This Is Shakespeare
By: Emma Smith
4.25
Format: 368 pages, Hardcover
An electrifying new study that investigates the challenges of the Bard's inconsistencies and flaws,…
Want to Read $ 13.99"Shakespeare is complex, like living, not technically and crackably difficult, like crosswords or changing the time on the cooker"-Emma Smith, This Is Shakespeare
"The Comedy of Errors has been consistently under-appreciated, I’d argue, in part because we don’t know how to appreciate plot. Contemporary culture, the study and performance of Shakespeare, and our own intrinsic narcissism tend to encourage the view that character is destiny. Errors challenges this humanistic view of the world by emphasizing, in ways that anticipate the experience of modernity, the alienation of a mechanical universe. Think Charlie Chaplin on the accelerating assembly line in Modern Times (1936), and you have something of the comic terror captured in The Comedy of Errors."-Emma Smith, This Is Shakespeare
"Even though – perhaps because – we are in no doubt about his ruthless self-interest, Richard establishes an immediate alliance from the outset. This intimacy with the audience will be carefully managed through a stream of asides and sardonic remarks, where only we know his true meaning, keeping us from forming any real attachment to any other character. The very title of the play seems to have succumbed to his charms and to endorse his ambitions. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, doesn’t actually become King Richard III until Act 4, but his play has no doubt he will get there: from the opening he is the king-in-waiting."-Emma Smith, This Is Shakespeare
"You may recall – perhaps you’ve experienced this in the theatre – the bewilderingly oblique way Shakespeare tends to begin his plays, via marginal characters whom we struggle to place as they recount or anticipate some major narrative event in a conversation that begins in the middle, leaving us flailing (beginning Shakespeare’s plays at their beginning is not always the easiest place to start). Not so in Richard III. The opening stage direction in the first printed edition is ‘Enter Richard, Duke of Gloucester, solus’ – meaning alone – making it absolutely clear that not only does he open the play, he does so, uniquely, in soliloquy. He begins, that’s to say, by addressing the audience. From the outset, we are his creatures."-Emma Smith, This Is Shakespeare
If you liked the audiobook plot in This Is Shakespeare by Emma Smith , here is a list of 6 books like this:
1. Antony and Cleopatra
By: William Shakespeare , Barbara A. Mowat , Paul Werstine , Cynthia Marshall
3.71
Format: 336 pages, Paperback
A romantic tragedy about the relationship between Mark Antony and the Queen of Egypt, including not… read more
Want to Read $ 5.99Similar categories in William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra book and Emma Smith's This Is Shakespeare
- literature
- theatre
- classics
- plays
"Melt Egypt into Nile!"-William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra
"Make death proud to take us."-William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra
"...make death proud to take us."-William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra
"Thou are the armourer of my heart—"-William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra
2. A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599
By: James Shapiro
4.08
Format: 333 pages, Paperback
1599 was an epochal year for Shakespeare and England Shakespeare wrote four of his most famous pl… read more
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- history
- literature
- theatre
- nonfiction
- literary criticism
3. Shakespeare: The World as Stage
By: Bill Bryson
3.81
Format: 199 pages, Paperback
At first glance, Bill Bryson seems an odd choice to write this addition to the Eminent Lives series… read more
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- history
- literature
- theatre
- nonfiction
- audiobook
"Even Scientific American entered the fray with an article proposing that the person portrayed in the famous Martin Droeshout engraving might actually be--I weep to say it--Elizabeth I."-Bill Bryson, Shakespeare: The World as Stage
"So it needs to be said that nearly all of the anti-Shakespeare sentiment—actually all of it, every bit—involves manipulative scholarship or sweeping misstatements of fact. Shakespeare “never owned a …"-Bill Bryson, Shakespeare: The World as Stage
"(...)we all recognize a likeness of Shakespeare the instant we see one, and yet we don’t really know what he looked like. It is like this with nearly every aspect of his life and character: He is at …"-Bill Bryson, Shakespeare: The World as Stage
"A third...candidate for Shakespearean authorship was Christopher Marlowe. He was the right age (just two months older than Shakespeare), had the requisite talent, and would certainly have had ample l…"-Bill Bryson, Shakespeare: The World as Stage
4. The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606
By: James Shapiro
4.06
Format: 367 pages, Hardcover
Preeminent Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro shows how the tumultuous events in England in 1606 aff… read more
Want to Read $ 14.99Similar categories in James Shapiro's The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606 book and Emma Smith's This Is Shakespeare
- history
- literature
- theatre
- nonfiction
- plays
- literary criticism
5. Troilus and Cressida
By: William Shakespeare , Louis B. Wright , Virginia A. LaMar
3.75
Format: 320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
The Arden Shakespeare is the established scholarly edition of Shakespeare's plays. Now in its third… read more
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- literature
- theatre
- classics
- plays
6. Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?
