Books by William Shakespeare

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. Set in the Kingdom of Denmark, the play dramatises the revenge Prince Hamlet is instructed to exact on his uncle Claudius. Claudius had murdered his own brother, Hamlet's father King Hamlet, and subsequently seized the throne, marrying his deceased brother's widow, Hamlet's mother Gertrude. Hamlet is Shakespeare's longest play and among the most powerful and influential tragedies in English literature, with a story capable of "seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others." The play seems to have been one of Shakespeare's most popular works during his lifetime and still ranks among his most-performed. It has inspired writers from Goethe and Dickens to Joyce and Murdoch, and has been described as "the world's most filmed story after Cinderella".The protagonist of Hamlet is Prince Hamlet of Denmark, son of the recently deceased King Hamlet, and nephew of King Claudius, his father's brother and successor. Claudius hastily married King Hamlet's widow, Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, and took the throne for himself. Denmark has a long-standing feud with neighboring Norway, which culminated when King Hamlet slew King Fortinbras of Norway in a climactic battle years ago. Although Denmark defeated Norway, and the Norwegian throne fell to King Fortinbras's infirm brother, Denmark fears that an invasion led by the dead Norwegian king's son, Prince Fortinbras, is imminent. The play opens on a cold night on the ramparts of Elsinore, the Danish royal castle. The sentries Bernardo and Marcellus and Hamlet's friend Horatio encounter a ghost that looks like the late King Hamlet. They vow to tell Prince Hamlet what they have witnessed.

Power and despair are at their uppermost suspense between witchcraft, bloody severed heads and darkness loom over this magnificent play by William Shakespeare. Set in medieval Scotland, we encounter riddles, prophecies and bloody murders in this historical fiction play.Returning home from battle, Macbeth rises in the ranks of Scottish noblemen, murder after murder. Is it worth it getting the final crown at the price of a soul? Manslaughter, lies and betrayal drives Macbeth's desire for ultimate control. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth stands as one of Shakespeare's strongest female characters, forceful and aggressive she is blinded by ambition. Will she realise the consequences of her actions before it is too late?"e;Macbeth"e; is known to be filled with action and mystery, perfect for fans of Kate Rhodes and Richard Osman. -

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate..."It is one of the most memorable and memorised lines of poetry of all time. But there is no need to stop here because the beginning of one of William Shakespeare's sonnets is the entry point to a treasury of his great verse.'The Sonnets' contains 154 examples of the one-stanza, 14-line poems written by The Bard.They take you on a sweeping journey through themes including love, infidelity, mortality and destruction - and the previously barely-touched areas of homoeroticism and misogyny.As with his peerless plays, Shakespeare shows his unique gift for touching hearts and challenging minds.This is perfect for fans of T.S. Eliot's 'The Waste Land' and 'The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats'.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor who is considered to be the world's greatest dramatist.He wrote 39 plays, 154 sonnets and three narrative poems. His plays are still performed more often than those of any other writer, living or dead.He invented more than 1,700 words that are in common use today, including frugal, gnarled, obscene and sanctimonious.Among his best-known plays are the comedies 'As You Like It' and 'Much Ado About Nothing', the histories 'Richard III' and 'Henry V' and the tragedies 'Hamlet' and 'Romeo and Juliet' which Baz Luhrmann brought to the big screen in the blockbuster hit starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.

En af de mest eventyrlige og morsomme af Shakespeares forvekslingskomedier begynder, da den unge adelige pige, Viola, skyller i land i Illyrien efter et skibbrud. I den tro, at hendes tvillingbror Sebastian er druknet, klæder hun sig ud som drengen Cesario for at søge arbejde hos den selvoptagede hertug Orsino, der lider af ulykkelige kærlighed. Viola forelsker sig snart i Orsino, der kun elsker grevinde Olivia, som til gengæld forelsker sig i Cesario/Viola. Kærligheden blomstrer, visner, fornægtes og forpurres, og der leges med køn og identitet.Shakespeares klassiske komedie foreligger her i Henning Krabbes bearbejdning (opr. udg. 1978) af Edvard Lembckes klassiske oversættelse. Ebogen er forsynet med introduktion og noter samt nyt forord af udgiveren. Den engelske skuespilforfatter William Shakespeare (1564-1616) er bredt anerkendt som verdens største dramatiker. Hans skuespil er oversat til alle moderne sprog og bliver opført mere end nogen anden skuespilforfatters stykker. Udover virket som forfatter arbejdede Shakespeare som skuespiller, og han er endvidere en af Englands allerstørste digtere nogensinde. Han står bag 39 skuespil, 154 sonetter og flere andre digte.

