In a society dominated by religion and bound by ties of strictfamily loyalty, two teenagers are trapped by their secret love. Asa dangerous vendetta spills onto the streets, the young lovers areforced to risk all to be together in Shakespeare’s fast-pacedtragedy of thwarted love. Under the editorial supervision of Jonathan Bate and EricRasmussen, two of today’s most accomplished Shakespearean scholars,this Modern Library series incorporates definitive texts andauthoritative notes from William Shakespeare: Complete Works. Eachplay includes an Introduction as well as an overview ofShakespeare’s theatrical career; commentary on past and currentproductions based on interviews with leading directors, actors, anddesigners; scene-by-scene analysis; key facts about the work; achronology of Shakespeare’s life and times; and black-and-whiteillustrations. Ideal for students, theater professionals, and generalreaders, these modern and accessible editions from the RoyalShakespeare Company set

(Book Jacket Status: Not Jacketed) If William Shakespeare hadnever written a single play, if his reputation rested entirely uponthe substantial and sterling body of nondramatic verse he leftbehind, he would still hold the position he does in the hierarchyof world literature. The strikingly modern ?sonnets-intimate,baroque, and expansive at once; the invigorating narratives drawnfrom classical subjects; and the flawless lyricism represented by apoem like "The Phoenix and the Turtle"-permanently deepen ourunderstanding of the multiplicity and extravagant energy of ourgreatest poet.

Set in a courtly world of masked revels and dances, this playturns on the archetypal story of a lady falsely accused ofunfaithfulness, spurned by her bridegroom, and finally vindicatedand reunited with him. Villainy, schemes, and deceits threaten todarken the brilliant humor and sparkling wordplay–but the hilariouscounterplot of a warring couple, Beatrice and Benedick, steals thescene as the two are finally tricked into admitting their love foreach other in Shakespeare’s superb comedy of manners. Each Edition Includes: Comprehensive explanatory notes Vivid introductions and the most up-to-datescholarship Clear, modernized spelling and punctuation, enablingcontemporary readers to understand the Elizabethan English Completely updated, detailed bibliographies andperformance histories An interpretive essay on film adaptations of the play,along with an extensive filmography From the Paperback edition.

Though this great tragedy of unsurpassed intensity and emotionis played out against Renaissance splendor, its story of the doomedmarriage of a Venetian senator’s daughter, Desdemona, to a Moorishgeneral, Othello, is especially relevant to modern audiences. Thedifferences in race and background create an initial tension thatallows the horrifyingly envious villain Iago methodically topromote the “green-eyed monster” jealousy, until, in one of themost deeply moving scenes in theatrical history, the noble Moordestroys the woman he loves–only to discover too late that she wasinnocent. Each Edition Includes: · Comprehensive explanatory notes · Vivid introductions and the most up-to-date scholarship · Clear, modernized spelling and punctuation, enablingcontemporary readers to understand the Elizabethan English · Completely updated, detailed bibliographies and performancehistories · An interpretive essay on film adaptations of the play, alongwith an extensive fi

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed) Shakespeare's four greatesttragedies were written in a remarkably short period of time,between 1598 and 1606. "Hamlet," "Othello," "Macbeth," and "KingLear" are each so singular an achievement that any rereading ofthem reinforces the awe and almost idolatrous worship that thismost uncanny of the world's great writers invariably inspires. Inthese four plays, Shakespeare engages the problem that is centralto tragedy and crucial to any human community--the problem ofviolence and revenge--on an unprecedented scale. No other literarytexts have been more instrumental in deepening our knowledge ofourselves as individuals and as a civilization. This authoritativeedition of the plays is supplemented with footnotes,bibliographies, a detailed chronology of Shakespeare's life andtimes, and a substantial introduction in which Tony Tannerdiscusses each play individually while setting each in context.

This intriguing work tackles the seminal American issue ofslavery in an antebellum tragicomedy of switched identities, as afreeborn child and a slave child change places. The result is abiting social commentary-plus a good old-fashioned murdermystery...

Considered by some to be her finest work, Edith Wharton's Summer created a sensation when first published in 1917, as it was one of the first novels to deal honestly with a young woman's sexual awakening. Summer is the story of Charity Royall, a child of mountain moonshiners adopted by a family in a poor New England town, who has a passionate love affair with Lucius Harney, an educated man from the city. Wharton broke the conventions of women's romantic fiction by making Charity a thoroughly independent modern woman—in touch with her emotions and sexuality, yet kept from love and the larger world she craves by the overwhelming pressures of heredity and society. Praised for its realism and honesty by such writers as Joseph Conrad and Henry James and compared to Flaubert's Madame Bovary, Summer remains as fresh and powerful a novel today as when it was first written.

