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Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
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Product Description
Product Description
• Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
• Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play
• Scene-by-scene plot summaries
• A key to famous lines and phrases
• An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language
• An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
• Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books
Essay by Phyllis Rackin
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit www.folger.edu.
About the Author
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit www.folger.edu.
Barbara A. Mowat is Director of Academic Programs at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Editor of Shakespeare Quarterly, Chair of the Folger Institute, and author of The Dramaturgy of Shakespeare's Romances and of essays on Shakespeare's plays and on the editing of the plays.
Paul Werstine is Professor of English at King's College and the Graduate School of the University of Western Ontario, Canada. He is the author of many papers and articles on the printing and editing of Shakespeare's plays and was Associate Editor of the annual Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England from 1980 to 1989.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Now is the winter of our discontent Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Now is the winter of our discontent Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.2 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Richard the Evil Hearted, Sep 12 2005
By R. J. Marsella - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Richard III (Mass Market Paperback)
Shakepeare's Richard is evil and manipulative to such an extreme degree that even his physical deformity cannot match up to the inner deformity that is revealed to the reader/audience in his private soliloquies. Having been portrayed as a conniving usurper to power by Thomas More during the early Tudor era he is actually savaged by Shakespeare and his legacy in historical terms has become one with the characterization that the bard gave us.Richard is a muderous liar who kills anyone who gets in his way and he is contrasted with the righteously portrayed young Henry VII who returns from France to set things right.
The play is a wonderful read and study in Machiavellian manuevering for powers sake.
From the setting up of his brother Clarence to the murder of the young Princes in the Tower Richard who takes the audience into his confidence gradually becomes as appalling a character as Shakespeare ever created.
Much of what is later revealed of the capacity for people to scheme against their fellows in Claudius and Iago in the respective tragedies of Hamlet and Othello is begun here in Richard III.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Shakespeare (i.e., sheer genius), Nov 22 2007
By Laszlo Matyas - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Richard III (Mass Market Paperback)
It may not be Hamlet, but Richard III is still one of the finest works of literature ever created, in any medium. It's a classic piece of Shakespearian (and therefore, literary) character development, full of irony, wordplay, nuance, tension, imagery, and jaw-dropping poetic virtuosity. Shakespeare's Richard III is simply one of the most hypnotic and effectively portrayed characters of all time- he's a calculating, ruthless, cooly charismatic megalomaniac with bitter past and a knack for heroic feats of rhetoric. He's the quintessential antihero, a thoroughly despicable human being who is nonetheless incredibly fun to root for. Witnessing his swift, ruthless rise to power is a sheer visceral rush, and his monologues are deftly conceived works that drip with side poetry, cutting humor, and an almost charming sort of egotism. Reading or watching the play, one feels like they're the wicked king's confidante and co-conspirator, being allowed the unique privilege of peering into the amoral genius' twisted soul. The experience is exciting and cathartic. Of course, there's more to this play than one great character- the plot (which offers a seething glimpse of a chaotic post civil war England) is complex and engrossing, and sees Shakespeare hurling satirical darts at the corruption and pretensions of the nation's leaders. By allowing Richard to succeed by appealing to the greed, lust, and folly of those around him, Shakespeare sends a powerful warning about the cyclical nature and bottomless pitfalls of political villainy and oppression. At the same time, he paints a grim portrait of the ultimate outcomes of greed, egotism, selfishness, vengeance, and megalomania that still rings true to this day (and will probably do so until our species is extinct). Classic.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Richard III (folger library edition), Dec 24 2011
By Alan M. Shearer - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Richard III (Mass Market Paperback)
I chose this Folger edition of the play because I have used these editions ever since I was a drama student in high school. I always like the way the footnotes and definitions of obscure words are interspersed with each page of text. These are among the most readable editions because one can quickly find the footnotes while reading, without interrupting the reading to flip to another page. Footnotes tend to be very small in print in some other editions, as well. The type set or font here is of a size that makes for ease in reading.Of course, one should read many of the fine editions of other paperback and hardbound publications of Shakespeare to get to know the plays in depth. But the Folger PB copies are well-priced, and a very good choice for a first reading of any play.
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