Shakespeare Classics

Othello is principally a story of jealousy and its destructive power.

Othello is a courageous general in Venice and - unusually for Shakespeare - a Moor with a black complexion. Although aware that he is a jealous character, and even though he truly loves the fair Desdemona, he is willing to be persuaded by his clever and envious ensign, Iago, that she is being unfaithful to him. It is a true tragedy, which is clearly captured in this telling of the story.

This book contains the following works: Edgar Allan Poe: The Gold Bug, William Shakespeare: Romeo And Juliet, Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe: Faust, Mark Twain: Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Leo Tolstoy: The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Translator: Constance Garnett), Arthur Conan Doyle: The Lost World, Henry James: The Turn of the Screw, Antoine de Saint-Exupery: The Little Prince (Translator: Marina Zhigalova), Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray, Kate Chopin: The Awakening.

Petruchio arrives in Padua determined to gain his fortune by marrying the volatile Katherina. Their tempestuous meeting and marriage leads to a great love affair. This is perhaps the most famous play ever written about the battle of the sexes. (A full-cast production.)

Based on Robert Greene’s story Pandosto, The Winter’s Tale play tells the story of Leontes, king of Sicilia, and his childhood friend Polixenes, king of Bohemia. In a jealous rage, Leontes mistakenly accuses Polixenes and his own his wife, Hermione, of adultery, and her newborn daughter as illegitimate, casting her into the wilderness, causing their son to die of grief and Hermione to seemingly follow suit. With his family dead or believed dead, Leontes must face the tragic consequences of his actions.

King Ferdinand's plan to ban ladies from his court to focus on his studies seems like a great one—until the Princess of France and her friends arrive and he falls in love! Can Ferdinand and his friends break their own law?

Eight of Shakespeare's most celebrated plays have been specifically adapted to introduce young listeners to his works. Based on the work of E. Nesbit, these classic retellings capture the drama and flavor of each original play, while simplifying plot and detail.

Their battles of wits are legendary, but Benedick has sworn off women and Beatrice has vowed that she will never marry a man. It's a good job that they don't like each other then... or might they be persuaded with a little help from their friends?

This version of Hamlet is adapted into plain English for a younger audience, though the plot and themes of the play are unchanged. The play is adapted from Shakespeare's original by Laurie Riihimaki and performed by a full cast of voice actors with music and sound effects to amplify the mood of the performance.

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, encounters his father's ghost. When he learns that his uncle, now King and married to his mother, was responsible for the death of his royal father, he sets out to avenge the murder.

There is no finer way to welcome young people (or adults!) to the pleasures of Shakespeare than with these four masterful retellings of the Bard's most beloved plays. Ranging from the pure magic of A Midsummer Night's Dream to the heartbreak of young love in Romeo and Juliet, featuring the spine-tingling tragedy of Macbeth (complete with ghost and witches) and culminating in the laugh-out-loud hijinks of Twelfth Night.

Henry VIII, sometimes called All Is True, is a historical play written by William Shakespeare in the early 1600s, possibly in collaboration with John Fletcher. This is an abridged plain English version for a full-cast audio production by Charlie Creed.

Shakespeare's Sonnets, one of the most remarkable collections of poetry, was first published in 1609, 400 years ago by Mr Thomas Thorpe. Naxos AudioBooks marks the occasion with a selection of 80 of the finest, read by leading actors. The selection includes famous ones such as 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day' as well as lesser well-known sonnets though of equally fine stature.

Naxos AudioBooks presents the history of the Plantaganets as seen through the eyes of Shakespeare. These easy-to-understand introductions feature key speeches and scenes from the plays themselves, and are very accessible for children approaching Shakespeare for the first time, as well as being an invaluable aid to the history of the Plantaganets, from Richard II to Richard III. This set covers Richard II, Henry IV parts 1 and 2, Henry V, Henry VI parts 1, 2, and 3, and Richard III.

The focus of the book is on Shakespeare's London, how it influenced his drama, and how he represents it on stage. Taking listeners on an imaginative journey through the city, the book moves both chronologically, from beginning to end of Shakespeare's dramatic career, and geographically, traversing London from west to east.

Macbeth, a general of the army of Duncan, King of Scotland, rises through the ranks after victory over the rebel MacDonald. Inspired by three witches' prediction that he would become king, he and his wife murder Duncan, and he becomes King of Scotland himself. The heir, Malcolm, flees to England, where he is joined by Macduff, the loyal Thane of Fife.

Shakespeare's life, despite the scrutiny of generations of biographers and scholars, is still a thicket of myths and traditions, some preposterous, some conflicting, arranged around the few scant facts known about the Bard: from his birth in Stratford to the bequest of his second best bed to his wife when he died.

Shakespeare se tornou o dramaturgo mais conhecido de todos os tempos por várias razões: era genial com as palavras, entendia a alma humana como ninguém e falava de temas universais. No entanto, parte de sua popularidade se deve aos irmãos Charles e Mary Lamb, que, ao adaptarem vinte peças para o formato de conto, tornaram as histórias do autor inglês acessíveis a pessoas de diferentes idades e gêneros, em diversas partes do mundo. Publicados em 1807, os contos dos Lamb eram destinados apenas ao público infantojuvenil e jovens senhoras....

Power, tragedy and hubris are played out in this quartet, all of which are set in the febrile political atmosphere of ancient Rome. Performed by an incredible array of the 20th century’s greatest actors, Marlowe alumni including Ian McKellen, Prunella Scales, Patrick Wymark and William Devlin can be heard in these recordings.

One of the most important books on William Shakespeare, this superb biography is both authoritative and extremely readable. It is the first modern biography of Shakespeare since the Victorian Age to pay full attention to his life and times, to his works, and to the numerous and subtle connections among them.

The first volume of David Timson's series retelling of the stories from Shakespeare's plays was widely praised by newspaper and educators alike. Here is volume 2, with more key plays. Including Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, and Henry IV, all texts which regularly appear on the exam syllabus. As before, the stories are illustrated by numerous examples from the plays themselves. They are read by two leading Shakespearean actors, Juliet Stevenson and Alex Jennings.