Catalog Search Results
Author
Language
English
Description
First performed in 1905 and published in 1907, "Major Barbara" is a dramatic play by the famed Irish playwright and activist George Bernard Shaw. The story centers around its title character who, as an officer in the Salvation Army, becomes disenchanted by the increasing social problems that she sees and the willingness of her organization to accept money from armament manufacturers. Barbara is disillusioned about the good work the Salvation Army...
Author
Language
English
Description
Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. It was originally classified as a comedy, but is now also classified as one of Shakespeare's problem plays.
The play deals with the issues of mercy, justice, truth and their relationship to pride and humility: "Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall."
In it, a duke temporarily removes himself from governing his city-state, deputizing a member...
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
First performed in 1773, "She Stoops to Conquer" is the timeless comedic drama by Anglo-Irish author Oliver Goldsmith. The play depicts the story of Charles Marlow, a wealthy young man who is promised in marriage to a woman, Kate Hardcastle that he has never met. While he is eager to meet her and is travelling to her home with his friend, George Hastings, Charles is quite shy in the company of women of wealth. He prefers those of a lower class and...
Author
Series
Publisher
Duke Classics
Language
English
Formats
Description
First performed in 1895, "An Ideal Husband" is Oscar Wilde's classic and much-loved comedic drama. The play tells the story of an up-and-coming politician, Sir Robert Chiltern, who tries to hide his secret past from his judgmental wife and the blackmail scheme he is forced to participate in to keep that secret quiet. Lady Chiltern has a very particular idea of what makes the "ideal husband" which leaves her with little tolerance for Sir Robert's all...
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
All's Well That Ends Well (1607) is a comedy by William Shakespeare. All's Well That Ends Well was likely inspired by the tale of Giletta di Narbona from Boccaccio's Decameron. Unpopular during Shakespeare's lifetime, the play remains one of his least staged works to this day. Despite this, scholars praise All's Well That Ends Well for its moral ambiguity. "The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together, our virtues would be proud...
Author
Publisher
Duke Classics
Pub. Date
2013
Language
English
Formats
Description
Gerald Arbuthnot receives a promotion from Lord Illingworth, a worldly politician who has a sordid history of women, one of whom is Gerald's widowed mother. When their connection is revealed, the young man questions his past, present and future aspirations.
A Woman of No Importance opens with a high-class party featuring a group of society's most illustrious citizens. In the midst of the event, Gerald Arbuthnot enters and announces his new position...
7) Cymbeline
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
Performed as early as 1611 and published in the "First Folio" in 1623, Shakespeare's "Cymbeline" weaves an elaborate tale of palatial envy and power in Ancient Britain. Cymbeline, King of Britain, commands that his lovely young daughter Imogen marry Cloten, the violent and callous son of the current Queen by her former husband. With her heart already promised to the poor yet heroic Posthumus, Imogen refuses. Disgusted at the prospect of his daughter...
8) Richard III
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
In this magnificent historical adventure, William Shakespeare presents a story on the rise to power and subsequent short reign of King Richard III of England. Malicious, power-hungry, and bitter, Richard aspires to the throne. The trail of cold-blooded murder starts in the midst of deception and political manipulation, but will Richard be able to stay in control in his ruthless strategies for ultimate power? This historical fiction set in England...
9) Henry VIII
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
"Henry VIII" is one of the last plays by William Shakespeare and is considered to be among his finest historical dramas. The play was likely written sometime between the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603 and the burning of the original Globe Theatre in 1613, as "Henry VIII" was being performed the night of the fire when a canon shot for special effects set the theatre's thatched roof alight. The play appeared in print for the first time in the "First...
Author
Language
English
Description
Ferdinand, the King of Navarre, and his three noble companions, the Lords Berowne, Dumaine and Longaville, make a pact. For the next three years, they will focus on their studies while giving up wine, partying and the company of women. To make sure nobody is tempted to stray, Ferdinand bans women from his court. But, as they say, the best-laid plans don’t always work out as intended.
Soon after, a French princess and her ladies arrive in Navarre...
