Product Description

The Oxford School Shakespeare is a well-established series which helps students understand and enjoy Shakespeare's plays. As well as the complete and unabridged text, each play in this series has an extensive range of students' notes. These include detailed and clear explanations of difficult words and passages, a synopsis of the plot, summaries of individual scenes, and notes on the main characters. Also included is a wide range of questions and activities for work in class, together with the historical background to Shakespeare's England, a brief biography of Shakespeare, and a complete list of his plays. Roma Gill, the series editor, has taught Shakespeare at all levels. She has acted in and directed Shakespeare's plays, and has lectured on Shakespeare all over the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15984 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Customer Reviews

Inimitable
I like these Oxford Playscripts for the accompanying illustrations, layout, activities at the back and detailed notes. Superb.

An unlikely breath of fresh air!
As unusual as it may be to say this, as I'm sure the view of Shakespeare as a somewhat stuffy, complicated and simply "too difficult" playwrite still holds true amongst some, "Antony and Cleopatra" came as an exciting, immersing and ultimately joyous breath of fresh air amongst the rest of my AS-Level English Literature texts.
I do not profess to be a true authority on Shakespeare's works, but I do, however, profess to be a lover of the works that I do know, a fact which I believe goes some way to making up for my relative lack of knowledge!
It seems that I am instinctively drawn towards the tragedies, through a desire to be plunged in to a world of drama, excitement and passion which todays world seems to sadly lack. That was what I wanted from this play, and I can safely say that it is certainly what I got.
Shakespeare's use of beautiful, poetic language and a relatively simple plot is hugely effective in creating and describing atmospheric settings, be they battle scenes or declarations of love, as well as the characters themselves. Various facets of each character are revealed, allowing the reader(or of course, the audience)to understand particular motivations and desires.
"Antony and Cleopatra" doesn't provide the reader with an obvious hero or heroine, but instead provides them with a array of characters, who could potentially all be seen to emerge victorious.
The satisfaction of this play, for me, lies not in its hyperbolic blank verse, but rather in its moments of simplicity which, in my opinion serve to create some of the most dramatic moments and images. Simple quotes, such as Caesar's "The time of universal peace is near" left me in awe of a rather unlikely awe-inspiring character, and being able to open my copy at any scene and be immersed in ancient Rome, or perched on the banks of the Nile made both the reading and viewing and subsequent study of this play an absolute pleasure!