Considered by many as Shakespeare’s masterpiece and one of the greatest dramas of all time, “Hamlet” is the story of its titular character, the Prince of Denmark who discovers that his uncle, Claudius, is responsible for the murder of his father. Claudius has murdered Hamlet’s father, his own brother, in order to usurp the throne of Denmark and to marry Hamlet’s widowed mother. Sunk into a state of despair, Hamlet is torn between his grief over his father’s death and his desire for revenge....
Originally published in the First Folio of 1623, William Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” is a play which has been classified by some critics as a comedy and by others as a romance. The confusion arises out of the fact that the first three acts are filled with intense psychological drama while the last two acts provide a comedic and happy ending. At the outset of the play we are introduced to two childhood friends, Leontes, King of Sicilia, and Polixenes, the King of Bohemia, who has travelled...
Baptista Minola, a lord in Padua, insists that if his youngest daughter Bianca is to be married that her older sister Katherine be married first. Bianca, the more desirable of the two sisters, has no shortage of suitors. However, Katherine, the titular “shrew,” has a temper so notorious that it is thought that no man would ever wish to marry her. When Petruchio comes to town in search of a wife, Hortensio, one of Bianca’s suitors convinces Petruchio to marry Katherine. Only interested in her...
First published in the Folio of 1623, William Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra” is the historical drama based on the lives of its title characters. Based upon the historical accounts contained within Plutarch’s “Lives”, this dramatic tragedy follows the relationship between Mark Antony and Cleopatra from the time of the Sicilian revolt up until Cleopatra’s suicide. At the outset of the play Mark Antony is part of the ruling Second Triumvirate of Rome and is living in Egypt engaged in an...
One of William Shakespeare’s most farcical comedies, “The Comedy of Errors” is notable for its use of mistaken identity to achieve a slapstick comedic effect. Ripe with the bard’s characteristic word play, the comedy concerns the lives of two sets of identical twins that were accidentally separated shortly after their birth. The play begins by the elderly Syracusian trader Egeon relating the back story of his family. When Egeon was young he married Emilia who gave birth to two twin boys, known...
Believed to have been written in 1591, William Shakespeare’s “Richard III” is one of the bards first plays, the first installment in a tetralogy of plays which includes “Henry IV, Part I”, “Henry IV, Part II”, and “Henry V”. One of the longest of Shakespeare’s plays and consequently rarely performed unabridged, “Richard III” is the story of the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of King Richard III of England. The play begins with Richard, known in the play as Gloucester,...
Tragedia Williama Shakespeare’a napisana około 1606 r. Należy do najczęściej wystawianych i adaptowanych sztuk szekspirowskich. Lord Makbet, wódz w armii króla Dunkana, spotyka trzy wiedźmy, które przepowiadają mu koronę. Ten się opiera, ale podjudzany przez chorobliwie ambitną żonę zabija swojego króla. Aby utrzymać się przy władzy brnie jednak w spiralę zbrodni… „Makbet” jest archetypiczną opowieścią o niebezpieczeństwach związanych z żądzą władzy i zdradą przyjaciół.
Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy about two young «star-cross'd lovers» whose untimely deaths ultimately unite their feuding families… retold with a bit more bite!When a classic is perfect, there is only one thing that can make it better: folding in a breed of monsters! With vampires thrown in the mix, readers will love the darkly hilarious twist on this best-loved tragedy.“For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo”… Add in fangs and you can say that again!