, a lowly ward, risks her life to satisfy her boundless love for Bertram, a count and ward to the King of France. Following him to Paris, she concocts an endangering plan to win the King of France’s favour and induce Bertram’s hand in marriage. In the comprehensive introduction to this new, fully-illustrated Arden...

Likely the last play written entirely by Shakespeare, The Tempest brings together various themes the bard explored in his prior plays, including magic, revenge and forgiveness, order and society, and nature versus art. The shipwreck and remote island, the spirits, and the dukes and their children, offer rich material for Wylie's works on paper and canvas. As the third title...

Set in an enchanted forest, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the ideal subject for artist Marcel Dzama, whose work frequently references dreams, fairy tales, and mythical worlds. Inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Shakespeare's celebrated romantic comedy intertwines multiple narratives under the influence of transformation and witchcraft. The play is often staged with actors wearing animal masks, an aspect that appeals...

One of Shakespeare’s last plays, The Winter’s Tale provides tragedy and comedy in equal measure. The King of Sicily, Leontes, accuses Queen Hermione, his wife, of adultery and sets off a series of events driven by royal betrayal, jealousy, and the possibility of pastoral love that builds to a fantastical ending. Arden Performance Editions are ideal for anyone engaging with...

This Norton Critical Edition of one of Shakespeare's earliest and best-loved comedies is based on the First Folio (1623). It is accompanied by "A Note on the Text" and detailed explanatory annotations. "Sources and Contexts" provides three possible analogues to Shakespeare's controversial, high-spirited play from Ovid's Metamorphoses, George Gascoigne's "Supposes," and "A Merry Jest of a Shrewd and Curst Wife...

"A significant and substantive edition, in that nothing has been taken for granted, everything has been opened to reconsideration. The commentary is exceptionally detailed and attentive to questions of language and meaning." -Shakespeare Quarterly The Merry Wives of Windsor, Shakespeare's only thoroughly English comedy, created an archetypal literary figure in the shape of the devious, irrepressible John Falstaff. This stimulating...

Shakespeare’s dextrous comedy of two twin masters and two twin servants continually mistaken for one another is both farce and more than farce. The Comedy of Errors examines the interplay between personal and commercial relationships, and the breakdown of social order that follows the disruption of identity. As well as detailed on-page commentary notes, this new edition has a long,...

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" Shakespeare's much-quoted sonnets are some of the most beautiful and moving poems in English literature. Dealing with love, beauty, and the effects of time, they speak to us as directly now as they spoke to Elizabethan readers. This handsome edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets is based on the Arden Shakespeare edition, making authoritative...

In the heat of Renaissance Italy, two houses are at war. One son and one daughter from the opposing families break this bitter conflict by falling in love. Yet, in this whirlwind of enmity, Romeo and Juliet’s passion agitates rather than unites the clashing houses, causing a trail of destruction. Locked in a burning embrace, the two young lovers are...

In 1593, Shakespeare awoke and found himself famous. Lines from his comic, erotic, tragic poem Venus and Adonis were on everyone's lips. The appearance in 1594 of the darkly reflective and richly descriptive Rape of Lucrece confirmed his fame as "Sweet Master Shakespeare," Elizabethan England's most brilliant non-dramatic poet. Shorter poems in this volume testify further to Shakespeare's versatility and...

‘I wish I had copies like this at Drama School. Essential notes on the language for those who will get up and speak it, not purely for those who will sit and study it. An incredibly useful tool with room on every page to make notes. Next time I’m in rehearsal on a Shakespeare play, I have no doubt that...

With the publication of Woudhuysen's Arden 3 edition, the magisterial study of the play that will energise a new generation of readers and directors has now arrived. Love's Labour's Lost Eric Rasmussen, University of Nevada at Reno, Shakespeare Survey

Richard III is one of the great Shakespearean characters and roles. James R Siemon examines the attraction of this villain to audiences and focuses on how beguiling, even funny, he can be, especially in the earlier parts of the play. Siemon also places King Richard III in its historical context; as Elizabeth I had no heirs, the issue of succession...

This annotated edition of King Richard II takes a fresh look at the first part of Shakespeare's second tetralogy of history plays, showing how it relates to the other plays in the sequence. Forker places the play in its political context, discussing its relation to competing theories of monarchy, looking at how it faced censorship because of possible comparisons between...

