These essays offer fresh ideas about Shakespeare. Everett argues that patterns in the major tragedies are drawn from the most common human experiences, and that Shakespeare used his great public settings to suggest myths of the personal life. The first essay "Growing," proposes a new reading that recovers an older forgotten view of the place of the young within the social order. Other essays exemplify a wide range of approaches to Shakespeare's tragic texts, including a reading of Romeo and Juliet that presents the Nurse as a key to Shakepeare's tragic conception, and an essay on the "inaction" of Troilus and Cressida that brings out the extraordinary originality of this unclassifiable play. In addition, the book provides ancillary studies of Hamlet and Othello, together with new approaches to the texts which show how these plays manifest their meanings, even in the smallest details of word and phrase.

The different versions of Hamlet constitute one of the most vexing puzzles in Shakespeare studies. In this groundbreaking work, Shakespeare scholar Terri Bourus argues that this puzzle can only be solved by drawing on multiple kinds of evidence and analysis, including book and theatre history, biography, performance studies, and close readings.

A prose retelling of William Shakespeare's play about two young people who fall in love despite their families' age-old feud. Includes background information, character summary, and commonly asked questions.

Twelve of the Bard's most famous plays, delightfully adapted for young readers: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear, As You Like It, and eight others.

The first edition of Hamlet – often called ‘Q1’, shorthand for ‘first quarto’ – was published in 1603, in what we might regard as the early modern equivalent of a cheap paperback. Yet this early version of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy is becoming increasingly canonical, not because there is universal agreement about what it is or what it means, but because more and more Shakespearians agree that it is worth arguing about. The essays in this collected volume explore the ways in which we might approach Q1’s Hamlet, from performance to book history, from Shakespeare’s relationships with his contemporaries to the shape of his whole career.

When a ghostly figure appears to Prince Hamlet, he discovers the dreadful truth about his father's death. His quest for revenge leads him into a world of mayhem, madness and murder. An exciting retelling of Shakespeare's classic play, specially written for children growing in reading confidence and ability. Includes links to recommended websites for children to find out more about Shakespeare and the play. "Crack reading and make confident and enthusiastic readers with this fantastic reading programme." - Julia Eccleshare

Passion, romance, drama, humor, and tragedy intertwine in this compulsively readable Hamlet retelling, from the perspective of a strong-willed, modern-day Ophelia. Meet Ophelia, high school senior, daughter of the Danish king's most trusted adviser, and longtime girlfriend of Prince Hamlet of Denmark. She lives a glamorous life and has a royal social circle, and her beautiful face is splashed across magazines and television screens. But it comes with a price--her life is ruled not only by Hamlet's fame and his overbearing royal family but also by the paparazzi who hound them wherever they go. After the sudden and suspicious death of his father, the king, the devastatingly handsome Hamlet spirals dangerously toward madness, and Ophelia finds herself torn, with no one to turn to. All Ophelia wants is to live a normal life. But when you date a prince, you have to play your part. Ophelia rides out this crazy roller coaster life, and lives to tell her story in live television interviews.

It's never too early to introduce children to the greatness that is Shakespeare's theatre. "Shakespeare with Children: Six Scripts for Young Players" is a collection of six scripts adapted and abridged for children between the ages of eight and thirteen; each can be executed in roughly forty minutes of stage time, while retaining the heart and soul of the stories as well as the bard's original poetic language. "Shakespeare with Children" is a must for any drama teacher looking to impart something special. Midwest Book Review - Literary Shelf, August 2008