The Necessary Shakespeare

by David Bevington, David Bevington

Shakespeare's world : a visual portfolio --
General introduction. Reading Shakespeare in the twenty-first century ; Life in Shakespeare's England ; The drama before Shakespeare ; London theaters and dramatic companies ; Shakespeare's life and work ; How to read Shakespeare ; Shakespeare's language ; Shakespeare criticism --
The comedies. The taming of the shrew ; A midsummer night's dream ; The merchant of Venice ; Much ado about nothing ; As you like it ; Twelfth night; or, What you will ; Measure for measure --
The histories. The tragedy of King Richard the third ; The tragedy of King Richard the second ; The first part of King Henry the fourth ; The life of King Henry the fifth --
The tragedies. Romeo and Juliet ; Julius Caesar ; Hamlet, Prince of Denmark ; Othello, the moor of Venice ; King Lear ; Macbeth ; Antony and Cleopatra --
The romances. The winter's tale ; The tempest --
The poems. Sonnets --
Appendix 1: Canon, dates, and early texts --
Appendix 2: Sources --
Appendix 3: Shakespeare in performance --
Appendix 4: Films and videos as a guide to the study of Shakespeare --
The royal genealogy of England, 1154-1625.

Genres: Classics, Shakespeare, Poetry, Fiction, Plays, Read For School, Drama

916 pages, Paperback

First published July 25, 2001

About the author

David Bevington was an American literary scholar.

Reviews

[John Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want a one volume Shakespeare book that provides plenty of background material, nice discussions of film and criticism, and terrific editing and annotations of 20 odd Shakespeare plays that are the best known and most widely read, this is your ticket. It's a great, great book. I suppose you could quibble about a couple of plays that are left out--I, personally, miss Coriolanus--but there's no better one size fits all Shakespeare book out there.

[Sana · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like Shakespeare then you need this book.

[Aletheia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no complaints about this book. Great for studying Shakespeare on a foundational level.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading Hamlet - I've fallen in love with Shakespeare. I read several of his plays many years ago, but being older (and taking a wonderful Shakespeare class), his work means so much more to me now; endlessly fascinating characters; questions we'll never quite know the answers to (was Hamlet's madness feigned or real? did Ophelia commit suicide?) So many themes woven into the play - it's just as relevant today as it was over 400 years ago. Next is Othello....

[Faye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for Shakespeare, a few less for David Bevington. I really enjoyed reading the plays we studied in my LIT class this term. It was the first time I had read Antony and Cleopatra. Bevington's essays introducing the texts were insightful but often represented his personal views instead of providing a more general critical overview of the play. Most of the time I found myself agreeing with Bevington's scholarship, but for a text book the intros should be more broad.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

There should be more stars to rate Shakespeare!

I have read:
The Taming of the Shrew
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Much Ado About Nothing
As You Like It
Twelfth Night
The First Part of King Henry the Fourth
Romeo and Juliet
Julius Caesar
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Othello, the Moor of Venice
King Lear
The Winter's Tale
The Tempest
Sonnets

[Brittney Fischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to get this book for my Shakespeare class in college. And no, I don't think I used Cliffnotes...at least not for all of them ;) My favorite stories are (not in order)Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream,& Hamlet (I did an essay on him, where Ia ctually made the point that he was just a really misunderstood guy ;)

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bevington's edition is not worth your time. While it has a decent collection of plays, the introductions are rather pointless. The Arden series is the one to go with, even though it might cost you more money.

[Terri Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like Shakespeare (and I do), you'll probably enjoy this though there is really nothing new here. The introductions are nothing special and just cover material I already knew. It's a nice volume but if, like us, you already have a volume of Shakespeare, you won't need this.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Tempest, Henry IV, First Henry V, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, MacBeth,King Lear, and several sonnets. Seems like I'm leaving one or two out, but these for sure are what we covered in my WBU Shakespeare course. Great editing. Enjoyable compilation.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have read:

Romeo and Juliet
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Much Ado About Nothing
The Taming of the Shrew
The Tempest
The Merchant of Venice
Hamlet
Othello
King Lear
Richard III
Henry IV
Henry V

Various Sonnets

[Kbord · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each play has an introduction to give you some historical context. Unfamiliar words, and words whose meanings have changed, are explained on the page where it appears in the play.

[Jill Korzun]

I did not read the entire collection. I read:
Othello
Hamlet
King Lear
Much Ado About Nothing
As You Like It
Twelfth Night
The Tempest

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shakespeare Summer 2016

I liked his commentary and notes on each set of writings. Great, researched background information. Helped to put it all into context for me.

[Mary Jane De Guzman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much more interesting.