101 Best-Loved Poems (Dover Large Print Classics)

Book Description

Large print anthology contains some of the most popular poems in the English language, including Shakespeare's "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?," Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress," Frost's "The Road Not Taken," as well as works by Blake, Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley, Keats, Browning, Whitman, Dickinson, Yeats, Pound, and many others.

Customer Reviews:

i love u.......2003-03-15

i love u for what u are when i am with u

Average customer rating:

Excellent edition of one of the best books ever
The finest sonnets ever written in English
Premium edition of the Sonnets
Beautiful
Lord of my love, to whom in vassalage

Sonnets (Charnwood Soft Cover)
William Shakespeare
Manufacturer: Ulverscroft Large Print
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Poetry & Short Stories | Large Print | Formats | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0708945163

Book Description

Alex Jennings will be the reader for this unabridged recording of the The Sonnets.

Download Description

This new edition focuses on the Sonnets as poetry--often subtly interlinked in thematic, imagistic and other groupings. The volume also addresses the many questions that have puzzled readers: are the Sonnets autobiographical? What is the nature of the "love" between the "poet," the "youth" and the "Dark Lady?" Can they be identified? When were the Sonnets written and in what order? The volume is introduced by the poet and scholar, Anthony Hecht. The text has been edited and extensively annotated by Gwynne Blakemore Evans. The volume as a whole will appeal to a new generation of students and poetry lovers.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent edition of one of the best books ever.......2007-09-17

Shakespeare's collection of sonnets is so much a part of the western cultural heritage that reviewing it is kind of like taking coals to Newcastle, but it is worth a few words. First, however, a note about this edition: it is exactly what I wanted, with a few unobstructive footnotes at the bottom of each page, an index of first lines, and two critical introductions, one offering up historical context, the other more interpretative. They enhance your reading, they do not do it for you.

Now, why you want to read this collection. Most of us come to the sonnets singly: random reading assignments, in mixed anthologies, or one is quoted provocatively some place. With few exceptions, each is a perfect example of what the sonnet form does and how form itself shapes meaning. But read straight through consecutively, they offer a close-to-the-bone narrative of Shakespeare's preoccupations. This is the source of all that speculation about his sexual preferences. We've all heard lots of opinions on the bard's relationship with the "Young Man" and the "Dark Lady" but there is nothing like getting it first hand, and I must say that my ideas changed after sorting through for myself. For one thing, love--platonic or carnal--is not the only thing on his mind. Immortality, beauty, truth and a few other problems get a work out. The most pleasant surprise is how truly readable and accessible it all is.

The finest sonnets ever written in English.......2007-02-24

Shakespeare was, in my opinion, a far better poet than a playwrite. Not to say that his plays aren't good; he wrote many that are among the best I've read. But some of his others are terribly boring. Not so with his sonnets. This collection is my constant companion, I read a sonnet whenever I feel down. They catalogue the experience of a truly remarkable man in a style both rich and clear. A great collection of great poetry.

Premium edition of the Sonnets.......2007-01-10

This is a nice edition, worthy of gift-giving. There is only one Sonnet per page, so you can choose one and bookmark it for a friend. The paper is quality and the binding and overall look is very good.

Beautiful .......2006-10-21

This is in reference to the CD (audiobook) Sonnets read by John Gielgud. Just received my copy and was pleasently surprised that the remastered 60's recording is remarkably clear. Gielgud was one of the greatest actor/directors of Shakespeare, and to listen to him read the sonnets "...trippingly on the tongue...", (Hamlet,act 3, sc. 2.) is nothing short of historical.
Listen to them at night or on a rainy day, or just follow along with a hardcopy of the Sonnets in your hand. You'll be reciting them in short order.

Lord of my love, to whom in vassalage.......2006-10-06

Thy merit hath my duty strongly knit,
To thee I send this written embassage,
To witness duty, not to show my wit.
(Sonnet 26.)

