tales from Shakespeare

série: Littérature anglaise (Shakespeare)
éditeur: Ernest Nister
auteur: Lamb Mary
classement: biblio3D
année: 1905
format: cartonné
état: TBE
valeur: 50 €
critère: **
remarques: English book

Tales from Shakespeare, illustrated by W. Paget
an introduction of Shakespeare's plays to young people
(comedies, histories and tragedies)

the book contains 20 plays
with 70 magnificent illustrations about:
- the tempest
- a midsummer night's dream
- winter tales
- much ado about nothing
- as you like it
- the two gentlemen of Verona
- the merchant of Venice
- Cymbeline
- King Lear
- Macbeth
- all's well that ends well
- the taming of the shrew
- the comedy of errors
- measure for measure
- twelfth night; or, what you will
- Timon of Athens
- Romeo and Juliet
- Hamlet, prince of Denmark
- Othello
- Pericles, prince of Tyre

following further plays of Shakespeare are not mentioned in the book:
a) comedy
- the merry wives of Windsor, love's labour's lost, the two noble kinsmen
b) history
- king John, Richard II, Henry IV, V and VI,
Richard III, Henry VIII and Edward III
c) tragedy
- Troilus and Cressida, Coriolanus, Titus Andronicus,
Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra


1/ the tempest (comedy)
- the Tempest is a comedy written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one
of the last plays that Shakespeare wrote alone,
- after the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest,
the rest of the story is set on a remote island
where the sorcerer Prospero, a complex and contradictory character,
lives with his daughter Miranda,
- Miranda will find his love affair with Ferdinand,
son of the king of Naples who was marooned on the island,
- the play contains music and songs
that evoke the spirit of enchantment on the island,
it explores many themes, including magic, betrayal, revenge, and family
contributing spectacle, allegory, and elevated language


2/ a midsummer night's dream (comedy)
- this comedy was written in 1595/96,
it consists of multiple subplots that revolve
around the antique greek law entitling a father
to put his daughter to death if she would not obey
to marry the pretendant proposed by the father,
- a conflict between four Athenian lovers
(Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena),
it is one of the most popular plays of Shakespeare
although it is a bit a confusion between lovers
evolving in a midsummer night's dream
and also a confused play by Shakespeare


3/ the winter's tale (comedy)
- the struggle between Leontes, king of Sicily
and Polixenes king of Bohemia involving
Hermione, queen of Sicily, her son Mamillius and her daughter Perdita;
- an affair of jealously,
- some critics consider it to be one of Shakespeare's problem plays
because the first three acts are filled
with intense psychological drama, while the last two acts
are comedic and supply a happy ending


4/ much ado about nothing (comedy)
- two enemies (Benedick and Beatrice) converted into
new and loving friends at the court of Leonato, governor of Messina
and two loving friends converted to new and severe enemies
(Claudia and Hero) by the mad man Don John,
- everything is tricked into a belief of love

- by means of "noting" (which, in Shakespeare's day,
sounded similar to "nothing" as in the play's title
and which means gossip, rumour, and overhearing),
- Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into confessing
their love for each other and Claudio is tricked
into rejecting Hero at the altar in the erroneous belief
that she has been unfaithful,
- at the end, Benedick and Beatrice join forces to set things right
and the others join in a dance celebrating
the marriages of the two couples


5/ as you like it (pastoral comedy)
- a matter of family between Celia, daughter of the usurper
king Frederick and Rosalind, daughter of a banished king
in the great French forest of Arden
- the love affair between Rosalind and Orlando,
a young noble man having become a wrestler
- all actors seemed however to like this new way of life

- the play follows its heroine Rosalind as she flees persecution
in her uncle's court, accompanied by her cousin Celia
to find safety and, eventually, love, in the forest of Arden,
in the forest, they encounter a variety of memorable characters
notably the melancholy Orlando who provides a sharp contrast
to the other characters in the play, always observing and disputing
the hardships of life in the country


6/ the two gentlemen of Verona (comedy)
- a tale of friendship between two gentlemen:
Valentine and Protheus who is in love with Julia,
soon Valentine fell in love with Silvia whose love is disputed by Thurio
- rivality broke out between the two friends,
Protheus developing into a false friend but finally they will reconcile

- it is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play
and is often seen as showing his first tentative steps
in laying out some of the themes and motifs
with which he would later deal in more detail,
for example, it is the first of his plays
in which a heroine dresses as a boy,
the play deals with the themes of friendship and infidelity,
the conflict between friendship and love
and the foolish behaviour of people in love


7/ the merchant of Venice (dramatic comedy)
- the great enmity between the Jew Shylock, an usurer
and Antonio, the noble merchant of Venice
and the bond for lending money to Antonio with no interest
but in case of non-payment to take a pound of flesh
from Antonio's body (however without any drop of blood,
that was the trick of the action)
>> a cur = a worthless dog

