Shakespeare A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Plays, His Poems, His Life and Times, and More

by Charles Boyce

Book Overview

What famous essayist insisted that Shakespeare's play were unfit for performance? Which two plays center on the Hundred Years' War? In which scene of Romeo and Juliet does the nurse... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816018057
• ISBN13: 9780816018055
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Facts on File
• Length: 742 Pages
• Weight: 3.91 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 8.8" x 11.2"

Customer Reviews

Life Savor!!

I'm just a student in high school, and not long ago was recieved the part as Lady Macbeth for our school play Macbeth. My drama teacher recommended this book to me to get an in depth analysis of my character and the rest of the play. I bought the book and I was totally blown away. The information packed in here is tremendous. In this book is everything you'll ever need to know about each play and every character, even if they don't have a speaking part. This book has also helped me with the other Shakespeare plays I read during school for Literature. It's a great study and reference. It's helped me understand so much about the characters and the play, I recommend this to anyone who reads Shakespeare for school or anything, this tells you things even your teacher wouldn't know. It's been truly a life savor, to me and the rest of my cast who couldn't understand what was going on or what their character was about.

The Shakespeare students' best friend!

I'm a Shakespeare major, and my shelves are bowing under the weight of all my Shakespeare books. SHAKESPEARE A TO Z is the book I reach for most often, whenever I've got questions about the plays.This book truly is the essential reference, but it is much more than a typical reference book. It's readable, interesting, and thorough. Inside, you'll find passages on every single one of Shakespeare's characters, no matter how minor; detailed analysis, as well as an act-by-act plot summary, on EVERY play; information on locations used in the plays, and MUCH more. Virtually every topic/character/place/important thing in a play is covered in this book.I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in Shakespeare's plays, or is involved in the study of Shakespeare. This book not only serves as an accesssible reference, it's also full of thought-provoking facts and ideas.

A Silent Companion and a Private Tutor

I am neither a student nor a professional academic, and I don't usually review reference works. SHAKESPEARE A TO Z, however, is much more to me than a "mere" reference book. It has become a silent companion and a private tutor. Before attending a play by Shakespeare or an opera based on his works, I read (or reread) the synopsis of the work in question in SHAKESPEARE A TO Z.Early seventeenth century English. as it is spoken, is occasionally a mystery to the twentieth century American, and opera, often sung in Italian, can be even more of a mystery. Further confusion can come in an opera, if one isn't familiar enough with the plot to know whether the young soprano dressed in male clothing and playing the part of a male is: a.) a female deliberately cast in the role of a young male, or b.) a female playing the part of a female disguised as a male. If I've "done my homework" and consulted SHAKESPEARE A TO Z before attending the play or opera, I have no problem following the plot regardless of language or gender of the performer.As an aside, I wonder if it was more, or less, confusing in Shakespeare's time when all roles were played by males. Under those conditions you would have been treated to the spectacle of a male actor portraying a female disguised as a male. Phew!If I have taken the time to delve further into this wonderful reference, I have a good chance of also understanding the historical context of the play and the motivations of the various characters. Shakespeare is sometimes subtle and frequently devious. Knowledge of background and motivation helps to better understand what is happening.Some contemporary directors add additional confusion by using deliberate ploys such as having the same actor play multiple roles. If I've prepared properly, I am not confused.While I personally use this reference mainly to enhance my enjoyment, I am absolutely convinced that it is a valuable source of information for students and an even more valuable instructional tool for teachers. When I was in high school, many long years ago, I didn't enjoy Shakespeare very much, mostly because I didn't totally comprehend what I was reading or seeing. Had I had access to SHAKESPEARE A TO Z, accompanied by a little properly applied pressure to consult it, who knows, I might have come around to enjoying his works much earlier in my life.

A masterly overview of Shakespearen lore.

Boyce has done an excellent job in bringing together pertinent facts on the life, times, works, family and friends of Shakespeare. He gives synposes of the plays by acts and scenes, explanations of the sources for the plays, and profiles of Shakespeare's characters, including the minor ones. Students of history will also enjoy many of the background pieces such as those on the town of Towton (a battle site of the Wars of the Roses and a setting in Henry VI),and the short biographical sketches of Shakespeare's parents, his son and daughters, as well as Shakespeare himself. Readers will get much more than they expect from the pages of this highly entertaining and informative work.

Synopses, commentary and history of his plays

This is a fantastic guide to Shakespeares plays. We have particularly used the synopses, usually 2-3 pages, as a prep for ourselves and our children before enjoying a performance. We have also enjoyed the interpretive commentary both before and after the performance and find ourselves browsing the character and location references, sources Shakespeare used and history of performance. Just a great book to have about.