Love's Labour's Lost (Arden Shakespeare)

William Shakespeare's comedy Love's Labours Lost is edited with an introduction by John Kerrigan in Penguin Shakespeare. 'What fool is not so wise To lose an oath to win a paradise?' Ferdinand, King of Navarre and his lords Berowne, Dumaine, and Longaville agree to form an austere academy, taking a solemn to have no contact with women for three years. But when the Princess of neighbouring France arrives with her female attendants, their pledge is quickly placed under strain. Soon all are in smitten and confusion abounds, as each struggles to secretly declare his love in this comedy of deception, desire and mistaken identity. This book contains a general introduction to Shakespeare's life and Elizabethan theatre, a separate introduction to Love's Labours Lost, a chronology, suggestions for further reading, an essay discussing performance options on both stage and screen, and a commentary. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden some time in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), many of which are regarded as the most exceptional works of drama ever produced, including Romeo and Juliet (1595), Henry V (1599), Hamlet (1601), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606) and Macbeth (1606), as well as a collection of 154 sonnets, which number among the most profound and influential love-poetry in English. If you enjoyed Love's Labours Lost, you might like The Merry Wives of Windsor, also available in Penguin Shakespeare. 'The most beautiful of Shakespeare's comedies' Kenneth Branagh
Views: 322

Henry IV

In this meeting of two noted playwrights, Tom Stoppard has made a new version of Luigi Pirandello's masterpiece of madness and sanity. After a fall from his horse, an Italian aristocrat wakes up believing he is the medieval German emperor Henry IV. Twenty years later the woman he once loved visits him, accompanied by her lover and psychiatrist, who plans to shock "Henry" back to sanity. But is "Henry" as mad as they think? And what is madness anyway?
Views: 318

Chantecler

Edmond Eugne Alexis Rostand (1868 -1918) was a French poet and dramatist. Edmond Rostand's best-known work was Cyrano de Bergerac. In 1901, Rostand became the youngest writer to be elected to the Academie Francasie. Chantecter is a fantasy play about bird and animal life, with the characters being denizens of the farmyard and the woods.
Views: 312

The Complete Plays

A poet who hated an age of decadence, armed conflict, and departure from tradition, Aristophanes' comic genius influenced the political and social order of his own fifth-century Athens. But as Moses Hadas writes in his introduction to this volume, 'His true claim upon our attention is as the most brilliant and artistic and thoughtful wit our world has known.' Includes The Acharnians, The Birds, The Clouds, Ecclesiazusae, The Frogs, The Knights, Lysistrata, Peace, Plutus, Thesmophoriazusae, and The Wasps.
Views: 306

Richard III (Modern Library Classics)

The dramatic concluding months of The Wars of the Roses provide the setting for Shakespeare’s incomparable saga of power and intrigue. Under the editorial supervision of Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, two of today’s most accomplished Shakespearean scholars, this Modern Library series incorporates definitive texts and authoritative notes from *William Shakespeare: Complete Works.* Each play includes an Introduction as well as an overview of Shakespeare’s theatrical career; commentary on past and current productions based on interviews with leading directors, actors, and designers; scene-by-scene analysis; key facts about the work; a chronology of Shakespeare’s life and times; and black-and-white illustrations. Ideal for students, theater professionals, and general readers, these modern and accessible editions set a new standard in Shakespearean literature for the twenty-first century. Praise for *William Shakespeare: Complete Works* “A remarkable edition, one that makes Shakespeare’s extraordinary accomplishment more vivid than ever.” –James Shapiro, professor, Columbia University, bestselling author of *A Year in the Life of Shakespeare: 1599* “Two eminent Shakespeareans . . . have applied modern editing techniques and recent scholarship to correct and update the First Folio. . . . Superb.” *–The New York Times* “A feast of literary and historical information.” *–The Wall Street Journal* “I look forward to using it over many years, enjoying Bate’s perceptive comments, trusting Rasmussen’s textual scholarship.” –Peter Holland, president of the Shakespeare Association of America and editor of *Shakespeare Survey* **
Views: 304

Gothic Angel

A young man is summoned to a remote location for a midnight rendezvous with his lover, but is not certain if she will come.A young man is summoned to a remote location by his lover for a midnight rendezvous, but he harbors doubt that she will meet him and soothe his tortured and embattled heart. As the hours of darkness draws on, he loses faith and turns to drinking, only to have a surprise by the close of the night.
Views: 295