King Lear has ruled for many years. As age overtakes him, he divides his kingdom amongst his children. Misjudging their loyalty, he soon finds himself stripped of all the trappings of state, wealth and power that had defined him. Arden Performance Editions are ideal for anyone engaging with a Shakespeare play in performance. With clear facing-page notes giving definitions of...

This edition celebrates King Henry VI Part 2 as one of the most exciting and dynamic plays of the English renaissance theatre, with its exploration of power politics and social revolution and its focus on the relationship between divine justice and sin. An extensive discussion of performance history traces the play's progress on stage from abridgement and adaptation to full...

King Henry VIII has one of the fullest theatrical histories of any play in the Shakespeare canon, yet has been consistently misrepresented, both in performance and in criticism. This edition offers a fresh perspective on this ironic, multi-layered, collaborative play, revealing it as a complex meditation on the progress of Reformation which sees English life since Henry VIII's day as...

More troubled and troubling than King Henry IV Part 1, the play continues the story of King Henry’s decline and Hal’s reform. Though Part 2 echoes the structure of the earlier play, it is a darker and more unsettling world, in which even Falstaff’s revelry is more tired and cynical, and the once-merry Hal sloughs off his tavern companions to...

This volume gives readers the First Quarto text of 1603 and the Folio Text of 1623, modernised and edited to the usual Arden standard. As a companion to the Second Quarto volume, it will be of particular interest to scholars and students of textual history, or to anyone studying Hamlet at an advanced level. Both plays are edited and annotated,...

In Cymbeline, Ancient Britain’s female heir to the throne is slandered by a decadent Italian while the Romans invade Britain to retain it as part of their empire. Shakespeare’s late romance is full of unpredictable conjunctions that are explored in the comprehensive introduction to this new, fully-illustrated Arden edition. Valerie Wayne takes a transformative look at the play’s critical and...

The authoritative edition of Julius Caesar from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers. Shakespeare may have written Julius Caesar as the first of his plays to be performed at the Globe, in 1599. For it, he turned to a key event in Roman history: Caesar's death at the hands of...

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...

In their edition of this sometimes neglected early play, Cox and Rasmussen make a strong claim for it as a remarkable work, revealing a confidence and sureness that very few earlier plays can rival. They show how the young Shakespeare, working closely from his chronicle sources, nevertheless freely shaped his complex material to make it both theatrically effective and poetically...

With its explorations of sexual ambivalence, As You Like It speaks directly to the twenty-first century. Juliet Dusinberre demonstrates that Rosalind's authority in the play grows from new ideas about women and reveals that Shakespeare's heroine reinvents herself for every age. But the play is also deeply rooted in Elizabethan culture, and through it, Shakespeare addresses some of the hotly...

Macbeth The Graphic Novel: Quick Text brings witches, murder, ghosts, and madness to life in this compelling adaptation of one of Shakespeare's finest tragedies, perfectly suited for the graphic novel format. This edition depicts every blood-curdling scene in easy-to-follow illustrations, accompanied by Shakespeare's original text. An illustrated cast of characters reminds readers who's who, providing clarity and enhancing the reading...

Act and scene divisions are not indicated in the Quarto; those of the First Folio have been incorporated, with one exception: scene ii of Act V has been divided into two scenes, with the concluding scenes numbered accordingly. The Third Edition includes expanded annotations. Contexts and Sources includes duelling arguments on the play's completeness (one play or one half of...

The text of any Shakespeare play is a living negotiable entity: scholarship and theatre practice work together to keep the plays alive and vividly present. – Greg Doran, RSC Artistic Director Emeritus Developed in partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company, The RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works combines exemplary textual scholarship with beautiful design. Curated by expert editors Sir Jonathan Bate...

This major new edition of Shakespeare's greatest tragedy of love argues that the play is ultimately Juliet's. The play text is expertly edited, and the on-page commentary notes discuss issues of staging, theme, meaning, and Shakespeare's use of his sources to give the reader deep and engaging insights into the play. The richly illustrated introduction looks at the play's exceptionally...

This Norton Critical Edition includes: The First Folio text (1623). An introduction, explanatory footnotes, note on the text, and textual notes by Edward Pechter. Fifteen illustrations. Giraldi Cinthio's sixteenth-century story in its entirety, which Shakespeare used for both the plot and many details of Othello. A generous selection of interpretive responses to Othello from its origins to the present day,...