How to do justice to the legacy of literary history's greatest mind -- moreover in such a limited review? Forget Goethe's "universal genius" and his rebel contemporary Schiller; forget the 19th century masters; forget contemporary literature: with the possible (!) exception of three Greek gentlemen named Aischylos, Sophocles and Euripides, a certain Frenchman called Poquelin (a/k/a Moliere), and that infamous Irishman Oscar Wilde, there's more wit in a single line of Shakespeare's than in an entire page of most other, even great, authors' works. And I'm not saying this in ignorance of, or in order to slight any other writer: it's precisely my admiration of the world's literary giants, past and present, that makes me appreciate Shakespeare even more -- and that although I'm aware that he repeatedly borrowed from pre-existing material and that even the (sole) authorship of the works published under his name isn't established beyond doubt. For ultimately, the only thing that matters to me is the brilliance of those works themselves; and quite honestly, the mysteries continuing to enshroud his person, to me, only enhance his larger-than-life stature.

The precise dating of Shakespeare's sonnets -- like other poets', a response to the 1591 publication of Sir Philip Sidney's "Astrophil and Stella" -- is an even greater guessing game than that of his plays: although #138 and #144 (slightly modified) appeared in 1599's "Passionate Pilgrim," most were probably circulated privately, and written years before their first -- unauthorized, though still authoritative -- 1609 publication; possibly beginning in 1592-1593.

Format-wise, they adopt the Elizabethan fourteen-line-structure of three quatrains of iambic pentameters expressing a series of increasingly intense ideas, resolved in a closing couplet; with an abab-cdcd-efef-gg rhyme form. (Sole exceptions: #99 -- first quatrain amplified by one line -- #126 -- six couplets & only twelve lines total -- #145 -- written in tetrameter -- and #146 -- omission of the second line's beginning; the subject of a lasting debate.) Their order is thematic rather than chronological, although beyond the fact that the first 126 are addressed to a young man -- maybe the Earl of Pembroke or Southampton, maybe Sir Robert Dudley, the natural son of Queen Elizabeth's "Sweet Robin," the Earl of Leicester -- (the first seventeen, possibly commissioned by the addressee's family, pressing his marriage and production of an heir), and ##127-152 (or 127-133 and 147-152) to an exotic woman of questionable virtues only known as "The Dark Lady," even in that respect much remains unclear; including the nature of Shakespeare's relationship with the two main addressees, regarding which the sonnets' often ambiguous metaphors invoke much speculation. #145 is probably addressed to Shakespeare's wife; the closing couplet plays on her maiden name ("['I hate' from] hate away she threw And saved my life, [saying 'not you']:" "Hathaway -- Anne saved my life"), several others contain puns on the name Will and its double meaning(s) (exactly fourteen in the naughty #135: "Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will;" and seven in the similarly mischievous #136), and the last two draw on the then-popular Cupid theme. Sometimes, placement seems linked to contents, e.g., in #8 (music: an octave has eight notes), #12 and #60 (time: twelve hours to both day and night; sixty minutes to an hour); and in the famous #55, which praises poetry's everlasting power and as whose never-expressly-named subject Shakespeare himself emerges in a comparison with Horace's Ode 3.30 -- in turn written in first person singular and thus, denoting its own author as the builder of its "monument more lasting than bronze" ("Exegi monumentum aere perennius") -- as well as through the number "5"'s optical similarity to the letter "S," making the sonnet's number a shorthand reference for "5hake5peare" or "5hakespeare's 5onnets," echoed by numerous words containing an "S" in the text.

Of indescribable linguistic beauty, elegance and complexity, Shakespeare's sonnets owe their timeless appeal to their supreme compositional values, the universality of their themes, and their keen insights into the human heart and soul; as much as their transcendence of the era's poetic conventions which, following Petrarch, heavily idealized the addressee's qualities: a form new and exciting twohundred years earlier, but encrusted in cliche in the late 1500s. Indeed, Shakespeare's "Dark Lady" Sonnet #130 owes its particular fame to its clever puns on that very style, which went overboard with references to its golden-haired, starry- (beamy-, sparkling, sunny-) eyed, cherry- (strawberry-, vermilion-, coral-) lipped, rosy- (crimson-, purple-, dawn-) cheeked, ivory- (lily-, carnation-, crystal-, silver-, snowy-, swan-white) skinned, pearl-teethed, honey- (nectar-, music-) tongued, goddess-like objects. "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;" the Bard countered, proceeded to describe her breasts as "dun," her hair as "black wires," and her breath as "reek[ing]," and denied her any divine or angelic attributes. "And yet," he concluded: "by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare."

