BBC Radio Shakespeare Histories

The Norton Shakespeare

by William Shakespeare

King Henry 4th part 1 and 2 King Richard 2nd Pericles plays.

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

Audible Audio

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

[Rhuddem Gwelin]

Excellent introductions to all the plays. I have worn my copy out, must get a new one.

[Kelly]

I'll be reading various plays from this book for the next month or so in no particular order.

[Daniel]

It clear Shakespeare is a genius with his very artistic style of writing, but it was also incredibly long and windy at times.

[Black Tea Lady ☕️📚]

Después de una larga pausa de 3 años, por fin decidí continuar con mi Oxford Hard Reading Challenge Shakespeare y se siente bien. Me quedan 12 obras para terminar su obra completa incluyendo los sonetos además de sus obras teatrales. Este tomo ha sido maravilloso, a Shakespeare le llama mucho la atención el aspecto psicológico, dramático y obscuro de aquellos que están en el poder. Esta obra habla sobre La Guerra de las Rosas, Lancaster vs York, descendientes de los antiguos Plantagenet hasta el surgimiento del reinado de la casa Tudor con Enrique VIII y el nacimiento de Elizabeth. Shakespeare exagera o inventa algunas situaciones para el efecto dramático, con esto quiero decir que es mejor buscar otra fuente de referencia histórica si se quiere saber más sobre estas dinastías, pero esto no quita el placer de leer estas obras y de disfrutar cada una de las escenas. Ampliamente recomendado.

[Amaia]

He disfrutado mucho de todas las obras, pero Enrique V y Ricardo III son con diferencia las mejores.

La edición está muy bien y las traducciones me han gustado, aunque en Enrique IV (tanto primera como segunda parte) hay algunas expresiones en español americano que pueden sorprender un poco, pero no por ello he disfrutado menos.

Importante la nota del editor, de la cual incluyo aquí el comienzo:
"Esta edición, meramente divulgativa, abriga la intención de ofrecer al lector en español del siglo XXI una obra completa de Shakespeare para su propio tiempo".

Así es. Un edición fácil de leer y que recomiendo para conocer los dramas históricos si no nos atrevemos con una edición en inglés.

[Megan]

Had this back at home from one of my many university Shakespeare classes. In fact, I can't really remember which one it was. But I've been meaning to (re)read the Histories, so it was well-timed that I found it.

[Kristina Clark]

Richard III, parts of Richard II, currently reading Henry IV Part 1

[William Herbst]

See my thoughts under comedies for my thoughts on the series.