Although one of his lesser known plays, Shakespeare's considerable abilities as a playwright are readily apparent in «Troilus and Cressida.» This historical, tragic 'problem play,' thought to be inspired by Chaucer, Homer, and some of Shakespeare's history-recording contemporaries, is initially a tale of a man and woman in love during the Trojan War. When Cressida is given to the Greeks in exchange for a prisoner of war, Troi ...
The second play in Shakespeare's 'First Tetralogy,' this work continues the fictionalized account of King Henry VI's reign. It commences with the marriage of Henry VI with the French noblewoman Margaret of Anjou, whose influence in court is challenged by Duke Humphrey, the King's Protector. There is a large amount of aristocratic subversion in this play, in which the good Duke Humphrey is fatally ensnared. Richard, the D ...
One of the lesser known plays of the Greek tragedian Sophocles, «Electra» tells the tale of a young daughter's revenge for her father's death. Electra is one of the daughters of Agamemnon, the leader of the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was killed by his wife's lover, and Electra wishes to avenge Agamemnon with the help of her twin brother Orestes. When she receives word that he is dead, Electra laments and fears she will not b ...
Euripides (480 BC-406 BC) is revered as one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, and produced the largest body of extant work by any ancient playwright. He is considered to be the most modern of the three, and his works laid the foundation for Western theatre. His writing sticks out from that of his contemporaries because of his colloquial vocabulary, meter and syntax, distinct from the grandiose ...
Euripides turned to playwriting at a young age, achieving his first victory in the dramatic competitions of the Athenian City Dionysia in 441 b.c.e. He would be awarded this honor three more times in his life, and once more posthumously. His plays are often ironic, pessimistic, and display radical rejection of classical decorum and rules. Together with Aeschylus and Sophocles, Euripides would provide the canon of Greek tragedy and thereby lay th ...
William Shakespeare's «Two Gentleman of Verona» is one of the playwright's classic romantic plays. It is the story of two gentlemen from Verona, Valentine and Proteus and their competition for the love of two different women, Julia and Silvia. «Two Gentleman of Verona» is a light-hearted drama with a happy ending. ...
"The Taming of the Shrew" is one Shakespeare's finest comedic efforts. It is the tale of Lucentio who is in love with Bianca, unfortunately Bianca already has two other suitors and her father will not let her marry until her older ill-tempered sister, Katherine, is married. The second problem is remedied when Petruchio comes to town in search of a wife. Only interested in her money, Petruchio marries Katherine and returns with her to h ...
"The Sonnets" of William Shakespeare are a collection of 154 loosely connected 14 line poems. Considered by many to be among some of the greatest love poetry ever written much debate surrounds the context of the poetry. It has been suggested that the work may be semi-autobiographical but no real evidence firmly supports this notion. Regardless of their context, «The Sonnets» can be appreciated individually or as a whole as examples of Willi ...
During her career popular children's writer Edith Nesbit collaborated on over sixty books of fiction for children. In «The Children's Shakespeare» she turns her attention to a series of interpretations of William Shakespeare's works. These retellings of Shakespeare's plays are written in a way that can be easily understood by and entertaining to young readers. «Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare» includes retellings of the fo ...