Arguably, Shakespeare's very choice of addressees (a young man -- also the subject of the famously romantic #18: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day;" the first of several sonnets promising his immortalization in poetry -- as well as the "Dark Lady," in turn introduced under the notion "black is beautiful" in #127) itself suggests a break with tradition; and compared to his contemporaries' poetry, even the equally-famous #116's on its face rather conventional praise of love's constancy ("Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments"), echoed in the poet's vow to vanquish time in #123, sounds fairly restrained. But ultimately, Shakespeare's sonnets -- like his entire work -- simply defy categorization. They are, as rival Ben Jonson acknowledged, written "for all time," just as the Bard himself immodestly claimed:

'Gainst death and all oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room
Even in the eyes of all posterity
That wear this world out to the ending doom.
(Sonnet 55.)

Average customer rating:

Good, But It Is Flawed.
Maybe Shakespeare's Best Comedy
True scapegoat which we should pay attention to
Good formula comedy, but not hilarious. Rich characters and plot.
"That you do think you are not what you are."

Twelfth Night (Charnwood Soft Cover)
William Shakespeare
Manufacturer: Ulverscroft Large Print
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0708945058

Customer Reviews:

Good, But It Is Flawed........2006-07-17

Many of you probably recall this as the play Shakespeare began to write at the end of "Shakespeare In Love." As far as the movie goes, Shakespeare was to write something where love triumphed after it failed in "Romeo and Juliet." This comedy is often hailed as one of Shakespeare's best comedies. But there are reasons I can not quite place it on the same level as "Comedy of Errors," "Taming of the Shrew," "Midsummer Night's Dream," or "As You Like It." We meet Orsino the duke who is love with Olivia. But Olivia chooses to avoid men. (She never quite got over the death of her brother and father.) We also meet Viola. She has survived a shipwreck but fears her brother Sebastian did not. Fearful of possibly being raped, she disguises herself as a man and enters Orsino's servant under the alias name Cesario. Shakespeare then introduces us to the characters of a subplot. (Maria, Toby, and Andrew.) They will plan a practical joke on Malvolio. Moving on, Orsino hires Viola/Cesario and asks him to woo Olivia on his behalf. And here we have irony both tragic and funny. Viola loves Orsino but must woo another woman on his behalf. And if as this was not difficult enough, Olivia falls in love with her! Later, we see that Viola's brother Sebastian has survived, and we meet Antonio. Antonio is wanted in the area for theft, but his touching loyalty will not allow him to dessert Sebastian. There is a comical scene where Orsino has a man to man talk with Viola/Cesario. Now we come to one problem I have with the play. Maria, Andrew, and Toby plan an over the top practical joke on Malvolio. Malvolio represents the Puritans. Shakespeare did not like Puritans because they opposed his theatre. But there is no denying that practical jokes and ridicule are lower forms of comedy than human misunderstandings such as in "Comedy of Errors." In "Taming of the Shrew," Katherine certainly draws some comments, BUT, if we understand her character, we can see that she really deserves our sympathy. Well, the conspiracy (with the help of a fake letter from Maria) makes Malvolio plan to woo Olivia in an absurd looking outfit. Olivia will think him mad, and he will be thrown in a dungeon to recover his mental health. Moving on, Andrew becomes jealous and wants to fight Viola. (Because Olivia likes her.) In a comical scene, Toby pretends to want peace, but forces the hands of both Andrew and Viola/Cesario. Now here is another major problem I have with the play. Antonio mistakes Viola for Sebastian and saves her. But he is wanted in the area, and the duke's officers arest him. Viola knows she has been mistaken for Sebastian and is happy her brother is alive. Now if she had any element of human decency, she would have indicated herself as a servant of the duke and protested Antonio's arrest. Or if this failed, any decent person would have followed Antonio to the Duke and tried to get Antonio released. Toby, Fabian, and Andrew all have a point when they rebuke her. I am not saying a hero or heroine can't have faults, but this extreme fault was sickening. Moving on, we have some "Comedy of Errors" nostalgia. Olivia mistakes Sebastian for Cesario, and of course there is no problem with this love. In the end scene, Viola and the Duke run into the captured Antonio. To be sure, Viola confesses he rescued her, BUT SHE STILL DOES NOT EVEN ASK THE DUKE TO RELEASE HIM. CERTAINLY, THE DUKE WOULD HAVE GRANTED THIS MERCY TO A MAN WHO HAD RESCUED SUCH A USEFUL SERVANT! The errors of the day are sorted out when Sebastian comes on the screen married to Olivia, and Viola is able to confess her love to Orsino who reciprocates. Shakespeare allows us to infer that Antonio will not be severely punished, and of course Malvolio comes in threatening to get revenge. Overall, it is a good play with intertwined plots, comedy, and enough tragic elemenets to make it plausible, but there are some flaws that prevent me from considering it one of Shakespeare's greatest comedies.