Titlen (opr. Measure for Measure) hentyder til Jesu ord i bjergprædikenen (... det mål, I måler med, med det skal I selv få tilmålt). Denne komedie er en af de såkaldt mørke komedier, fordi den også har tragiske elementer. Hertugen af Wien rejser bort og sætter sin stedfortræder Angelo til at håndhæve loven og stramme op på byens moral, hvorefter han forklædt som munk vender tilbage for at se, hvordan Angelo forvalter sine nye beføjelser. Da den dydige Angelo får magt, vakler hans moral, og det er tæt på at få katastrofale følger.Shakespeares klassiske tragedie foreligger her i Erik H. Madsens bearbejdning (opr. udg. 1977) af Edvard Lembckes klassiske oversættelse. Ebogen er forsynet med introduktion og noter ved Henning Krabbe samt nyt forord af udgiveren.Den engelske skuespilforfatter William Shakespeare (1564-1616) er bredt anerkendt som verdens største dramatiker. Hans skuespil er oversat til alle moderne sprog og bliver opført mere end nogen anden skuespilforfatters stykker. Udover virket som forfatter arbejdede Shakespeare som skuespiller, og han er endvidere en af Englands allerstørste digtere nogensinde. Han står bag 39 skuespil, 154 sonetter og flere andre digte.

La Tragique Histoire d'Hamlet, prince de Danemark plus couramment désigné sous le titre abrégé Hamlet, est la plus longue et l'une des plus célèbres pièces de William Shakespeare. Le roi du Danemark, père d'Hamlet, est mort récemment. Son frère Claudius l'a remplacé comme roi et, moins de deux mois après2, a épousé Gertrude, la veuve de son frère3. Le spectre du roi apparaît alors et révèle à son fils qu'il a été assassiné par Claudius. Hamlet doit venger son père et pour mener son projet à bien simule la folie. Mais il semble incapable d'agir, et, devant l'étrangeté de son comportement, l'on en vient à se demander dans quelle mesure il a conservé sa raison. On met cette folie passagère sur le compte de l'amour qu'il porterait à Ophélie, fille de Polonius, chambellan et conseiller du roi. L'étrangeté de son comportement plonge la cour dans la perplexité. Mis en cause à mots couverts par Hamlet, Claudius perçoit le danger et décide de se débarrasser de son fantasque neveu.

En romantisk og eventyrlig komedie fyldt med kærlighed, forvekslinger og jalousi. Historien udspiller sig i en fortryllet skov uden for Athen, hvor Hermia flygter ud med sin elskede Lysander, fordi hendes far vil have hende gift med Demetrius, der hellere vil have Helena. I skoven møder de to par en flok håndværkere, der skal spille en dilettantforestilling, og er taget i skoven for at øve sig, men alle bliver udsat for sommernattens kogleri, da alferne og den drilagtige Puk griber ind i kærlighedsforviklingerne. Shakespeares klassiske komedie foreligger her i Henning Krabbes bearbejdning (opr. udg. 1978) af Edvard Lembckes klassiske oversættelse. Ebogen er forsynet med introduktion og noter samt nyt forord af udgiveren. Den engelske skuespilforfatter William Shakespeare (1564-1616) er bredt anerkendt som verdens største dramatiker. Hans skuespil er oversat til alle moderne sprog og bliver opført mere end nogen anden skuespilforfatters stykker. Udover virket som forfatter arbejdede Shakespeare som skuespiller, og han er endvidere en af Englands allerstørste digtere nogensinde. Han står bag 39 skuespil, 154 sonetter og flere andre digte.

Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a comedy by William Shakespeare. The play centres on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola (who is disguised as a boy) falls in love with Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with the Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her thinking she is a man. Illyria, the setting of Twelfth Night, is important to the play's romantic atmosphere. Illyria was an ancient region of the Western Balkans. Viola has fallen in love with the Duke Orsino, creating a love triangle between Duke Orsino, Olivia and Viola, being that Duke Orsino loves Olivia, Viola loves Duke Orsino, and Olivia loves Viola.Viola is not alone among Shakespeare's cross-dressing heroines; in Shakespeare's theatre, convention dictated that adolescent boys play the roles of female characters, creating humour in the multiplicity of disguise found in a female character who for a while pretended at masculinity. Her cross dressing enables Viola to fulfill usually male roles, such as acting as a messenger between Orsino and Olivia, as well as being Orsino's confidant.

Véritable tragédie romantique, "Roméo et Juliette" de William Shakespeare explore avec passion les thèmes universels de l'amour, du destin et des rivalités familiales. Dans la Vérone de la Renaissance, la haine ancestrale entre les Montaigu et les Capulet déchire la cité. C'est dans ce contexte que va naître l'amour foudroyant entre Roméo, fils des Montaigu, et Juliette, fille des Capulet.Dès leur première rencontre lors d'un bal masqué, les deux jeunes gens succombent à une passion dévorante. Mais dans une ville où l'hostilité règne, leur amour semble voué à l'échec. Mariés en secret par Frère Laurent qui espère réconcilier les deux familles, Roméo et Juliette devront affronter les préjugés et les coups du sort qui s'acharnent contre eux.La rivalité entre Montaigu et Capulet atteint son paroxysme lorsque Mercutio, ami de Roméo, est tué par Tybalt, cousin de Juliette. Roméo, ivre de vengeance, tue Tybalt à son tour et se voit banni de Vérone. Séparés mais toujours épris, les amants maudits élaborent un plan désespéré pour se réunir. Mais le destin leur réserve une ultime tragédie.À travers les tourments de ce couple mythique, Shakespeare dépeint avec une finesse inégalée la fougue de l'amour adolescent, la beauté de la passion et la cruauté d'une société régie par la haine. La poésie sublime de sa langue magnifie le caractère tragique de cette romance interdite qui a inspiré d'innombrables adaptations.Plus qu'une simple histoire d'amour impossible, "Roméo et Juliette" est une méditation profonde sur la force des sentiments face aux déterminismes sociaux. Un drame intemporel qui sonde l'âme humaine et ses contradictions, pour mieux nous révéler la puissance éternelle de l'amour.Plongez au coeur de ce classique de la littérature anglaise, à la croisée des genres entre tragédie, poésie lyrique et drame psychologique. Vibrez au rythme de la passion dévorante et du destin brisé des amants les plus célèbres de Vérone. Une oeuvre envoûtante et universelle, miroir de nos propres élans et déchirements.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1589 and 1593. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as showing his first tentative steps in laying out some of the themes and motifs with which he would later deal in more detail; for example, it is the first of his plays in which a heroine dresses as a boy. The play deals with the themes of friendship and infidelity, the conflict between friendship and love, and the foolish behaviour of people in love. The highlight of the play is considered by some to be Launce, the clownish servant of Proteus, and his dog Crab, to whom "the most scene-stealing non-speaking role in the canon" has been attributed.Two Gentlemen is often regarded as one of Shakespeare's weakest plays. It has the smallest named cast of any play by Shakespeare. (wikipedia.org)

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young Italian star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. The plot is based on an Italian tale translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in Palace of Pleasure by William Painter in 1567. Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but expanded the plot by developing a number of supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris. Believed to have been written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a quarto version in 1597. The text of the first quarto version was of poor quality, however, and later editions corrected the text to conform more closely with Shakespeare's original.Shakespeare's use of his poetic dramatic structure (especially effects such as switching between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, his expansion of minor characters, and his use of sub-plots to embellish the story) has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill. The play ascribes different poetic forms to different characters, sometimes changing the form as the character develops. Romeo, for example, grows more adept at the sonnet over the course of the play.Romeo and Juliet has been adapted numerous times for stage, film, musical, and opera venues. During the English Restoration, it was revived and heavily revised by William Davenant. David Garrick's 18th-century version also modified several scenes, removing material then considered indecent, and Georg Benda's Romeo und Julie omitted much of the action and used a happy ending. Performances in the 19th century, including Charlotte Cushman's, restored the original text and focused on greater realism. John Gielgud's 1935 version kept very close to Shakespeare's text and used Elizabethan costumes and staging to enhance the drama. In the 20th and into the 21st century, the play has been adapted in versions as diverse as George Cukor's 1936 film Romeo and Juliet, Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 version Romeo and Juliet, and Baz Luhrmann's 1996 MTV-inspired Romeo + Juliet. (wikipedia.org)

