Beckett's second last prose text, Worstward Ho, is a novella written in 1983, shortly after the largely autobiographical Company and an ironic theological speculation, both previously published as the first two parts of a late trilogy of short novels. The concentration of language and precision of description in the current work is revolutionary, even for Beckett, the great reshaper of literary expression, and its theme is the creation of life, as if by a malignant God or Demiurge. Life, against all possibility, finally exists, and man becomes a painful presence. It is one of the supreme poetic texts of the 20th century. Views: 587
*Much Ado About Nothing* boasts one of Shakespeare's most delightful heroines, most dancing wordplay, and the endearing spectacle of intellectual and social self-importance bested by the desire to love and be loved in return. It offers both the dancing wit of the "merry war" between the sexes, and a sobering vision of the costs of that combat for both men and women. Shakespeare dramatizes a social world in all of its vibrant particulars, in which characters are shaped by the relations between social convention and individual choice.
This edition of the play offers in its introduction and commentary an extensive discussion of the materials that informed Shakespeare's compositional choices, both those conventional sources and other contexts, from cuckold jokes to conduct books, which inform the ideas and identities of this play. Particular attention is devoted to Renaissance understandings of gender identity and social rank, as well as to the social valences of Shakespeare's stylistic choices. Among the elements of structure and style discussed are the two concurrent plots, the recurrence of verbal handshakes, and the use of music. A treatment of staging possibilities offers illustrations drawn from the earliest and recent theatrical practices, and a critical history examines the fate of the play in the changing trends of academic scholarship.
A casting chart and a list of abbreviations and references are includes as appendices.
**The Arden Shakespeare** has developed a reputation as the pre-eminent critical edition of Shakespeare for its exceptional scholarship, reflected in the thoroughness of each volume. An introduction comprehensively contextualizes the play, chronicling the history and culture that surrounded and influenced Shakespeare at the time of its writing and performance, and closely surveying critical approaches to the work. Detailed appendices address problems like dating and casting, and analyze the differing Quarto and Folio sources. A full commentary by one or more of the play’s foremost contemporary scholars illuminates the text, glossing unfamiliar terms and drawing from an abundance of research and expertise to explain allusions and significant background information. Highly informative and accessible, Arden offers the fullest experience of Shakespeare available to a reader.
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An innovative new edition of nine classic short stories from one of the greatest writers of the Victorian era."I cannot think other than in stories," Oscar Wilde once confessed to his friend André Gide. In this new selection of his short fiction, Wilde's gifts as a storyteller are on full display, accompanied by informative facing-page annotations from Wilde biographer and scholar Nicholas Frankel. A wide-ranging introduction brings readers into the world from which the author drew inspiration.Each story in the collection brims with Wilde's trademark wit, style, and sharp social criticism. Many are reputed to have been written for children, although Wilde insisted this was not true and that his stories would appeal to all "those who have kept the childlike faculties of wonder and joy." "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime" stands alongside Wilde's comic masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest, while other stories—including "The Happy Prince," the tale of a... Views: 582
In this celebrated work, his only novel, Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde\'s most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind. Views: 564
It was as a poet that Samuel Beckett launched himself in the little reviews of 1930s Paris, and as a poet that he ended his career. This new selection, from Whoroscope (1930) to 'what is the word' (1988), describes a lifetime's arc of writing. It was as a poet moreover that Beckett made his first breakthrough into writing in French, and the Selected Poems represents work in both languages, including the sequence of brief but highly crafted mirlitonnades, which did so much to usher in the style of his late prose, and come as close as anything he wrote to honouring the ambition to 'bore one hole after another in language, until what lurks behind it - be it something or nothing - begins to seep through.' Also included are several of Beckett's translations from contemporaries - Apollinaire, Eluard, Michaux, Montale - in versions which count among his own poetic achievements. ****
Edited by David Wheatley Views: 563
The Frogs (Ancient Greek: Βάτραχοι, Bátrachoi) is a comedy written by the Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus in Athens, in 405 BC, receiving first place. Views: 559
A triumphant general returns to Rome from a war against the Goths and descends into a vicious circle of revenge by refusing to show mercy to his conquered enemy. Blood begets more blood in Titus Andronicus, a fictional drama drawn from a tale by Ovid. Shakespeare styled this early play in the manner of a "revenge tragedy," a genre rooted in classical theater and enormously successful with Elizabethan audiences. Enacting grotesque incidents of rape, murder, and mutilation, this daringly experimental play explores the nature of justice and vengeance.Critical judgment of the drama ranges from dismissal as a panderer's concession to a bloodthirsty mob to praise as a skillful treatment of theatrical violence that examines suffering through the experience of art. Shakespeare's memorable tragedy questions whether revenge is ever justifiable, and its analysis of moral and political issues ― betrayal, familial loyalties, sexual violence, nationalism,... Views: 557