Maybe Shakespeare's Best Comedy.......2005-12-31

Last semester, I took a course on comedic drama in which the class read numerous classics of the genre. Twelfth Night was, in my opinion, pretty easily the best work that we read. While it's not necessarily Shakespeare's own best work, it is one of the true masterpieces of comedic literature, a work of surprising humor and depth.

The romantic plot is absurd, though of course, satisfying. In true comedic fashion, the play takes place is something of a fantasy world, with the laws of the world suspended. There is a chance for something divine to happen here, a chance for human masks to be torn away and for authentic connection to be made. Of course, something like that is what happens. Comedy (particularly that produced by the fool) pierces through the false barriers the people have build and allows for them to create for themselves a new life.

I think that's why I like the play so much. The farcical plot and the clever wordplay are delightful, but it's really that there is a subtle wisdom in this play that draws me irresistibly toward it. I think that you can read and reread Twelfth Night and always come away with a sense of something genuine.

True scapegoat which we should pay attention to.......2005-12-16

This comedy written by William Shakespeare has a connotation which has a wide range of meaning. Who is sacrificed through out the play misunderstood as a person who has a hypocrite personalities and unacceptable disposition among the characters of Twelfth Night. In superficial level, we as a reader easy to reach the conclusion that he is a man who should be penalized, and not only characters within the Twelfth Night mocking at him but also the readers show sardonic response behaviors toward this eccentric behaviors after reading the Olivia's letter which is counterfeit. Thus, we consider the punishment that Malvolio received was something justified and axiomatically accepted one. However, that sort of view is not rightful judgement. We should aware that people who planned this clandestine of fake letter to make fun of Malvolio are truly an undiscovered villain. There's a lesson implied on the play that we as a human being should always pay attention to minors who overwhelmed by an unjust and huge mainstream.

Good formula comedy, but not hilarious. Rich characters and plot........2005-12-06

The ending of the play is a foregone conclusion from the beginning, and there is never a question of where it's going, but then that is the aim of the New Comedy/Romantic Comedy genre. What makes the ending interesting is how the couples fall in love. Shakespeare's comedies are like a radio song, with formulaic verses, choruses and no real surprises. We don't come back for the last chord of a catchy song, but for the chorus and verses that makes us sing out loud. Shakespeare uses mistaken identity and disguise to mix up the characters, and the exposure at the end unties the knots in a believable manner. He unties the mess and then unites the characters again. The stress builds quickly as the twin siblings Sebastian and Viola cross paths, with each one foiling the other. Shakespeare manages to create New Comedy endings better than anyone else, but even so, the ending leaves the audience without any deep or self-reflective feelings about the characters.

"That you do think you are not what you are.".......2005-08-02

TWELFTH NIGHT is probably one of the most unthreatening and reader/audience-friendly Shakespearean plays in its accessibility. The plot of intrigue in the play, which amazingly affords a marked absence of powerful authority figures, draws on the conventions of popular inveighing comedy. In this whimsical plot, the calculating Sir Toby, who assumes a father figure to his cousin Lady Olivia, aims to dupe the foolish Sir Andrew out of his money. When the lady's steward Malvolio rebukes Sir Toby's rowdy drinking debauchery, his accomplice and eventual wife, Maria, takes over and makes the steward object of her gulling ingenuity. This neatly, dazzling interlocking of plot also contributes to the relaxing atmosphere on top of the usual Elizabethan theatrical embodiment of gender misconception and identity.