11) Timon of Athens
Author
Language
English
Description
Timon is a wealthy and popular man in Athens who freely shares his wealth with others. He is generous to his friends and often pays off other people’s debts, throws lavish parties and bestows gifts. His willingness to share his wealth is known everywhere. While his friends warn him about the motives of those that benefit from this generosity, Timon firmly believes that everyone will always have his back.
Eventually, Timon finds out that he’s...
12) Coriolanus
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
Shakespeare's tragic drama about a Roman general tested by rioting, war, rejection-and his own all-consuming anger.
Enraged by the withholding of food, the common people of the Roman Republic are rebelling against the elite. In this battle between plebeians and patricians, Caius Marcius has little patience for those he considers beneath him and his family.
After his military victory in the city of Corioli, Marcius is given the nickname Coriolanus...
13) King John
Author
Language
English
Description
First published in the "First Folio" in 1623 and likely written in the 1590s, "King John" is one of William Shakespeare's best historical plays. It centers on the events of King John's reign of England during the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. King John, son of Henry I of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, inherits the throne after the death of his older brother, King Richard I. John's claim to the throne is challenged by the King of...
Author
Language
English
Description
The young Trojan prince Troilus falls in love with Cressida, daughter of a Trojan priest. With the Trojan War raging around them, the young couple professes their undying love for each other.
But soon after Cressida is exchanged for a Trojan prisoner and is sent to the Greeks.
Dealing with their fates the young lovers bond is tested as the war between the two sides continues. Both Greeks and Trojans face challenges, personality clashes and pride...
15) The Sonnets
Author
Publisher
Caedmon
Pub. Date
2003
Language
English
Description
First published in 1609, "The Sonnets" of William Shakespeare are a collection of 154 loosely connected 14 line poems. Considered by many to be among some of the greatest love poetry ever written much debate surrounds the context of the poetry. It has been suggested that the work may be semi-autobiographical but no real evidence firmly supports this notion. The themes of the poems contained within this volume are varied and include such subjects as...
Author
Series
Language
English
Formats
Description
The Taming of the Shrew (1592) is a comedy by William Shakespeare. Written between 1590 and 1592, The Taming of the Shrew is one of Shakespeare's earliest works. Frequently critiqued by scholars for its demeaning portrayal of Katherina and for Petruchio's violence, the play has also been considered as an ironic treatment of the inequality experienced by women in marriage. The Taming of the Shrew has served as source material for countless film and...
Author
Language
English
Description
Jack Worthington is an upstanding gentleman in Victorian society. He just has one secret-he tells everyone that he has a brother named Earnest, when, in reality, Earnest is his alter ego. This allows him a certain duality; he can go out and party as Earnest, but have a sterling reputation as Jack. However, he must merge the two when Jack discovers that his lover, Gwendolyn, will only marry a man named Earnest. Meanwhile, Algernon, a family friend,...
18) Titus Andronicus
Author
Language
English
Description
The great Roman general, Titus Andronicus, returns home after fighting Rome’s enemies for the last 10 years. He brings along his captives, Tamora, Queen of the Goths, her three sons and Aaron the Moor.
Having lost 21 of his 25 sons in the conflict, Titus decides to sacrifice one of Tamora’s sons, following Roman customs. He then offers Tamora as a slave to the new Roman emperor, Saturninus.
Meanwhile, Saturninus promises Titus to make his daughter...
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
Antony and Cleopatra (1607) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. Inspired by Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives-a series of biographies on influential figures of the ancient world-Shakespeare wrote Antony and Cleopatra sometime between 1599 and 1601. Often considered a sequel of sorts to his earlier play Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra has served as source material for countless film and television adaptations. "Let Rome in Tiber melt,...
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
Classic Books Library presents this new beautiful edition of William Shakespeare's play, "Pericles, Prince of Tyre", featuring a specially commissioned new biography of William Shakespeare. In "Pericles", a father loses his wife, who dies at sea during childbirth. Upon land, Pericles entrusts his new-born daughter, Marina, to the Governor of Tarsus and his wife. Fourteen years later, Marina escapes a deadly plan, devised by the jealous Governor's...
Didn't find it?
Can't find what you are looking for? Try our Materials Request Service. Submit Request