Nobody can remember why the Capulet family and the Montague family hate each other but the feud is longstanding and brutal. When Juliet Capulet and Romeo Montague meet and fall in love the result is tragic, and peace between the two families is only possible after much bloodshed and death. Classic themes such as violence, prejudice, teenage love and parental problems are as relevant today as they were 400 years ago and help make Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet a favourite with young students. In this script adaptation they will have the opportunity not only to read the story but also to act and to live the emotions for themselves. This edition of Shakespeare’s classic considers all the stages of a theatrical production from the auditions to the opening night, allowing students the chance to explore the play as it was originally intended: not as a story but as a performance.

These Comedies are among the best loved of Shakespeare's plays. In each a problem emerges, is then intensified to a point of maximum confusion and potential upset, before the chaos is resolved, however improbably, into general goodwill and a spate of marriages. The triumph of these plays lies in the way they mingle humorous stage business and dexterous word play with a more serious study of identity, gender, dreaming, the meaning of love, even of the theatre itself. They reassure us that with all its faults, the world will always in the end be redeemable. 'Not for an age but for all time.' So Ben Jonson established what we now take for granted: Shakespeare's unique place among the world's great authors. Romeo and Juliet shows us the archetypal story of fated young love; Hamlet, the tortured psyche of the young prince of Denmark; Othello, a strikingly modern representation of racial difference; King Lear, a man stripped of all material and psychological comforts; and Macbeth, a dark investigation of the origins and effects of, evil. The plays throw a fascinating light on the concerns of Shakespeare's day, yet offer perennial insights into the nature of human emotion.

When the ghost of Hamlet's father reveals the terrible secret of Elsinore, the result is chaos and tragedy for the young Prince of Denmark. Will he avenge his father's murder? Is he really mad? Does he love the beautiful Ophelia?

«Viele Jugendliche finden heute keinen Zugang mehr zu klassischen Texten. Das Verständnis und das Lesevergnügen scheitern oft an den sprachlichen Hürden. Die Reihe «einfach klassisch» macht auch ungeübte Leserinnen und Leser mit klassischen Stoffen bekannt und versucht, ihr Leseinteresse zu wecken. — Die Originaltexte sind behutsam gekürzt und sprachlich vereinfacht, ungebräuchliche Wörter durch geläufige ersetzt, schwer Satzkonstruktionen aufgelöst. — Die Bearbeitung hält sich dabei so nah wie möglich an das Original, um literarische Eigenart und Intention der ursprünglichen Fassung zu erhalten. — Eine zeitgemäße Gestaltung, zweifarbiger Druck, Bilder und Fotos, Info-Kästen, klare Gliederung der Texte in Abschnitte sowie Verständnisfragen nach jedem Abschnitt helfen bei der Lektüre. Die Praxis hat gezeigt: «Einfach klassisch» erleichtert den Zugang zu klassischen Texten und weckt Lesevergnügen, was sich positiv auf den Unterricht auswirkt.»

«Contained along with the complete text of Shakespeare's classic tragedy about the «two star-crossed lovers» from Verona is full explanatory notes, scene-by-scene plot summaries, a key to famous lines and phrases, and illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books.»

Two young lovers, Hermia and Lysander, meet in the wood with the intention of running away and getting married secretly. They are followed by Demetrius, who loves Hermia, and Helena, who is in love with Demetrius. What they don’t know is that the wood is enchanted…

«The Shakespeare comedies collected in this text are frequently known as «the romances». It is argued that they conclude in a spirit of hope as the main characters are reunited in an aura of reconciliation, wrongs are righted, and exiles returned to their homes.»

Henry V is the most famous and influential of Shakespeare's history plays. Its powerful patriotic rhetoric has resounded down the ages, gaining eloquent expression in Laurence Olivier's renowned film. Henry himself, astute and charismatic, who led his 'band of brothers' to victory in the Battle of Agincourt, could indeed seem to be 'this star of England'. In recent decades the play has attracted increasing critical attention and is now highly controversial. Kenneth Branagh's film-production reflected the changing valuation. Does this play have a sceptical sub-text which subverts its patriotism? Is Henry's achievement beset by irony? Has current scepticism distorted a predominantly and proudly nationalistic drama?