Gentle linen weaver Silas Marner is wrongly accused of aheinous theft, and he exiles himself from the world-until he findsredemption and spiritual rebirth through his unselfish love for anabandoned child who mysteriously appears one day at his isolatedcottage. Somber, yet hopeful, Eliot's realistic depiction of anirretrievable past, tempered with the magical elements of myth andfairy tale, remains timeless in its understanding of human natureand is beloved by every generation.

Generally believed to be the last play written solely byShakespeare, The Tempest centers on a banished noble who usessorcery to confront his foes. In this play, Shakespeare offers someof his most insightful meditations on themes ranging from vengeanceand forgiveness to nature and nurture. Under the editorial supervision of Jonathan Bate and EricRasmussen, two of today’s most accomplished Shakespearean scholars,this Modern Library series incorporates definitive texts andauthoritative notes from William Shakespeare: Complete Works. Eachplay includes an Introduction, as well as an overview ofShakespeare’s theatrical career; commentary on past and currentproductions based on interviews with leading directors, actors, anddesigners; scene-by-scene analysis; key facts about the work; achronology of Shakespeare’s life and times; and black-and-whiteillustrations. Ideal for students, theater professionals, and general readers,these modern and accessible editions set a new standard in

A continuation of the major series of individual Shakespeareplays from the world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company, edited bytwo brilliant, younger generation Shakespearean scholars JonathanBate and Eric Rasmussen Incorporating definitive text and cutting-edge notes from WilliamShakespeare: Complete Works-the first authoritative, modernizededition of Shakespeare's First Folio in more than 300 years-thisremarkable series of individual plays combines Jonathan Bate'sinsightful critical analysis with Eric Rasmussen's textualexpertise.

A tale of two sisters Two sisters of opposing temperaments are brought to a closerunderstanding by their mutual disappointments—and true love finallytriumphs when sense gives way to sensibility and sensibility tosense. Austen’s insightful representation ofearly-nineteenth-century middle-class provincial life makes hernovels the enduring works on the mores and manners of her time.

One of Kipling's most enduringly popular works, CaptainsCourageous is both a stirring tale of the sea and a fable of aboy's initiation into the world of men.

Comedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, performed in1598-99 and printed in a quarto edition from the author's fairpapers in 1600. The play takes an ancient theme--that of a womanfalsely accused of unfaithfulness--to brilliant comedic heights.Claudio is deceived by his jealous cousin into believing that hislover, Hero, is unfaithful--a plot unveiled by the bumblingconstables Dogberry and Verges. Meanwhile, Beatrice and Benedickhave "a kind of merry war" between them, matching wits in cleverrepartee that anticipates other playfully teasing literary couples.Each is tricked into believing that the other is in love, whichallows the true affection between them to grow. Both couples areunited at the end, after Hero's simulated resurrection from thedead. In this play Shakespeare eschewed devices of obvious magic ordisguise of sex, which he employed in other comedies; the wit andambiguity of the dialogue and the exquisite pacing of the actionsustain the play, which remains popular in repertory. -- TheMerria

Six classic stories-one volume This indispensible anthologycollects the short novels of Henry James, offering readers the fullrange of his skill and vision-the singular art and imagination ofan author who profoundly influenced American literature

The four plays selected for this collection--The Taming of theShrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, and TheTempest--represent a significant stage in the development of theworld's greatest dramatist.

There are few more convincing, less sentimental accounts ofpassionate love than V/uthering Heights. This is the story of thesavage, tormented foundling Heatheliff, who falls wildly in lovewith Catherine Earnshaw, the daughter of his benefactor, and of theviolence and misery that result from their thwarted longing foreach other. A book of great power and strength, it is filled withthe raw beauty of the moors and an uncanny un- derstanding of theterrible truths about men and women. It is an understanding madeeven more extraordinary by the fact that it came from the heart ofa woman who lived most of her brief life in the remote wildness ofthe moors. Emily Bronte died a year after this great novel waspublished.

Seventeen interlinked tales by the winner of the 1988 NobelPrize for Literature follow such themes as betrayal, intrigue,obsessive love, social injustice, reincarnations, and wrongsrighted or made worse. Reprint. K.

Book De*ion This farce follows SirJohn Falstaff--of the Henry IV plays--as he tries to woo twowealthy married women in this classic comedy. Includes specialIntroductions to the play by Green, a comprehensive stage historyof the play, and much more. Revised reissue. Book Dimension length: (cm)16.8 width:(cm)10.4

A modern translation exclusive to signet From perhaps the greatest of the ancient Greekplaywrights comes this collection of plays, including Alcestis,Hippolytus, Ion, Electra, Iphigenia at Aulis, Iphigenia Among theTaurians, Medea, The Bacchae, The Trojan Women , and TheCyclops .