The Tempest is a play by English playwright William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610-1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that Shakespeare wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, the rest of the story is set on a remote island, where the sorcerer Prospero, a complex and contradictory character, lives with his daughter Miranda, and his two servants-Caliban, a savage monster figure, and Ariel, an airy spirit. The play contains music and songs that evoke the spirit of enchantment on the island. It explores many themes, including magic, betrayal, revenge, and family. In Act IV, a wedding masque serves as a play-within-the play, and contributes spectacle, allegory, and elevated language.Though The Tempest is listed in the First Folio as the first of Shakespeare's comedies, it deals with both tragic and comic themes, and modern criticism has created a category of romance for this and others of Shakespeare's late plays. The Tempest has been put to varied interpretations-from those that see it as a fable of art and creation, with Prospero representing Shakespeare, and Prospero's renunciation of magic signaling Shakespeare's farewell to the stage, to interpretations that consider it an allegory of Europeans colonizing foreign lands. (wikipedia.org)

The Merry Wives of Windsor or Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a reference to the town of Windsor, also the location of Windsor Castle, in Berkshire, England. Though nominally set in the reign of Henry IV or early in the reign of Henry V, the play makes no pretence to exist outside contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life. It features the character Sir John Falstaff, the fat knight who had previously been featured in Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2. It has been adapted for the opera at least ten times. The play is one of Shakespeare's lesser-regarded works among literary critics. Tradition has it that The Merry Wives of Windsor was written at the request of Queen Elizabeth I. After watching Henry IV Part I, she asked Shakespeare to write a play showing Falstaff in love. (wikipedia.org)

Macbeth (full title The Tragedy of Macbeth) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare; it is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. Of all the plays that Shakespeare wrote during the reign of James I, who was patron of Shakespeare's acting company, Macbeth most clearly reflects the playwright's relationship with his sovereign. It was first published in the Folio of 1623, possibly from a prompt book, and is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy.A brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia. Forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion, he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler. The bloodbath and consequent civil war swiftly take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of madness and death.Shakespeare's source for the story is the account of Macbeth, King of Scotland, Macduff, and Duncan in Holinshed's Chronicles (1587), a history of England, Scotland, and Ireland familiar to Shakespeare and his contemporaries, although the events in the play differ extensively from the history of the real Macbeth. The events of the tragedy are usually associated with the execution of Henry Garnet for complicity in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.In the backstage world of theatre, some believe that the play is cursed, and will not mention its title aloud, referring to it instead as "The Scottish Play". Over the course of many centuries, the play has attracted some of the most renowned actors to the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. It has been adapted to film, television, opera, novels, comics, and other media. (wikipedia.org)

Othello (The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1603.The story revolves around two characters, Othello and Iago. Othello is a Moorish general in the Venetian army charged with the generalship of Venice on the eve of war with the Ottoman Turks over the island of Cyprus. He has just married Desdemona, a beautiful and wealthy Venetian, much younger than him, against the wishes of her father. Iago is Othello's jealous and bitter ensign who maliciously goads his master's jealousy until the usually stoic Moor kills his beloved wife in a fit of blind rage.Due to its enduring themes of passion, jealousy and race, Othello is still widely performed and has inspired numerous adaptations. (wikipedia.org)

