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Tragedies: Volume 1
Shakespeare’s four greatest tragedies were written in a remarkably short period of time, between 1598 and 1606. Hamlet , Othello , Macbeth , and King Lear are each so singular an achievement that any rereading of them reinforces the awe and almost idolatrous worship that this most uncanny of the world’s great writers invariably inspires. In these four plays, Shakespeare engages the problem that is central to tragedy and crucial to any human community—the problem of violence and revenge—on an unprecedented scale. No other literary texts have been more instrumental in deepening our knowledge of ourselves as individuals and as a civilization. This authoritative edition of the plays is supplemented with footnotes, bibliographies, a detailed chronology of Shakespeare’s life and times, and a substantial introduction in which Tony Tanner discusses each play individually while setting each in context.
672 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1958
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About the author
William Shakespeare
27.8k books47.1k 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 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 23, 2021
I love Shakespeare's sonnets, and have them in constant rotation among my audio books. But I have largely avoided the plays, aside from assigned reading in highschool over thirty years ago. The play is simply not a literary form that I am drawn to. In any case, I set myself the goal to reread at least one of the tragedies this year, and I bought this volume to hold myself accountable.
Had I stopped after finishing just Hamlet, I would have considered this goal achieved. However once I sank into the plays, with the intellectual perspective and maturity well beyond where I was in highschool, and was able to fully absorb hidden dramatic details, the psychological development of the characters, and the breathtaking inventiveness of language in every other line, I could not put this book down. I read the four plays in sequential order, and then, having grown accustomed to the motion and the music of Shakespeare's dialogue, I reread Hamlet again just to capture any subtleties that I had surely missed the first time around.
I cannot praise this volume enough. The introductory essay by Tony Tanner, which explores each of the plays in depth as well as surfacing themes that tie them all together, is extremely insightful for "self study" of the plays as in the way I approached them. I read each play first before reading the corresponding section of Tanner's introduction, and was encouraged to find that many of the quotations or sequences that were called out as critical passages in the play were also those that drew my attention during my reading. Aside from actually exceeding the goal I set for myself rereading Shakespeare, the most satisfying part of this experience in attempting to connect with a formidable body of literature in my native language was that, in some humble way, I feel I truly understood it.
Had I stopped after finishing just Hamlet, I would have considered this goal achieved. However once I sank into the plays, with the intellectual perspective and maturity well beyond where I was in highschool, and was able to fully absorb hidden dramatic details, the psychological development of the characters, and the breathtaking inventiveness of language in every other line, I could not put this book down. I read the four plays in sequential order, and then, having grown accustomed to the motion and the music of Shakespeare's dialogue, I reread Hamlet again just to capture any subtleties that I had surely missed the first time around.
I cannot praise this volume enough. The introductory essay by Tony Tanner, which explores each of the plays in depth as well as surfacing themes that tie them all together, is extremely insightful for "self study" of the plays as in the way I approached them. I read each play first before reading the corresponding section of Tanner's introduction, and was encouraged to find that many of the quotations or sequences that were called out as critical passages in the play were also those that drew my attention during my reading. Aside from actually exceeding the goal I set for myself rereading Shakespeare, the most satisfying part of this experience in attempting to connect with a formidable body of literature in my native language was that, in some humble way, I feel I truly understood it.
January 21, 2024
Shakespeare's tragedies are great, but the first six pages of Tony Tanner's introduction are priceless. He highlights how Shakespeare captures the essence of societal evolution from an individual "revenge code" to institutional "courts of law." Every generation must remain committed to this ideal. The alternative is that we slip backwards towards vengence, which "threatens to involve the whole social body" and risks a chain reaction that can "put the very existance of a society in jeopardy."
November 16, 2019
What a great edition.
April 28, 2022
Hamlet - *****
Othello - **** (that escalated...)
King Lear - ****
Macbeth - *****
Total: 4.5
Othello - **** (that escalated...)
King Lear - ****
Macbeth - *****
Total: 4.5
June 2, 2024
Shakespeare - what more need be said?
July 8, 2014
What can you say that hasn't been said about the works of one of the most brilliant minds who ever lived? All superlatives elude me. Only the Ancient Greek playwrights are his equals. All others pale in comparison. Unfortunately, so many are turned-off to Shakespeare because of their introduction to him in high school. What a pity. Shakespeare is to be watched! Reading him is a poor substitute. If you can readily understand the English language of his day, he is easy to read, but few are adept at this.
June 23, 2009
Ranking:
1. Hamlet (both entertaining and profound)
2. Othello (most terrifying)
3. King Lear
4. Macbeth (the witches and Macbeth's sudden reversal were strange)
Fearing action, Hamlet when confronted by a moral problem consumes himself with thinking and thereby ignores the responsibility to act. The play is one of delay. Fearing thought, Macbeth when confronted by a moral problem consumes himself with action and thereby ignores the responsibility to think. The play is one of haste.
1. Hamlet (both entertaining and profound)
2. Othello (most terrifying)
3. King Lear
4. Macbeth (the witches and Macbeth's sudden reversal were strange)
Fearing action, Hamlet when confronted by a moral problem consumes himself with thinking and thereby ignores the responsibility to act. The play is one of delay. Fearing thought, Macbeth when confronted by a moral problem consumes himself with action and thereby ignores the responsibility to think. The play is one of haste.
June 5, 2008
gotta love everyman's library. sewn binding, scholarly introductions, and the timelines are awesome. these books should cost way more than they do.
August 20, 2008
I have an early edition in Everyman library... quite exquisite
July 7, 2016
I didn't read the whole volume - only hamlet - but really enjoyed it!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews