Kategoria BISAC: Juvenile Nonfiction >> Drama

William Shakespeare's comedies--including A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice, and more--are funny, allusive, difficult, profound, and unforgettable, and have served as templates for other comedic works throughout the centuries. This invaluable new study guide contains a selection of the finest contemporary criticism of these classic plays.

William Shakespeare is defined by his tragedies. His unique ability to create a moral universe complete unto itself lends his characters not only their stamp of authenticity but their bid to eternity as well. New full-length critical essays take up the Bard's tragic dramas, offering new perspectives on the fated lives of King Lear, Hamlet, Macbeth, Antony, and Cleopatra, and the many other vibrantly flawed personages he introduced to the world stage. This new edition also contains a chronology, a bibliography, an index, and an introductory essay from Yale University's Harold Bloom.

Shakespeare's vibrant history plays, including Richard II; Richard III; Henry IV, Parts I and II; and Henry V; spring to life with all the drama of the feuds, rivalries, and epic battles on which they were based. Aware of the historical past and a keen observer of his own times, Shakespeare's true genius lies in the timeless universality he lends to the lives of these legendary royals and the schemers and dreamers who made up their worlds. This new edition of critical essays covering the Bard's history plays also includes a chronology, bibliography, index, and introductory essay by...

Julius Caesar is one of Shakespeare's most majestic works. Set in the tumultuous days of ancient Rome, the play is renowned for its memorable characters and political intrigue, which have been captivating audiences and readers since it was first presented more than 400 years ago. This new edition of critical essays examining the Bard's Julius Caesar features an introductory essay by esteemed scholar Harold Bloom, notes on the contributing writers, a bibliography, a chronology, and an index for quick reference.

Tennessee Williams is recognized as one of America's greatest dramatists and as an innovator of post-World War II theater. He looked for a mechanism for portraying the truth in theater at a time when traditional approaches no longer worked. Both in form as well as in subject matter, Williams confronted audiences with what had been taboo topics and underrepresented domestic and social realities. His notable contributions to literature include The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Coverage of Williams's major works and suggested essay topics will be...

Praise for the previous edition: ..".outstanding...This attractively formatted companion will be useful in academic, public, and high school libraries."--American Reference Books Annual

First performed in May 1611, The Winter's Tale is a play about reconciliation, atonement, and the healing effects of time. Leontes, a paranoid tyrant, suffers from his own rash behavior and jealous delusions. When his long-lost daughter returns and the statue of his dead wife magically comes back to life, order is restored, the family is reunited, and his atonement is complete. This volume in Bloom's Shakespeare Through the Ages set features criticism on The Winter's Tale from a variety of sources and centuries, making it an invaluable addition to any literature classroom.

In this romantic reconciliation comedy, the sweetly mischievous Helena plots and plans her way to winning the aloof Bertram's hand in marriage. While the lovers are united by the close of the final act, Shakespeare pokes fun at the fantasy, wish fulfillment, and conventions of romantic comedy with the play's ambiguous resolution, which has intrigued scholars, readers, and theatergoers for centuries. This invaluable new study guide to one of Shakespeare's greatest plays contains a selection of the finest criticism through the centuries, plus an introduction by Harold Bloom, an accessible...