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The RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works
The text in this edition is based on the 1623 First Folio, the first and original Complete Works lovingly assembled and seen into print by Shakespeare's fellow-actors. The First Folio is a literary icon and is the version of Shakespeare's text preferred by many actors and directors, yet no one has edited it in its entirety for over three hundred years.
At the request of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmunssen, two of today's most accomplished Shakespearean scholars, have used the very latest techniques and research to correct the errors and variations in the early printed copies and to present the First Folio for modern readers. The result is a fresh and definitive Complete Works for the twenty-first century.
This edition includes all the material that might be needed by a student of Shakespeare. The Sonnets, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Pericles, Shakespeare's scene from Sir Thomas More, Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, The Phoenix and Turtle, and a number of other interesting passages not published in the First Folio are also included.
At the request of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmunssen, two of today's most accomplished Shakespearean scholars, have used the very latest techniques and research to correct the errors and variations in the early printed copies and to present the First Folio for modern readers. The result is a fresh and definitive Complete Works for the twenty-first century.
This edition includes all the material that might be needed by a student of Shakespeare. The Sonnets, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Pericles, Shakespeare's scene from Sir Thomas More, Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, The Phoenix and Turtle, and a number of other interesting passages not published in the First Folio are also included.
'This is a glorious edition of one of the world's most important books. It's the essential reference book for anyone who's ever been in love, felt jealousy, hatred, or desire. All human life is here — and every home should have one.'
-Dame Judi Dench
'A splendid edition … the general introduction is among the best 50-page guides to Shakespeare you could hope to find, while the short essays prefixed to each play are informative, thought-provoking and humane. Marginal notes help readers imagine what's happening onstage … the RSC's edition allows you to lose yourself in the wonder of the works.'
-Dr Colin Burrow, Oxford University
'A triumphant addition to our times.'
-Fiona Shaw, The Times
'The scholarly apparatus is discreet, elegant and pertinent. For each play, we get brief accounts of plots, dates and sources … footnotes are found snugly and legibly at the bottom of each page … there is a universe to be found in these annotations: the Renaissance world of power and fate, sex and death, language and philosophy … an edition full of endless fascination.'
-Tom Deveson, Times Educational Supplement
'Bate's general introduction to Shakespeare's life, stage and reputation is superb, and the short introductions to individual works are among the best of their kind available … they manage to speak about what really matters about the plays.'
-Professor Michael Dobson, London Review of Books
'Excellent, succinct notes and introductions to each play.'
-John Carey, Sunday Times
'Outstanding … Jonathan Bate writes with as much elegance as insight about the making of theatre and the creation of the plays … an impeccably informative introduction gives a comprehensive theatrical, social, political and biographical context to the plays … exemplary notes at the foot of each page translate verbal and topical obscurities … for actors and directors it will be incomparably useful, but for any curious reader of Shakespeare's plays it provides an invaluable guide to reading them not as novels or dramatic poems, but as they were intended to be read: blueprints for live performance.'
-Richard Eyre, Sunday Telegraph
2485 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2008
172 people are currently reading
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About the author
William Shakespeare
27.6k books47k followersWilliam 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".
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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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 13, 2024
I read The Winters Tale from this edition. It's a very good edition with a very interesting introduction at the beginning and before each play there is a brief synopsis. I wasn't familiar with this one as I had never had reason to read it. I'm hoping to see The Royal Ballet livescreen of this so thought I ought to get the low down beforehand. I personally think it's the easiest one to read and understand and most of the action seems to occur early on. It was quite predictable but a good introduction to Shakespeare. The play itself I gave 4 stars to but if you're looking for a complete works, I recommend this one.
Read
January 28, 2012One of those books that will never finish because its depths of tenderness are inexhaustible. You can stick it forever on a shelf but its own secret life goes on even without you ever picking it up again after a brief dip into it. It's just there for you whenever you want to read it, that's all.
April 1, 2024
Love this collection of Shakespeare's works.
September 15, 2012
In una edizione davvero eccellente, curata niente meno che dalla Royal Shakespeare Company, sono raccolte tutte le opere complete di William Shakespeare.
Il libro è corredato di una dettagliata introduzione, di foto delle pièces teatrali, e note esplicative. Per tutti gli appassionati del Bardo.
Segue l’indice delle opere contenute nel volume.