By: James Shapiro
3.80
Format: None pages,
For more than two hundred years after William Shakespeare's death, no one doubted that he had writt… read more
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- history
- literature
- theatre
- nonfiction
- literary criticism
7. Love's Labour's Lost
By: William Shakespeare , Henry R. Woudhuysen
4.82
Format: 224 pages, Paperback
To begin the introduction, the editor discusses the link between Love's Labour's Lostand the writin… read more
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- literature
- theatre
- classics
- plays
8. King Lear
By: William Shakespeare , William James Rolfe
3.91
Format: 338 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Shakespeare’s King Lear challenges us with the magnitude, intensity, and sheer duration of the pain… read more
Want to Read $ 3.99Similar categories in William Shakespeare's King Lear book and Emma Smith's This Is Shakespeare
- literature
- theatre
- classics
- plays
"Fortune love you."-William Shakespeare, King Lear
"She is herself a dowry."-William Shakespeare, King Lear
"All dark and comfortless."-William Shakespeare, King Lear
"Nothing can come of nothing."-William Shakespeare, King Lear
9. The Two Gentlemen of Verona
By: William Shakespeare , Barbara A. Mowat , Paul Werstine
4.10
Format: None pages, Paperback
The world's leading center for Shakespeare studies Each edition includes: * printed version of the … read more
Want to ReadSimilar categories in William Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona book and Emma Smith's This Is Shakespeare
- literature
- theatre
- classics
- plays
10. Coriolanus
By: William Shakespeare , Roma Gill
3.30
Format: 215 pages, Paperback
Shakespeare's last tragedy explores the career and death of a brilliant and arrogant Roman general.… read more
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- literature
- theatre
- classics
- plays
11. Women of Will: Following the Feminine in Shakespeare's Plays
By: Tina Packer
3.78
Format: 377 pages, Hardcover
From one of the country's foremost experts on Shakespeare and theatre arts, actor, director, and ma… read more
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- history
- theatre
- nonfiction
- plays
- literary criticism
12. Richard III
By: William Shakespeare , John Jowett
3.37
Format: 120 pages, Paperback
Richard III is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays on the stage and has been adapted successful… read more
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- theatre
- classics
- plays
13. Pericles
By: William Shakespeare , Barbara A. Mowat , Paul Werstine
3.95
Format: 288 pages, Paperback
Folger Shakespeare Library: the world's leading center for Shakespeare studies. Each edition includ… read more
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- literature
- theatre
- classics
- plays
14. Henry V
By: William Shakespeare , Barbara A. Mowat , Paul Werstine
4.00
Format: 126 pages, Paperback
Henry Vis Shakespeare's most famous "war play"; it includes the storied English victory over the Fr… read more
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- literature
- classics
- plays
15. Cymbeline
By: William Shakespeare , Harold Bloom , Gabriele Baldini
3.50
Format: 142 pages, Paperback
Cymbeline also known as Cymbeline, King of Britain or The Tragedy of Cymbeline, is a play by Willia… read more
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- literature
- theatre
- classics
- plays
16. King Henry VI, Part 3
By: William Shakespeare , Eric Rasmussen , John D. Cox
4.11
Format: 500 pages, Paperback
In their lively and engaging edition of this sometimes neglected early play, Cox and Rasmussen make… read more
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17. The Merchant of Venice
By: William Shakespeare , Barbara A. Mowat , Paul Werstine , None
3.78
Format: 247 pages, Mass Market Paperback
In this lively comedy of love and money in sixteenth-century Venice, Bassanio wants to impress the … read more
Want to Read $ 3.75Similar categories in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice book and Emma Smith's This Is Shakespeare
- literature
- theatre
- classics
- plays
"He will fence with his own shadow."-William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
"You speak an infinite deal of nothing."-William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
