Hamlet (The Annotated Shakespeare) - Softcover

William Shakespeare

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300101058 ISBN 13: 9780300101058

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2003

Synopsis

The Annotated Shakespeare Series allowsreaders to fully understand and enjoy the rich plays of the world’s greatest dramatist

One of the most frequently read and performed of all stage works, Shakespeare’s Hamlet isunsurpassed in its complexity and richness. Now the first fully annotated version of Hamlet makesthe play completely accessible to readers in the twenty-first century. It has been carefully assembled with students, teachers, and the general reader in mind. Eminent linguist and translator Burton Raffel offers generous help with vocabulary and usage of Elizabethan English, pronunciation, prosody, and alternative readings of phrases and lines. His on-page annotations provide readers with all the tools they need to comprehend the play and begin to explore its many possible interpretations. This version of Hamlet isunparalleled for its thoroughness and adherence to sound linguistic principles. In his Introduction, Raffel offers important background on the origins and previous versions of the Hamlet story, along with an analysis of the characters Hamlet and Ophelia. And in a concluding essay, Harold Bloom meditates on the originality of Shakespeare’s achievement. The book also includes a careful selection of items for “Further Reading.”

About this title

Book Description:

This edition tells the story of Hamlet in production, from Burbage at the Globe to Branagh on film, relating stage interpretations to developments in the theatre, in literary criticism and in society. The detailed stage history records an ongoing process of discovery, as successive performers have found what it is in the play that will speak most powerfully to the audiences of their own times. The introduction focuses not only on star Hamlets, but on whole productions of the play including supporting players and, in this century, direction and design.

From the Publisher:

The Annotated Shakespeare - General Editor, Burton Raffel

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0300101058
• ISBN 13: 9780300101058
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288
• Editor: Burton Raffel