William Shakespeare's classic tragedy about Macbeth and his wife, who plot to kill the king and his heirs in order to seize the crown of Scotland. Includes textual notes, chronology, and scene-by-scene analysis.

Believed to have been written in 1603, Shakespeare's Othello is a tragedy that puts the playwright's prodigious creative gifts on full display. Based loosely on a Renaissance-era Italian tale, Othello follows the stormy relationship of the Moorish general Othello and his lovely wife Desdemona. Addressing timeless themes of love and betrayal, as well as surprisingly contemporary concepts such as race-based stereotypes, Othello

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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.

Planning a school or amateur Shakespeare production? The best way to experience the plays is to perform them, but getting started can be a challenge: The complete plays are too long and complex, while scene selections or simplified language are too limited. "The 30-Minute Shakespeare" is a new series of abridgements that tell the "story" of each play from start to finish while keeping the beauty of Shakespeare's language intact. Specific stage directions...

Critical commentary accompanies the story of Antonio, who risks his life to borrow money from his enemy, Shylock, and is saved by Portia, an heiress posing as a lawyer.

"This book presents a historical overview of The Tempest in performance, recommends film versions, takes a detailed look at specific productions and includes interviews with three leading directors - Peter Brook, Sam Mendes and Rupert Goold - so that we may get a sense of the extraordinary variety of interpretations that are possible, a variety that gives Shakespeare his unique capacity to be reinvented and made 'our contemporary' four centuries after...

William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" is a gripping political drama that delves into the complex themes of power, betrayal, and the consequences of ambition. Set in ancient Rome, the play unfolds in the wake of Caesar's triumphant return from war. As the city celebrates his victories, a group of senators, including Brutus and Cassius, grows increasingly concerned about Caesar's growing influence and potential tyranny. They plot his assassination...

Besides the play, the text includes a special introduction to the play, the sources from which Shakespeare derived the play, a general discussion of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater, dramatic criticism from the past and present, among others.

Anne Tyler's retelling of the Shakespeare play "The taming of the shrew." Kate Battista runs the house for her father and younger sister Bunny; her pre-school charges adore her, but their parents don't always appreciate her unusual opinions and forthright manner. When her father's lab assistant, Pyotr, is about to be deported just as they are on the verge of a breakthrough, Dr. Battista cooks up an outrageous plan that relys on Kate to help him....

A choose-your-own adventure novel allows readers to play as Hamlet, Ophelia, or King Hamlet and select a story arc that closely follows Shakespeare's original work or that explores alternative plots.