The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies, but it remains deeply controversial. The text may well seem anti-Semitic; yet repeatedly, in performance, it has revealed a contrasting nature. Shylock, though vanquished in the law-court, often triumphs in the theatre. He is a character so intense that he can dominate the play, challenging abrasively its romantic and lyrical affirmations.

Claudio is in love with Hero, but is afraid that she will reject him. His friend, Don Pedro, volunteers to make her fall in love with him at a masked ball. The trick works well, and Hero agrees to marry Claudio. But Don Pedro’s brother, Don John, organises a plot which will make Claudio think that Hero is unfaithful…

The Signet Classic Shakespeare series contains the preeminent mass market books of the complete works of Shakespeare. This reissue features a new Overview by Sylvan Barnet, former chairman of the English Department at Tufts University, an updated Bibliography, suggested references, and stage and film history.

«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».»

In the hope of saving her brother's life, should a woman submit to rape? Should the law be respected when its administrator is corrupt? How powerful in the state should religion become? Although Measure for Measure ends like a comedy, with reconciliations, forgiveness and marriages, it has often been regarded as one of Shakespeare's problem plays. The drama shows the difficulty of effecting an appropriate balance between judicial severity and mercy, between sexual repression and decadence, and between political vigilance and social manipulation. These problems remain topical, and, in Measure for Measure, they are given immediacy by vivid character-conflicts and memorably intense poetry. This is one of Shakespeare's most probing and powerful works.

Much Ado About Nothing has long been celebrated as one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies. The central relationship, between Benedick and Beatrice, is wittily combative until love prevails. Broader comedy is provided by Dogberry, Verges and the watchmen. The drama ranges between the destructively sinister and the lyrically romantic, giving the whole a complex and sometimes problematic character.

«The gentle melancholy and lyrical atmosphere of «Twelfth Night» have long made the play a favourite with Shakespearian audiences. The plot revolves around mistaken identities and unrequited love, but is further enlivened by a comic sub-plot of considerable accomplishment. In it, Sir Toby Belch and his companion outwit the pretentious Malvolio, who despite suffering their most outrageous and insulting practical jokes, emerges as an almost noble figure.»

«The Winter's Tale», one of Shakespeare's later romantic comedies, offers a striking and challenging mixture of tragic and violent events, lyrical love-speeches, farcical comedy, pastoral song and dance, and, eventually, dramatic revelations and reunions. Thematically, there is a rich orchestration of the contrasts between age and youth, corruption and innocence, decline and regeneration. Both Leontes' murderous jealousy and Perdita's love-relationship with Florizel are eloquently intense. In the theatre, «The Winter's Tale» often proves to be diversely entertaining and deeply moving.»

«This is a title in an inexpensive range of classics in the «Penguin Popular Classics» series.»

Shakespeare's sonnets have an intensity of both feeling and meaning unmatched in English sonnet form. They divide into two parts; the first 126 sonnets are addressed to a fair youth for whom the poet has an obsessive love and the second chronicles his love for the notorious 'Dark Lady'. In addition to the sonnets, this volume includes Shakespeare's two lengthy narrative poems on classical themes, 'The Rape of Lucrece' which looks forward to the dark imagery of Macbeth, and 'Venus and Adonis' which mixes ribaldry and tragedy in unique Shakespearean manner. 'The Phoenix and the Turtle' is a beautiful metaphysical and allegorical short elegy, and takes its place with Shakespeare's better-known poetry.

«King Lear» has been widely acclaimed as Shakespeare's most powerful tragedy. Elemental and passionate, it encompasses the horrific and the heart-rending. Love and hate, loyalty and treachery, cruelty and self-sacrifice: all these contend in a tempestuous drama which has become an enduring classic of the world's literature.»

«The Tempest» is the most lyrical, profound and fascinating of Shakespeare's late comedies. Prospero, long exiled from Italy with his daughter Miranda, seeks to use his magical powers to defeat his former enemies. Eventually, having proved merciful, he divests himself of that magic, his 'art', and prepares to return to the mainland. «The Tempest» has often been regarded as Shakespeare's 'farewell to the stage' before his retirement.»