Coriolanus

Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader, Gaius Marcius Coriolanus. Although a lesser known work than his other plays, it was famously praised by the poet T.S. Eliot as being superior to Hamlet. This version has been optimized for readability on the Kindle and includes: FULLY FEATURED TABLE OF CONTENTS The full TOC appears at the beginning of the book and can be accessed through the MENU button. CHAPTER JUMP WITH 5-WAY CONTROLLER Jump quickly to the previous or next scene by pressing the left or right button on the 5-way controller. BEAUTIFUL FORMATTING Proper paragraph spacing and headings makes it easy to know who is speaking. Latus ePublishing sets out to be the leader in e-book Publishing, delivering beautifully set formatting and user-friendly navigation. ** ### From Library Journal Penguin chose to revamp its venerable Pelican Shakespeare line in 1999. The updated series includes more accurate texts and new introductions by the current crop of leading Shakespearean scholars. The good stuff just gets better with age. (Classic Returns, LJ 10/15/99) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. ### Review “A remarkable edition, one that makes Shakespeare’s extraordinary accomplishment more vivid than ever.”—James Shapiro, professor, Columbia University, bestselling author of *A Year in the Life of Shakespeare: 1599* “A feast of literary and historical information.”—*The Wall Street Journal*
Views: 294

Lord Malquist & Mr. Moon

Tom Stoppard's first novel, originally published in 1966 just before the premiere of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, is an uproarious fantasy set in modern London. The cast includes a penniless, dandified Malquist with a liveried coach; Malquist's Boswellian biographer, Moon, who frantically scribbles as a bomb ticks in his pocket; a couple of cowboys, one being named Jasper Jones; a lion who's banned from the Ritz; an Irishman on a donkey claiming to be the Risen Christ; and three irresistible women.
Views: 284

The Happy Prince (Oscar Wilde Classics)

The Happy Prince By Oscar Wilde Oscar Wilde Classics Complete and Brand New Edition The Happy Prince and Other Tales (sometimes called The Happy Prince and Other Stories) is a collection of stories for children by Oscar Wilde first published in May 1888. It contains five stories, "The Happy Prince", "The Nightingale and the Rose", "The Selfish Giant", "The Devoted Friend", and "The Remarkable Rocket". It is most famous for its title story, "The Happy Prince". **
Views: 282

Cross Roads

Anthony Spencer is egotistical, proud of being a self-made business success at the peak of his game, even though the cost of winning was painfully high. A cerebral hemorrhage leaves Tony comatose in a hospital ICU. He 'awakens' to find himself in a surreal world, a 'living' landscape that mirrors dimensions of his earthly life, from the beautiful to the corrupt. It is here that he has vivid interactions with others he assumes are projections of his own subconscious, but whose directions he follows nonetheless with the possibility that they might lead to authenticity and perhaps, redemption. The adventure draws Tony into deep relational entanglements where he is able to 'see' through the literal eyes and experiences of others, but is "blind" to the consequences of hiding his personal agenda and loss that emerge to war against the processes of healing and trust. Will this unexpected coalescing of events cause Tony to examine his life and realize he built a house of cards on the poisoned grounds of a broken heart? Will he also have the courage to make a critical choice that can undo a major injustice he set in motion before falling into a coma?
Views: 274