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother.Hamlet is considered among the most powerful and influential works of world literature, with a story capable of "seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others". It was one of Shakespeare's most popular works during his lifetime and still ranks among his most performed, topping the performance list of the Royal Shakespeare Company and its predecessors in Stratford-upon-Avon since 1879. It has inspired many other writers-from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Charles Dickens to James Joyce and Iris Murdoch-and has been described as "the world's most filmed story after Cinderella".The story of Shakespeare's Hamlet was derived from the legend of Amleth, preserved by 13th-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum, as subsequently retold by the 16th-century scholar François de Belleforest. Shakespeare may also have drawn on an earlier Elizabethan play known today as the Ur-Hamlet, though some scholars believe Shakespeare wrote the Ur-Hamlet, later revising it to create the version of Hamlet that exists today. He almost certainly wrote his version of the title role for his fellow actor, Richard Burbage, the leading tragedian of Shakespeare's time. In the 400 years since its inception, the role has been performed by numerous highly acclaimed actors in each successive century.Three different early versions of the play are extant: the First Quarto (Q1, 1603); the Second Quarto (Q2, 1604); and the First Folio (F1, 1623). Each version includes lines and entire scenes missing from the others. The play's structure and depth of characterisation have inspired much critical scrutiny. One such example is the centuries-old debate about Hamlet's hesitation to kill his uncle, which some see as merely a plot device to prolong the action but which others argue is a dramatisation of the complex philosophical and ethical issues that surround cold-blooded murder, calculated revenge, and thwarted desire. More recently, psychoanalytic critics have examined Hamlet's unconscious desires, while feminist critics have re-evaluated and attempted to rehabilitate the often-maligned characters of Ophelia and Gertrude. (wikipedia.org)

The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is, along with The Tempest, one of only two Shakespeare plays to observe the Aristotelian principle of unity of time-that is, that the events of a play should occur over 24 hours. It has been adapted for opera, stage, screen and musical theatre numerous times worldwide. In the centuries following its premiere, the play's title has entered the popular English lexicon as an idiom for "an event or series of events made ridiculous by the number of errors that were made throughout".Set in the Greek city of Ephesus, The Comedy of Errors tells the story of two sets of identical twins who were accidentally separated at birth. Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant, Dromio of Syracuse, arrive in Ephesus, which turns out to be the home of their twin brothers, Antipholus of Ephesus and his servant, Dromio of Ephesus. When the Syracusans encounter the friends and families of their twins, a series of wild mishaps based on mistaken identities lead to wrongful beatings, a near-seduction, the arrest of Antipholus of Ephesus, and false accusations of infidelity, theft, madness, and demonic possession. (wikipedia.org)

Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare is a 1907 collection published by E. Nesbit with the intention of entertaining young readers and telling William Shakespeare's plays in a way they could be easily understood. She included a brief Shakespeare biography, a pronunciation guide to some of the more difficult names and a list of famous quotations, arranged by subject. (wikipedia.org)

William Shakespeare (bapt. 26 April 1564 - 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. They also continue to be studied and reinterpreted.Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best work produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy in his lifetime. However, in 1623, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, John Heminges and Henry Condell, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that included all but two of his plays. The volume was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Jonson presciently hailed Shakespeare in a now-famous quote as "not of an age, but for all time". (wikipedia.org)

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare c. 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict between four Athenian lovers. Another follows a group of six amateur actors rehearsing the play which they are to perform before the wedding. Both groups find themselves in a forest inhabited by fairies who manipulate the humans and are engaged in their own domestic intrigue. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular and is widely performed. Shakespeare's sonnets are poems written by William Shakespeare on a variety of themes. When discussing or referring to Shakespeare's sonnets, it is almost always a reference to the 154 sonnets that were first published all together in a quarto in 1609. However, there are six additional sonnets that Shakespeare wrote and included in the plays Romeo and Juliet, Henry V and Love's Labour's Lost. There is also a partial sonnet found in the play Edward III. (wikipedia.org)

First published in 1603, 'Hamlet' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely considered the most splendid writer in the English language and the world's most remarkable dramatist. This is renowned for classic lines and perceptive characterization and is often cited as Shakespeare's greatest play and of course as a tragedy of ghostly proportions. The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts vengeance on his uncle Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father, the King, and then taken the throne and married Hamlet's mother. The play vividly charts the course of real and pretended madness-from overwhelming grief to seething rage-and explores themes of betrayal, retribution, incest, and ethical depravity. This version brings this magnificent Shakespearean classic strikingly to life. Revealing new riches, it is an invaluable aid for students, teachers, and all true lovers of Shakespeare - a work to be cherished for decades to come. Top 10 Hardcover Library Books: A Wrinkle in Time (9789389440188) How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (9789387669161) Their Eyes Were Watching God (9789389440577) The Magic of Believing (9789388118217) Zen in the Art of Archery (9789354990298) A Cloud by Day, a Fire by Night (9789391181611) Siddhartha by Hermann hesse (9789387669116) The Richest Man in Babylon (9789354990717) The Book of Five Rings (9789389440553) The Knowledge of the Holy (9789389157239) Note: Search by ISBN

