The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

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Wordsworth Editions, 2007 - 1263 pages

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is acknowledged as the greatest dramatist of all time. He excels in plot, poetry and wit, and his talent encompasses the great tragedies of Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth as well as the moving history plays and the comedies such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew and As You Like It with their magical combination of humour, ribaldry and tenderness.

This volume is a reprint of the Shakespeare Head Press edition, and it presents all the plays in chronological order in which they were written. It also includes Shakespeare's Sonnets, as well as his longer poems Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece.

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Contents

THE FIRST PART OF KING HENRY THE SIXTH
iii
THE SECOND PART OF KING HENRY THE SIXTH
19
THE THIRD PART OF KING HENRY THE SIXTH
53
KING RICHARD THE THIRD
86
TITUS ANDRONICUS
127
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS
154
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
175
LOVES LABOURS LOST
201
HAMLET PRINCE OF DENMARK
658
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
702
ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL
741
MEASURE FOR MEASURE
774
OTHELLO THE MOOR OF VENICE
806
MACBETH
846
KING LEAR
873
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA
912

ROMEO AND JULIET
233
A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM
267
KING JOHN
290
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
317
KING RICHARD THE SECOND
347
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
376
THE FIRST PART OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH
404
THE SECOND PART OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH
437
KING HENRY THE FIFTH
473
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
508
THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR
538
JULIUS CAESAR
570
AS YOU LIKE IT
599
TWELFTH NIGHT OR WHAT YOU WILL
629
CORIOLANUS
953
TIMON OF ATHENS
995
PERICLES
1023
CYMBELINE
1050
THE TEMPEST
1123
KING HENRY THE EIGHTH
1148
VENUS AND ADONIS
1183
LUCRECE
1195
SONNETS
1213
A LOVERS COMPLAINT
1233
THE PASSIONATE PILGRIM
1236
THE PHOENIX AND TURTLE
1240
GLOSSARY
1241
Copyright

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About the author (2007)

William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616 Although there are many myths and mysteries surrounding William Shakespeare, a great deal is actually known about his life. He was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, son of John Shakespeare, a prosperous merchant and local politician and Mary Arden, who had the wealth to send their oldest son to Stratford Grammar School. At 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, the 27-year-old daughter of a local farmer, and they had their first daughter six months later. He probably developed an interest in theatre by watching plays performed by traveling players in Stratford while still in his youth. Some time before 1592, he left his family to take up residence in London, where he began acting and writing plays and poetry. By 1594 Shakespeare had become a member and part owner of an acting company called The Lord Chamberlain's Men, where he soon became the company's principal playwright. His plays enjoyed great popularity and high critical acclaim in the newly built Globe Theatre. It was through his popularity that the troupe gained the attention of the new king, James I, who appointed them the King's Players in 1603. Before retiring to Stratford in 1613, after the Globe burned down, he wrote more than three dozen plays (that we are sure of) and more than 150 sonnets. He was celebrated by Ben Jonson, one of the leading playwrights of the day, as a writer who would be "not for an age, but for all time," a prediction that has proved to be true. Today, Shakespeare towers over all other English writers and has few rivals in any language. His genius and creativity continue to astound scholars, and his plays continue to delight audiences. Many have served as the basis for operas, ballets, musical compositions, and films. While Jonson and other writers labored over their plays, Shakespeare seems to have had the ability to turn out work of exceptionally high caliber at an amazing speed. At the height of his career, he wrote an average of two plays a year as well as dozens of poems, songs, and possibly even verses for tombstones and heraldic shields, all while he continued to act in the plays performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men. This staggering output is even more impressive when one considers its variety. Except for the English history plays, he never wrote the same kind of play twice. He seems to have had a good deal of fun in trying his hand at every kind of play. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, all published on 1609, most of which were dedicated to his patron Henry Wriothsley, The Earl of Southhampton. He also wrote 13 comedies, 13 histories, 6 tragedies, and 4 tragecomedies. He died at Stratford-upon-Avon April 23, 1616, and was buried two days later on the grounds of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. His cause of death was unknown, but it is surmised that he knew he was dying.

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