The Necessary Shakespeare

by William Shakespeare and David Bevington

Book Overview

For courses in Shakespeare. Distills the best, most widely read and produced of Shakespeare's great plays In one compact paperback, The Necessary Shakespeare showcases Shakespeare's proficiency... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0321272501
• ISBN13: 9780321272508
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: Longman Publishing Group
• Length: 896 Pages
• Weight: 3.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 7.9" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Portable... and Dangerous

I worked out of the Bevington Shakespeare back in the nineties, before the Necessary edition was released, and let me tell you, this edition is more manageable, the paper quality higher (no onion skin here), and many of the introductions have been updated and expanded. If you're unfamiliar with the Bevington Shakespeare, you'll be impressed with the historical information included, not to mention sections on language usage. This series is one of the best out there.

Don't Believe the Naysayers

This compilation is the best I have yet seen for general to intermediate level Shakespeare studies. The editions of the plays are strong, with copious and clear annotations. Introduction to the works are up-to-date and give a solid overview of the various critical views and responses to the plays and poetry. The general introductions covering life in Tudor and Jacobean England is unusually thorough. Illustrations are clear and helpful. The drawback to this particular collection can also be considered a strength. Few undergraduate Shakespeare courses will cover the plays deleted here. Bevington concentrates on the 70% of Shakespeare's works that have elicited (at least) 95% of commentary and discussion, keeping the physical size of this edition within reason. There is a move by certain admirers of David Allen White, a noted Shakespearean scholar, to dismiss the Shakespeare compilations edited by David Bevington. With respect to Dr. White, these reviews are neither fair nor accurate. The critical viewpoints that Dr. White--a man of strongly conservative Religious beliefs--disagrees with (White refers to Queer Theory and several other modern critical beliefs as "perverse") are not foregrounded in Bevington's introductions. These viewpoints are mentioned along with other commentary and definitions, as they should be in any work that wishes to provide clear context for the changes in criticism that have occurred over time. With clear overviews of Shakespeare's works, and literary and historical commentary that provides a solid contextual background for his writings, this edition is top notch. I will continue to use it in my courses.

Nice Shakespearan collection

Contains all the essential plays in an accesible manner. Good book and not as bulky as some.

More Politically Correct?

This is an excellent alternative to THE COMPLETE SHAKESPEARE edited by Bevington. It has all the major plays that are likely to be taught in a college course, except for Henry IV part 2. The footnotes are easily accessible, and will answer almost any question you have about Shakespeare's language, while remaining concise and not overlong and pedantic. The introductions are marvelous, discussing the most important issues of interpretation, as well as the critical history and stage and even recent movie versions. The general introductory essays are also wonderful, introducing students to Shakespeare's life and time, the historical, social, and political context, as well as the drama and theater of the era. There are also some nice color illustrations from Renaissance England. The "introductions" to individual plays in this edition have been revised and updated, in part because, Bevington explains, "Introductory essays need to be open to recent as well as more traditional critical approaches." Readers might well be afeared that Bevington has revised his introductions to be more "politically correct," as the review below suggests. I decided to test this hypothesis by comparing and contrasting 4 revised introductions with the originals. 12th Night: Bevington's revised introduction gives more attention to possible homosexual suggestions in the play, and "the socially constructed nature of sexual difference" (192). Yet even in the discussion of a possible homosexual love between Sebastian and Antonio, Bevington warns us that "expressions of warmth between men seem to have been more common in Elizabethan times than today" (192). Homophobia is a modern fear. Bevington's revisions in this case actually seem completely justified and balanced. The revised Hamlet introduction adds a valuable discussion of recent stage and film versions, but is otherwise the same. Macbeth adds a substantial and valuable paragraph on the contemporary English political context of the play, and a discussion of stage and film versions. Tempest, a new paragraph on Shakespeare's language, and a discussion of stage and film versions. Based on these four examples, I would conclude that Bevington's revisions here add substantially to the value of this edition, and do NOT succumb to the imperatives of political correctness or post-modernism. Buy this edition if you're on a budget, or THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE, also edited by Bevington, if you can afford it. They are the best!

Shakespeare's Greatest Hits

I always thought it was wasteful of English professors to make students buy a Complete Shakespeare when only half of the plays (at most) were studied. "The Necessary Shakespeare" provides a sensible alternative: the 20 most-often studied plays, all the sonnets, and all the critical apparatus you could want. It even has an index to characters, which you don't often see. Highly recommended.