Often described as one of Shakespeare’s ‘problem plays’, Measure for Measure explores issues of mercy and justice in corrupt Vienna. The Duke makes his strict moralistic deputy, Angelo, temporary leader of Vienna, while he disguises himself as a friar to witness all that ensues. In the comprehensive introduction to this new, fully-illustrated Arden edition, with commentary and notes from A....

The editor takes a broad look at the different meanings which have been attributed to King Henry V, through a discussion of its various critical and theatrical interpretations. Craik discusses the choices made in presenting an edited text, and enables readers to think about what their own decisions might be. Source material is accessibly presented with the text in the...

The Arden Shakespeare is the established edition of Shakespeare's work. Justly celebrated for its authoritative scholarship and invaluable commentary, Arden editions guide you to a richer understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare's plays. This edition of A Midsummer Night's Dream provides a clear and authoritative text, detailed notes and commentary on the same page as the text, and a full introduction...

Much Ado About Nothing presents a battle of the sexes in more ways than one: as both a lightning-fast skirmish of wits between two famously disputatious lovers, and a near-deadly conflict built on conventions of gender and male rivalry. Claire McEachern's new introduction brings this best-seller right up to date, analysing recent developments in criticism and the latest productions of...

Age range 14+ Shakespeare everyone can understand - now in new DELUXE editions! Why fear Shakespeare? By placing the words of the original play next to line-by-line translations in plain English, these popular guides make Shakespeare accessible to everyone. They introduce Shakespeare's world, significant plot points, and the key players. Now, they feature expanded literature guide sections that help students...

No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Hamlet on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right. Each No Fear Shakespeare contains: The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language A complete list of characters with descriptions Plenty of helpful commentary. William Shakespeare's Hamlet follows the young...

Dazzling and vivid, this collection includes twenty-five of William Shakespeare's most beloved poems, each illustrated with stunning, full-color collage artwork. One of history's most prolific playwrights and poets, William Shakespeare is known throughout the globe for such masterpieces as "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day" "All the world's a stage" and many other famous poems that are included...

Witches, murder, ghosts, and madness - one of Shakespeare's finest tragedies is also a perfect fit for the graphic novel format. This compelling adaptation depicts every blood-curdling scene in easy-to-follow illustrations, accompanied by Shakespeare's original text. An illustrated cast of characters reminds readers who's who, and fascinating background information on Shakespeare and the real Macbeth adds historical context.

David Scott Kastan lucidly explores the remarkable richness and the ambitious design of King Henry IV Part 1 and shows how these complicate any easy sense of what kind of play it is. Conventionally regarded as a history play, much of it is in fact conspicuously invented fiction, and Kastan argues that the non-historical, comic plot does not simply parody...

Witches, murder, ghosts, and madness - one of Shakespeare's finest tragedies is also a perfect fit for the graphic novel format. This compelling adaptation depicts every blood-curdling scene in easy-to-follow illustrations, accompanied by Shakespeare's original text. An illustrated cast of characters reminds readers who's who, and fascinating background information on Shakespeare and the real Macbeth adds historical context.

No library is complete without the classics! This leather-bound edition includes the complete works of the playwright and poet William Shakespeare, considered by many to be the English language’s greatest writer.Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, Hamlet, and Macbeth—the works of William Shakespeare still resonate in our imaginations four centuries after they were written. The timeless characters...

This is the entire, unabridged play brought to life as a vivid and engaging full-colour graphic novel. With its mix of real people who stumble into a fairy kingdom (with its own problems!), it is little wonder that this play is one of the best-loved and most performed of all Shakespeare's masterpieces—and a firm favourite for outdoor theatre on a...

Love! Betrayal! Ambition! Tragedy! Jealousy! William Shakespeare's universal themes continue to resonate with readers of all ages more than 400 years after his death. This wonderful, fully illustrated book, Poetry for Kids: William Shakespeare, introduces children to the Bard and 35 of his most famous and accessible verses, sonnets, and speeches. From 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?'...

The Merchant of Venice is perhaps most associated not with its titular hero, Antonio, but with the complex figure of the money lender, Shylock. The play was described as a comedy in the First Folio, but modern audiences find it more problematic to categorise. The vilification of Shylock 'the Jew' can be very uncomfortable for a post-Holocaust audience, and debates...