COMMEDIE:
• The Tempest
• The Two Gentlemen of Verona
• The Merry Wives of Windsor
• Measure for Measure
• The Comedy of Errors
• Much Ado about Nothing
• Love's Labour's Lost
• A Midsummer Night's Dream
• The Merchant of Venice
• As You Like It
• The Taming of the Shrew
• All's Well that Ends Well
• Twelfth Night, or What You Will
• The Winter's Tale
STORIE:
• The Life and Death of King John
• The Life and Death of King Richard the Second
• The First Part of Henry the Fourth, with the Life and Death of Henry surnamed Hotspur
• The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, containing his Death and the Coronation of King Henry the Fifth
• The Life of Henry the Fifth
• The First Part of Henry the Sixth
• The Second Part of Henry the Sixth, with the Death of the Good Duke Humphrey
• The Third Part of Henry the Sixth, with the Death of the Duke of York
• The Tragedy of Richard the Third, with the Landing of Earl Richmond and the Battle at Bosworth Field
• The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eighth
TRAGEDIE
• The Tragedy of Troilus and Cressida
• The Tragedy of Coriolanus
• The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus
• The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
• The Life of Timon of Athens The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
• The Tragedy of Macbeth
• The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
• The Tragedy of King Lear
• The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice
• The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra
• The Tragedy of Cymbeline
DRAMMI non presenti nel First Folio:
• Pericles, Prince of Tyre (di William Shakespeare e George Wilkins)
• The Two Noble Kinsmen (di William Shakespeare e John Fletcher)
POEMI E SONETTI:
• Venus and Adonis
• The Rape of Lucrece
• “Let the bird of loudest lay” (conosciuta anche come “The Phoenix and Turtle”)
• “To the Queen”
• Shakespeare's Sonnets
Il libro è corredato di una dettagliata introduzione, di foto delle pièces teatrali, e note esplicative. Per tutti gli appassionati del Bardo.
Segue l’indice delle opere contenute nel volume.
COMMEDIE:
• The Tempest
• The Two Gentlemen of Verona
• The Merry Wives of Windsor
• Measure for Measure
• The Comedy of Errors
• Much Ado about Nothing
• Love's Labour's Lost
• A Midsummer Night's Dream
• The Merchant of Venice
• As You Like It
• The Taming of the Shrew
• All's Well that Ends Well
• Twelfth Night, or What You Will
• The Winter's Tale
STORIE:
• The Life and Death of King John
• The Life and Death of King Richard the Second
• The First Part of Henry the Fourth, with the Life and Death of Henry surnamed Hotspur
• The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, containing his Death and the Coronation of King Henry the Fifth
• The Life of Henry the Fifth
• The First Part of Henry the Sixth
• The Second Part of Henry the Sixth, with the Death of the Good Duke Humphrey
• The Third Part of Henry the Sixth, with the Death of the Duke of York
• The Tragedy of Richard the Third, with the Landing of Earl Richmond and the Battle at Bosworth Field
• The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eighth
TRAGEDIE
• The Tragedy of Troilus and Cressida
• The Tragedy of Coriolanus
• The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus
• The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
• The Life of Timon of Athens The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
• The Tragedy of Macbeth
• The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
• The Tragedy of King Lear
• The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice
• The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra
• The Tragedy of Cymbeline
DRAMMI non presenti nel First Folio:
• Pericles, Prince of Tyre (di William Shakespeare e George Wilkins)
• The Two Noble Kinsmen (di William Shakespeare e John Fletcher)
POEMI E SONETTI:
• Venus and Adonis
• The Rape of Lucrece
• “Let the bird of loudest lay” (conosciuta anche come “The Phoenix and Turtle”)
• “To the Queen”
• Shakespeare's Sonnets
August 18, 2024
Bate’s introduction is like a speedrun of his Soul of an Age, one of the best books on Shakespeare, so a good way to get started on the principal influences that shaped the plays. The volume’s faithfulness to the first Folio versions of the plays is well-argued. The introductions to the individual plays are quite slight, but the short factual breakdown of sources, dating and size of speaking parts is very useful. The explanatory notes are too copious for my tastes – a seasoned reader won’t need a lot of them and on a Kindle they break up the line and obscure punctuation in a way that can be a little irritating.
July 12, 2024
The plays are of course fabulous.
The introduction and commentaries are a bit "meh", and tbh the production notes don't interest me that much - give it another star if they interest you.
The book is enormously cumbersome. Needs to be read at a table.
The text is very small. The single column layout is highly inefficient given so much of the text is in iambic lines.
It looks lovely, but for every day use I go back to my 1980 Penguin 3 vol set which is also based on the first folio and is a much more comfy companion for an evening's reading!