TWELFTH NIGHT on top of the festive spirit and dramatic forgery and facetious gulling is a search of human identity in all its strangeness and paradoxicality. It has gone beyond mistaken identity as traditionally understood in comedy to include disguise and gender misrecognition, a definitive phenomenon in which boy actors play women's parts. It addresses a subtler and yet precarious issue in the situation of identical twins teetering on the risk of being mistaken. Identical twins are automatically ripped off their uniqueness, the unmistakable self. The broad appeal of TWELFTH NIGHT as a good-humored play is sharpened by its comedy of mistaken identity between the long-lost twins Sabestian and Viola. Although they are of different sexes, other characters in the play cannot distinguish them from one another when Viola disguises as a young man. This is a significant message from the play: in addition to the concomitant non-recognition and loss of identity, a conditional identity exists only under particular conditions of place, time, and context. The peculiarity of such a disguise and the duration of which is an interesting paradox that concerns what Viola has to lose rather than to gain by ceasing to be the young man.

Folly permeates the language of TWELFTH NIGHT. The device used against Malvolio is nothing but one aspect of the play's satirical character. Folly reigns in the seat of wisdom (and maybe even the truth) in order to expose the foolishness of those who count themselves wise. And when the confusions of the masquerade bring home to all the truth, in sober daily life, we know neither our own identities nor the identities of our peers. The play sustains the idea that if the fool will become wise at the expense of persistent folly. The salient outcome is a play that is richly composed of deceptions: self-deception, delusion of love, alienation. And yet through all these confusions and carnival-like disguise clarification and self-knowledge are reached, just as a masquerade releases people from their everyday inhibitions and enable them to discover themselves.

TWELFTH NIGHT is not faultless despite its immediate accessibility and broad appeal. The unresolved tension that concerns the steward and numerous loose ends in the play constitute to the slight imperfections that are difficult to overlook.

The Random House Large Print Treasury of Best-loved Poems (Random House Large Print)

Average customer rating:

The Random House Large Print Treasury of Best-loved Poems (Random House Large Print)
Louis Phillips
Manufacturer: Random House Large Print
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Anthologies | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Poetry & Short Stories | Large Print | Formats | Books
ASIN: 0679429190
Release Date: 1993-11-09

Book Description

In this special edition of classic poetry. Random House brings you a collection of some of the world's most renowned and treasured poems. From the classic sonnets and odes of Shakespeare and Keats to the modem verses of Marianne Moore, this large print volume affords the reader an eclectic choice in both style and content. Some of the poems may resonate with memories, others will bring the joy of first-time reading. Whether humorous or profound, all the poems have found an audience of faithful admirers. Read them; savor them; enjoy the experience.

Average customer rating:

Best Loved Poems in Large Print

Manufacturer: G K Hall & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Anthologies | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Poetry & Short Stories | Large Print | Formats | Books
ASIN: 0816135754

Average customer rating:

In Print: Text and Type
Alex Brown
Manufacturer: Watson-Guptill Pubns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Desktop Publishing | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Publishing & Books | Reference | Subjects | Books

More Pricks Than Kicks (Large Print Masterworks)

Average customer rating:

a new divine comedy
Beckett says: "Don't be a Belacqua"
Read "Yellow" also
another Dublin

More Pricks Than Kicks (Large Print Masterworks)
Samuel Beckett
Manufacturer: Guild Large Print Books (UK)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1852900156

Customer Reviews:

a new divine comedy.......2006-01-28

The short stories about Belacqua are the most beautiful stories Beckett had ever written. They are so picturesque that you can feel the atmosphere with him. The short stories are about love, drinking and poetry. In Dante and the Lobster, Belacqua tries to roast a toast to a specific point. It takes all his energy to make the preparations for this ritual. In Fingal, Belacqua takes his girlfriend Winnie out for a ride to Poltrane. In the end he missed her and rode the way back with a stolen bike. In a wet night he walks in the rain to Alba. On his way to her, he gets controlled by an officer. In the control he pukes all over the shoes of the officer and tries to clean the shoes with a newspaper. In this moment you are all by yourself and laugh out loud. You can't hide your joy of this lyrical depiction. The connection between the ten short stories is the life of Belacqua. He dies in one of the later stories by chance in a hospital. It is so funny because in an earlier story he hasn't got the strength to kill himself and Ruby.
As you see, Belacqua needs a lot of girlfriends in the short stories. He fills it with black humour and it is a joy to read.

Beckett says: "Don't be a Belacqua".......2000-07-04

Though some people may be frustrated by "More Pricks than Kicks'" discontinuity of time and seeming discontinuity of plot, they mistake their own reaction. "MPTK" is a stark but strikingly beautiful collection of short stories unified by the main character's striking personality. That character is Belacqua Shuah, Samuel Beckett's Dubliner anti-hero; he, auto-biographically, has many elements in common with the author, which makes the book read somewhat like a honest and creative confessional.