Critically acclaimed as one of Shakespeare's most complex and intriguing plays, Twelfth Night is a classic romantic comedy of mistaken identities. In recent years, it has returned to the centre of critical debate surrounding gender and sexuality. The introduction explores the multiple factors that make up the play's rich textual, theatrical, critical, and cultural history. Keir Elam surveys the play's...

NEW FOR 2025 – Barrington Stoke’s long-awaited first dyslexia-friendly plays The complete and unabridged dyslexia-friendly edition of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s renowned tragedy of two star-crossed lovers who meet amidst an age-old feud between their families.

Especially popular today because of their short form, Shakespeare's sonnets remain the most powerful statements of love, remorse, and redemption. Shakespeare's sonnets are amongst the most admired, complex, and beautiful poems ever written. This gorgeous new collection includes sonnets from Romeo and Juliet, Henry V, and Love's Labour's Lost, creating a comprehensive collection from the greatest writer of the English...

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun. Written between 1591 and 1595, Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's greatest and most popular plays. Set in Verona, Italy, it has been performed across the world and inspired numerous other artistic works—from music to ballet and film—as well as entertaining countless...

A bitter feud between the Montagues and the Capulets keeps the city of Verona, Italy, in a state of constant unrest. Despite the enmity, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall passionately in love. Enlisting the help of Friar Laurence, the young lovers wed in secret, hoping that their marriage will finally unite the two families. But things go terribly, tragically...

The Tempest is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, both in the classroom and in the theatre, and this revision brings the Arden 3 edition right up-to-date. A completely new section of the introduction discusses new thinking about Shakespeare's sources for the play and examines his treatment of colonial themes. It also covers key productions since this edition was first...

"A splendid edition: it incorporates the most recent modern scholarship ... and it does so within a compass and format that is both readable and usable." - Around the Globe Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most performed and studied tragedies. This Arden Shakespeare Third Series edition offers students detailed on-page commentary notes, highlighting meaning, theatrical ideas, and themes. It also...

In this edition, R.A. Foakes brings to bear a number of historical perspectives and critically addresses recent explorations of King Lear as a play of redemption, a play of despair, and a play that destabilises all commentary. Included is a composite text of Quarto and Folio versions, which allows readers to make their own editorial judgements.

This Arden edition of Hamlet, arguably Shakespeare's greatest tragedy, presents an authoritative, modernised text based on the Second Quarto text with a new introductory essay covering key productions and criticism in the decade since its first publication. A timely update in the 400th anniversary year of Shakespeare's death, which will ensure the Arden edition continues to offer students a comprehensive...

A bitter feud between the Montagues and the Capulets keeps the city of Verona, Italy, in a state of constant unrest. Despite the enmity, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall passionately in love. Enlisting the help of Friar Laurence, the young lovers wed in secret, hoping that their marriage will finally unite the two families. But things go terribly, tragically...

The authoritative edition of Henry VI, Part 3 from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers. Henry VI, Part 3 is dominated by a struggle between two military forces, neither of which can achieve victory for long. Until the end, the Yorkists and Lancastrians strive for the English crown. The conflict...

This is the full Shakespeare play adapted into simplified plain English (aimed at a 10-year-old reading age) and brought to life as a vivid and engaging full-color graphic novel. With its mix of real people who stumble into a fairy kingdom (with its own problems!), it is little wonder that this play is one of the best loved and most...

Bring on the merriment whenever you open this collection of Shakespeare’s entertaining comedies. The comedies of William Shakespeare—including The Tempest, The Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and As You Like It—have entertained readers and theatre-goers for centuries. This elegant Word Cloud edition of William Shakespeare Comedies includes all fourteen of the Bard’s comedies in a single volume so...

Part of the authoritative and acclaimed Penguin Shakespeare series, now rejacketed in the celebrated Penguin Classics livery. Angered by the loss of his son in battle, the Earl of Northumberland supports another rebellion against King Henry IV, bringing the country to the brink of civil war. Sick and weary, the old King sends out his forces, including the unruly Sir...

Shakespeare's Four Tragedies - Macbeth, King Lear, Hamlet and Othello - are presented in a stunning Penguin Clothbound Classics edition. The theme of the great Shakespearean tragedies is a hero's fall from grace due to a fatal character flaw. Whether it is the ruthless ambition of Macbeth or the folly of Lear, the irresolution of Hamlet or the suspicion of...