Four Comedies: The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Twel fth NightThe 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
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... servant relationship in order to create a transformed Saturnalian world anticipating that of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night. The induction sets up the theme of illusion, using an old motif known as “The Sleeper Awakened ...
... servant relationship in order to create a transformed Saturnalian world anticipating that of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night. The induction sets up the theme of illusion, using an old motif known as “The Sleeper Awakened ...
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... servant. Bianca's supposed tutors are, in fact, her wooers, using their lessons to disguise messages of love. Katharina is prevailed upon by her husband, Petruchio, to declare that the sun is the moon and that an old gentleman ...
... servant. Bianca's supposed tutors are, in fact, her wooers, using their lessons to disguise messages of love. Katharina is prevailed upon by her husband, Petruchio, to declare that the sun is the moon and that an old gentleman ...
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... servant (Tranio) disguised as a man of affluence and position. In his traditional role as the clever servant of neoclassical comedy, Tranio skillfully apes the mannerisms of respectable society. He can deal in the mere surfaces-clothes ...
... servant (Tranio) disguised as a man of affluence and position. In his traditional role as the clever servant of neoclassical comedy, Tranio skillfully apes the mannerisms of respectable society. He can deal in the mere surfaces-clothes ...
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... servants, shows Kate an ugly picture of what her refractoriness is like. He succeeds by insisting on what, arguably, she may desire too: a well-defined relationship tempered by mutual respect and love. In this interpretation, Kate may ...
... servants, shows Kate an ugly picture of what her refractoriness is like. He succeeds by insisting on what, arguably, she may desire too: a well-defined relationship tempered by mutual respect and love. In this interpretation, Kate may ...
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... servant (Grumio in Shakespeare), who speaks in such a broad Scottish dialect that Samuel Pepys, in 1667, had trouble understanding what was said. James Worsdale's A Cure for a Scold (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 1735, with Charles Macklin ...
... servant (Grumio in Shakespeare), who speaks in such a broad Scottish dialect that Samuel Pepys, in 1667, had trouble understanding what was said. James Worsdale's A Cure for a Scold (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 1735, with Charles Macklin ...
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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