The Unabridged William Shakespeare

by William Shakespeare, William George Clark, William Aldis Wright

More unabridged classics

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

1421 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1911

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

[Wendi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a gift from my mom after I fell in love with Shakespeare's work back in high school when we read a few of his plays in class. I was carrying this book around reading it when I was 16. I've owned it for 21 years now and I still love it as much as I did then. All of his plays are laid out first, then the sonnets and poems. It's perfect for dipping into whenever the mood strikes you. This book is a must have, whether you're a fan of Shakespeare, like classic literature, or just collect certain books. I highly recommend this one!

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read so far:
The Tempest (2006)
Hamlet (2006)
Macbeth (2007)
Julius Caesar (2008)
Othello (2009)
Two Gentlemen of Verona (2010)
Taming of the Shrew (2012)
Romeo and Juliet (2013)
Henry V (2014)
King Lear (2015)
Much Ado About Nothing (2016)
A Comedy of Errors (2017)
Richard III (2018)

[Heidi]

i will probably be reading this book for the rest of my life...

[Steven Kinzler · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘swounds, it’s Shakespeare. What’s not to like?

[Tej]

It took me almost a year but I did it! This version organizes the plays by comedies, histories, and then tragedies. I wish it had been chronological (I realize the timing of when he wrote his plays is debatable) so that I could more easily see a progression--or not. Some were brilliant, others not so much. I can understand why some people suggest they weren't all written by the same person.

[Jeffrey]

Ncht slecht!

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great to have but tough to read because of the thick spine