• V.1. Romeo and Juliet. Tempest.

Shakespeare in Modern English breaks the taboo about Shakespeare's texts, which have long been regarded as sacred and untouchable while being widely and freely translated into foreign languages. It is designed to make Shakespeare more easily understood in the theatre without dumbing down or simplifying the content. Shakespeare's 'As You Like It', 'Coriolanus' and 'The Tempest' are presented in Macdonald's book in modern English. They show that these great plays lose nothing by being acted or read in the language we all use today. Shakespeare's language is poetic, elaborately rich and memorable, but much of it is very difficult to comprehend in the theatre when we have no notes to explain allusions, obsolete vocabulary and whimsical humour. Foreign translations of Shakespeare are normally into their modern language. So why not ours too? The purpose in rendering Shakespeare into modern English is to enhance the enjoyment and understanding of audiences in the theatre. The translations are not designed for children or dummies, but for those who want to understand Shakespeare better, especially in the theatre. Shakespeare in Modern English will appeal to those who want to understand the rich and poetical language of Shakespeare in a more comprehensible way. It is also a useful tool for older students studying Shakespeare.
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A complete and annotated edition of Shakespeare's non-dramatic verse, including the sonnets, "Venus and Adonis" and "The Rape of Lucrece".
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Shakespeare's Sonnets-- A Lover's Complaint-- Alternative Versions of Sonnets 2, 106, 138, and 144.
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Shakespeare's Sonnets is the most famous collection of love poems in the English language. Beautiful, poignant, and intriguing, they describe the poet's passionate friendship with a young man, his friend's seduction by the poet's own mistress, his friend's relationship with a rival poet, and most famously, Shakespeare's humiliated infatuation with the Dark Lady, `a woman coloured ill', who, far from being the marble-hearted femme fatale of fashionable sonnet sequences, is `the bay where all men ride'. These 154 poems have aroused speculation ever since they were written: who are the poet's handsome friend, his rival, and the Dark Lady? Who is the mysterious Mr W. H., 'the onlie begetter of these insuing sonnets', to whom the publisher dedicated them? Despite much laboured study on the subject, the poems have kept their secrets. _ The poems are presented here, with an informative introduction and in a freshly edited text, along with A Lover's Complaint and little-known alternative versions of four of the sonnets. This book is intended for students and lovers of Shakespeare's work; readers of love poetry.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)