The Annotated Shakespeare
Subtitle: Volume III: The Tragedies and Romances
Series: The Annotated Shakespeare, Volume III
Publisher: Clarkson N. Potter
Published: 1978
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 912
ISBN-13: 9780517535080
Copyright date: 1978
Description: In Volume III, A. L. Rowse, the noted Elizabethan scholar, turns his expert attention to the Tragedies and Romances of William Shakespeare, here presented in full with introductions and annotations. Considered to be the playwright's greatest achievement, the tragedies take on new life in Dr. Rowse's incomparably illuminating explanations of their meaning and their appeal. Long before the beginnings Of modern psychology, Shakespeare instinctively understood the multiplicity Of human motives, the workings of the unconscious and the subsconscious, and the effects Of such archetypal problems as Hamlet's sexual revulsion for his mother, or Leontes' jealousy of his wife. He knew how to get the utmost out Of dramatic situations, knew that human actions were often improbable and inconsistent, and was able to create characters—Iago, Macbeth, King Lear, Hamlet—who were entirely credible even in moments Of crisis and conflicting emotion. Some of Shakespeare's best-loved plays, including Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra, are contained in this volume.

Dr. Rowse then turns to the mature, brilliantly developed artistry of Shakespeare's romances. Here are Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, love stories comprised of melancholy and wistful sentiment, of nostalgia, with elements of tragedy and hard realism mixed with comedy, poetry, and music. These plays, written for the demands of a more discerning audience, offer emotion, fantasy, surprise, and a sense of the improbable and the unreal. They reflect the new stage conditions of a sophisticated indoor theatre, an increased potential for scenery and music, and, above all, a strong atmospheric quality. Conceived at a time Of new exploration, the founding Of the American Colonies, voyages to India around the Cape, the romances convey a strong feeling for the sea, for movement and travels, losses and wrecks, and undreamed of discoveries. They are full Of new inventions, of people who have been lost and re- found, of reconciliation and forgiveness, and may well represent a great genius's farewell to his art.

Included in this volume are the following plays:
Titus Andronicus
Romeo and Juliet
Julius Caesar
Hamlet
Othello
King Lear
Macbeth
Antony Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Timon Of Athens
Pericles
Cymbeline
The Winter's Tale
The Tempest

--front flap
Table of contents: title: SHAKESPEARE'S TRAGEDIES & ROMANCES Introduction; title: TITUS ANDRONICUS (1590-1) Introduction; title: Play 18; title: ROMEO AND JULIET (1594-5) Introduction; title: Play 74; title: JULIUS CAESAR (1599) Introduction; title: Play j 40; title: HAMLET (1600—1) Introduction; title: Play 194; title: OTHELLO (1604) Introduction; title: Play 274; title: KING LEAR Introduction; title: Play 344; title: MACBETH (1606) Introduction; title: Play 418; title: ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA (1607) Introduction; title: Play 472; title: CORIOLANUS (1608) Introduction; title: Play 546; title: TIMON OF ATHENS (1608) Introduction; title: Play 622; title: PERICLES (1608) Introduction; title: Play 676; title: CYM BELINE (1609) Introduction; title: Play 730; title: THE WINTER'S TALE Introduction; title: Play 802; title: THE TEMPEST (1611) Introduction; title: Play 866; title: Bibliography; title: Acknowledgements and Index