The introduction and commentaries are a bit "meh", and tbh the production notes don't interest me that much - give it another star if they interest you.
The book is enormously cumbersome. Needs to be read at a table.
The text is very small. The single column layout is highly inefficient given so much of the text is in iambic lines.
It looks lovely, but for every day use I go back to my 1980 Penguin 3 vol set which is also based on the first folio and is a much more comfy companion for an evening's reading!
May 22, 2025
Not bad
February 20, 2022
All the plays are considered individually elsewhere, so a summary of my ratings must do (though it needs modifying, on balance), plus a brief account of the two long poems and the sonnets:
Hamlet [1600-1601] 10.17
Tempest [1611], The 9.27
King Lear [1605-1606] 9.2
Romeo and Juliet [1595-1596] 9.03
Winter's Tale [1611], The 9.02
Richard II [1595-1596] 8.4
Macbeth [1605-1606] 7.83
Coriolanus [1608] 7.7
Richard III [1592-1594] 7.7
Twelfth Night [1601] 7.7
Merchant Of Venice [1596-1597], The 7.68
Antony and Cleopatra [1606-1607] 7.6
Henry VI Part III [1591] 7.58
Julius Caesar [1599-1600] 7.57
Othello [1604] 7.57
Measure for Measure [1604] 7.5
Much Ado About Nothing [1598] 7.48
Pericles [1608] 7.45
Cymbeline [1610] 7.43
Taming Of The Shrew [1589-1592], The 7.43
Henry V [1599] 7.35
Midsummer Night's Dream [1595-1596], A 7.17
Titus Andronicus [1591-1592] 7.13
As You Like It [1599] 6.9
Troilus and Cressida [1601-1602] 6.9
Henry VI Part II [1591] 6.88
Henry IV Part I [1596-1597] 6.78
Henry VIII [1613] 6.77
Two Noble Kinsmen [1613], The 6.32
Henry VI Part I [1592] 6.58
Henry IV Part II [1597-1598] 6.53
All's Well That Ends Well [1605] 6.37
Love's Labour's Lost [1595] 6.27
Timon Of Athens [1605] 6.17
Two Gentlemen Of Verona [1591-1592], The 6.13
Comedy Of Errors [1594], The 5.8
King John [1595-1597] 5.8
Merry Wives Of Windsor [1600-1601], The 4.97.
Venus And Adonis [1593] 5.6
The Rape Of Lucrece [1594] 7.7.
Sonnets [1592-1603, pub. 1609] 7.19.
Venus and Adonis (1593), written in a six-line stanza rhyming ababaa, I didn't like at all, and felt it to be an over-elaborate and elongated plaint in love, written in an ardour of youth, and so the style smacked. The Rape Of Lucrece (1594), was, even though only a year later, far more mature and expressive. A seven-line stanza in ababbcc, in iambic pentameter, flowed even better when using monologue, a considerable amount of its content. Here, I felt a sympathy with Lucrece, who, much like Philomel, who is raped and then abused (see Lavinia in Titus Andronicus [1591-2]), is similarly raped, but has still her lamenting tongue (else, the poem would be shorter and less plaintive), yet decides she cannot bear the shame, and opts for suicide. Shakespeare therefore draws on Ovid's tale, but sends it in a different direction, compounding her sorrow. This, I appreciated much more.
The sonnets have traditionally been classified into two nominal categories, the first 126 (of 154) addressing a younger man, sonnets 127-154 to the 'Dark Lady', the last pair indicating the sexual disease consequent on the sexual voracity earlier connoted. They imply a personal if not just a poetic dramatisation of spiritual love for the former and sexual desire for and consummation with the latter, speaking largely with a strong personal voice implying or directly stating the poet's, with sonnets 135 & 6 punning on his own name. Frequently the sonnets discuss a theme or use a motif in pairs, a second (and sometimes a third and fourth, and more, as the first four to eleven do) developing the former theme in different permutations. Some of the sonnets are almost impenetrable (sonnets 35, 94 & 5 and 108 particularly), while there are tonal shifts implicit in others (69 seems to shift from adoration to criticism, but is paired off back to theme in its successor).
