Comedies

by William Shakespeare

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484 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1623

About the author

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".

Reviews

[Deborah Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t say I read the full book as I just read Hamlet for school but I will endeavor to review Hamlet. To quote Veggietales as one must ‘I laughed, I cried. It really moved me Bob.’ To me it will be a sort of pep talk, I may think I have horrible social skills but I don’t have the social skills of a depressed fellow who rather than confess his love to a girl would rather tell her to ‘Get thee to a nunnery’ ‘Go thy ways to a nunnery’ ‘To a nunnery, go; and quickly too.’ And so on. I can also rest assured I won’t kill said girl’s father because I hoped he was mine uncle the king and ‘I took thee for thy better’ and when said girl drowns both in her grief and literally I will not descend into her grave and fight with her brother about how I loved her more. I will also take away the tip that when someone who has dabbled or rather killed with poison tells you not to drink from a cup maybe consider not drinking from the cup. As to seeing your slain father’s ghost and planning to descend into madness in order to plan your revenge in solitude? You do you Boo.

[Recensioni in tre parole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vivaci. Argute. Ambigue.

[Maria Rosaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bello, oltre il tempo.

[Eleclyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tutto il teatro vol.1 contiene tutte le commedie scritte dal Bardo e alcuni drammi storici.
Di seguito potete trovare l'indice del volume, con un brevissimo commento accanto alle opere che ho letto.

• La tempesta - Asciutto, troppo semplice, e purtroppo non all'altezza delle mie aspettative.

• I due gentiluomini di Verona - L'amicizia a confronto con l'amore: quale dei due sentimenti è il più forte?

• Le allegre comari di Windsor - Una delle più allegre commedie di Shakespeare. Da leggere!

• Misura per misura - Un susseguirsi di travestimenti e intrighi ingarbugliati. Una commedia carina, ma niente di eccezionale.

• La commedia degli errori - Geniale ed esilarante questa commedia i cui protagonisti sono due coppie di gemelli.

• Molto rumore per nulla - Briosa e divertente, con formidabili duelli verbali tra i due protagonisti Beatrice e Benedetto.

• Pene d'amor perdute - Forse la meno riuscita delle commedie del Bardo.

• Sogno di una notte di mezza estate - Magica commedia in cui le vicende di quattro giovani amanti si intrecciano ai capricci dei folletti e delle fate.

• Il mercante di Venezia.

• Come vi piace - Commedia giocata in ambientazione pastorale, tra nobili in esilio e giovani che celano la propria identità.

• La bisbetica domata - Non una delle migliori opere scritte da Shakespeare, decisamente poco divertente per essere una commedia.

• Tutto è bene quel che finisce bene.

• La dodicesima notte - Un'altra commedia giocata sull'equivoco e sull'amore.

• Il racconto d'inverno.
• Enrico IV.
• Enrico V.
• Enrico VI.