Four Comedies: The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Twel fth NightRandom House Publishing Group, 26. aug 2009 - 736 pages The Taming of the Shrew Robust and bawdy, The Taming of the Shrew captivates audiences with outrageous humor as Katharina, the shrew, engages in a contest of wills–and love–with her bridegroom, Petruchio, in a comedy of unmatched theatrical brilliance, filled with visual gags and witty repartee. A Midsummer Night's Dream Fairy magic, love spells, and an enchanted wood turn the mismatched rivalries of four young lovers into a marvelous mix-up of desire and enchantment, all touched by Shakespeare’s inimitable vision of the intriguing relationship between dreams and the waking world. The Merchant of Venice This dark comedy of love and money contains one of the truly mythic figures in literature–Shylock, the Jewish moneylender. The “pound of flesh” he demands as payment of Antonio’s debt has become a universal metaphor for vengeance. Here, pathos and farce combine with moral complexity and romantic entanglements, to display the extraordinary power and range of Shakespeare at his best. Twelfth Night Set in a topsy-turvy world like a holiday revel, this comedy juxtaposes a romantic plot involving separated twins and mistaken identity with a more satiric one about the humiliation of a pompous killjoy. The hilarity is touched with melancholy, and the play ends, not with laughter, but with a clown’s plaintive song. Each Edition Includes: • Comprehensive explanatory notes • Vivid introductions and the most up-to-date scholarship • Clear, modernized spelling and punctuation, enabling contemporary readers to understand the Elizabethan English • Completely updated, detailed bibliographies and performance histories • An interpretive essay on film adaptations of the play, along with an extensive filmography |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 90
Page
... Lucentio's house. This last ruse does not fool the real Vincentio, but it nearly succeeds in fooling everyone else. Baptista Minola is about to commit Vincentio to jail for the infamous slander of asserting that the supposed Lucentio is ...
... Lucentio's house. This last ruse does not fool the real Vincentio, but it nearly succeeds in fooling everyone else. Baptista Minola is about to commit Vincentio to jail for the infamous slander of asserting that the supposed Lucentio is ...
Page
... Lucentio and Bianca. The latter plot is derived from the Supposes of George Gascoigne, a play first presented at Gray's Inn (one of the Inns of Court) in 1566, as translated from Ariost0's neoclassical comedy, I Suppositi, 1509 ...
... Lucentio and Bianca. The latter plot is derived from the Supposes of George Gascoigne, a play first presented at Gray's Inn (one of the Inns of Court) in 1566, as translated from Ariost0's neoclassical comedy, I Suppositi, 1509 ...
Page
... Lucentio) should turn out in the end to be a penniless servant (Tranio) disguised as a man of affluence and position ... Lucentio with a genuine, if foolish, rival and Bianca with two wooers closer to her age than old Gremio. Lucentio ...
... Lucentio) should turn out in the end to be a penniless servant (Tranio) disguised as a man of affluence and position ... Lucentio with a genuine, if foolish, rival and Bianca with two wooers closer to her age than old Gremio. Lucentio ...
Page
... Lucentio plot, and Kate's father, in this version, is unrelenting in his insistence that she marry or be disowned. It may have been Garrick who first gave Petruchio a whip; in any event, for decades afterward it was an obligatory prop ...
... Lucentio plot, and Kate's father, in this version, is unrelenting in his insistence that she marry or be disowned. It may have been Garrick who first gave Petruchio a whip; in any event, for decades afterward it was an obligatory prop ...
Page
... Lucentio. In the anonymous A Shrew, where Sly does remain throughout, he appears to be situated at one side of the stage, not aloft. Shakespeare may have had to deal with varying theatrical conditions if the play was acted first in one ...
... Lucentio. In the anonymous A Shrew, where Sly does remain throughout, he appears to be situated at one side of the stage, not aloft. Shakespeare may have had to deal with varying theatrical conditions if the play was acted first in one ...
Other editions - View all
Four Comedies: The Taming of the Shrew/a Midsummer Night's Dream/the ... William Shakespeare No preview available - 1988 |
Common terms and phrases
actors Antonio Athens audience BAPTISTA Bassanio Bianca BIONDELLO BOTTOM Christian comedy daughter Demetrius director doctor of laws doth Duke Egeus Enter Exeunt Exit eyes FABIAN fair fairies father FESTE film fool friends gentleman give GOBBO GRATIANO GREMIO hast hath hear heart Helena Hermia Hippolyta HORTENSIO husband Jessica Julina Kate KATHARINA lady Lancelot lion look lord LORENZO lovers Lucentio Lysander madam MALVOLIO MARIA marriage marry master Merchant of Venice Midsummer Night’s Dream mistress moon Nerissa never o’er Oberon OLIVIA ORSINO PETRUCHIO play’s PORTIA pray production Puck Pyramus and Thisbe Queen QUINCE SALERIO Sebastian servant Shakespeare Shakespeare’s play Shrew Shylock Signor Ansaldo Signor Giannetto Silla Silvio SIR ANDREW SIR TOBY sleep SOLANIO speak stage swear sweet Taming tell theater thee There’s THESEUS thou art Thou shalt Titania TRANIO Twelfth Night unto Vincentio VIOLA What’s wife young апс1