Describes Shakespeare's life and work, from his relocation from Stratford to London as a young man to his pursuit of a career in the theater.

Biographer and novelist Ackroyd brings William Shakespeare to life in the manner of a contemporary rather than a biographer. His method is to position the playwright in the context of his world, exploring everything from Stratford's humble town to its fields of wildflowers; discerning influences on the plays from unexpected quarters; and entering London with the playwright as modern theatre, as we know it, is just beginning to emerge. Writing as though...

Valentine and Proteus are devoted comrades ― until they travel to Milan and meet Silvia, the Duke's ravishing daughter. Torn between the bonds of friendship and the lure of romance, the two gentlemen are further bedeviled by Proteus's prior commitment to Julia, his hometown sweetheart, and the Duke's disdain for Valentine. Thus the stage is set for a comic spree involving a daring escape into a forest, capture by outlaws, and the antics of a clown...

When a priceless manuscript goes missing, suspicion falls on Richard Shakespeare, the estranged brother of the famous author, forcing him down a perilous path through London.

The story of a medieval monarch, his troublesome heir, and his constant struggle against plotters, schemers, and rebels. Set during the reign of Henry IV of England, this play portrays the rebellions faced by the medieval king, as well as his relationship with his son, heir to the throne. The young man indulges in a fun-loving, reckless lifestyle that he must find the strength to cast aside if he is to live up to his royal destiny. Featuring one of...

Shakespeare's play about devilish fairies, bedeviled lovers and tradesmen-actors. Plots intertwine as entangled love affairs, the comical performance of a "play within a play" by the tradesmen of Athens, and the antics in fairyland among King Oberon and his queen Titania produce a bizarre series of entanglements, but all ends happily.

World-renowned Shakespeare scholar Stephen Greenblatt explores the playwright's insight into bad (and often mad) rulers. As an aging, tenacious Elizabeth I clung to power, a talented playwright probed the social causes, the psychological roots, and the twisted consequences of tyranny. In exploring the psyche (and psychoses) of the likes of Richard III, Macbeth, Lear, Coriolanus, and the societies they rule over, Stephen Greenblatt illuminates the...

Presents a dramatization of William Shakespeare's play, a pastoral romance set in the Forest of Arden in medieval France.