Description

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Comedy, tragedy, and history -- this anthology presents a trio of Shakespeare's most frequently studied and performed works. Each represents one of the playwright's primary genres, and together they run the gamut of the Elizabethan theater experience, from lighthearted romance to star-crossed passion to ruthless ambition:
A Midsummer Night's Dream, a celebration of the imaginative powers of love, replete with mischievous fairies, mistaken identities, and magical transformations
Romeo and Juliet, a gripping drama in which young love is thwarted by a bitter feud and a tragic twist of fate
Richard III, a portrait of a cunning and ambitious villain who seduces, betrays, and murders his way to the throne
All plays are complete and unabridged and feature informative footnotes.

About the Author

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"He was not of an age, but for all time," declared Ben Jonson of his contemporary, William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Jonson's praise is especially prescient, since at the turn of the 17th century Shakespeare was but one of many popular London playwrights and none of his dramas were printed in his lifetime. The reason so many of his works survive is because two of his actor friends, with the assistance of Jonson, assembled and published the First Folio edition of 1623.