Author: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616, author. Mowat, Barbara A., editor. Werstine, Paul, editor.
Published: 2017 1993
Call Number: 822.33
Format: Books
Summary: In Othello, William 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.
Author: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616, author. Mowat, Barbara A., editor, writer of added commentary. Werstine, Paul, editor, writer of added commentary. Folger Shakespeare Library.
Published: 2016 1993
Call Number: 822.33
Format: Books
Summary: Shakespeare's popular comedy of love and mistaken identity is accompanied by a section on reading Shakespeare's language, information on Shakespeare's life and theater, explanatory notes, annotated reading lists, and an essay. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare stages the workings of love. Theseus and Hippolyta, about to marry, are figures from mythology. In the woods outside Theseus's Athens, two young men and two young women sort themselves out into couples--but not before they form first one love triangle, and then another. Also in the woods, the king and queen of fairyland, Oberon and Titania, battle over custody of an orphan boy; Oberon uses magic to make Titania fall in love with a weaver named Bottom, whose head is temporarily transformed into that of a donkey by a hobgoblin or "puck," Robin Goodfellow. Finally, Bottom and his companions ineptly stage the tragedy of "Pyramus and Thisbe."
Author: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616, author. Mowat, Barbara A., editor. Werstine, Paul, editor. Folger Shakespeare Library.
Published: 2014 1992
Call Number: 822.33
Format: Books
Summary: Love and marriage are the concerns of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Lucentio's marriage to Bianca is prompted by his idealized love of an apparently ideal woman. Petruchio's wooing of Katherine, however, is free of idealism. Petruchio takes money from Bianca's suitors to woo her, since Katherine must marry before her sister by her father's decree; he also arranges the dowry with her father. Petruchio is then ready to marry Katherine, even against her will.
Author: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616, author. Mowat, Barbara A., editor. Werstine, Paul, editor.
Published: 2013 1992
Call Number: 822.33
Format: Books
Summary: Presents Shakespeare's drama about a man who kills the king of Scotland in order to claim the throne for himself, and includes explanatory notes, plot summaries, a key to notable lines and phrases, and other reference information. Each edition 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 famous lines and phrases - An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language - An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play - Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books.
Author: Christie, Agatha, 1890-1976.
Published: 2012 1922
Call Number: F CHRISTIE
Format: Books
Summary: Investigating the case of a woman who has been missing for five years, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford uncover just enough information to solve the mystery and put their own lives in jeopardy.
Author: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616, author. Mowat, Barbara A., editor. Werstine, Paul, author.
Published: 2011 1992
Call Number: 822.33
Format: Books
Summary: 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 friends and fellow politicians. Renaissance writers disagreed over the assassination, seeing Brutus, a leading conspirator, as either hero or villain. Shakespeare's play keeps this debate alive.
Author: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616, author. Mowat, Barbara A., editor. Werstine, Paul, editor.
Published: 2010 1992
Call Number: 822.33
Format: Books
Summary: Antonio, a merchant, borrows money from Shylock, a Jew. When Antonio cannot repay his debt, Shylock demands a pound of his flesh in payment. In The Merchant of Venice, the path to marriage is hazardous. To win Portia, Bassanio must pass a test prescribed by her father's will, choosing correctly among three caskets or chests. If he fails, he may never marry at all. Bassanio and Portia also face a magnificent villain, the moneylender Shylock. In creating Shylock, Shakespeare seems to have shared in a widespread prejudice against Jews. Shylock would have been regarded as a villain because he was a Jew. Yet he gives such powerful expression to his alienation due to the hatred around him that, in many productions, he emerges as the hero. Portia is most remembered for her disguise as a lawyer, Balthazar, especially the speech in which she urges Shylock to show mercy that "droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven"
Author: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616, author. Mowat, Barbara A., editor. Werstine, Paul, editor. Folger Theatre. Two River Theater.
Published: 2009 1992
Call Number: 822.33
Format: Books
Summary: In 1603, James VI of Scotland ascended the English throne, becoming James I of England. London was alive with an interest in all things Scottish, and Shakespeare turned to Scottish history for material. He found a spectacle of violence and stories of traitors advised by witches and wizards, echoing James' belief in a connection between treason and witchcraft. In depicting a man who murders to become king, Macbeth teases us with huge questions. Is Macbeth tempted by fate, or by his or his wife's ambition? Why does their success turn to ashes? Like other plays, Macbeth speaks to each generation. Its story was once seen as that of a hero who commits an evil act and pays an enormous price. Recently, it has been applied to nations that overreach themselves and to modern alienation. The line is blurred between Macbeth's evil and his opponents' good, and there are new attitudes toward both witchcraft and gender.
Author: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616, author. Mowat, Barbara A., editor. Werstine, Paul, editor. Martin, Randall, 1958- writer of added commentary. Folger Shakespeare Library.
Published: 2009
Call Number: 822.33
Format: Books
Summary: 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 between these two families began under Richard II. Half a century later, during the reign of Henry VI, it moved toward civil war. Now, in Henry VI, Part 3, Henry's long reign becomes intermittent as his cousin Richard, Duke of York, seeks the crown and York's son Edward sporadically succeeds in seizing it. As we watch the crown pass back and forth between Henry VI and Edward IV, our attention is caught by other characters: the Earl of Warwick, Queen Margaret, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Warwick is the power behind the challenge to Henry VI, until he shifts to Henry. Margaret raises an army in England and later leads one from France, all in a futile attempt to secure the throne for her son, Prince Edward. Historically, his death destroyed her, but Shakespeare wisely saves Margaret to bring her back in Richard III. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, increasingly draws our attention. Both attractive and repellent, he is energetic, self-aware, bitter about his deformity (which may not have existed historically), ruthless, and unable to care about others. Each edition includes: 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 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; illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books.
Author: Flanagan, John (John Anthony)
Published: 2008 2006
Call Number: J PB FLANAGAN
Format: Books
Summary: Now a full-fledged Ranger responsible for a sleepy fief, Will finds a new adventure seeking the traitors who poisoned the king, investigating rumors of sorcery, and trying to rescue his friend Alyss, who is taken hostage.
Author: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616, author. Jowett, John, editor.
Published: 2008 2000
Call Number: 822.33
Format: Books
Summary: "Richard III is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays on the stage and has been adapted successfully for film. This new and innovative edition recognizes the play's pre-eminence as a performance work: a perspective that informs every aspect of the editing. Challenging traditional practice, the text is based on the 1597 Quarto which, it is argued, brings us closest to the play as it would have been staged in Shakespeare's theatre. The introduction, which is illustrated, explores the long performance history from Shakespeare's time to the present. Its critical engagement with the play responds to recent historicist and gender-based approaches. The commentary gives detailed explication of matters of language, staging, text, and historical and cultural contexts, providing coverage that is both carefully balanced and alert to nuance of meaning." --Publisher description.
Alexander talks about her new book, and Lucasta Miller discusses her biography of Keats.
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A selection of new poetry collections, from Mosab Abu Toha, Marlanda Dekine, Basie Allen, Shane McCrae, Ama Asantewa Diaka, Mary Jo Salter, Eloisa Amezcua and D. Nurkse.
Les Murray’s posthumous collection “Continuous Creation” highlights both his crankiness and the rough magnificence of the landscape he loved.
Seven decades after Millay’s death, “Rapture and Melancholy” paints a picture of artistic triumph, romantic tumult and a daily life that descended into addiction.
In “Best Barbarian,” Roger Reeves riffs on Western tradition to challenge its omissions and expand its political and artistic possibilities.
Again and again in Ange Mlinko’s collection “Venice,” quotidian events generate nightmarish overtones.
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