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The Tempest
By William Shakespeare. 2012
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610-11, and thought by many critics…
to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place, using illusion and skillful manipulation. He conjures up a storm, the eponymous tempest, to lure to the island his usurping brother Antonio and the complicit Alonso, King of Naples. There his machinations bring about the revelation of Antonio's low nature, the redemption of Alonso, and the marriage of Miranda to Alonso's son, Ferdinand.Twelfth Night
By William Shakespeare. 2012
A delightfully comic tale of mistaken identities revolves around the physical likeness between Sebastian and his twin sister Viola, each…
of whom, when separated after a shipwreck, believes the other to be dead. Filled with superb comedy, this entertaining masterpiece remains one of Shakespeare's most popular and performed comedies.Tragedy of Julius Caesar
By William Shakespeare. 2012
A great tragedy based on Plutarch's account of the lives of Brutus, Julius Caesar, and Mark Antony. Evil plotting, ringing…
oratory, high tragedy occur with Shakespeare's incomparable insight and dramatic power.King Lear
By William Shakespeare. 2012
Macbeth
By William Shakespeare. 2013
Each edition includes: Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play Full explanatory notes conveniently…
placed on pages facing the text of the play Scene-by-scene plot summaries A key to famous lines and phrases An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books Essay by Susan Snyder The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit www.folger.edu.Othello
By William Shakespeare. 2012
One of the most powerful dramas ever written for the stage, Othello is a story of revenge, illusion, passion, mistrust,…
jealousy, and murder. If in Iago, Shakespeare created the most compelling villain in Western literature, in Othello and Desdemona, he gave us our most tragic and unforgettable lovers.Romeo and Juliet
By William Shakespeare. 2012
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young "star-cross'd lovers"…
whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet and Macbeth, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers.Hamlet
By William Shakespeare. 2012
In this quintessential Shakespearean drama, Hamlet's halting pursuit of revenge for his father's death unfolds in a series of highly…
charged confrontations that climax in tragedy. Probing the depths of human feeling like few other works of art, the play is reprinted here from an authoritative British edition complete with illuminating footnotes. A selection of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.The Merchant of Venice
By William Shakespeare. 2012
"The Merchant of Venice" is the story of Antonio, the drama's title character, and his friend Bassanio. Bassanio is in…
need of money so that he may woo Portia, a wealthy heiress. Bassanio asks Antonio for a loan and Antonio agrees to this loan, however all his money is tied up in shipping ventures. Together the two go to Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, to request a loan for Bassanio to be guaranteed against Antonio's shipping ventures. Shylock agrees to the loan at no interest in the condition that if the debt is not repaid Shylock may collect a pound of Antonio's flesh. At the same time Portia, who is being wooed by various suitors, is upset over a curious stipulation in her father's will regarding the man that she may marry.An Enemy of the People
By Henrick Ibsen. 2012
An Enemy of the People addresses the irrational tendencies of the masses, and the hypocritical and corrupt nature of the…
political system that they support. It is the story of one brave man's struggle to do the right thing and speak the truth in the face of extreme social intolerance.The Persians
By Aeschylus. 2012
The Persians is an Athenian tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus. First produced in 472 BC, it is the…
oldest surviving play in the history of theatre. It dramatises the Persian response to news of their military defeat at the Battle of Salamis (480 BC), which was a decisive episode in the Greco-Persian Wars; as such, the play is also notable for being the only extant Greek tragedy that is based on contemporary events.The Suppliant Maidens
By Aeschylus. 2012
In the play, the Danaids, the fifty daughters of Danaus, founder of Argos, flee a forced marriage to their cousins…
in Egypt. They turn to King Pelasgus of Argos for protection, but Pelasgus refuses until the people of Argos weigh in on the decision, a distinctly democratic move on the part of the king. The people decide that the Danaids deserve protection, and they are allowed within the walls of Argos despite Egyptian protests.The Heraclidae
By Euripides. 2012
The theme of the Heraclidae is how the children of Heracles, under the care of Iolaus and Alemena, were driven…
from city to city throughout Greece, fleeing the wrath of Eurystheus, king of Argos, who hated them for their father's sake.A Doll's House
By Henrick Isben. 2012
A Doll's House is Henrik Ibsen's best-known play. This masterpiece created quite a stir when it was first released because…
of its feminist stance. It is considered by many to be the first truly feminist play ever written. The play comes to a climax as Nora, the play's protagonist, rejects her marriage and her smothering life in a man's "dollhouse." Wonderfully written, a true classic.Prometheus Bound
By Aeschylus. 2012
Aeschylus based his epic drama on the legendary tale of Prometheus, the Titan who stole fire from the gods for…
the benefit of humanity. Prometheus's terrible punishment remains a universal symbol of human vulnerability in any struggle with the gods, and this ancient play continues to entrance audiences with its timeless appeal.Orestes
By Euripides. 2012
Produced more frequently on the ancient stage than any other tragedy, Orestes retells with striking innovations the story of the…
young man who kills his mother to avenge her murder of his father. Though eventually exonerated, Orestes becomes a fugitive from the Furies (avenging spirits) of his mother's blood. On the brink of destruction, he is saved in the end by Apollo, who had commanded the matricide. Powerful and gripping, Orestes sweeps us along with a momentum that starting slowly, builds inevitably to one of the most spectacular climaxes in all Greek tragedy.Agamemnon
By Aeschylus. 2012
Aeschylus' Agamemnon, first produced in 458 BC, is the opening play in his Oresteian trilogy. Agamemnon returns home after the…
Trojan Wars with his concubine Cassandra and is murdered by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus. The ensuing blood feud continues until the third and final play, Eumenides, when peace is finally restored to the house of the Atreidae. It is a powerful and moving play which is difficult to interpret and which for a long time lacked an English edition.The Tragedies of Euripides
By Euripides. 2012
The Phoenician Virgins
By Euripides. 2012
Euripides, one of the three great Greek tragedians was born in Attica probably in 485 B.C. of well-to-do parents. In…
his youth he cultivated gymnastic pursuits and studied philosophy and rhetoric. Soon after he received recognition for a play that he had written, Euripides left Athens for the court of Archelaus, king of Macedonia. In his tragedies, Euripides represented individuals not as they ought to be but as they are. His excellence lies in the tenderness and pathos with which he invested many of his characters. Euripides' attitude toward the gods was iconoclastic and rationalistic; toward humans-notably his passionate female characters-his attitude was deeply sympathetic. In his dramas, Euripides separated the chorus from the action, which was the first step toward the complete elimination of the chorus. He used the prologue as an introduction and explanation. Although Euripides has been charged with intemperate use of the deus ex machina, by which artifice a god is dragged in abruptly at the end to resolve a situation beyond human powers, he created some of the most unforgettable psychological portraits. Fragments of about fifty-five plays survive; some were discovered as recently as 1906. Among his best-known plays are Alcestis (438 B.C.), Medea and Philoctetes (431 B.C.), Electra (417 B.C.), Iphigenia in Tauris (413 B.C.), The Trojan Women (415 B.C.), and Iphigenia in Aulis Iphigenia (c.405 B.C.). Euripides died in Athens in 406. Shortly after his death his reputation rose and has never diminished.The Bacchae
By Euripides. 2012
Classic Greek tragedy concerns the catastrophe that ensues when the King of Thebes imprisons Dionysus and attempts to suppress his…
cult. Full of striking scenes, frenzied emotion, and choral songs of great power and beauty, the play is a fine example of Euripides' ability to exploit Greek myth to probe human psychology.