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Three Great Plays of Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, King Lear
Penguin Readers, Level 4
Three of Shakespeare's great tragedies are contained in this volume. Romeo and Juliet are in love, but their families are enemies. In desperation, they marry in secret but tragedy unfolds! Macbeth is told that he will be King of Scotland -- the prophecy comes true but with what consequences? Humiliation and grief bring King Lear to the edge of madness after he decides to divide his Kingdom between his two eldest daughters.
Three of Shakespeare's great tragedies are contained in this volume. Romeo and Juliet are in love, but their families are enemies. In desperation, they marry in secret but tragedy unfolds! Macbeth is told that he will be King of Scotland -- the prophecy comes true but with what consequences? Humiliation and grief bring King Lear to the edge of madness after he decides to divide his Kingdom between his two eldest daughters.
63 pages, Paperback
Published January 22, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 3, 2020
Bhadra 18, 2077, Thursday
Three Great Plays of Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, King Lear - Karen Holmes (Retold by), William Shakespeare (2001)
[Penguin Readers Intermediate (Level 4)]
Genres: EnglishGradedReaders/ Fiction/ Adaptation/ Romance/ Tragedy
Pages: 63
Rating: 7/10
Themes:
Romeo and Juliet
The Abiding Quality of Romantic Love/ Individual vs. Society/ Violence/ The Overarching Power of Patriarchy/ The Theme of Death/ The Inevitability of Fate/ Marriage/ Ideological Divide Between the Young and the Old/ Revenge/ The Absurdity Underlying Family Feuds
Macbeth
Trust and Loyalty/ Guilt/ Innocence/ Fate/ Ambition/ Supernatural Elements/ Treachery and Betrayal/ Crime
King Lear
Old Age/ Authority and Order/ Disintegration, Chaos, Nothingness/ Fooling and Madness/ Blindness and Insight/ Family Relations/ Appearance and Reality
Opener:
“This is the story of the love of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo was the son of Lord Montague, the head of the Montague family. Juliet was the daughter of Lord Capulet.”
Summary:
Romeo and Juliet
In the Italian town of Verona, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, the son, and daughter of two rival families fall in love with each other. This will trigger off a chain of events that will lead to the lovers’ deaths.
Macbeth
In Scotland, noble Macbeth meets three witches who predict that he will become king. This prediction whets Macbeth’s ambition to such an extent that he ends up committing lots of murders that will lead to his downfall and death.
King Lear
In Britain, King Lear and the Earl of Gloucester disown the one child who loves them most and protect and benefit the ones whose outward demonstrations of love are motivated by greed. Unfortunately, both become aware of their mistakes too late.
Verdict:
The three great tragedies of Shakespeare. Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet were easy enough to follow. However, I still cannot get around to understanding what is happening in the bullet-paced King Lear, no matter how many times I read it. Too many characters to keep track of and just so many things happen simultaneously. I am surprised Hamlet was not included in this. Sans King Lear, which is just King Lear , the story comes through nicely.
Three Great Plays of Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, King Lear - Karen Holmes (Retold by), William Shakespeare (2001)
[Penguin Readers Intermediate (Level 4)]
Genres: EnglishGradedReaders/ Fiction/ Adaptation/ Romance/ Tragedy
Pages: 63
Rating: 7/10
Themes:
Romeo and Juliet
The Abiding Quality of Romantic Love/ Individual vs. Society/ Violence/ The Overarching Power of Patriarchy/ The Theme of Death/ The Inevitability of Fate/ Marriage/ Ideological Divide Between the Young and the Old/ Revenge/ The Absurdity Underlying Family Feuds
Macbeth
Trust and Loyalty/ Guilt/ Innocence/ Fate/ Ambition/ Supernatural Elements/ Treachery and Betrayal/ Crime
King Lear
Old Age/ Authority and Order/ Disintegration, Chaos, Nothingness/ Fooling and Madness/ Blindness and Insight/ Family Relations/ Appearance and Reality
Opener:
“This is the story of the love of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo was the son of Lord Montague, the head of the Montague family. Juliet was the daughter of Lord Capulet.”
Summary:
Romeo and Juliet
In the Italian town of Verona, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, the son, and daughter of two rival families fall in love with each other. This will trigger off a chain of events that will lead to the lovers’ deaths.
Macbeth
In Scotland, noble Macbeth meets three witches who predict that he will become king. This prediction whets Macbeth’s ambition to such an extent that he ends up committing lots of murders that will lead to his downfall and death.