This volume contains everything Wilde wrote in dramatic form. Wilde's masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest is printed here in its usual three-act form, but with an appendix containing the best material from the original four-act version. Also included are his three 'problem plays', Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance and An Ideal Husband, as well as his once-banned Salome and several other little-known but fascinating dramas. H. Montgomery Hyde, an acknowledged expert on Wilde and author of several books on him, provides an introduction to Wilde's life and work with special attention to the composition and performance of the plays. "Wilde is to me our only thorough playwright. He plays with everything: with wit, with philosophy, with drama, with actors and audiences, with the whole theatre" (George Bernard Shaw). Views: 536
From a winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, the twentieth-century drama that was called "the finest verse play since the Elizabethans" (The New York Times). This modern verse play by the author of The Waste Land, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," and other modern masterpieces deals with the problem of man's guilt—and his need for expiation through his acceptance of responsibility for the sin of humanity. It reveals the depth and versatility of a twentieth-century writer who excelled as both a poet and a dramatist. "What poets and playwrights have been fumbling at in their desire to put poetry into drama and drama into poetry has here been realized." —The New York Times Views: 535
This book contains 50 of the most beautiful Christmas stories ever written. It is a treasury of fiction by great writers of the past two centuries: Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Willa Cather, Beatrix Potter, Louisa May Alcott, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Hans Christian Andersen, E.T.A. Hoffmann, O. Henry, Mark Twain and many more! Views: 532
** *“A young man married is a man that’s marr’d.”* **
**—All’s Well That Ends Well**
** **
Eminent Shakespearean scholars Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen provide a fresh new edition of this classic play about gender, desire, and sexual love.
**THIS VOLUME ALSO INCLUDES MORE THAN A HUNDRED PAGES OF EXCLUSIVE FEATURES:**
• an original Introduction to *All’s Well That Ends Well*
• incisive scene-by-scene synopsis and analysis with vital facts about the work
• commentary on past and current productions based on interviews with leading directors, actors, and designers
• photographs of key RSC productions
• an overview of Shakespeare’s theatrical career and chronology of his plays
Ideal for students, theater professionals, and general readers, these modern and accessible editions from the Royal Shakespeare Company set a new standard in Shakespearean literature for the twenty-first century. Views: 522
In *Othello*, 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 sets out to destroy Othello. Iago’s false insinuations about Desdemona’s infidelity draw Othello into his schemes, and Desdemona is subjected to Othello’s horrifying verbal and physical assaults.
The authoritative edition of *Othello* from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:
-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text 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 on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books
-An annotated guide to further reading
Essay by Susan Snyder
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.
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Plays Two:
The Dissolution of Dominic Boot
'M' is for Moon Among Other Things
If You're Glad I'll Be Frank
Albert's Bridge
Where Are They Now?
Artist Descending a Staircase
The Dog It Was That Died
In the Native State
Introduced by the author, this second collection of work by Tom Stoppard contains his radio plays, written between 1964 and 1991. These plays reflect the full range of Stoppard's gifts as well as his craftsmanship and versatility. His work for radio complements (and sometimes prefigures) his work for the stage.
Included in this volume is In the Native State, which became the stage play Indian Ink.
Albert's Bridge won the Italia Prize and In the Native State won a Sony Award. Views: 511
Family relationships are at the center of *Henry IV, Part 1*. King Henry IV and Prince Hal form one major father-son pair, with Henry in despair because Hal lives a dissolute life. The father-son pair of Hotspur (Lord Henry Percy) and his father, the Earl of Northumberland, is in seeming contrast; the king envies Northumberland “his Harry,” wishing he could claim the gallant Hotspur as his own. Meanwhile, Hal has entered into a quasi-father-son relationship with a disreputable but amusing knight, Sir John Falstaff.
Another strand of action centers on still more family relationships. Hotspur’s stand against Henry focuses on Hotspur’s brother-in-law, Mortimer. Mortimer, who fought against the Welsh magician Owen Glendower, was defeated and captured and has married Glendower’s daughter. King Henry pronounces Mortimer a traitor whom he will not ransom. Hotspur, in declaring war on Henry, sees himself as fighting for Mortimer, his wife’s brother.
The authoritative edition of *Henry IV, Part 1* from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:
-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text 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 on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books
-An annotated guide to further reading
Essay by Alexander Leggatt
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.
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