The Arden Shakespeare Complete Works

The Complete Arden Shakespeare contains the texts of all Shakespeare's plays and poems, edited by leading Shakespeare scholars for the renowned Arden Shakespeare series. This edition includes eight newly revised playtexts as published in the Arden Third Series since 1998. A general introduction by the three General Editors of the Arden Shakespeare Third Series gives the reader an overall view of how and why Shakespeare has become such an influential cultural icon, and how perceptions of his work have changed in the intervening four centuries. The introduction summarizes the known facts about the dramatist's life, his reading and use of sources, and the nature of theatrical performance during his lifetime. Brief introductions to each play, written specially for this volume by the Arden General Editors, discuss the date and contemporary context of the play, its position within Shakespeare's oeuvre, and its subsequent performance history. An extensive glossary with nearly 400 entries explains vocabulary which may be unfamiliar to modern readers. Table of Contents List of IllustrationsGeneral Editors' PrefaceIntroductionShakespeare's SonnetsA Lover's ComplaintVenus and AdonisLucreceThe Passionate Pilgrim"The Phoenix and Turtle"All's Well That Ends WellAntony and CleopatraAs You Like ItThe Comedy of ErrorsCoriolanusCymbelineHamletJulius CaesarKing Henry IV, Part 1King Henry IV, Part 2King Henry VKing Henry VI, Part 1King Henry VI, Part 2King Henry VI, Part 3King Henry VIIIKing JohnKing LearKing Richard IIKing Richard IIILove's Labour's LostMacbethMeasure for MeasureThe Merchant of VeniceThe Merry Wives of WindsorA Midsummer Night's DreamMuch Ado About NothingOthelloPericlesRomeo and JulietThe Taming of the ShrewThe TempestTimon of AthensTitus AndronicusTroilus and CressidaTwelfth NightThe Two Gentlemen of VeronaThe Two Noble KinsmenThe Winter's TaleBibliographyIndex of first lines of sonnetsIndex of first lines of songsGlossary