- comedy in which a merchant in Venice named Antonio
defaults on a large loan provided
by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock;
main characters:
- Antonio, a prominent merchant of Venice in a melancholic mood.
- Bassanio, Antonio's close friend, suitor to Portia
- Gratiano, friend of Antonio and Bassanio
- Lorenzo, friend of Antonio and Bassanio
- Portia, a rich heiress, later the wife of Bassanio
- Shylock, a miserly Jew, moneylender
- Jessica, daughter of Shylock, later the wife of Lorenzo

- the play ranks among the best plays of Shakespeare
and is also concerned by some antisemitism's debate


8/ Cymbeline (tragedy)
- like Othello and the winter's Tale, it deals
with the themes of innocence and jealousy
- Cymbeline, king of Britain during the Augustus reign
with his daughter Imogen, married with the
banished noble man Posthumus whose friend
made the bet of being loved by Imogen
- the whole play reveals an affair of treachery,
misleading and finally of forgiveness
note: a little similarity with snow white


9/ King Lear (tragedy)
- derived from the legend of Leir of Britain, it tells the tale
of a mythological pre-Roman Celticking
who bequeaths his power and land to two of his three daughters,
after they declare their love for him
in an extremely fawning and obsequious manner,
his third daughter gets nothing, because she will not
flatter him as her sisters had done,
when he feels he has been treated with disrespect
by the two daughters who now have his wealth and power,
he becomes furious to the point of madness,
he eventually becomes tenderly reconciled to his third daughter,
just before tragedy strikes her and then the king
>> p. 144 it is an awful truth that innocence and piety
are not always successful in this world


10/ Macbeth (tragedy)
- a brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy
from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland,
consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife,
Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself,
he is then wracked with guilt and paranoia,
forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself
from enmity and suspicion, he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler,
the bloodbath and consequent civil war swiftly
take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of madness and death
finally Macbeth finds his death in a battle with general Macduff
>> p. 155 the ingredients of the three witches
to summon the infernal spirits contain among others:
the liver of a Jew and the finger of a dead child

note: whereas the plays mentioned above have
all an Italian scenery,
king Lear and Macbeth take place in Britain


11/ all's well that ends well (comedy)
- the play is considered one of Shakespeare's "problem plays";
a play that poses complex ethical dilemmas that require
more than typically simple solutions,
note: it is also a kind of medical play
(Helena to cure the king of France with a special medecine)

- Helena, the low-born ward of a French-Spanish countess,
is in love with the countess's son Bertram, who is indifferent to her,
Bertram goes to Paris to replace his late father
as attendant to the ailing King of France,
Helena, the daughter of a recently deceased physician,
follows Bertram, ostensibly to offer the King her services as a healer,
the King is sceptical and she guarantees the cure with her life:
if he dies, she will be put to death, but if he lives,
she may choose a husband from the court


12/ the taming of the shrew (comedy)
- the main plot depicts the courtship of Petruchio
and Katherina, the headstrong, obdurate shrew,
initially, Katherina is an unwilling participant in the relationship,
however, Petruchio "tames" her with various psychological torments
such as keeping her from eating and drinking,
until she becomes a desirable, compliant, and obedient bride,
the subplot features a competition between
the suitors of Katherina's younger sister, Bianca
who is seen as the "ideal" woman,
the question of whether the play is misogynistic
has become the subject of considerable controversy,
particularly among modern scholars, audiences, and readers

>> p. 175 Katherine the Shrew was the eldest daughter
of Baptista, a rich gentleman of Padua
>> p. 176 Petruchio (who was ready to marry the Shrew
against a good dowry wedding)
was settling with himself the mode of courtship he should pursue,
mostly noticed in the appropriate eloquence
used by Petruchio to tame the Shrew
and Baptista did not want to marry his youngest daughter
unless the Shrew is being married
>> p. 184 the wives' competition in which the Shrew
took an important part and proved she was really tamed


13/ the comedy of errors (comedy)
- it is Shakespeare's shortest and one of his most farcical comedies,
with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity
- set in the Greek city of Ephesus (and of Syracuse),
the play tells the story of two sets of identical twins
who were accidentally separated at birth
arrive in Ephesus,
which turns out to be the home of their twin brothers,
Antipholus of Ephesus and his servant, Dromio of Ephesus,
when the Syracusans encounter the friends and families of their twins,
a series of wild mishaps based on mistaken identities
lead to wrongful beatings, a near-seduction,
the arrest of Antipholus of Ephesus
and false accusations of infidelity, theft,
madness, and demonic possession
>> p. 191 a real confusion of persons is the main theme of this play


14/ measure for measure (comedy)
- the play's main themes include justice, "morality and mercy in Vienna",
and the dichotomy (opposition) between corruption and purity:
"some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall"
- mercy and virtue prevail, as the play does not end tragically,
with virtues such as compassion and forgiveness
being exercised at the end of the production,
while the play focuses on justice overall, the final scene illustrates
that Shakespeare intended for moral justice to temper strict civil justice:
a number of the characters receive understanding and leniency,
instead of the harsh punishment to which they, according to the law,
could have been sentenced

