The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Volume 1

by William Shakespeare, William George Clark (editor), William Aldis Wright (editor)

Works in this Volume:

- Titus Andronicus
- King Henry Vl., Part I
- Love's Labour's Lost
- The Comedy of Errors
- The Two Gentlemen of Verona
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- King Henry Vl., Part II
- King Henry Vl., Part III
- Richard III
- Romeo and Juliet
- Richard II
- King John
- The Merchant of Venice
- King Henry IV., Part l
- King Henry IV., Part ll
- King Henry V
- The Taming of the Shrew
- The Merry Wives of Windsor
- Much Ado About Nothing
- As You Like It
- Twelfth Night

Genres: Classics, Plays, Poetry, Fiction, Literature, Drama, Shakespeare

570 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1621

About the author

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".

Reviews

[Mandy Partridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my fifties, with a drama degree, I've finally read or scene most of Shakespeares's plays.

William Shakespeare lived 1564 till 1616, if you're on ancestry dot com, with a British background, you'll notice that most church and government records start in the 16th century. This is because the 1500s started with Henry the 8th burning all the Catholic church records when he started the Church of England (and killed all the priests, brothers and nuns and took their property). Shakespeare makes fun of a lot of people, but he doesn't dare touch the King with a ten foot pole, because he has seen the consequences of that. King Henry would destroy our collective history if it didn't agree with his personal whims. Shakespeare lived through the reign of Queen Elizabeth the 1st, and he never touched her with his pen. King Charles the first followed, hehe.

Shakespeare does make fun of foreign royalty, local nobility, working class people, and his own breed, the wandering players and actors of his time. His plays are generally divided into Comedies, Tragedies and Histories, and he clearly wrote to a form that his audiences would recognise.

Both audiences and society have changed in the 500 years since his time- women and races other than white have almost achieved equality, and people's attention spans have gotten shorter. English has also changed in that time, both the words, and forms like poetic plays, written in Iambic Pentameter. Some modern directors choose plays which reflect modern issues, and re-set their play, others try cross-casting and multi-ethnic casting.

I cringe at the sexism and racism now, but Shakespeare was radical in his time, writing a mixed race marriage in Othello, and heaps of characters who cross-dress and disguise themselves as the opposite sex.
I have grown to appreciate this, our dramatic history, and not to hate it like I did at high school.

[Sean Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of the Bard's works. They only get better over time.

[Holly Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed it when I read it so yeah.

[Dav · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: All the Plays, All The Poems
(2 Volumes) Hardcover – 1974
by W. G. Clark (Editor), W. Aldis Wright (Editor) The works of William Shakespeare are arranged in chronological order, There is an introduction to each play, adapted from the Shakespearean primer of Professor Dowden.

Not a lover of Shakespeare? You're not alone. But, without Shakespeare we may have missed out on such quotables as: discretion is the better part of valor; all that glitters is not gold; It's Greek to me; eaten out of house and home, and many more.

Most alarming, without Shakespeare, Leonard McCoy would not have been able to quote, "Angels and ministers of grace, defend us!" in reference to Spock's ability to program the ship's computer for time travel, from memory, (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home). That just wouldn't do.





Shakespeare’s Writing Style "William Shakespeare's early plays were written in the conventional style of the day, with elaborate metaphors and rhetorical phrases that didn't always align naturally with the story's plot or characters. However, Shakespeare was very innovative, adapting the traditional style to his own purposes and creating a freer flow of words. With only small degrees of variation, Shakespeare primarily used a metrical pattern consisting of lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter, or blank verse, to compose his plays. At the same time, there are passages in all the plays that deviate from this and use forms of poetry or simple prose." William Shakespeare Biography.com

[Pamela Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has all the plays I attended while in College as I took acting classes. Romeo and Juliet is my all time favorite story of the two young lovers who plan went wrong...The Plays I watched from the book were:
Love's Labour's Lost
A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Taming of the Shrew
Much Ado About Nothing
As You Like IT
Twelfth Night
All's Well That Ends Well

Which yes I like comedy and anyone attending Plays for the first time should start with a comedy by Shakespeare...

What I would have like to seen from the book but may not is:
King Henry VI
Richard III
Romeo and Juliet
Julius Cesar
Hamlet
Othello
King Lear
Macbeth
Antony and Cleopatra
The Tempest
A Lover's Complaint
All word for word in the Book it is supper to read

[Liz]

Titus Andronicus - considered as either partially authored by WS or as part of his juvenalia.

Titus: "Some book there is that she [Lavinia] desires to see. / Which is it, girl, of these? Open them, boy [Lucius]. / But thou are deeper read, and better skill'd: / Come, and take choice of all my library, / And so beguile thy sorrow, till the heavens / Reveal the damn'd contriver of this deed." (p. 16, TA, Act IV, Scene II)

Chiron: "Aaron, I see thou wilt not trust the air / With secrets." (p. 18, TA, Act IV, Scene III)

[Maurean · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/18/09: "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (5 Acts)

I haven't read any Shakespeare in over a decade; I thought a romp through one of his comedies was called for...this was pretty entertaining, but Shakespeare is a love 'im or hate 'im kinda guy, and I still luv 'im, after all these years!

[Betsy]

Reading Taming of the Shrew right now- have no plans to read this cover-to-cover, but to read through the ones I like :)

[J Sindone · Rating 3 out of 5]

long

[Alexdavis · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it! Can't wait to read volume 2. My favorite works would have to be The Comedy Of Errors and Much Ado About Nothing.

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Shakespeare is the most inspirational playwright i've ever read. Romanticism at it's very best. Love his work! X

[Lucinda]

I haven't read all of them, but a great many of them.