Complete Works of Shakespeare, The (6th Edition)
by David Bevington
List Price:
Our Price: $73.13
You Save: $26.87 (27%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $52.80 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: David BevingtonEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-07-27
ISBN: 0205606288
Number of pages: 2032
Publisher: Longman
Book Reviews of Complete Works of Shakespeare, The (6th Edition)
Book Review: Tales of the bard
Summary: 5 Stars
Shakespeare requires no introduction -- he is "the Bard," the most imposing playwright and storyteller in the English language. And "The Complete Pelican Shakespeare" brings together every one of his plays, ranging from harrowing tragedies to airy little puffs of comedy -- and even the lesser plays are still brilliant.
The plays basically are divided into comedies, histories and tragedies. The tragedies are pretty much... tragic, the comedies are not always funny but end semi-happily, and the histories... well, dramatizations of history.
And everybody has heard of the greats here -- the Scottish lord who murders his way to kingship, young lovers divided by a feud, a Moorish general who is driven mad with jealousy, an elderly king whose arrogance rips his life apart, a very cleaned-up version of Henry VIII's split from his first wife, the goofy Prince Hal and his growth into a great king. There are feuding fairies, bickering lovers, romantic tangles, Julius Caesar's demise, gender-bending, an exiled duke/magician on his island, and the infamous "pound of flesh" bargain.
But Shakespeare also wrote a bunch of lesser-known plays that often can't be so neatly categorized -- a rotten love affair during the siege of Troy, a Roman general attacking his own city, an Athenian gentleman embittered by humanity, Richard III's Machiavellian plot to become king, two sets of twins separated at birth, a corrupt judge obsessed with a lovely nun, Falstaff's doomed efforts to make money, and so on. Some of these ("Troilus and Cressida") aren't nearly as good as his "main" body of work, but they're still excellent.
For all Shakespeare's plays, it's best to read them AFTER you've seen a good performance. Otherwise, it's like reading a movie script to a movie you haven't seen -- easy to get lost, and the dramatic effects aren't easy to connect to. But if you've seen performances of any/all of Shakespeare's plays, then his vibrant stories and poetry leap off the page.
There are long eloquent speeches, puns, clever linguistic twists, and evocative language that soaks the play in atmosphere ("With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine/There sleeps Titania sometime of the night/Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight..."). In fact, his plays are diamond mines of quotations -- some are infamous ("To be or not to be") and some of which have floated into public knowledge without labels ("Cowards die many times before their deaths/The valiant never taste of death but once").
And while some of his plays are basically fluff, he manages to weave in moral questions, criticism and explorations of the human soul. And his characters range as far as his plots -- kings and princes, teenage lovers, proud but doomed men, bratty queens, the witty but combative Beatrice and Benedick, and even the puppet-master mage Prospero.
Shakespeare's "Complete Works" is a must-have for anyone who loves the English language -- his writing was unparalleled, and even his lesser plays are a cut above the rest.
Summary of Complete Works of Shakespeare, The (6th Edition)
A balanced editorial approach, a highly respected editor, and comprehensive glosses, footnotes, and historical and cultural essays make this the most reader-friendly introduction to Shakespeare available today. The sixth edition of this comprehensive anthology addresses the two key issues confronted by readers approaching Shakespeare today: a lack of knowledge about the historical period and difficulty with the language of Shakespeare's plays. A richly illustrated general introduction offers insight into Shakespeare's England and background on the literary and cultural contexts in which Shakespeare wrote and produced plays. Each play is introduced by a descriptive essay designed to help the reader appreciate the cultural contexts and interpretive issues raised by the play -- without dictating their interpretations. Thoroughly revised and updated notes and glosses provide additional support to understanding the language of Shakespeare's time.
Criticism & Theory Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Criticism & Theory Books
Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others (Oxford World's Classics)Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1998-09-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.95
Price in other shops:
The Kalevala (Oxford World's Classics)by Elias Lonnrot, Albert B. Lord
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1999; Paperback; Book
Best price: $28.81
The TainOxford University Press, USA; Published: 2002-11-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.55
Price in other shops:
Selected Prose of T.S. Eliotby T. S. Eliot
Mariner Books; Published: 1975-11-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.82
Price in other shops:
David Copperfield (Penguin Classics)by Charles Dickens
Penguin Classics; Published: 1997-09-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking (6th Edition)by M. Neil Browne, Stuart M. Keeley
Prentice Hall College Div; Published: 2000-07-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.44
Price in other shops:
Arthur Rimbaud: Complete Works (P.S.)by Arthur Rimbaud
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2008-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
Companion to Narniaby Paul F. Ford
HarperSanFrancisco; Published: 1983-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.72
Letters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings (Perennial Classics)by Mark Twain
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2004-02-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.60
Price in other shops:
The Best American Poetry: 1992by David Lehman
Collier Books; Published: 1992-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Shakespeare: The Invention of the Humanby Harold Bloom
Riverhead Trade; Published: 1999-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops:
Birth, Marriage, and Death: Ritual, Religion, and the Life Cycle in Tudor and Stuart Englandby David Cressy
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1999-06-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $37.20
Price in other shops:
The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Package 2: Volumes C, D, and EW. W. Norton & Company; Published: 2007-04-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $49.94
How to Enjoy Shakespeareby Robert Thomas Fallon
Ivan R Dee; Published: 2004-12-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.49
Price in other shops:
The Waste Land, Prufrock and Other Poems (Dover Thrift Editions)by T. S. Eliot
Dover Publications; Dover Publications; Published: 1998-01-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Simply Shakespeareby Toby Widdicombe
Longman; Published: 2001-07-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $34.99
Price in other shops:
House Made of Dawn (P.S.)by N. Scott Momaday
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2010-04-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.31
Price in other shops:
K-12 Classroom Teaching: A Primer for the New Professional (4th Edition)by Andrea M. Guillaume
Allyn & Bacon; Published: 2011-06-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $25.64
Price in other shops:
Shakespeare's Words: A Glossary and Language Companionby David Crystal, Ben Crystal
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2002-12-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
The Bedford Companion to Shakespeare: An Introduction with Documentsby Russ McDonald
Bedford/St. Martin's; Published: 2001-02-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.00