- to note: the sentence to death made by the strict application
of the law, it is severe but it is the law
- to preserve a life for a sister's shame but
the excellent exemple of the virtuous Isabel prevailed



15/ twelfth night; or what you will (comedy)
- the play centres on the twins Viola and Sebastian
who are separated in a shipwreck,
Viola (who is disguised as Cesario) falls in love with Duke Orsino
who in turn is in love with Countess Olivia,
upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her
thinking she is a man

- the scene takes place in Illyria,
an ancient region of the Western Balkans
and again a story with twins (Sebastian and Viola)



16/ Timon of Athens (tragedy)
- it is about the fortunes of an Athenian named Timon,
the central character is a beloved citizen of Athens
who through tremendous generosity spends his entire fortune
on corrupt hangers-on only interested in getting the next payout

- a play about flattery
>> p. 240 now was Timon as much avoided in his poverty
as he had been courted and resorted to in his riches
- note (by Shakespeare or by Paget?):
the Athenians were ever noted to be a thankless and ungrateful people,
giving disgust to their generals and best friends


17/ Romeo and Juliet (tragedy)
- Shakespeare's use of his poetic dramatic structure
(especially effects such as switching between comedy and tragedy
to heighten tension, his expansion of minor characters
and his use of sub-plots to embellish the story)
has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill

- the play takes place in Verona with the two chiefs families
of the rich Capulets and Montagues who had developed
an old quarrel between these families,
nevertheless Romeo of the Montagues and Juliet of the Capulets
have both fallen in love despite their family's enmities
- Juliet who had secretly married Romeo must by her family's orders
marry the French count Paris
- to avoid this Juliet takes a sleeping phial and Romeo believing she is dead
will kill Paris in a duel and takes himself a mortal drug
- awakening and seing his beloved Romeo dead,
Juliet takes her life by stabbing herself

>> in a sense an affair of great love, misunderstanding, poison,
great love and fate that ends with the death of the two lovers


18/ Hamlet, prince of Denmark (tragedy)
- the Tragedy of Hamlet, prince of Denmark, is a tragedy
written by Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601,
it is Shakespeare's longest play with 30,557 words
- set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his revenge
against his uncle, Claudius who has murdered Hamlet's father
in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother

- Hamlet is considered among the most powerful
and influential works of world literature, with a story
capable of "seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others

the characters:
- young Hamlet, son of Hamlet, king of Denmark
- Claudius, murderer of his brother Hamlet
- Gertrude, first wife of Hamlet, then wife of Claudius
- Horatio, friend of young Hamlet
- Polonius, the king's chief counsellor
- Ophelia, daughter of Polonius, in love with young Hamlet
- Laertes, brother of Ophelia

>> probably one of the best and most populous plays
written by Shakespeare
murdered by his brother Clauer


19/ Othello (tragedy)
called also the tragedy of Othello or the Moor of Venice

- the story revolves around its two central characters:
Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army
and his treacherous ensign, Iago,
given its varied and enduring themes of racism, love,
jealousy, betrayal, revenge, and repentance,
Othello is still often performed in professional and community theatre alike

- the love of Desdemona for a black man: Othello the Moor
- again a theme of yealousy provoked by the traitor Iago
conducting Othello to murder his innocent wife


20/ Pericles, prince of Tyre (comedy)
- Pericles is a Jacobean play written at least
in part by Shakespeare and included in modern editions
of his collected works despite questions over authorship

- Pericles, the young Prince (ruler) of Tyre in Phoenicia (Lebanon),
hears the riddle and instantly understands its meaning:
Antiochus is engaged in an incestuous relationship with his daughter,
if he reveals this truth, he will be killed,
but if he answers incorrectly, he will also be killed,
Pericles hints that he knows the answer and asks for more time to think,
Antiochus grants him forty days, and then sends an assassin after him,
however, Pericles has fled the city in disgust
and after this, Pericles goes on exile,
during his trip his wife and daughter will be considered as dead,
but later on he will find again his wife and his daughter again
>> another title could also have been:
all's well that ends well
(being also the title of another play)
note: the story of Pericles in Paget's book is not complete,
it contains only the second part of the play when Pericles is on exile


>> quite an interesting book with many illustrations
giving a survey of Shakespeare's most populous plays


illustrations as shown below:
- cover of the book - the tempest - a midsummer night's dream
- the winter's tale - much ado about nothing - as you like it
- the two gentlemen of Verona - the merchant of Venice - Cymbeline -
- King Lear - Macbeth - all's well that ends well
- the taming of the Shrew 2x - the comedy of errors - measure for measure -
- twelfth night: or, what you will - Timon of Athens -
Rome and Juliet - Hamlet 3x - Othello 2x - Pericles, prince of Tyre -

couvertures:
Copyright 2008 - 2024 G. Rudolf