Sometimes humorous, somtimes shockingly pessimistic, the short story format works surprisingly well, often allowing for especially clever closing images or phrases. The short story format also makes reading Beckett, rarely an easy task, a touch more accessable.

But through it all, Beckett, the master of the declarative sentence, constantly condemns his main character; Belacqua cannot find it within himself to shed a tear when one of his three wives dies, nor does he buy his new wife a new ring, recycling his old wife's ring (inscripted with her name and all) for his supposed new love. This incorrigible bumbler is intellectual to a fault, and dies friendless and unmourned. So all in all, read about Belacqua, but don't be him.

Read "Yellow" also.......1998-04-22

"Yellow" is worth serious attention as well as "Dante and the Lobster".

another Dublin.......1997-11-04

By turns alright and horrid, this collection/novel is not the thing for you if Beckett's later novels (_Malloy_,_Malone_ _Dies_,_The_ _Unnamable_) or plays (_Godot_, _Endgame_) have attracted you to the area. More Pricks Than Kicks is the work of a young man, and one who is visibly struggling to get out from under a perturbing combination of Joycean influence and inedibly rich bombast (making this, to some palates, a game of spot the difference). *Dante and the Lobster* is a worthwhile read and comprises the vague first layer of the palimpsest that grew steadily sparser and attractive over the course of his career. *A Wet Night*, however, is simply horrid. Buckets of obsfucation poured through a fine seive of humor; little gets through. Leave the muck.

(why rated then an 8? the worst of Beckett is still better than so much else...)

Book Description

An international team of scholars offers: • modernised, easily accessible texts • ample but unobtrusive academic guidance • attention to the theatrical qualities of each play and its stage history • informative illustations, including reconstructions of early performances

Customer Reviews:

Arden Shakespeare "Othello".......2007-09-28

As mentioned on my review of the Norton Critical Edition of "Othello," I purchased the two versions together so I could put together an online version of the play for a project my professor has been working on for some time now. Personally, I like this version better than the Norton one because it keeps the British spellings, but for the purpose of the project the spellings are being made into the American spelling. Overall, it's a good edition and, as with the Norton edition, came at the suggestion of my professor.

Great guide to one of Shakespeare's best tragedies.......2007-06-16

I have never intently read Shakespeare before, but enough people told me that I needed to read "Othello" that I decided to break down and buy a copy. Everything about Shakespeare I find intimidating, so with much trepidation did I buy this critical edition of "Othello". Needless to say, this work is AMAZING. Not only does Dr. Honigmann give notes along the way to help the reader interpret what the characters are saying, but he also provides an extensive introduction outlining Shakespeare's sources, some possible motives, and some character criticism. He also provides one of Shakespeare's main sources, a short story written by Giraldi Cinthio, and in this short story he provides notes that link it directly to the text of "Othello". I am completely sold on "The Arden Shakespeare" series, and will continue to use it in the future. A definite buy!

helpful.......2007-01-15

I have my degree in English... I like reading and teaching with this version as "help" not as a substitution. It gives a clearer understanding to Shakespeare for people who have difficulty with it.

WONDERFUL!.......2006-04-22

Though I am not a particular fan of Shakespearian work, I instantly fell in love wioth Othello. This play is one of the greatest things ever written. Never has a playwright combined love, extreme decpeption, jealousy, anger, and fear in a play like Shakespeare has in Othello.

Even if you are not a fan of Shakespeare, I highlky recommend this play.

If you do not wish to read the play then I would recommend going out and renting or buying the movie "O" with Josh Hartnet, Julia Stiles, and Mikih Phifer. I would rent/but the 2 disc version because the second disc includes the original silent version of "Othello" from the 1920s.

An excellent edition of one of Shakespeare's best tragedies........2004-07-20

"Othello" is one of Shakespeare's most popular tragedies, and since most people, even those who have not read or seen the play before, probably already have a basic idea of the plot, I will keep my synopsis short. The military general Othello is a Moor, a black man, who has just married a Venetian woman, Desdemona. Theirs is a marriage of opposites in many respects - race, age, upbringing, etc. - and yet they have overcome all this and are happy with each other. But Iago, perhaps Shakespeare's most infamous villain, is determined to ruin Othello, who has promoted another man, Cassio, to the lieutenancy, a position Iago feels should have been given to himself. He therefore sets about poisoning Othello's mind against his chaste and loving wife, convincing the Moor that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him with Cassio. The events that follow lay out one of the most masterful and heartbreaking examples of dramatic irony.

