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"Shakespeare For Dummies is exquisite." --from the Foreword by Dame Judi Dench, star of "Mrs. Brown" and "Shakespeare in Love" "What the film Shakespeare in Love has done to make Shakespeare the man accessible to a general audience, this book will do to make Shakespeare the writer enjoyable." --Charlotte J.Headrick, PhD, Professor and Director, Theater Arts, Oregon State University Does the thought of sitting through A Midsummer Night's Dream give you nightmares? Did Romeo and Juliet seem show more like a foreign film--without the subtitles? As John Doyle and Ray Lischner prove in this uniquely accessible guide, Shakespeare is not only the greatest writer who ever lived, he's also a great entertainer--once you get a handle on his wild plots and witty wordplay. Under their guidance, you'll: Go inside an Elizabethan theater--and find out how they managed with almost no seats, no roof and no women onstage Get a handle on Shakespeare's language--including all those racy puns and jokes Maximize your enjoyment of his plays and poetry Identify contemporary idioms and phrases that come from Shakespeare's plays Find Shakespeare festivals and performances in your area Catch ten of the best show ever made of the Bard's plays and meet ten of the greatest Shakespearean actors of all time In simple, straightforward language, this friendly guide eases you into the wild, wonderful world of Shakespeare. With the help of snappy summaries and scorecards that help you keep track of who's who, who's in love with whom, and who's killed whom in every play, it helps you: Understand Shakespeare the person, his life and times and what makes him so special Make sense of Shakespearean language and why it sounds the way it does Get the inside track on the kinds of stories, characters and settings found in Shakespeare's plays Appreciate Shakespeare's sonnets and other non-dramatic poetry A royal feast for the head and heart, Shakespeare's works have been thrilling audiences for four centuries, as they will four hundred years from now. Now let Shakespeare For Dummies help you to enjoy one the world's great literary treasures. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
A great reference work -- good background plus synopses that help the casual reader and/or viewer keep things straight so they can get the most out of a play.
Very good teaser and introduction for the bard`s tales.
I own a few Dummies' books - and most of them I liked.
This one is very well done, as well. I would have liked a little bit more biographical data - though knowing that what we know about Shakespeare is little after all. To get started on Shakespeare with all there is to know (biography, plays, his time, literature, films, reception and such) this is a buy you will not regret. I, at least, did not.
I own a few Dummies' books - and most of them I liked.
This one is very well done, as well. I would have liked a little bit more biographical data - though knowing that what we know about Shakespeare is little after all. To get started on Shakespeare with all there is to know (biography, plays, his time, literature, films, reception and such) this is a buy you will not regret. I, at least, did not.
I cringed when told a university where I was teaching was requiring this as a textbook, but actually it is not bad for a friendly basic introduction
I decided to read up on my Shakespeare, and this book turned out to be really helpful. There are summaries for all Shakespeare's plays (broken down into sections for Comedy, History and Tragedy). This was great, since I have to read Othello for college pretty soon.
Very useful book for understanding and enjoying Shakespeare.
To read a longer review for this book and other reviews, check out my blog:
The Real World According To Sam
Very useful book for understanding and enjoying Shakespeare.
To read a longer review for this book and other reviews, check out my blog:
The Real World According To Sam
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3 Works 237 Members
Series
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- Genres
- Poetry, Literature Studies and Criticism, Fiction and Literature
- DDC/MDS
- 822.33 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures British Drama Shakespeare Shakespeare, William 1564–1616
- LCC
- PR2987 .D69 — Language and Literature English English Literature English renaissance (1500-1640)
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 218
- Popularity
- 149,256
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.50)
- Languages
- English, German, Multiple languages
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 6
- UPCs
- 1
