TL;DR Shakespeare: Dynamically illustrated plot and character summaries for 12 of Shakespeare's greatest plays

by SparkNotes

This refresher reference volume features concise character and plot summaries for 12 of Shakespeare’s best-known plays, drawn from the SparkNotes website and illustrated with colorful infographics.
Each of the 12 chapters in this volume runs 6 to 8 pages of text taken from the SparkNotes website, and is illustrated with colorful infographics for easy consumption. The 12 plays featured—six comedies and six tragedies—are among the most famous and most taught of Shakespeare’s dramas, including Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, and Julius Caesar .

Genres: Nonfiction, Shakespeare, Books About Books, Classics

96 pages, Hardcover

Published May 31, 2022

About the author

Many of the editions by this group of authors are actually guides to books rather than the works.

If the author of the SparkNotes is known, they should be the first author. Please leave these SparkNotes Editors as the second author and the author of the original work as the last author. Do not combine with the original work. Do not put the author of the ORIGINAL work first.

Link to discussion.

Reviews

[Rachelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beyond EBN 2023

I love this! This is a very short pointed breakdown of Shakesphere's works in a visual (artistic) cartoon format. Simplifying Comedies and Tragedies that bring the meaning face forward.

This is a good book for those struggling to read these works. It helps to understand what it happening so you can go back and read the work while you know what is going on.

The only thing that worries me about having a book like this, is that a lot is lost unless you do go back and read the full work. Shakesphere had SO MUCH more than just the story in his works. Inuendo, side stories both political and romantic, and conspiracy just to name a few. But maybe if you know what the story baseline is telling you, you can pick up on the rest of it a little easier

[Gael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good VERY short summary of 6 comedies & 6 tragedies. I liked the consistent layout for them: each play including a plot overview, main characters, themes & symbols, a quote, a key question & answer, and the ending explained in more detail. The illustrations are cute and helpful! I did find some of the plays lacking in info but I understand why. I guess this is meant to encourage me to read/watch the ones I liked, not help me pass a test or anything, haha.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly what it says it is: "Dynamically illustrated plot and character summaries for 12 of Shakespeare's greatest plays." I enjoyed the illustrations/infographics. It was a nice brush up on the Shakespeare I read in high school, and those I never got around to. Led me to go down the internet rabbit hole reading about Pyramus and Thisbe, Marc Antony's speech, and Lion King recollections.

[Travelmaven · Rating 2 out of 5]

A 4 page cartoon-like spread on multiple plays, with one quote from each. Felt like some of the info could have included more quotes and less description - character sketches that were really the most important characters. Don't think this would help with studying or even getting to know the plots at all.

[Saudah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always been a fan of Sparknotes' section of Shakespeare. Spending time on the quizzes and posts of characters texting each other used to be my favourite pastime while I was procrastinating. So, like all the time. This book is so fun. The visuals and summaries make the info so easy to read and understand. I feel like this is a great help to any student exposed to Shakespeare. <3

[Heather Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

A succinct and entertaining summary of 12 of Shakespeare's most popular plays; sparknotes with info graphics. I found it informative without being dry or boring. As someone who doesn't really enjoy reading Shakespeare this was an excellent summary of his plays.

[Valpot · Rating 4 out of 5]

handy and entertaining summary of 12 of Shakespeare's comedies and tragedies! great as a refresher / brief intro since it's not meant to be fully comprehensive.

loved the colourful illustrations and wld've loved more quotes as well!

[Carly Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very engaging and informative guide to Shakespeare's most famous works.

[Andreas Furth · Rating 5 out of 5]

no chance I'm reading the actual Shakespeare wordy nonsense

[Tayler Morrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource for teachers (and students). Good summary and hits the main points. I also really like the Infograph’s and images.

[Olivia Ambrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Very basic.