"The fiend gives the more friendly counsel."-William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
"i buy a thousand pound a year! i buy a rope!"-William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
18. Much Ado About Nothing
By: William Shakespeare , Barbara A. Mowat , Paul Werstine , Gail Kern Paster , None
3.92
Format: None pages, Mass Market Paperback
The action is set in Sicily, where Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon, has recently defeated his half-brot… read more
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19. The Winter's Tale
By: William Shakespeare
4.75
Format: 14 pages, Paperback
The New Cambridge Shakespeare appeals to students worldwide for its up-to-date scholarship and emph… read more
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20. King Henry IV, Part 1 (Wars of the Roses, #2)
By: William Shakespeare , David Scott Kastan
3.87
Format: None pages, Paperback
David Scott Kastan lucidly explores the remarkable richness and the ambitious design of King Henry … read more
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21. King John
By: William Shakespeare , Paul Werstine
4.21
Format: None pages, Paperback
King John, a history play by William Shakespeare, dramatises the reign of John, King of England (ru… read more
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22. Richard II
By: William Shakespeare , Roma Gill , None
3.91
Format: 385 pages, Paperback
Richard II is one of Shakespeare's finest works: lucid, eloquent, and boldly structured. It can be … read more
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23. Measure for Measure
By: William Shakespeare , Barbara A. Mowat , Paul Werstine
4.38
Format: 83 pages, Paperback
Measure for Measureis among the most passionately discussed of Shakespeare's plays. In it, a duke t… read more
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24. Titus Andronicus
By: William Shakespeare
3.68
Format: 268 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Titus Andronicus is one of Shakespeare's earliest and bloodiest tragedies and was hugely successful… read more
Want to Read $ 6.99Similar categories in William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus book and Emma Smith's This Is Shakespeare
- literature
- theatre
- classics
- plays
"Hark, villains! I will grind your bones to dust. (Act V, Scene 2, 2503)"-William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus
"Sorrow concealèd, like an oven stopped, Doth burn the heart to cinders where it is."-William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus
"Villain, what hast thou done? Aaron: That which thou canst not undo. Chiron: Thou hast undone our mother. Aaron: Villain, I have done thy mother."-William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus
"Now is a time to storm; why art thou still? TITUS ANDRONICUS: Ha, ha, ha! MARCUS ANDRONICUS: Why dost thou laugh? it fits not with this hour. TITUS ANDRONICUS: Why, I have not another tear to shed:"-William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus
25. The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown
By: Anna Keay
4.39
Format: 496 pages, Hardcover
‘The execution of the king took place on a bleak, bitterly cold afternoon in January. As the execut… read more
Want to Read $ 15.99Similar categories in Anna Keay's The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown book and Emma Smith's This Is Shakespeare
- nonfiction
- history
- audiobook
"This book was born of ignorance."-Anna Keay, The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown
"... he was not one to let other people's feelings get in the way when he knew he was right."-Anna Keay, The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown
"He warned his pious daughter Bridget of the dangers of self-criticism and the overwhelming importance of love."-Anna Keay, The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown
"As in many parts of the country, people's desire for peace and prosperity was stronger than their loyalty to one regime or another."-Anna Keay, The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown
26. Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent
By: Judi Dench
4.56
Format: 400 pages, Hardcover
Discover the work of the greatest writer in the English language as you've never encountered it bef… read more
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- history
- theatre
- nonfiction
- plays
- audiobook