While I am not usually one to go in for tragedies, I do thoroughly enjoy this particular play. The story is expertly woven, with each twist in the plot simultaneously wrenching the reader's / viewer's heart. We know exactly what is going on, even though the characters do not, and this is what makes "Othello" such a very tragic story. And yet, in the end we are left with a sense of resolution and justice, not merely empty sorrow, and perhaps this is what appeals to me about this play.

Nevertheless, I do not think the play is perfect (though my 4-star rating here is in comparison with Shakespeare's other works, and not drama in general; against most other drama I would award it a 5-star rating). While I do think Iago is a brilliant character, I cannot help thinking that his hatred for Othello seems rather disproportionate to the wrongs he thinks have been done against him. He is upset over not being given the lieutenancy, but is this reason enough to bring about so many deaths? There is also the fact that Iago suspects his own wife, Emilia, has been unfaithful with the Moor, but Iago has no actual proof of this. However, this disproportionality is one I am willing to overlook for the sake of enjoyment of the play. What bothers me slightly more is that Othello, presumeably a very intelligent man, would allow a mere suspicion to grow into such an intense state of jealousy when he has no definite proof of his wife's infidelity. One would think he would do some investigation for himself, rather than being content to have Iago feed him all the "facts."

I now wish to comment on the particular edition of this play that I read - the 1993 "New Folger Library" printing, edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. I have read several of of the Folger versions of Shakespeare's plays, and have found them unbeatable as far as making Shakespeare's works accessible to the layman. The book is laid out with the text of the play appearing on the right-hand page of each two-page spread, while the left-hand page contains textual notes that are of tremendous help in understanding the play. Words and phrases that have become obsolete since Shakespeare's day are defined clearly, and any allusions that would not be obvious to a modern reader are also explained. The fact that one can access these notes without having to flip back and forth through the pages makes it much easier to maintain one's place and train of thought.

Another thing I like about this particular edition is that it contains the entire play. Two versions of "Othello" were published in Shakespere's day - a Quarto, which was a small and slightly condensed version, appeared in 1622, and the longer Folio version was published in 1623. Each version is slightly different, containing bits and pieces not present in the other. This printing of the play contains the entirety of both versions combined into one, with brackets around those words that appear in only one or the other of the original printings.

Book Description

Explore type and how it has evolved from the traditional typesetting function to being managed on the desktop in today s world of publishing. This valuable book provides essential information on today s type standards of Truetype and PostScript, how to correctly use and manage fonts, and what to expect from the printed document.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Charnwood Library Series)

Average customer rating:

The Archetype of Later Romantic Comedies
An Interesting Stepping Stone
One of my favorite plays.
Worth the time and money
What's wrong with this picture?

The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Charnwood Library Series)
William Shakespeare
Manufacturer: Ulverscroft Large Print
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0708945171

Book Description

If there ever has been a groundbreaking edition that likewise returns the reader to the original Shakespeare text, it will be the Applause Folio Texts. If there has ever been an accessible version of the Folio, it is this edition, set for the first time in modern fonts. The Folio is the source of all other editions. The Folio text forces us to re-examine the assumptions and prejudices which have encumbered over four hundred years of scholarship and performance. Notes refer the reader to subsequent editorial interventions, and offer the reader a multiplicity of interpretations. Notes also advise the reader on variations between Folios and Quartos. The heavy mascara of four centuries of Shakespearean glossing has by now glossed over the original countenance of Shakespeare's work. Never has there been a Folio available in modern reading fonts. While other complete Folio editions continue to trade simply on the facsimile appearance of the Elizabethan "look," none of them is easily and practically utilized in general Shakespeare studies or performances.

Download Description

Sparklesoup brings you Shakespeare's classics. This version is printable so you can mark up your script and easy-to-download with links to interesting facts and sites.

Customer Reviews:

The Archetype of Later Romantic Comedies.......2001-10-17

Although few would claim that Two Gentlemen of Verona is one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, it is well worth reading in order to serve as a reference for the best of his romantic comedies. In essence, Two Gentlemen of Verona gives you a measuring stick to see the brilliance in the best works.

