What an exquisite edition of one of the greatest works in the Western canon. Armed with an authoritative editorial team, Professor Jonathan Bate has reworked all of Shakespeare's plays, as well as his poems. The footnotes are extensive and cover all meanings of words (including the more salacious ones that many school texts leave out), while also providing informative historical and contextual information.

This edition seeks to give us every word attributed to Shakespeare (although, as it points out at length, we can't really know what he wrote: all of our current versions come from a variety of sources typeset in his later years, and primarily from the First Folio printed after his death. Any work of the Bard's is distorted in some way). With appendices and footnotes, notable textual errors or areas of debate are highlighted.

There is so much to love here. Epic tragedies - Antony and Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, King Lear - joined by their lesser, but poetically affecting counterparts like Othello, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and Titus Andronicus. Shakespeare plays with and shuffles around comic tropes in his wide variety of comedies: peaks include The Comedy of Errors, Love's Labour's Lost, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Much Ado About Nothing.

In his more subdued romances, Shakespeare often seems reduced to more typical characters yet imbues than with layer upon layer of subtlety: Measure for Measure and The Winter's Tale are particularly splendid examples. Some of the tragedies and comedies aren't as startling, and some are challenging - such as his part-satire Troilus and Cressida - but every work brims with characters whose opinions, beliefs and motives are individual, and not simply echoing those of an author. Beyond these plays lies a staggering cycle of love poems in The Sonnets, as well as his other various poetry which always makes fascinating, lyrical reading.

Capping all this is Shakespeare's incredible cycle of English history, which details the country's fate from 1199 to 1533, through the stories of the English monarchs: their battles, their loves, their lives and the effect their squabbles have over countless citizens. The cycle begins with the somewhat talky King John (far from my favourite work, but well presented in the BBC Complete Works cycle) and ends with the autumnal King Henry VIII. In between are eight plays (two tetraologies) which encompass the Wars of the Roses, and they are astonishing. From the private thoughts of the monarch to the most unimportant peasant, Shakespeare captures an age.

The introductions on each play detail cultural successes over the centuries, as well as basic historical information. I've seen people suggest other aspects that could improve this - such as a suggestion of ways to double parts (this is defined as the "actor's edition"). Certainly, I can accept that, but as it stands this is already beyond a 5-star piece of work. A place of honour on my shelf, that's for sure. ( )

It's Shakespeare - what can I say?
I haven't read this volume all the way through, but have read many of the plays at one time or another.
Two-colums of text, no notes, illustrations look to be black-and-white copies of paintings from various artists.

Taped to the inside I put a Frank and Ernest cartoon: Nice speech, but you don't have that many friends -- you better add "Romans and Countrymen." ( )

Hamlet. Romeo and Juliet. Henry V. Macbeth. A Midsummer Night's Dream. King Lear. Julius Caesar. Othello.

FROM BARNES & NOBLE: Lovers of literature will immediately recognize these as signature works of William Shakespeare, whose plays still rank as the greatest dramas ever produced in the English language, four centuries after they were written. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare collects all 37 of the immortal Bard's comedies, tragedies, and historical plays in a collectible edition. This volume also features Shakespeare's complete poetry, including the sonnets. With this beautiful edition, you can enjoy Shakespeare's enduring literary legacy again and again. ( )

for stds. ( )

UPDATE REVIEW!
I have just read every Shakespeare play from this edition and than some. This has been a goal of mine for some time. Some plays I've read previously for various classes in high school and college, but there was a bit of his stuff I never read before and some stuff I didn't even realize that existed until picking up this book for a second time. I got this book n college and this was a pain in the ass to carry around campus, but in the long run, this book was worth getting. This is something won't ever get rid of and will use constantly.

Some Rereading Thoughts:
1. I still don't think Shakespeare is the best writer of all time. I feel like too many of his plays were written for higher people rather than what he possibly wanted to write instead. He possibly didn't have an education and sometimes I question what plays he even wrote or if they were written by someone else. His history plays I really don't care for and sometimes felt like they were for propaganda reasons. HOWEVER, regardless of my opinions, I still think Shakespeare is very important to read at least once in your life. Nearly every writer after him has quoted him, referenced him, or was inspired by him in some way. To read Shakespeare is to fully understand literature in someway.

2. I noticed there is a difference in tone with the Elizabethan plays and the Jacobean plays. The plays during Elizabeth's time felt like he was still trying everything out for the first time. There are a few favorites I have during this time, but I admit I like his plays during James better. During James, we see more strangeness and magic. I remember being taught James liked this and asked Shakespeare for more ghost and magic in the plays.

3. Is it possible every Shakespeare play is connected and in the same universe? There are several characters that appear in other plays and mentions of previous characters. His universe isn't our own though. Unlike our's, his is filled with ghost, magic, and the gods. Some of the history has been changed, but maybe for his universe it was meant for that change. I noticed too most of his plays mention the word "tempest" and what happens to be his last play? Okay, maybe I'm sounding like a crazy person right now, but this is what happened when I entered Shakespeare's world again.

My Top Ten Favorites:*
1. The Tempest
2. A Midsummer Night's Dream
3. Othello
4. Titus Andronicus
5. Macbeth
6. Twelfth Night
7. As You Like It
8. King Lear
9. Cymbeline
10. The Winter's Tale

Final Thoughts:
I plan on coming back to these plays and rereading them again. Going to reread Tempest to finish off my Shakespeare with a cherry on top, but I'm taking a long break afterwords. I enjoyed this a lot more without having to study these plays and writing an essay after every read. I could read them for fun instead. I did skip the a lot of the intros and footnotes and other material in this edition, but I might read those another time too. I've read every play, but I'm not sure it's possible for anyone to be completely done with Shakespeare. It's like he's Prospero and has magic powers...whoops, sounding like a crazy person again.

*If you want to know why I like those plays, most of them I wrote reviews for, but none of them are as long as this review though. ( )