William Shakespeare

The complete text with explanations and an easy translation to help you understand the play.

Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, with marginal notes and explanations and full descriptions of each character.

Prospero, the deposed Duke of Milan, uses his skill at controlling natural forces to cause the shipwreck of his old opponents, forcing them to seek refuge on the island where he and his daughter Miranda have been living in exile, and setting the stage for Miranda to fall in love with Ferdinand, the prince of Naples. Includes explanatory notes, plot summaries, critical essay, and illustrations from the Folger Library Collections.

Duke Frederick has stolen the title and throne of his elder brother, Duke Senior. Duke Senior has taken up residence in the Forest of Arden with his band of loyal followers, leaving his daughter, Rosalind, behind at the court. Enter Orlando and Oliver de Boys, two brothers divided by their hatred for one another.

King Lear of Britain has decided to divide his kingdom into three parts, and to hand over the responsibilities of ruling to his three daughters. The two oldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, flatter their father insincerely, and are rewarded. Cordelia, the youngest, sincerely loves her father, but she cannot match her sisters' skill at false adulation. The king takes away her portion of the kingdom, despite the pleadings of some of his most loyal nobles....

Antony and Cleopatra dramatizes a major event in world history: the founding of the Roman Empire. The future first emperor, Octavius Caesar (later called Augustus Caesar), cold-bloodedly manipulates other characters and exercises iron control over himself.
At first, he shares power with Mark Antony, Rome's preeminent military leader, and the weaker Lepidus. Caesar needs Antony to fend off other Roman strongmen like Pompey; he even offers...

Measure for Measure is among the most passionately discussed of Shakespeare's plays. In it, a duke temporarily removes himself from governing his city-state, deputizing a member of his administration, Angelo, to enforce the laws more rigorously. Angelo chooses as his first victim Claudio, condemning him to death because he impregnated Juliet before their marriage.

Claudio's sister Isabella, who is entering a convent, pleads for her...

The authoritative edition Love's Labor's Lost from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers.
At first glance, Shakespeare's early comedy Love's Labor's Lost simply entertains and amuses. Four young men (one of them a king) withdraw from the world for three years, taking an oath that they will have nothing to do with women. The King of Navarre soon learns,...

The real Timon of Athens lived there in the fifth century BCE, making him a contemporary of Socrates and Pericles. Shakespeare presents Timon as a figure who suffers such profound disillusionment that he becomes a misanthrope, or man-hater. This makes him a more interesting character than the caricature he had become to Shakespeare's contemporaries, for whom "Timonist" was a slang term for an unsociable man.

Shakespeare's play includes...

In his most cynical work, Shakespeare explores money--its virtues and its vices. Timon, a noble Athenian, is wildly extravagant with his inheritance. But as his money runs out, so do the friends who urged his lavishness. Timon loses his mind, then finds another fortune.