King Lear
In Britain, King Lear and the Earl of Gloucester disown the one child who loves them most and protect and benefit the ones whose outward demonstrations of love are motivated by greed. Unfortunately, both become aware of their mistakes too late.
Verdict:
The three great tragedies of Shakespeare. Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet were easy enough to follow. However, I still cannot get around to understanding what is happening in the bullet-paced King Lear, no matter how many times I read it. Too many characters to keep track of and just so many things happen simultaneously. I am surprised Hamlet was not included in this. Sans King Lear, which is just King Lear , the story comes through nicely.
February 7, 2020
El nivel 4 (intermediate, 1700 palabras) de Penguin readers me ha parecido algo por encima que el mismo nivel de Macmillan. Bueno, son 300 palabras más, y también la dicción del audio no es tan precisa y clara, sino algo más cercana a la realidad.
Está leído en inglés británico, y Macbeth con acento escocés.
No sé si ha sido voluntario, pero cada obra me ha parecido un poquito más difícil que la anterior. Romeo & Juliet muy sencilla, Macbeth también, y King Lear con un par de expresiones de mayor dificultad. Solo sutilmente más difícil, pues las tres no dejan de ser lecturas cómodas.
Está leído en inglés británico, y Macbeth con acento escocés.
No sé si ha sido voluntario, pero cada obra me ha parecido un poquito más difícil que la anterior. Romeo & Juliet muy sencilla, Macbeth también, y King Lear con un par de expresiones de mayor dificultad. Solo sutilmente más difícil, pues las tres no dejan de ser lecturas cómodas.
August 1, 2022
Good for basic prose on some Shakespearean plays
July 13, 2024
Eu daria 3,75 mas não dá, af
October 8, 2012
- Penguin readers. Level 4
- Time: 70 minutes
- 7- word summary: Romeo Juliet fell in love but enemies
- Discussion questions
1. Romeo and Juliet fell in love with each other for the first sight. Do you believe in first-sight love?
Yes! It is very romantic and I think it happens sometimes. Maybe we can feel like a destiny in a first sight.
2. If you could not swear undying love with your lover because of a conflict between families, what would you do?
I would run away with my lover if I really really love him!
I liked 'Romeo and Juliet' very much. In this story, there are lots of phrases of love. I like to read romantic stories, so I liked this. There are some phrases I liked; "My lips are ready to touch your gentle hand with a kiss" by Romeo, "Oh, Romeo, Romeo, why is your name Romeo?" by Juliet.
- Time: 70 minutes
- 7- word summary: Romeo Juliet fell in love but enemies
- Discussion questions
1. Romeo and Juliet fell in love with each other for the first sight. Do you believe in first-sight love?
Yes! It is very romantic and I think it happens sometimes. Maybe we can feel like a destiny in a first sight.
2. If you could not swear undying love with your lover because of a conflict between families, what would you do?
I would run away with my lover if I really really love him!
I liked 'Romeo and Juliet' very much. In this story, there are lots of phrases of love. I like to read romantic stories, so I liked this. There are some phrases I liked; "My lips are ready to touch your gentle hand with a kiss" by Romeo, "Oh, Romeo, Romeo, why is your name Romeo?" by Juliet.
June 10, 2013
90 minutes
I could enjoy reading this book, because the three stories are very interesting and exciting for me to read.
7 words: plays, story, royalty, desire, kill, death, tragedy
Q1:If you were a king, what would you like to do?
A1:I want to build and live in a castle and hold splendid party.
Q2:Which do you like better, a story with a happy ending or tragedy?
A2:Of course, I like a story with a happy ending, but I like to read a tragedy, because I want to know the joys and sorrows of life.
I could enjoy reading this book, because the three stories are very interesting and exciting for me to read.
7 words: plays, story, royalty, desire, kill, death, tragedy
Q1:If you were a king, what would you like to do?
A1:I want to build and live in a castle and hold splendid party.
Q2:Which do you like better, a story with a happy ending or tragedy?
A2:Of course, I like a story with a happy ending, but I like to read a tragedy, because I want to know the joys and sorrows of life.
June 25, 2011
the best story is "King Lear" it's like all the other stories in this book has sad end but it was exciting also.
Read
August 6, 2011I'm glad to have read Shakespeare's famous stories in simple English. I only knew "Romeo and Juliet," but not the other two. What a tragedy! Many people dies in those stories!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews