Works by William Shakespeare

639 Pages·1952·132.956 MB·English

by  William Shakespeare

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g GREAT BOOKS OF THE WESTERN WORLD
LUCRETIUS
12.
EPICTETUS
Introductory Volumes:
MARCUS AURELIUS
1. The Great Conversation VIRGIL
13.
2. The Great Ideas I PLUTARCH
14.
3. The Great Ideas II TACITUS
15.
4»«»»»«««»»»»««»««»«»»t
PTOLEMY
16.
HOMER
4. COPERNICUS
KEPLER
AESCHYLUS
5.
SOPHOCLES PLOTINUS
17.
EURIPIDES
AUGUSTINE
ARISTOPHANES 18.
THOMAS AQUINAS
HERODOTUS 19. I
6.
THUCYDIDES THOMAS AQUINAS
20. II
PLATO DANTE
7. 21.
ARISTOTLE CHAUCER
8. I 22.
9. ARISTOTLE II 23. MACHIAVELLI
HOBBES
HIPPOCRATES
10.
GALEN RABELAIS
24.
EUCLID MONTAIGNE
11. 25.
ARCHIMEDES
SHAKESPEARE
26. I
APOLLONIUS
NICOMACHUS SHAKESPEARE
27. II
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28. GILBERT 41. GIBBON II
GALILEO
KANT
HARVEY 42.
AMERICAN STATE
CERVANTES 43.
29.
PAPERS
FRANCIS BACON THE FEDERALIST
30.
MILL
DESCARTES J. S.
31.
SPINOZA BOSWELL
44.
MILTON LAVOISIER
32. 45.
FOURIER
PASCAL
33. FARADAY
NEWTON
34. HEGEL
46.
HUYGENS
GOETHE
47.
LOCKE
35.
BERKELEY MELVILLE
48.
HUME
DARWIN
49.
SWIFT
36.
MARX
STERNE 50.
ENGELS
FIELDING
37.
TOLSTOY
51.
MONTESQUIEU
38.
ROUSSEAU 52. DOSTOEVSKY
ADAM SMITH WILLIAM JAMES
39. 53.
GIBBON FREUD
40. I 54.
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GREAT BOOKS
OF THE WESTERN WORLD
L ROBERT MAYNARD HUTCHINS, EDITOR IN CHIEF
26.
SHAKESPEARE;
I
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MortimerJ. Adler, Associate Editor
MembersoftheAdvisoryBoard:StringfellowBark, ScottBuchanan,John Erskine,
ClarenceH.Faust,AlexanderMeiklejohn,Joseph Schwab, MarkVan Doren.
J.
Editorial Consultants: A. F. B. Clark, F. L. Lucas, Walter Murdoch.
Wallace Brockway, Executive Editor
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The
and
:^ Plays
Sonnets of
William Shakespeare
Volume One
Edited by William George Clarke and William Aldis Wright
William Benton, Publisher
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, INC.
CHICAGO LONDON TORONTO GENEVA SYDNEY TOKYO MANILA
• • • • •
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THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
The Great Books
ispublished with the editorial advice of thefaculties
of The University of Chicago
No part ofthis work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
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©
1952
BY Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Twenty-eighth Printing, 1986
Copyright under International Copyright Union
All Rights Reserved under Pan American and Universal Copyright
Conventions by Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 55-10334
International Standard Book Number: 0-85229-163-9
6
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
William Shakespeare, i564-161
Shakespeare was baptized in the parish church hancedhis literary reputation by the publication
ofStratford-on-Avon in Warwickshire on April of VenusandAdonis and Lucrece. It is also prob-
26, 1564, His father, John Shakespeare, was a able that the first of his sonnets then began to
burgessoftherecentlyconstitutedcorporationof circulate privately, although they were not pub-
Stratford, and filled certain municipal offices, in- lishedasawholeuntil 1609.
cludingthatofhigh bailiff. Byoccupationhewas After the reopening of the theatres in 1594,
a glover, although he appears to have dealt from Shakespeare is listed among the "servauntes of
timetotimeinvarious kindsofagricultural pro- theLordChamberlayne,"thecompanyforwhich
duceandmayhavecombinedacertainamountof he wrote and acted throughout his life. His act-
farming with the practiceofhis trade. His wife, ing seems to have been limited to such roles as
and the mother ofthe dramatist, Mary Arden, theGhostinHamletandAdaminAs YouLikeIt,
cameofadistinguishedCatholic family, and had but as a dramatist he was the mainstay of the
brought her husband a farm of about fifty or companyforsomefifteenyears.Asearlyas 598
1
sixty acres, known as the Asbies. There were at the Palladis Tamia, a kind ofliterary handbook
leasteightchildren,Williambeingthethirdchild published by Francis Meres, extols Shakespeare
andeldestson. as "themostexcellentinboth kinds (i.e. comedy
Stratfordpossessedafreegrammar-school,and andtragedy) forthestate," andoneof"themost
Shakespeare presumably obtained his education passionateamongus to bewaile and bemoanethe
there. When he was about thirteen, his father's perplexities of love"; it also provides a list of
fortunes took a turn for the worse, and it seems twelve plays already written, which serves as a
likelythatShakespearewas apprenticedto some starting point for modern attempts at a chrono-
local trade. According to one story, he killed logical arrangement of his work. Shakespeare
calves for his father, and "would do it in a high seems tohave writtenmorerapidlyduringthese
style, and make a speech." In November, 1582, earlyyearsthanlater, butonanaveragehewrote
hemarriedAnneHathaway,awomaneightyears for his company about two plays a year. His
his senior, andtheir firstchildSusanna, was bap- fellow-dramatists writing for the Chamberlain's
tized on May 26, 1583, followed by twins, men included Ben Jonson, Dekker, Beaumont
Hamnet andJudith, in 1585. Before the birth of and Fletcher, and Tourneur. He seems to have
thetwinsShakespeare'scareerinStratfordseems beenparticularly intimatewithJonson; thereare
to have come to a tempestuous close. One tradi- stories of their jests and drinking bouts, and
tion, coming from two different sources, asserts Jonson later declared, "I lov'd the man and do
that he got into trouble through poaching on the honour his memory (on this side idolatry) as
estatesofaconsiderableWarwickshiremagnate. much as any."
SirThomasLucy,andfounditnecessarytoleave Inadditiontobeingbothactorandplaywright,
town. But fromthis eventuntil heemerges as an Shakespeare was also a shareholder in the com-
actor and rising playwright in 1592, his history pany, and his prosperity was joined with that of
is unknown. His entry into thetheatrical world, his theatre. They were frequently asked to play
according to the stage tradition, was in a menial at court, and The Merry Wives of Windsor is
capacity, perhaps even as a holder ofhorses at saidtooweits origintoElizabeth's desireto see
thedoors. FalstafF in love. James I on his accession took
By 1592, when he was twenty-eight, Shake- thecompanyunderhis patronage, andduringthe
speare had begun to emerge as a playwright and remainder ofShakespeare's connection with the
had evoked the jealousy of at least one of the stage they were "the King's men." The records
group ofscholar poets who claimed a monopoly ofperformances atcourtshowthattheywereby
of the stage. Robert Greene, in an invective far the most favored of the companies. Shake-
againsttheplay-actorsinhisGroats-worthofWit, spearewasparticularly popular; Jonsonrefers to
parodies a line from Henry VIand speaks ofan hisflights "thatsodidtakeElizaandourJames,"
"upstart crow" who is "in his own conceit the andheissaidtohavereceivedanautographletter
only Shake-scene in the country." While the from KingJames. He appears also to have been
theatres were closed from 1592 to 1594 because on cordial terms with his fellows of the stage;
ofriot and the plague, Shakespeare further en- one ofthem left him a small legacy, and in his
, .
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
VI
ownwillhepaidasimilarcomplimenttothreeof 1614. His retirement did not imply a complete
histheatricalassociates. breakwithLondonlife; hisplayswerestillbeing
Shakespeare's increasing prosperity is reflect- produced, and he was providing new ones, al-
ed in the restored fortunes ofhis family atStrat- though the last few may have been written at
ford. The prosecutions ofJohn Shakespeare for Stratford. As late as 1613 he is known to have
debt ceased, and in 1596 his application for a bought a house in London at the Blackfriars,
coat-of-arms,madeatthetimehewasbailiff,was perhaps for purposes of investment rather than
at length granted. In 1597 the playwright pur- residence. It is likely that his connection with
chased New Place, one ofthe largest houses in the king's companyended whenthe Globethea-
Stratford. Here he established his wife and two tre was burnt down during a performance of
daughters, his son having died the year before. Henry VIIIin 1613
Until 1610 he apparently lived and worked in In March of 1616 Shake>peare made his will,
London, making only occasional visits to Strat- leaving to his daughter Susanna the bulk of
ford, but in that year he seems to have returned his estate and to his wife "the second best bed
tohis birthplace. Helived as aretiredgentleman withthefurniture," although shealso legally en-
on friendly terms with the richest ofhis neigh- joyed until her death a third of his lands and
bors and showed interest in local affairs which houses. A month after his will was signed, on
might aflecthis incomeorhis comfort, such as a April 23, 1616, Shakespeare died and as a tithe-
bill fortheimprovementofthehighwaysin 1611 owner was buried in the chancel of the parish
or a proposed enclosure of the open fields in church.
Contents, Volume One
Biographical Note, v
The First Part ofKing Henry the Sixth,
i
The Second Part ofKing Henry the Sixth,
33
The Third Part ofKing Henry the Sixth, 69
The Tragedy ofKing Richard the Third, 105
The Comedy of Errors, 149
Titus Andronicus, 170
The Taming of the Shrew, 199
The Two Gentlemen of Verona, 229
Love's Labour's Lost, 254
Romeo ANDJuliet, 285
TheTragedy ofKing Richard the Second, 320
A
Midsummer-Night's Dream,
352
The Life and Death ofKingJohn, 376
The Merchant of Venice, 406
The First Part ofKing Henry the Fourth, 434
The Second Part ofKing Henry the Fourth, 467
Much Ado About Nothing, 503
The Life ofKing Henry the Fifth, 532
Julius C^sar, 568
As You Like It, 597