18 books like Twelfth Night, or What You Will
The Comedy of Errors
"I feel that I have spent half my career with one or another Pelican Shakespeare in my back pocket. Convenience, however, is the least important aspect of the new Pelican Shakespeare series. Here is an elegant and clear text for either the study or the rehearsal room, notes where you need them and the distinguished scholarship of the general editors, Stephen Orgel and A. R. Braunmuller who…
Shares: Mistaken identity, English Young adult drama, Juvenile drama, Survival after airplane accidents
Measure for Measure
This play examines the nature of mercy and justice, proposing that a good government is one that is flexible and based on common sense.
Shares: English Young adult drama, Problems, Brothers and sisters, English literature
The Taming of the Shrew
This play within a play is a delightful farce about a fortune hunter who marries and tames" the town shrew. The comedy, often produced today because of its accessibility, is one of the plays Shakespeare intended for the general public rather than for the nobility.
CliffsComplete combines the full original text of The Taming of the Shrew with a helpful glossary and CliffsNotes-quality commentary…
Shares: English Young adult drama, Juvenile drama, Problems, Romance & Relationships
The Merchant of Venice
In this lively comedy of love and money in sixteenth-century Venice, Bassanio wants to impress the wealthy heiress Portia but lacks the necessary funds. He turns to his merchant friend, Antonio, who is forced to borrow from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender. When Antonio's business falters, repayment becomes impossible--and by the terms of the loan agreement, Shylock is able to demand a pound of…
Shares: Juvenile drama, Problems, History and criticism, English literature
Two Gentlemen of Verona
"Professor Schlueter approaches this early comedy as a parody of two types of Renaissance educational fiction: the love-quest story and the test-of-friendship story, which by their combination show high-flown human ideals as incompatible with each other and with human nature. A thoroughly researched, illustrated stage history reveals changing conceptions of the play, which nevertheless often fail…
Shares: English Young adult drama, Children's plays, Problems, English literature
Coriolanus
A proud Roman general conquers the Volscians, leads them against Rome in revenge for his banishment, and is killed by the Volscian general when Coriolanus is persuaded to spare the city.
Shares: Children's plays, Juvenile drama, English literature, Drama
All's Well That Ends Well
"For this updated edition, Alexander Leggatt has written a wholly new introduction to Russell Fraser's edition of one of Shakespeare's most puzzling, ambiguous and demanding plays. Leggatt's interest in performance informs his introduction and his account of the instability of the main characters. He offers a full, illustrated and thoughtful account of the play's critical and theatrical fortunes…
Shares: English Young adult drama, Problems, History and criticism, Drama
King Richard II
"Richard is King. A monarch ordained by God to lead his people. But he is also a man of very human weakness. A man whose vanity threatens to divide the great houses of England and drag his people into a dynastic civil war that will last 100 years"--Container.
Shares: English Young adult drama, Problems, English literature, Drama
A Midsummer Night's Dream
One night two young couples run into an enchanted forest in an attempt to escape their problems. But these four humans do not realize that the forest is filled with fairies and hobgoblins who love making mischief. When Oberon, the Fairy King, and his loyal hobgoblin servant, Puck, intervene in human affairs, the fate of these young couples is magically and hilariously transformed. Like a classic…
Shares: Children's plays, Juvenile drama, Drama
As You Like It
This play has two principal settings: the court that Frederick has usurped from his brother, the rightful Duke, and the Forest of Arden, where the Duke and his followers (including the disgruntled Lord Jaques and the jester Touchstone) are living.
Shares: Children's plays, Juvenile drama, Drama
King John
Complexities of power and loyalty in King John, a historical play by William Shakespeare. Set against the backdrop of England’s turbulent politics, this gripping narrative explores the reign of King John, who faces internal betrayal and external threats. As he grapples with his own legitimacy and the loyalty of his nobles, the play delves into themes of authority, identity, and human frailty.
Shares: English Young adult drama, Problems, Drama
Othello Fully New Edition Annotated
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the short story Un Capitano Moro ("A Moorish Captain") by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565. This tightly constructed work revolves around four central characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army; his beloved…
Shares: Othello, Drama
Henry V
Introducing this edition, Gary Taylor shows how Shakespeare shaped his historical material, examines controversial critical interpretations, discusses the play's fluctuating fortunes in performance, and analyses the range and variety of Shakespeare's characterization. The first Folio text is radically rethought, making original use of the First Quarto (1600).
Shares: English Young adult drama, Problems, Drama
King Lear
King Lear divides his kingdom among the two daughters who flatter him and banishes the third one who loves him. His eldest daughters both then reject him at their homes, so Lear goes mad and wanders through a storm. His banished daughter returns with an army, but they lose the battle and Lear, all his daughters and more, die.
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Shares: English Young adult drama, English literature, Drama
Henry IV, Part 2
Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, Summer festival, June 27th to September 10th, 1932. "The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, containing his death, and the coronation of King Henry the Fifth," by William Shakespeare. The prologue will be spoken by Eugene Wellesley and the epilogue by Hilda Coxhead.
Shares: English Young adult drama, History and criticism, English literature, Drama
Henry IV, Part 1
Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, discusses the author and the theater of his time, and provides quizzes and other study activities.
Shares: Juvenile drama, English literature, Drama
The Admirable Crichton
The story of the play concerns an aristocratic English family who revert to the state of Nature when shipwrecked on a desert island. While there, they are willing slaves to their former butler, but on return to civilization, the positions are shifted.
Shares: Children's plays, English literature, Drama
Othello
Othello, a successful Moorish general in the service of Venice, elopes with Desdemona, the daughter of a Venetian noble. His evil lieutenant Iago works on his jealousy and persuades him that his wife is unfaithful. Overwrought, Othello strangles her then kills himself in grief after the truth is revealed.
Shares: Othello, Drama