"There's magic to be mined in mistakes."-Judi Dench, Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent
"[Judi Dench, referring to departed colleagues] Where are all those people? Can't believe it. How can it happen? They were so alive and -- so present, so vital. That's why we have to love the now, hav…"-Judi Dench, Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent
27. This Is Shakespeare
By: Emma Smith
4.25
Format: 368 pages, Hardcover
An electrifying new study that investigates the challenges of the Bard's inconsistencies and flaws,… read more
Want to Read $ 13.99Similar categories in Emma Smith's This Is Shakespeare book and Emma Smith's This Is Shakespeare
- audiobook
- classics
- history
- literature
- theatre
- nonfiction
- criticism
- essays
- plays
- literary criticism
"Shakespeare is complex, like living, not technically and crackably difficult, like crosswords or changing the time on the cooker"-Emma Smith, This Is Shakespeare
"The Comedy of Errors has been consistently under-appreciated, I’d argue, in part because we don’t know how to appreciate plot. Contemporary culture, the study and performance of Shakespeare, and our …"-Emma Smith, This Is Shakespeare
"Even though – perhaps because – we are in no doubt about his ruthless self-interest, Richard establishes an immediate alliance from the outset. This intimacy with the audience will be carefully manag…"-Emma Smith, This Is Shakespeare
"You may recall – perhaps you’ve experienced this in the theatre – the bewilderingly oblique way Shakespeare tends to begin his plays, via marginal characters whom we struggle to place as they recount…"-Emma Smith, This Is Shakespeare
28. Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers
By: Emma Smith
3.80
Format: 352 pages, Hardcover
Most of what we say about books is really about the words inside the rosy nostalgic glow for child… read more
Want to Read $ 12.99Similar categories in Emma Smith's Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers book and Emma Smith's This Is Shakespeare
- history
- literature
- nonfiction
- essays
- audiobook
29. Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics
By: Stephen Greenblatt
4.11
Format: 224 pages, Paperback
"Brilliant, beautifully organized, exceedingly readable." ―Philip Roth World-renowned Shakespeare … read more
Want to Read $ 9.99Similar categories in Stephen Greenblatt's Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics book and Emma Smith's This Is Shakespeare
- history
- literature
- nonfiction
- criticism
- essays
- literary criticism
"He [Cade] promises to make England great again. How will he do that? He shows the crowd at once: he attacks education."-Stephen Greenblatt, Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics
"Shakespeare grappled again and again with a deeply unsettling question: how is it possible for a whole country to fall into the hands of a tyrant?"-Stephen Greenblatt, Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics
"...although the absurdity of the demagogue’s rhetoric was blatantly obvious, the laughter it elicited did not for a minute diminish its menace. Cade and his followers will not slink away because the …"-Stephen Greenblatt, Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics
"The absurdity of these campaign promises is not an impediment to their effectiveness. On the contrary: Cade keeps producing demonstrable falsehoods about his origins and making wild claims about the …"-Stephen Greenblatt, Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics
30. Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us about Our Past and Future
By: James Shapiro
4.10
Format: 286 pages, Hardcover
From leading scholar James Shapiro, a timely exploration of what Shakespeare's plays reveal about o… read more
Want to Read $ 11.99Similar categories in James Shapiro's Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us about Our Past and Future book and Emma Smith's This Is Shakespeare
- history
- literary criticism
- literature
- nonfiction
- audiobook
31. Death by Shakespeare: Snakebites, Stabbings and Broken Hearts
By: Kathryn Harkup
3.94
Format: 368 pages, Hardcover
An in-depth look at the science behind the creative methods Shakespeare used to kill off his charac… read more
Want to Read $ 9.99Similar categories in Kathryn Harkup's Death by Shakespeare: Snakebites, Stabbings and Broken Hearts book and Emma Smith's This Is Shakespeare
- literature
- nonfiction
- history
- plays