But there is also a stylistic difference evident. The 'young man' series becomes metaphysically mature, showing early impersonal abstraction (33-4, the sun imagery), later discussing Time and immortality, but only a few do not directly address its subject, becoming fully abstract, such as the famous 116 ('Let me not to the marriage of true minds') to Love, and 123 ('No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change'), to Time; and end in 126 with the 'silent' (empty) couplet, indicating that Time's claims (death) may be delayed, but cannot be defeated. While the adoration of the 'Dark Lady' escalates to a beseeching imploration (143, 145), a sickening through love (146) turning through hate (147) to a self-disgust (147) and contention (149) where recriminations abound (151-2), they end not with a metaphysical maturity but in the base physical: syphilis (153-4). But these last (28) sonnets, which become progressively more unpleasant to experience, because of their sickening content, also alienate by containing some very structurally clunky offerings (128 & 9), yet even while they physically repel, they eventually demonstrate a maturity of construction (147-52), their best leaving admiration for both beauty (130, 'My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun') and superb cleverness (138, 'When my love swears that she is made of truth').
Hamlet [1600-1601] 10.17
Tempest [1611], The 9.27
King Lear [1605-1606] 9.2
Romeo and Juliet [1595-1596] 9.03
Winter's Tale [1611], The 9.02
Richard II [1595-1596] 8.4
Macbeth [1605-1606] 7.83
Coriolanus [1608] 7.7
Richard III [1592-1594] 7.7
Twelfth Night [1601] 7.7
Merchant Of Venice [1596-1597], The 7.68
Antony and Cleopatra [1606-1607] 7.6
Henry VI Part III [1591] 7.58
Julius Caesar [1599-1600] 7.57
Othello [1604] 7.57
Measure for Measure [1604] 7.5
Much Ado About Nothing [1598] 7.48
Pericles [1608] 7.45
Cymbeline [1610] 7.43
Taming Of The Shrew [1589-1592], The 7.43
Henry V [1599] 7.35
Midsummer Night's Dream [1595-1596], A 7.17
Titus Andronicus [1591-1592] 7.13
As You Like It [1599] 6.9
Troilus and Cressida [1601-1602] 6.9
Henry VI Part II [1591] 6.88
Henry IV Part I [1596-1597] 6.78
Henry VIII [1613] 6.77
Two Noble Kinsmen [1613], The 6.32
Henry VI Part I [1592] 6.58
Henry IV Part II [1597-1598] 6.53
All's Well That Ends Well [1605] 6.37
Love's Labour's Lost [1595] 6.27
Timon Of Athens [1605] 6.17
Two Gentlemen Of Verona [1591-1592], The 6.13
Comedy Of Errors [1594], The 5.8
King John [1595-1597] 5.8
Merry Wives Of Windsor [1600-1601], The 4.97.
Venus And Adonis [1593] 5.6
The Rape Of Lucrece [1594] 7.7.
Sonnets [1592-1603, pub. 1609] 7.19.
Venus and Adonis (1593), written in a six-line stanza rhyming ababaa, I didn't like at all, and felt it to be an over-elaborate and elongated plaint in love, written in an ardour of youth, and so the style smacked. The Rape Of Lucrece (1594), was, even though only a year later, far more mature and expressive. A seven-line stanza in ababbcc, in iambic pentameter, flowed even better when using monologue, a considerable amount of its content. Here, I felt a sympathy with Lucrece, who, much like Philomel, who is raped and then abused (see Lavinia in Titus Andronicus [1591-2]), is similarly raped, but has still her lamenting tongue (else, the poem would be shorter and less plaintive), yet decides she cannot bear the shame, and opts for suicide. Shakespeare therefore draws on Ovid's tale, but sends it in a different direction, compounding her sorrow. This, I appreciated much more.
The sonnets have traditionally been classified into two nominal categories, the first 126 (of 154) addressing a younger man, sonnets 127-154 to the 'Dark Lady', the last pair indicating the sexual disease consequent on the sexual voracity earlier connoted. They imply a personal if not just a poetic dramatisation of spiritual love for the former and sexual desire for and consummation with the latter, speaking largely with a strong personal voice implying or directly stating the poet's, with sonnets 135 & 6 punning on his own name. Frequently the sonnets discuss a theme or use a motif in pairs, a second (and sometimes a third and fourth, and more, as the first four to eleven do) developing the former theme in different permutations. Some of the sonnets are almost impenetrable (sonnets 35, 94 & 5 and 108 particularly), while there are tonal shifts implicit in others (69 seems to shift from adoration to criticism, but is paired off back to theme in its successor).
