The Necessary Shakespeare, 4th Edition

A highly respected editor and Shakespearean scholar, David Bevington presents a brief version of The Complete Works of Shakespeare, 7/e with the new edition of The Necessary Shakespeare, 4/e.

The fourth edition continues to address the two key issues confronted by students approaching Shakespeare today: a lack of knowledge about the historical period and difficulty with the language of Shakespeare’s plays. A richly illustrated general introduction offers insight into Shakespeare’s England and background on the literary, social, and cultural contexts in which Shakespeare wrote and produced plays. Each play is introduced by a descriptive essay designed to help students appreciate the historical contexts and interpretive issues raised by the play, without dictating students’ interpretations. Thoroughly revised and updated notes and glosses provide contemporary readers the support they need to understand Elizabethan language and idioms in accessible and clear modern language, line by line.