William Shakespeare Books

This little version of Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' is a sparkling gem, thanks to the dynamic illustrations by Tintin Pantoja. Since this play is a familiar favorite of mine I really didn't need another copy of it, but the beguiling cover art convinced me to indulge, and I wasn't disappointed.

The text inside is pure Shakespeare - the play has been skillfully pruned, but thankfully not paraphrased. The story moves along briskly with distinctive character designs, varied panel layouts, and brilliantly expressive figures. I keep returning to the beginning of Act V to appreciate my favorite scene: Hamlet by the graveside, cradling the skull of "poor Yorick", the jester from Hamlet's childhood. Two illustrations show Hamlet as a child enjoying the company of Yorick, and such is the advantage of this medium (manga/graphic novel) - that we can see Hamlet as a young adult in one panel and Hamlet as a child in the next.

I can only imagine that this manga edition would be an engaging first encounter with the play, but I can say with certainty that this is a pleasant reacquaintance with an old familiar favorite.

A great little reference! I am fairly well-schooled in Shakespeare, but it is always nice to see someone else's "translation". This text offers a concise, 20th-century-speak version of the play, so it is great to read a scene in this and then in the original text. It help me get all of my cast on the same page with regards to what's going on in the scene. I would only recommend it as a companion piece to the original, however, because Henry V has great speeches, and this (by its nature) loses the poetry.

Diede introduces a compelling insight into Shakespeare's use of "the body" of the monarchial state, derived from St. Paul (1 Cor. 12:12-31) using the metaphor of the parts of the body and their functional roles, to represent those who make up the political body. For example, a ruler (such as Julius Caesar) may play the functional role of the "eye" of the kingdom, but also needs advisors who can compensate for the other necessary functions (hearing, speaking) that Caesar might not be able to adequately perform for the body politic. Diede argues that not only did Shakespeare appropriate this Pauline concept and use it in certain plays, but so did Queen Elizabeth and King James in reality. Diede's revelation and explication of this metaphorical vision and the utilization of the same by both playwright and rulers is cogently argued and extremely well-researched. This scholarly work can be of value to English, Drama, and History scholars (and upper-level to graduate students in those disciplines), and to those who are interested the influence of Pauline New Testament analogies. Finally, Shakespeareans who invest time in the perusal of this work would be well-rewarded. Recommended for all academic libraries where Shakespeare is taught.

As Shewmaker points out, the reader of Shakespeare is often stymied by unfamiliar, archaic, or confusing words in the texts of the great master, and if footnotes are given, they are often at the rear of the book, disrupting the reader's concentration and making difficult what should be a pleasure.
The editor/compiler has consulted the leading texts and interpreters to provide 15,000 of these words and phrases to include the definition, the quote placing it in context, geographical references, foreign-language expressions, and the mythological allusions which are so much a part the richness of Shakespeare's works and our cultural heritage.
Highly recommended as the essential companion for anyone seeking the immeasurable pleasures of Shakespeare.
(The numerical rating above is a default setting within Amazon's format. This reviewer does not employ numerical ratings.)

I appreciate this book's inclusion of deep analysis of Hamlet. It made me think about the play in entirely new ways. It is the obligation of a life long student to continue studying, and for me right now, I am studying Shakespeare's plays, and this book opened the door to other interpretations of the play's meaning and the actions of Hamlet.

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)