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2) Coriolanus
6) Macbeth
Sinister supernatural forces are at work in this fast-paced tragedy of guilt and retribution, in which the power of human beings to control their own destiny is called into question.
The brave warrior Macbeth allows himself to be persuaded by Lady Macbeth, his wife, to slay good King Duncan and seize the throne of Scotland for himself. Macbeth achieves his ambition, but one murder proves not to be enough as he desperately attempts to eliminate
...In Shakespeare's most controversial play, the opposing values of justice and mercy must be resolved. Antonio promises money to help his friend Bassanio woo Portia. He borrows the sum needed from the cruel Shylock, but there will be a dreadful penalty if the loan is not repaid.
The golden world of Portia's Belmont calls forth some of Shakespeare's most lyrical love poetry. But the dark shadow of Shylock is never far from the heart of this
...Love and wit conquer all in Shakespeare's sparkling comedy of self-delusion and disguise.
Padua holds many suitors for the hand of fair Bianca, but Bianca may not be married until her spinster sister, Kate, is wed. Could any man be rash enough to take on Kate?
The witty adventurer Petruchio undertakes the task. While he sets about transforming Kate from foul-tempered termagant to loving wife, young Lucentio and his clever servant,
...King Leontes of Sicilia is seized by sudden and terrible jealousy of his wife Hermione, whom he accuses of adultery. He believes the child Hermione is bearing was fathered by his friend Polixenes, and when the baby girl is born he orders her to be taken to some wild place and left to die. Though Hermione's child escapes death, Leontes' cruelty has terrible consequences. Loss paves the way for reunion, and life and hope are born out of desolation
...10) Henry VI, Part 2
Rife with intrigue and treachery, this history play depicts the onset of the fifteenth-century Wars of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York.
Young King Henry VI has married the beautiful Margaret of Anjou but the new queen is ruthless and ambitious. Supported by the powerful Duke of Suffolk, Margaret plots the overthrow of her enemies, chief among them the Duke of Gloucester. But the Duke of York also aspires to the crown, and
...11) King John
King John of England is pitted against the united powers of France, Brittany, Austria, and the papacy. Will England be destroyed by his fatal indecision?
As alliances are made, broken, and remade, the paranoid and erratic John reveals his weakness and reliance on those around him—including his powerful mother Queen Elinor and Faulconbridge, the cynical and witty bastard son of the dead King Richard I.
In this early history play,
...12) Henry IV, Part 2
Prince Hal parts from his past to fulfill his royal destiny in this essential conclusion to Henry IV, Part 1.
Rebellion still simmers in England and King Henry's health is failing. Prince Hal has proved his courage but the king still fears that his son's pleasure-loving nature will bring the realm to ruin. Meanwhile, Falstaff and his ribald companions waste the nights in revelry, anticipating the moment when Hal will ascend the throne.
...13) Titus Andronicus
The noble Titus returns victorious to Rome bringing Tamora, Queen of the Goths as his captive. When one of Tamora's sons is condemned to die, she vows revenge, and, aided by the villainous Aaron, she exacts a terrible retribution, inaugurating a grim cycle of rape, murder, and cannibalism. This macabre, often brilliant tragedy comes from the earliest stage of Shakespeare's dramatic career.
Titus is played by David Troughton and Tamora by
...14) Henry VI, Part 1
The all-conquering King Henry V is dead and the throne is occupied by his infant son, Henry VI. The good Duke Humphrey of Gloucester has been appointed protector, but a struggle for power soon develops between the young king's Lancastrian relatives and the powerful house of York under Richard Plantagenet. Meanwhile the French, led by Joan of Arc, the maid of Orleans, threaten to win back the territories lost to Henry V.
15) Henry VIII
King Henry is married to Katherine of Aragon, but he has been smitten by the charms of the queen's maid of honor, Anne Bullen, and is tempted to divorce his dignified and noble wife.
Meanwhile, the lords of England resent the influence of Henry's trusted advisor, Cardinal Wolsey, who is gradually drawing power into his own hands. As Katherine and Wolsey suffer their tragic falls, new figures rise to fill their places, but they, too, will
...16) Henry VI, Part 3
The monstrous power of one of Shakespeare's most memorable characters, Richard Plantagenet, emerges in Henry VI, Part 3, a portent of things to come.
The Yorkists have been temporarily victorious and the Duke of York has assumed the throne, but the Lancastrians, led by Queen Margaret, counter-attack. As the fortunes of war shift, both the innocent and the guilty are swept up in the maelstrom. And increasingly dominant amid the chaos
...17) Richard II
Shakespeare's finest verse play is also his first portrait of the psychology of power.
The sensitive and poetic Richard II is undoubtedly the rightful king of England but he is unscrupulous and weak. When his cousin Henry Bolingbroke returns from banishment and mounts a challenge to his authority, Richard's right to the throne proves of little help to him. Richard is forced to abdicate, but as his power is stripped away, he gains dignity
...Palamon and Arcite, cousins and bosom friends, are taken prisoner by Duke Theseus of Athens. While in captivity, they spy the beautiful Emilia. Both fall instantly in love with her, and their attachment to each other turns to hate.
This dark-edged tragicomedy is now widely regarded as having been written by Shakespeare in collaboration with John Fletcher. Composed sometime in 1613–14, The Two Noble Kinsmen is the final play
...20) Hamlet
ACT IScene 1. The ghost of Old Hamlet, King of Denmark, has appeared to officers guarding the castle of Elsinore. When the apparition is witnessed by Horatio, friend of the Dead King's son, he fears that it portends ill. He decides to tell young Hamlet, hoping that the ghost might reveal to him the cause of its restlessness.Scene 2. The dead king's brother, Claudius, has assumed the crown and married the widowed Queen Gertrude. He dispatches emissaries
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