But there is also a stylistic difference evident. The 'young man' series becomes metaphysically mature, showing early impersonal abstraction (33-4, the sun imagery), later discussing Time and immortality, but only a few do not directly address its subject, becoming fully abstract, such as the famous 116 ('Let me not to the marriage of true minds') to Love, and 123 ('No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change'), to Time; and end in 126 with the 'silent' (empty) couplet, indicating that Time's claims (death) may be delayed, but cannot be defeated. While the adoration of the 'Dark Lady' escalates to a beseeching imploration (143, 145), a sickening through love (146) turning through hate (147) to a self-disgust (147) and contention (149) where recriminations abound (151-2), they end not with a metaphysical maturity but in the base physical: syphilis (153-4). But these last (28) sonnets, which become progressively more unpleasant to experience, because of their sickening content, also alienate by containing some very structurally clunky offerings (128 & 9), yet even while they physically repel, they eventually demonstrate a maturity of construction (147-52), their best leaving admiration for both beauty (130, 'My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun') and superb cleverness (138, 'When my love swears that she is made of truth').
February 17, 2011
Have the RSC Works and am sauntering through it.
Very good intro and notes to each play, good glosses at the foot of each page.
So far read:-
Henry VI parts 1-3: Carnage and political jockeying for power. Some cracking characters, Joan and Talbot; Margaret; Cade; the future Richard 3rd.
Richard III: I found it odd that after the onstage carnage of the 3 Henry6s there was very little action onstage, the vast majority of bloodletting happening offstage (even the marrige to Anne). I suppose this reflects the more cerebral way the characters are portrayed, more by words than action. Also noted the way Dick was in most scenes and the huge amount of asides compared to the Henry6s, where Henry was a mere shadow of Dick.
As to the "bottled spider", my RSC Works glosses this as: "bottled- swollen with venom, rounded, bottle shaped". So not refering to him being sealed in or trapped, but primed and ready, loaded...in other words Margaret is onto him. Regularly described as "swollen" too, he seems like an evil pustule on legs ready to burst at any point, again refering to his rounded shape.
The initial "Now is the winter etc" I could only hear as dripping with bitter sarcasm...and from that moment on Dick's voice was Ian McKellan (even though I've not seen his fascist take on R3).
Did enjoy this, but a very different "flavour" compared to the H6s and less of an ensemble piece, more of a star vehicle for whoever plays Dick.
Very good intro and notes to each play, good glosses at the foot of each page.
So far read:-
Henry VI parts 1-3: Carnage and political jockeying for power. Some cracking characters, Joan and Talbot; Margaret; Cade; the future Richard 3rd.
Richard III: I found it odd that after the onstage carnage of the 3 Henry6s there was very little action onstage, the vast majority of bloodletting happening offstage (even the marrige to Anne). I suppose this reflects the more cerebral way the characters are portrayed, more by words than action. Also noted the way Dick was in most scenes and the huge amount of asides compared to the Henry6s, where Henry was a mere shadow of Dick.
As to the "bottled spider", my RSC Works glosses this as: "bottled- swollen with venom, rounded, bottle shaped". So not refering to him being sealed in or trapped, but primed and ready, loaded...in other words Margaret is onto him. Regularly described as "swollen" too, he seems like an evil pustule on legs ready to burst at any point, again refering to his rounded shape.
The initial "Now is the winter etc" I could only hear as dripping with bitter sarcasm...and from that moment on Dick's voice was Ian McKellan (even though I've not seen his fascist take on R3).
Did enjoy this, but a very different "flavour" compared to the H6s and less of an ensemble piece, more of a star vehicle for whoever plays Dick.
November 10, 2019
All human life is here. What better can you say?
(aside from superb research, explanatory notes, invaluable historical context in the introduction and well-illustrated. Required for any English-language bookshelf - controversial I know!)
(aside from superb research, explanatory notes, invaluable historical context in the introduction and well-illustrated. Required for any English-language bookshelf - controversial I know!)
February 9, 2017
My most excellent brother-in-law Mathew procured this beauty for me. One of my most read, re-read, right beside my bedside book-- ever! Much loved.
August 1, 2008
Working my way through all 36 plays. About 26 down so far, most recently Timon of Athens. Have been saving history plays for last.
April 8, 2010
THE edition to have, hands down.
June 15, 2013
I've used my Riverside (Second Edition) for years, but the relatively new RSC Complete has won me over. I love the layout, the deference to the First Folio, and the updated scholarship.
excerpts
July 20, 2016✔ Twelfth Night, or What You Will
✔ A Midsummer Night's Dream
✔ Merchant of Venice
✔ Measure for Measure
✔ The Tempest
✔ A Midsummer Night's Dream
✔ Merchant of Venice
✔ Measure for Measure
✔ The Tempest
February 7, 2016
He's the daddy
February 8, 2020
Shakespeare is over rated
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews