Books with author William Shakespeare

Presented by Fiona Shaw, this is an invaluable resource, examining various issues, including how interpretations of Shakespeare can be explored through performance and the difference between film and theatre. The video includes workshops by Fiona Shaw with student actors; extracts from the all-male Cheek by Jowl production of the play; and interviews with Cheek by Jowl's Declan Donnellan and Adrian Lester and with directors/actors Annie Castledine, Peter Sellars, Juliet Stevenson and Deborah Warner. It ends with a specially shot version of the banishment scene directed by Fiona Shaw, with Susan Lynch and Matilda Ziegler. Produced by The Open University. NOT FOR SALE IN NORTH AMERICA.

Presented by Fiona Shaw, this is an invaluable resource, examining various issues, including how interpretations of Shakespeare can be explored through performance and the difference between film and theatre. The video includes workshops by Fiona Shaw with student actors; extracts from the all-male Cheek by Jowl production of the play; and interviews with Cheek by Jowl's Declan Donnellan and Adrian Lester and with directors/actors Annie Castledine, Peter Sellars, Juliet Stevenson and Deborah Warner. It ends with a specially shot version of the banishment scene directed by Fiona Shaw, with Susan Lynch and Matilda Ziegler. Produced by The Open University. NOT FOR SALE IN NORTH AMERICA.

Presented by Fiona Shaw, this is an invaluable resource, examining various issues, including how interpretations of Shakespeare can be explored through performance and the difference between film and theatre. The video includes workshops by Fiona Shaw with student actors; extracts from the all-male Cheek by Jowl production of the play; and interviews with Cheek by Jowl's Declan Donnellan and Adrian Lester and with directors/actors Annie Castledine, Peter Sellars, Juliet Stevenson and Deborah Warner. It ends with a specially shot version of the banishment scene directed by Fiona Shaw, with Susan Lynch and Matilda Ziegler. Produced by The Open University. NOT FOR SALE IN NORTH AMERICA.

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers. Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. Its plot is based on an Italian tale, translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in Palace of Pleasure by William Painter in 1567. Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but, to expand the plot, developed supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris. Believed to have been written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a quarto version in 1597. This text was of poor quality, and later editions corrected it, bringing it more in line with Shakespeare's original. Shakespeare's use of his poetic dramatic structure, especially effects such as switching between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, his expansion of minor characters, and his use of sub-plots to embellish the story, has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill. The play ascribes different poetic forms to different characters, sometimes changing the form as the character develops. Romeo, for example, grows more adept at the sonnet over the course of the play.

Though mostly known for his plays, Shakespeare also published poetry during his writing career. From 1592 to 1593, an outbreak of the bubonic plague swept through England, killing almost 20,000 people. In January 1593 city officials ordered the theaters in London to shut their doors, and work for the famous playwright and actor came to a halt. Shakespeare turned to writing poetry to make ends meet during the closures. While the plague hindered his work in theaters, it provided source material for some of his most famous plays.He first published “Venus and Adonis” in 1593, followed by “The Rape of Lucrece” in 1594. While both narrative poems contain sexual themes, their views on love versus lust are in stark contrast. After the theaters reopened, Shakespeare continued to write poetry and went on to publish “The Passionate Pilgrim” and “The Pheonix and the Turtle.” The last of his poems were published in his 1609 quarto, containing 154 sonnets and “A Lover’s Complaint.” The sonnets cover an array of themes: different types of romantic love, real beauty versus clichéd beauty, and the responsibilities of being beautiful.This collection includes all of his poems.

Venus and Adonis is a narrative poem by William Shakespeare published in 1593. The poem tells the story of Venus, the goddess of Love; of her unrequited love; and of her attempted seduction of Adonis, an extremely handsome young man, who would rather go hunting. The poem is pastoral, and at times erotic, comic, and tragic. It contains discourses on the nature of love, and observations of nature.