First published in 1602, 'Twelfth Night' is an amusingly comic tale of faulty identities by William Shakespeare, an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely considered the most splendid writer in the English language and the world's most remarkable dramatist. It twists around the physical resemblance between Sebastian and his twin sister, Viola, each of whom, when separated after a shipwreck, believes the other to be dead. The dramatic fling begins when Viola assumes the identity of Cesario, a page in the household of the Duke of Orsino. The Duke is fascinated by Countess Olivia, who spurns him for the newly arrived young page. The subsequent confusion-all of which is pleasantly settled when Viola and Sebastian meet once again. Sufficed with some of the most satisfactory comedic scenes in the English language, this delightful masterpiece remains one of Shakespeare's most popular and most performed comedies. Top 10 Hardcover Library Books: A Wrinkle in Time (9789389440188) How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (9789387669161) Their Eyes Were Watching God (9789389440577) The Magic of Believing (9789388118217) Zen in the Art of Archery (9789354990298) A Cloud by Day, a Fire by Night (9789391181611) Siddhartha by Hermann hesse (9789387669116) The Richest Man in Babylon (9789354990717) The Book of Five Rings (9789389440553) The Knowledge of the Holy (9789389157239) Note: Search by ISBN

Written in 1603, 'Othello' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely considered the most splendid writer in the English language and the world's most remarkable dramatist. It is set in the contemporary Ottoman-Venetian War fought for the control of the Island of Cyprus, since 1489 a possession of the Venetian Republic. The play examines the difficult position held by Moorish general, Othello after he secretly marries Desdemona, a Senator's daughter. Desdemona falls victim to a spiteful plot, as jealousy, accusations, and betrayal lead the characters down a violent path. As a 'Moor', Othello is notably portrayed as a dark-skinned leading character, though his ethnic origin remains ambiguous. Based upon a 16th-century short story entitled 'A Moorish Captain' by Italian novelist and poet Cinthio, 'Othello', masterfully dramatizes the miserable consequences that can arise from jealous deceit. Top 10 Hardcover Library Books: A Wrinkle in Time (9789389440188) How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (9789387669161) Their Eyes Were Watching God (9789389440577) The Magic of Believing (9789388118217) Zen in the Art of Archery (9789354990298) A Cloud by Day, a Fire by Night (9789391181611) Siddhartha by Hermann hesse (9789387669116) The Richest Man in Babylon (9789354990717) The Book of Five Rings (9789389440553) The Knowledge of the Holy (9789389157239) Note: Search by ISBN

First published in 1990, 'The Tempest' is a play by William Shakespeare, an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely considered the most splendid writer in the English language and the world's most remarkable dramatist. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the suitable Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her proper place using illusion and skillful manipulation. He invokes a storm, the eponymous tempest, to lure his usurping brother Antonio and the complicit King Alonso of Naples to the island. The characters outshine the roles of villains and heroes. Prospero seems heroic, yet he enslaves Caliban and has a hunger for revenge. Caliban seems to be a monster for attacking Miranda but appears heroic in opposing Prospero, prompting the period of colonialism during which the play was written. Miranda's engagement to Ferdinand, the Prince of Naples and a member of the shipwrecked party helps resolve the drama. Top 10 Hardcover Library Books: A Wrinkle in Time (9789389440188) How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (9789387669161) Their Eyes Were Watching God (9789389440577) The Magic of Believing (9789388118217) Zen in the Art of Archery (9789354990298) A Cloud by Day, a Fire by Night (9789391181611) Siddhartha by Hermann hesse (9789387669116) The Richest Man in Babylon (9789354990717) The Book of Five Rings (9789389440553) The Knowledge of the Holy (9789389157239) Note: Search by ISBN