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Hamlet / Rei Lear / Macbeth

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Este volume, que reúne três grandes tragédias de Shakespeare, conta a história do príncipe Hamlet, que encontra o fantasma do pai; do Rei Lear, que decide dividir seu reino entre as três filhas; e de Macbeth, o súdito valoroso que se deixa levar pela ambição.

608 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1611

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About the author

William Shakespeare

27.4k books46.7k followers
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".

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5 stars
146 (43%)
4 stars
124 (37%)
3 stars
48 (14%)
2 stars
13 (3%)
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
Profile Image for Simon.
1,276 reviews26 followers
July 4, 2011
This was a great collection of three royal tragedies. I am happy to have read all of them and experienced a taste of each characters tragic woes and untimely demises. This review contains 3 sub reviews.

Hamlet:

** spoiler alert ** It was fantastic! What a plot! Hamlet was the chill guy that we could relate to best because he was in our age range, typically speaking. He was actually in his thirties during the play, but it is made out to be like he's a teen. His wit and humor in the play contrast the dark scenarios and the foul sexual tendencies of his mother. Sexual innuendo is seen throughout, nearly to a point where lit looks as though Hamlet might rape his mother.

Claudius, the brute king who killed his brother to get the throne and his brother's wife, Hamlet's father.The ghost was an intriguing character, talking about how he was killed in great detail. Calling his brother and "Adulterous, incestuous beast" shows how much hatred the brothers must have had in life, for one to continue to despise with such severity, in death.

Ophelia, Hamlet's love interest, was a stupid girl, as her father Polonius put it, "Oh pooh, you are a green girl." She did not understand anything but was very awkward. She drove herself mad after her father's murder, and drowned, whether it be by suicide or just an accident, one will never really know since Shakespeare had become one with his characters...dead.

Polonius himself is the most annoying fail in what I've read of Shakespeare. Despite giving good advice to his king and son, he is a big suck up. He hides like a child and spies on conversations trying to dig up some dirt on Hamlet, so that he can be banished from the kingdom and away from Ophelia. He finally and most satisfyingly gets his just desserts when Hamlet hears him from behind a drape and runs him through with his sword. "Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!" (III, IV, 31)

Act 3 Scene 4 is my favorite scene for two reasons: It has second most action in the play, and it is the scene I dramatized in my Grade 12 English Class from which we read the play. My teacher said it was the best student production she had ever seen. I filmed it, and someday hope to get it online. It is 15 minutes and 17 seconds!

Macbeth:

** spoiler alert ** I enjoyed this play a lot. I read it in grade 11 and had a blast interpreting and understanding what was going on and when. My favorite part is when Duncan is murdered, because once he is dead, there is no way out, and Macbeth suffers eternally after. Lady Macbeth is weird and I did not like her. It was such a shame, that Macbeth killed Banquo and tried to kill his son, but fulfilling the prophecy as the witches had predicted. The slaughter of Macduff's family was brutal, but very thrilling. It kept me on the edge of my seat. Then when all is set right and the evil-doers are dead, the remaining characters rejoice and life goes on anew.

King Lear:

Sure, another Shakespeare play in the "read section". This was the first play I read of Shakespeare without any English Teacher to give me in depth coverings of what the plot contains or what the characters are all about. I did not get to experience the clarity of symbolism or term meaning in a large sense of everything that was going on.

It was just me and the book and a few days of time. I spent most of my time reading this late at night when I could not get to sleep. I was up til 3am for the last two nights so I could finish it.
I did understand the plot and who was who (although it took a bit of effort and time). I didn't get why characters were behaving in certain ways and what they intended to do.
The plot was intriguing and I was interested to see how the final act and scene would play out.

