简介：Macbeth is Shakespeare’s great tragedy of a fall into evil. The Norton Critical Edition text is based on the First Folio (1623), the only authoritative text of the play. It is accompanied by an introduction, detailed explanatory annotations, and textual notes. A rich “Sources and Contexts” section provides readers with an understanding of Macbeth’s origins through the works of Seneca, Raphael Holinshed, and The Slaughter of the Holy Innocents and the Death of Herod. The cultural controversies surrounding the play—free will, predestination, witchcraft, tyrannicide, and equivocation—are debated by various authors. Adaptations of Macbeth are included for comparative reading, among them Welcome Msomi’s recent South African retelling, uMabatha. Four hundred years of critical interpretation of Macbeth are represented in seventeen judiciously-chosen essays, among them assessments by Samuel Johnson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sarah Siddons, A. C. Bradley, Janet Adelman, Derek Jacobi, Stephen Orgel, and Peter Holland. A Selected Bibliography is also included.

简介：In a period of ten years, Shakespeare wrote a series of tragedies that established him, by universal consent, in the front rank of the world?s dramatists. Critics have praised either Hamlet or King Lear as the greatest of these; Ernst Honigmann, in the most significant edition of the play for a generation, asks: why not Othello? The third of the mature tragedies, it contains, as Honigmann persuasively demonstrates, perhaps the best plot, two of Shakespeare?s most original characters, the most powerful scene in any of the plays and poetry second to none. Honigmann?s cogent and closely argued introduction outlines the reasons both for a reluctance to recognize the greatness of Othello and for the case against the play. This edition sheds new light on the text of the play as we have come to know it, and on our knowledge of its early history. Honigmann examines the major critical issues, the play in performance and the relationship between reading it and seeing it. He also explores topics such as its date, sources and the conundrum of ?double time?. 'Honigmann's extensive knowledge illuminates this play at every turn, making this the best edition of Othello now available.' Brian Vickers, Review of English Studies

简介：Harold Bloom begins his introduction to this text by claiming that nothing in language goes beyond The Tragedy of King Lear. This text includes a brief biography of William Shakespeare, thematic and structural analysis of the play, as well as a host of critical essays by some of the most prominent experts on the text. This series is edited by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University; Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Professor of English, New York University Graduate School. These texts are the ideal aid for all students of literature, presenting concise, easy-to-understand biographical, critical, and bibliographical information on a specific literary work. Also provided are multiple sources for book reports and term papers with a wealth of information on literary works, authors, and major characters. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

简介：Among Shakespeare's plays, Hamlet is considered by many his masterpiece. Among actors, the role of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is considered the jewel in the crown of a triumphant theatrical career. Now Kenneth Branagh plays the leading role and co-directs a brillant ensemble performance. Three generations of legendary leading actors, many of whom first assembled for the Oscar-winning film Henry V, gather here to perform the rarely heard complete version of the play. This clear, subtly nuanced, stunning dramatization, presented by The Renaissance Theatre Company in association with Bbc Broadcasting, features such luminaries as Sir John Gielgud, Derek Jacobi, Emma Thompson and Christopher Ravenscroft. It combines a full cast with stirring music and sound effects to bring this magnificent Shakespearen classic vividly to life. Revealing new riches with each listening, this production of Hamlet is an invaluable aid for students, teachers and all true lovers of Shakespeare -- a recording to be treasured for decades to come. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.