Comatose

A tale of emotion and suspense where an unlikely supernatural romance develops against a backdrop of armed robbery and car chases. Lost in a coma Emily finds a strange universe where she meets a stranger. Emily's brother, desperate for money, takes extreme measures to make sure that he will inherit Emily's beloved cottage. Only one man can save her life and he is not sure that Emily even exists.Warning: This description contains plot spoilers.Young and attractive, Emily Wilcox falls from a bolting horse. She is taken to hospital in a deep coma.. In Emily's comatose world, she has a strange awareness, an ability to explore. She finds herself in a bizarre small universe where nothing makes sense to her. Eventually she discovers a door and finds the strength to push through. It is a door that takes her into her beloved cottage. The cottage has been rented by an aspiring young writer Alexander Havers who encounters Emily as... maybe a figment of his imagination... maybe a ghost. Despite the strangeness, the two become close and work on Alexander's novel together. Alexander feels that Emily is probably the sign of his decaying mental state but chooses to accept the apparition as a real person and soon falls under her spell. Emily equally falls under Alexander's spell and a strong bond develops between man and ghost.Tony, Emily's half brother, is in trouble with a criminal gang. Tony is a troubled cocaine user and gets into serious debt with Jimmy Costard, a dangerous man. Tony starts to fear for his life. Jimmy wants to make use of Tony's natural ability behind the wheel of a car as a getaway driver but Tony finds the idea troubling. He sees the sale of Emily's cottage, which he will inherit should his sister die, as offering enough money to allow him to escape from Jimmy. But Emily, although still in her coma and now dependant on life support, will stubbornly not die.He enlists the aid of one of Jimmy's associates, John Mason an ice cold assassin, to end his sister's life. Emily is now able to hear the voices in her hospital room and she overhears the plot to take her life. In her ghostly form she returns to the cottage and convinces Alexander that she is real, not a figment of his mind and that she desperately needs his help. Alexander and Suzanne, Emily's mother, rush to the hospital and the attempt on the comatose girl's life is averted. Seeing her for the first time as a real woman, Alexander kisses Emily in her hospital bed and she finally wakes from her coma. Now awake and recovering rapidly, Emily does not remember any of her time in her strange coma world nor does she recognise Alexander who has by now become besotted by her.When Emily finally returns home to her cottage, Alexander has gone, leaving no forwarding address. He is even more in love with Emily than ever but feels rejected by her lack of recognition and feels that he has to forget her. Finally Suzanne tells her daughter about Alexander's encounter with her strange ghostly apparition but Emily can remember nothing of the events even though she feels that something very special is missing from her life.Tony has run away to keep his head down and Jimmy's big job has to go ahead without Tony. They take a less skilled driver who crashes the car in an attempt to escape a chasing police patrol. All the occupants of the getaway car are killed except for John Mason who is left with an attaché case of gold... and one last assassination to complete...The novel that Alexander and Emily had worked on is finally published but by now Alexander has a rewarding job offer based in New York and puts his plans of becoming a full time author on hold.Suddenly while watching the hypnotic flames of her fire, Emily finally remembers the strange life she lived, trapped between a bed ridden comatose patient and a ghostly presence in her cottage. She remembers Alexander, knows that she still loves him and wants him back in her life. Despite her best efforts she can find no trace of the man who saved her life... Not until she passes a book shop and sees the book they wrote together on display. Alexander is at the airport, on his way to New York and a new life, when he finally receives a message relayed from Emily. He is forced to make a decision: to go New York and become rich or return to the humble cottage and Emily...
Views: 270

The Importance of Being Earnest: And Other Plays

Oscar Wilde created his final and most lasting play, comic masterpieces of all time, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, in 1895. Considered one of the greatest THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is a farce, playing with love, religion, and truth as it tells the tale of two men. Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, who bend the truth in order to add excitement to their lives. Jack invents an imaginary brother, Ernest, whom he uses as an excuse to escape from his dull country home and gallavant in town. Meanwhile, Algernon follows Jack's scam, but his imaginary friend, Bumbury, provides a convenient method of adventuring in the country. However, their deceptions eventually cross paths, resulting in a series of crises that threaten to spoil their romantic pursuits. Hailed as the first modern comedy in England, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is Wilde's most famous work. This collection also features two other plays that Wilde penned earlier in his career, LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN and AN IDEAL HUSBAND, that also display his ability to convey warmth and wit through his hilarious characters and their outlandish situations.
Views: 262

The Nice Old Man and the Pretty Girl

...the sin of an old man is equal to about two sins of a young man. The fable-like story of an old man's sexual obsession with a young woman is a distillation of Italo Svevo's concerns--attraction of an older man to a younger woman, individual conscience versus social convention, and the cost of sexual desire. This novella is a marvel of psychological insight, following the man's vacillations and tortuous self-justifications to their tragic-comic end. It is presented here in a translation first commissioned and published by Virginia Woolf for her Hogarth Press. **The Art of The Novella Series **Too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art Of The Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time. From the Trade Paperback edition.
Views: 241

The Complete Poems and Plays, 1909-1950

This omnibus collection includes all of the author’s early poetry as well as the Four Quartets, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, and the plays Murder in the Cathedral, The Family Reunion, and The Cocktail Party.
Views: 233

Ends and Odds

Ends and Odds brings together nine short dramatic works by the Nobel Prize-winning author of Waiting for Godot.
Views: 230