Since King Lear is a Shakespearean tragedy I predicted death and a lot of it. I knew that most or all of the main character would die including the title character, King Lear himself.
It was sweet though, to see that he did in fact love the daughter that he disowned in the first act and first scene.
It was said that King Lear is the most tragic of the Shakespearean tragedies, but I find Hamlet to be more tragic and a better story, but that is because I was taught about it in Grade 12 High school English.
King Lear I read all on my own, yes, I read Shakespeare in my spare time. Do not judge me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Amanda.
Author 11 books207 followers
August 25, 2024
I started this book over two decades ago back when I was a wee homeschooled child - my mom and I each had our own copy and we would cast ourselves the various roles and read the plays out loud together. Looking back, that’s one of my favorite memories of homeschooling. I distinctly remember reading the parts of Ophelia from Hamlet and the witches from Macbeth. Alas, poor Yorick, we never read King Lear together, and this book has been on the I-should-finish-this-someday shelf since then. Later, I was supposed to read King Lear for college, but I’m going to blame senioritis on my not doing so. I finally read it! Better late than never, right? I love how the book is set up with a short introduction, then straight to the plays. At the bottom of each page are footnotes that explain various phrases or references. I greatly enjoyed my experience with this book, and I highly recommend grabbing two copies of this book and giving one to a friend or family member willing to act out the play with you.
Profile Image for Christine Cordula Dantas.
169 reviews23 followers
September 29, 2018
[Somente Hamlet] Li por uma necessidade cultural e para sanar uma falha de formação por nunca ter lido alguma peça de Shakespeare integralmente. Se alguém se encontra em mesma situação, recomendo o exercício, é interessante e válido. Trata-se entretanto de uma obra longa, portanto, talvez outras mais curtas sejam mais aconselháveis para iniciantes. Não faz muito sentido dar uma “nota” a um texto escrito por um autor de tal magnitude, mas fica aqui meu sentimento subjetivo: 4/5.
Profile Image for Molly Maine.
53 reviews
November 1, 2022
Peak characterization, an interesting view on entitlement and prophecy, and the domino effect of murder was simply tragic. Tell Tale Heart who? Give me a ghost sitting in your seat at the feast in your honor after being named King.
Loss of one star comes from lack of motivation on the witches part to cause the chaos. At least with the person they curse in the play (an aside) they give exactly the reason why.
Profile Image for Wania Cris.
428 reviews6 followers
July 10, 2020
Boa parte da obra de Shakespeare que conheci li na escola. Reli essa coletânea em 2012 e agora mais uma vez, com ênfase em Macbeth, recentemente adaptada por Jo Nesbo e o prazer da leitura permanece o mesmo da adolescência. A crítica social e ao comportamento humano é uma das coisas mais geniais que já vi. Vale ler e reler com frequência.
Profile Image for Katie.
68 reviews
April 18, 2019
4/18/19- Macbeth

4.5 stars!

(I’ll have to get myself to read the other two soon!)
Profile Image for Waleed.
198 reviews4 followers
September 18, 2019
Tony Tanner argues that Shakespearean tragedy "takes place in and focuses on, exactly, the 'interim' between the first 'motion' and the 'acting of a dreadful thing'." In his wide-ranging and illuminating introduction he applies this argument to the four major tragedies in this volume: Hamlet, Othello, Lear, Macbeth.
Profile Image for Vasco Ribeiro.
408 reviews5 followers
June 12, 2016
três histórias mesmo trágicas:
Hamlet: O Príncipe Hamlet filho do Rei morto pelo irmão (tio do Hamlet) que é um falso e casou com a mãe dele, iludida. Hamlet finge-se de louco, vê a noiva morrer, e morre também ele por fim depois de matar o tio, e o herdeiro da coroa é um da noruega, cujo pai tinha sido derrotado pelo pai de Hamlet.
Macbeth: O general Macbeth e a mulher dele, vêm a ambição subir à cabeça., mata, à traição o rei reinante, matam quem veem como uma ameaça, os outros fogem. ao fim, de acordo com a profecia, morrem sem descendência, e a lealdade vence a opressão.
Rei Lear: O velho rei Lear tem 3 filhas. 2 hipócritas; 1 verdadeira, mas que ele deserda, mas apesar disso casa com o rei de frança. O rei lear divide o reino entre as outras duas. mas estas depressa o colocam de lado. a filha leal vem de frança dar cabo das outras duas mas o rei lear acaba por morrer nos braços dela, arrependido.
Profile Image for Lois.
785 reviews17 followers
February 7, 2016
Shakespeare has written 3 cautionary tales about the consequences of usurping or misusing power. There are few who remain blameless in any of the three tragedies but thank goodness for them-- loyal Gloucester, Cordellia, Kent and Edgar; Macduff and Malcolm; and dear, humorless Horatio. These are royal tragedies about long ago times but still strike a chord given the ills of our own times.
6 reviews
Currently reading
December 13, 2016
historical fiction

multiple characters

my favorite is Horatio.

non-specific setting- Multiple stories and places.

just began, so i have no actual understanding of the plot/s

so far i like the book for its uniqueness, the stories are swell and the characters are distinct.




- School Assignment:
Daily Update.
Weekly Review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Leonardo Bruno.
148 reviews10 followers
January 8, 2015
Trágico! A insensatez e orgulho humanos não pode gerar outra coisa além de tragédia. Numa linguagem que lhe é bastante peculiar (ou seja, difícil), Shakespeare descortina esse poço de loucura que é a alma humana.
Profile Image for Bri Wedge.
82 reviews26 followers
August 17, 2015
I don't know why I bothered reading these three tragedies. Macbeth was the only one I liked; I just can't get past the language; it's too difficult for my brain to interpret.
Maybe, some day, I'll try to get through some of Shakespeare's comedies & see if I like those better.
Profile Image for Alcyone.
51 reviews22 followers
Read
March 3, 2009
Just read Macbeth in this book- amazing play!
Profile Image for Jane.
148 reviews
July 26, 2014
wow it's been a year. I thought I should finally just mark it as read. I never got to finish King Lear but the other two were good. Hamlet is probably my favorite.
Profile Image for Hogfather.
201 reviews3 followers
June 11, 2025
Three of Shakespeare's finest tragedies brought together in one easy-to-read edition. Definitely recommend.
13 reviews
March 2, 2008
Only read Hamlet. The play is good, but after studying it for 2 months I must say, "I Hate Hamlet!"
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews

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