The Tempest (Signet Classics)

Shakespeare, William

ISBN 10: 0780757920 ISBN 13: 9780780757929

Publisher: Turtleback Books, 1998

Synopsis

The Signet Classics edition of William Shakespeare's fantastical play that combines elements of tragedy and comedy.

Prospero—sorcerer and rightful Duke of Milan—has lived a reclusive life with his daughter Miranda in the years since his position was usurped by his brother, Antonio. Now, as Antonio’s ship passes near Prospero’s island home, the sorcerer conjures up a terrible storm that will change all of their destinies....

This revised Signet Classics edition includes unique features such as:

• An overview of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater
• A special introduction to the play by the editor, Robert Langbaum
• Selections from William Strachey, Sylvester Jourdain, Montaigne, and Ovid, sources from which Shakespeare derived The Tempest
• Dramatic criticism from Samuel Taylor Coleridge, E.M.W. Tillyard, Lori Jerrell, and others
• A comprehensive stage and screen history of notable actors, directors, and productions
• Text, notes, and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable text
• And more...

About this title

Book Description

The Tempest is one of Shakespeare's most suggestive, yet most elusive plays. It is a magical romance, yet deeply embedded in seventeenth-century debates about authority and power. This edition attends to the implications of Prospero's magic, his political and paternal ambitions, and the controversial issue of his 'colonialist' control of Caliban. The Tempest was also Shakespeare's response to the new opportunities offered by the Blackfriars theatre, and careful attention is given to the play's dramatic form, stage-craft, and use of music and spectacle, to demonstrate its uniquely experimental nature.

From the Back Cover

The general editors of the new series of forty-two volumes -- renowned Shakespeareans Stephen Orgel of Stanford University and A. R. Braunmuller of UCLA -- have assembled a team of six eminent scholars who have, along with the general editors themselves, prepared new introductions and notes to all of Shakespeare's plays and poems. Redesigned in an easy-to-read format that preserves the favorite features of the original - -and including an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare, an introduction to the individual play, and a note on the text used -- the new Pelican Shakespeare will be an excellent resource for students, teachers, and theater professionals well into the twenty-first century.

Edition details

• Publisher: Turtleback Books
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0780757920
• ISBN 13: 9780780757929
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 288
• Editor: Langbaum Robert