English > Shakespeare > Sh. General Books

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This unique addition to the Shakespeare canon, this book begins where most Shakespeare stories end, with his death in 1616. Jack Lynch has written the definitive biography of William Shakespeare's afterlife--two hundred years during which he grew from a modestly successful provincial playwright to the lofty status of transcendent genius at the heart of English culture.

Tis book provides a comprehensive review of the filmed versions of Shakespeare's plays. It includes explorations of the film versions of Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Richard II, Henry V, Twelfth Night, King Lear, Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado about Nothing and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Filmed interpretations of the plays are compared with each other in the light of Shakespeare's intention to create popular entertainment, with comments on the politics, events and social conditions of Shakespare's... read more

This a resource which informs on all aspects of Shakespeare and his plays and provides insights which will add to students’ understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare, and is invaluable for every teacher doing anything with Shakespeare in the classroom. It has the essential information about Shakespeare’s works, his times and his language, with contributions from some of the world’s most experienced Shakespeare practitioners.

One of the best ways for modern readers to develop an appreciation for Shakespeare is by discovering how frequently his works are reinvented by today's young adult authors. "Heirs to Shakespeare" puts the Baird into conversation with these authors and helps bring Renaissance drama to life. This innovative approach to curriculum design bridges the artificial gap between canonical authors and contemporary writers. At the same time, it demonstrates how reading for personal pleasure and reading Shakespeare can be complementary goals. U... read more

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is perhaps the most famous as well as strangest and most inventive poet and dramatist of all time. Although dead for hundreds of years, he is everywhere - in books and movies, in love and war, in the public world of politics and the intimacies of everyday speech. What makes his writings so persistently powerful and fascinating? The most effective way of exploring this question is to focus on what (as far as we are able to determine) he actually wrote. Nicholas Royle conveys the richness and complexit... read more

Who can deny the satisfaction in coming up with the right words at the right time to put a rude, insulting, or otherwise unpleasant person in his or her place? For hilarious lessons in the fine art of rapier-sharp retort, pungent put-down, and ego-crushing malediction, we can turn to the master, William Shakespeare. Though more famous for romantic sonnets, Shakespeare also penned some of the most memorably vile personal appraisals, brutal jokes, and lewd, scurrilous insinuations ever to grace the English language. This decimating d... read more

Literacy in Context is your key to delivering the Framework for Teaching English. Each book will help students to understand more about a particular kind of writing, learn about its language features and work towards their own piece of writing in a similar style.

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Twenty Cuttings for Acting and Directing Practice A better way to get students excited about acting Shakespeare. Breaking Shakespeare's plays into small workable scenes improves students' interest, enthusiasm and performance. Each scene contains between two and seven characters. All scenes are between five and twenty minutes in length. Scenes are preceded by a list of lead and supporting characters and a brief description of what has occurred thus far in the play. Students can easily grasp the setting, motivation and basic charact... read more

Many instructors teach Shakespeare by studying only one of his many plays, owing to time constraints. Now students are able to easily study a variety of his works and come to a more complete understanding of the world's most famous playwright. Only scenes with small casts, between two and seven characters, are included. Each scene is preceded by character descriptions and plot synopsis so that actors will understand the setting and motivation of the characters. All scenes are between 15 and 25 minutes in length. Ideal for classroom... read more

Fandex celebrates the plays, the plots, the poetry - and obsession, conspiracy, madness, sorcery, murder, yearning, and blood-shed. From Henry VI, Part I, with its detailed staging of warfare, to the sublime allegory of The Tempest, here you'll find the hesitation of Hamlet, the absolute evil of Iago, Macbeth's ambition, Lear's blind pride, Falstaff's mockery, Juliet's passion. Illustrated with a fascinating mix of historic paintings and photos of actors in their definitive roles, Shakespeare puts the Bard, his era, and his gloriou... read more

Focusing on the plays most commonly studied at school and college, Shakespeare A-Z contains thousands of definitions of words which may be unfamiliar to the modern reader, together with play references and explanations of the differences between Elizabethan and modern English
During the course of an average day you will probably quote Shakespeare at least once, almost certainly without being aware of it. Approximately 1,700 of the words that we use regularly, from 'assassination', through 'green-eyed' and 'puking' to 'zany',... read more

Certainty may give way to misgiving, happiness may become unease. Moment-to-moment changes often make actors and directors pause and ponder when deciding to perform a Shakespeare comedy. But this should not be the case, claims theatre scholar Albert Bermel. In Shakespeare at the Moment, Bermel contends that Shakespeare's comedies depend for their effects on their sparkling inconsistency and spontaneity, and on the opportunities they offer for artistic ingenuity and initiative. The book discusses fifteen plays, addressing Shakespear... read more

Here are all the monologues for women from the plays of Shakespeare. Conveniently arranged alphabetically by play title, each monologue is preceded by thumbnail sketches of each play's key developments.

Volume 2 of massive work by a leading Shakespeare scholar and lexicographer, a standard in the field, provides full definitions, locations, and shades of meaning in every word in Shakespeare's plays and poems. The 2 volumes contain more than 50,000 exact quotations, each precisely located. There is no other word dictionary comparable to this work.

If the mere mention of Shakespeare fills you with dread, evoking memories of arduous afternoons spent in stuffy classrooms with eccentric English teachers, it is time to reconsider. Let Portico's second title in the "...Matters" series rekindle your interest in the great bard, demonstrating that far from being three-hour marathons of unintelligible boring rubbish, Shakespeare's plays are in fact exciting, tragic, funny and often downright rude - full of memorable plots, great insults, filthy jokes and eccentric characters."Shakespe... read more

"Shakespeare Now!" is a series of short books of truly vital literary scholarship, each with its own distinctive form. "Shakespeare Now!" recaptures the excitement of Shakespeare; it doesn't assume we know him already, or that we know the best methods for approaching his plays. "Shakespeare Now!" is a new generation of critics, unafraid of risk, on a series of intellectual adventures. Above all - it is a new Shakespeare, freshly present in each volume. Shakespearean thinking is always dynamic: thinking that happens in the living mo... read more

A prominent producer-director of Shakespeare's plays writes with wit and verve about the Elizabethan theater and subsequent modifications in theatrical practice, differences between actors and audiences in Shakespeare's day and ours, and more "There is not an obscure or otherwise dull page in the book." — "N.Y. Times Book Review."

Stimulates learning using innovative strategies such as staging pantomimes and "live sculpture." Appeals to all teaming styles with methods that are clearly written and easily implemented. Extends learning with enriching activities such as writing parodies of scenes, creating diaries for characters, and using student directors.

Now in its second edition, this best-selling guide demystifies Shakespeare's plays and brings critical ideas within a beginner's grasp. Aimed squarely at the student new to the area, the text provides a thorough general introduction to the plays, based on the exciting new approaches shaping the field of Shakespeare studies. Illustrating how interpretations of Shakespeare are linked to cultural and political contexts, and providing readings of the most frequently studied plays in the light of contemporary critical thought, "Shakespe... read more