The play has the first of Shakespeare's many brave, resourceful and cross-dressing heroines, Julia.

Shakespeare always used his fools and clowns well to make serious statements about life and love, and to expose the folly of the nobles. Two Gentlemen of Verona has two very fine comic scenes featuring Launce. In one, he lists the qualities of a milk maid he has fallen in love with and helps us to see that love is blind and relative. In another, he describes the difficulties he has delivering a pet dog to Silvia on his master, Proteus', behalf in a way that will keep you merry on many a cold winter's evening.

The story also has one of the fastest plot resolutions you will ever find in a play. Blink, and the play is over. This nifty sleight of hand is Shakespeare's way of showing that when you get noble emotions and character flowing together, things go smoothly and naturally.

The overall theme of the play develops around the relative conflicts that lust, love, friendship, and forgiveness can create and overcome. Proteus is a man who seems literally crazed by his attraction to Silvia so that he loses all of his finer qualities. Yet even he can be redeemed, after almost doing a most foul act. The play is very optimistic in that way.

I particularly enjoy the plot device of having Proteus and Julia (pretending to be a page) playing in the roles of false suitors for others to serve their own interests. Fans of Othello will enjoy these foreshadowings of Iago.

The words themselves can be a bit bare at times, requiring good direction and acting to bring out the full conflict and story. For that reason, I strongly urge you to see the play performed first. If that is not possible, do listen to an audio recording as you read along. That will help round out the full atmosphere that Shakespeare was developing here.

After you finish Two Gentlemen of Verona, think about where you would honor friendship above love, where equal to love, and where below love. Is friendship less important than love? Or is friendship merely less intense? Can you experience both with the same person?

Enjoy close ties of mutual commitment . . . with all those you feel close to!

An Interesting Stepping Stone.......2000-04-03

Many people would like to say that Shakespeare did not write this play. But this is hardly fair. Even with the world's finest writers such as Marlowe and Dickens, not every single thing they write can be a masterpiece. But what makes "The Two Gentleman of Verona" worth reading? Well, Shakespeare presents us with a valid theme. (Conflicts often exist between romance and friendship.) There is also beautiful language. Launce and his dog offer some interesting comedy as well as a beautiful and memorable passage in 2.3. The scene where Valentine is accepted amonst the outlaws is memorable. This is Shakespeare's first play where a woman (Julia) disuises herself as man to do some investigating. It is also easy to see that several elements of this play were used in "Romeo and Juliet." To be sure, this is not a masterpiece like "The Comedy of Errors," "Richard III," or "King Lear." But it is still an good study that is worth some interest.

One of my favorite plays........2000-01-03

"The Two Gentlemen of Verona" is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. Maybe that's because it's one of the only one's I understand. My youth Theatre did a wonderful production of this play. I was not in it, but I saw it twice. It was set in the 60's, peasant-shirted and bell-bottomed. I think it's a wonderful story, although a bit unrealistic because of all the forgiveness that happens at the end of the play. But I think that it's a play everyone should read. This edition of the play is, I think, a very good one. If you are planning to buy a copy of "The Two Gentlemen of Verona," I would advise you to buy the most current edidtion printed by the Folger Shakespeare Library. They have lots of information in the book, and many definitions of the more difficult Elizabethian words.

Worth the time and money.......1999-03-22

It is true that this work is not among Shakespeare's greatest by any stretch of the imagination. This entire play reflects the immaturity of a young William Shakespeare. What makes the play so interesting however, are the themes that are explored within the play. He compares the love between a man and a woman with the friendship between two people to see which is more powerful. In addition, Shakespeare uses three fools (or rather two fools and a clown) to enhance the comedic elements of the play. While the plot may not be entirely believeable or even politically correct in today's society, when taken in context, this play is still worth the time and money.

What's wrong with this picture?.......1997-08-21

I just have to note that I think this is Shakespeare's worst play. It has an aweful ending , and I don't think this should even be performed. Yet it somehow manages to make it on stage all the time and audiences still seem to want to see a girl forgive her lover after WATCHING him rape someone else on stage! Still, if that's the kind of thing you look for in a comedy... My opinion: if you want a play with some nice healthy cross-dressing, go buy As You Like It. Thank yo

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books