Shakespeare Books

This book really helped me to find a good audition Shakespeare piece. There is so much stuff by the Bard that its difficult knowing where to look. I highly recoomend this book.

SHAKESPEARE'S POLITICAL ANIMAL is a delight. Hager quickly dismisses the deconstruction of Shakespeare by showing that the Bard has already deconstructed himself. Then he goes on to show that the new historicists miss the irony of Shakespeare's political background in Machiavelli, Montaigne and Sidney, and Shakespeare's own self-irony. Touching on an extraordinary number of Shakespeare's works, including sonnets and the so-called "Ill May Day" scene of SIR THOMAS MORE, Hager demonstrates a consistent view of Shakespeare on the need for indirection in sexual politics and realpolitik. Buy this book if you want to know the true underpinnings of Shakespearean thought.

This is a masterful study of Shakespeare's History plays written with the comfortable confidence of someone intent upon understanding rather than looking for what they already know. In this careful analysis Shakespeare emerges as a contemplative soul in pursit of understanding, but also someone who understands the constraints of political life.

In this light, Shakespeare stands in stark contrast with a thinker like Machiavelli who is so intent on purifying politics that he blinds himself to the fundamental limitations of mankind. Put simply, Machiavelli is a moralist who pursues a kind of justice at the expense of the rest of us. Despite the fact that Machiavelli thinks of his 'project' as hardboiled realism, he is in fact, a wimp. Shakespeare, on the other hand, is much more realistic in his assesment of theoretical and practical matters and as a consequence his plays educate readers about the nobility of the human mind without sacrificing the benefits of political life.

Tillyard considers four of Shakespeare's plays, Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida, All's Well that Ends Well, and Measure for Measure 'problem plays. In a problem play according to Tillyard speculative thought and the observation of human nature are not fully integrated into the action of the play, but rather have disproportionate space in the play in their own right. Problem plays too deal with characters on the verge of adulthood who must face difficult realities which lead them towards maturity. Tillyard argues that the Plays are not as gloomy as many might think. He also does not like the kind of criticism which makes simple links between some imagined crisis in the life of Shakespeare and the writing of the plays. He also stresses that the theme of 'mercy and forgiveness' is central in these plays most especially in 'Measure for Measure'.
This is a thoughtful critical study.

We tend to think of Shakespeare as the finished product he is today, the plays we see on stage with their costumes and trappings and the world's best actors, or those aspirants in High School tripping over light cables behind the scenery. He had a beginning, though, and like everyone who survived to adulthood in his age, he worked for a living. Reading this book you can imagine him trotting on stage for his part in a play, getting called up during a rehearsal to recast some lines one of the other actors found uncongenial. Rather like Beetle in Stalky and Co., only more solid somehow. It is a splendid book and illustrates the man and his age with the effortlessness of good scholarship. It is too short, but for those who really want to know what things were like around Shakespeare in his own day, get this book. Imagine Shakespeare helping to lug the giant timbers of a large building across the frozen Thames to build the Globe. Back then as now, Theatre people did what had to be done for the show to go on.

Many of today's readers - including many Shakespeare scholars - do not realise how frequently Shakespeare uses, or adapts, proverbs or similar sayings current and popular in his day. Thus, as not even the Oxford English Dictionary is strong in this area, a good reference book listing the proverbs we find in Shakespeare is quite indispensable: without it, we frequently cannot understand his originality and/or contact with 'folk wisdom" of his day, and even run the risk - quite often - of simply misunderstanding what he says. This compilation by Dent is generally recognised as the best of its kind: while much help is also provided by M.P. Tilley's famous Dictionary of the Proverbs in England in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (1950), and by F.P. Wilson's updated Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs (1970), Dent is yet more comprehensive. He might have offered more explanation of the meaning of the proverbs, but usually that becomes clear from the many examples he quotes. A REPRINT IS VERY MUCH NEEDED. - Joost Daalder, Profesor of English, Flinders University (South Australia)

"William Shakespeare's plays are unique in the beauty and innovation of their language and in their timelessness of theme. This calendar--now in its tenth year--offers dozens of paintings, drawings, prints, and photographs of scenes from his plays, costumes and actors, histrionic orations, books and posters. ¶ 13 x 12" wall calendar (opens to 13 x 24") with twelve color and black-and-white reproductions. Published with the Library of Congress. ISBN: 0-7649-3062-1. Click on the small picture to see the back cover. Related items available in Literature."--© Pomegranate

This is a wonderful collection of essays on Richard II. Especially noteworthy is Morgan Griffin's brilliant introduction to the critical history of the play, which synthesizes and critiques decades of scholarly work.

Shakespeare's scribe is filled with non-stop humor, being an avid reader I am critical of books, but this and the preceding book in this series are both great. Shakespeare's Scribe is suited for just about anyone combining significant history, witty humor, but also touching emotion. I would recomend this book to anyone.

This is great for the beginner learning about the arts! A fabulous collection..a must have....for any library!