Romances: Introduction by Tony Tanner

By William Shakespeare

Book Overview

William Shakespeare's last four plays carry us across space and time--from classical antiquity to Roman Britain to pagan Sicily to a remote island--and they move as well into a wilder geography of the imagination, one dominated by the wondrous and fantastical, and by reconciliation and renewal. Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest are famously fraught with shipwrecks and adventures, magic and disguise, speaking statues and ethereal spirits, tragic deceptions and moving reunions, and they number among the most enduringly delightful of Shakespeare's works. The texts of the plays, authoritatively edited by Sylvan Barnet, are supplemented here with textual notes, a bibliography, a detailed chronology of Shakespeare's life and times, and a substantial introduction in which acclaimed scholar Tony Tanner discusses each play individually and in the context of Shakespeare's oeuvre.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067945487X
• ISBN13: 9780679454878
• Release Date: April 1997
• Publisher: Everyman's Library
• Length: 656 Pages
• Weight: 1.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Very readable

A good collection to have. It seems as if people have the basic Shakespearean tales, but these are some of his best and many people don't know about them. They are easy to read - uncumbersome. Wonderful for the classroom.

Shakespeare's Romantic Fairy Tales

This edition includes Pericles, a prince who solves a riddle given by a king and is pursued because he discovers a terrible secret; Cymbeline, a story about Rome battling England with the memorable heroine, Imogen, and her jealous husband Posthumous. Happy Ending, but Imogen deserves better; Winter's Tale tells the story of incredibly Jealous husband Leontes and his suffering wife/heroine Hermione. A fairy tale to be told on a Winter's Eve; Tempest, a story of an exiled Magician who lives on an island with a fairy, Ariel, his daughter, Miranda, and a beast called Caliban.All these stories are entertaining fairy tales with romantic themes. Highly recommended.

Great bindings and commentaries

We all know about Shakespeare, so a review of his writing is not required. However, I would like to say that the Everyman's Library series are worth getting. Unlike omnibus editions (such as the Riverside Shakespeare), these are actually portable so you don't need a table to hold them up while you are reading. The Everyman's Library series have good hardbindings, are conveniently sized to carry around, and have illuminating and extensive introductions. The typeface used is old, but the letters are large and easily readable (something that is a concern with some other editions).Romances contains: Pericles; Cymbeline; The Winter's Tale; The Tempest