Review (PDF) Hamlet: The Texts Of 1603 And 1623: Third Series (Arden Shakespeare)
This text is designed as a supplement to the Arden Hamlet and refers to the Introduction and Appendices of that volume for a full discussion of dating, sources, textual matters, afterlife, and all other topics usually covered in an Arden edition. In order to make use of this volume, the reader will need access to the Arden Hamlet (but not vice versa).This volume gives readers the First Quarto text of 1603 and the Folio Text of 1623, modernized and edited to the usual Arden standard. As a companion to the Second Quarto volume, the Arden Hamlet, it will be of particular interest to scholars and students of textual history and comparison, or to anyone studying Hamlet at an advanced level. Both plays are edited and annotated, and the introduction contains the fullest available stage history of the First Quarto text. The Arden Shakespeare has developed a reputation as the pre-eminent critical edition of Shakespeare for its exceptional scholarship, reflected in the thoroughness of each volume. An introduction comprehensively contextualizes the play, chronicling the history and culture that surrounded and influenced Shakespeare at the time of its writing and performance, and closely surveying critical approaches to the work. Detailed appendices address problems like dating and casting, and analyze the differing Quarto and Folio sources. A full commentary by one or more of the play's foremost contemporary scholars illuminates the text, glossing unfamiliar terms and drawing from an abundance of research and expertise to explain allusions and significant background information. Highly informative and accessible, Arden offers the fullest experience of Shakespeare available to a reader.
Series: Arden Shakespeare (Book 3)
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare; 3 edition (January 15, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1904271804
ISBN-13: 978-1904271802
Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.8 x 7.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (710 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #269,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #183 in Books > Literature & Fiction > British & Irish > Shakespeare > Literary Criticism #449 in Books > Literature & Fiction > British & Irish > Shakespeare > Works #451 in Books > Literature & Fiction > British & Irish > Dramas & Plays
I cannot more highly recommend this particular book, No Fear Shakespeare's Hamlet.I am approaching 50 years old and my only real experience trying to read Shakespeare was in high school where we were assigned roles in class and made to read, without comprehension, Romeo and Juliet and Julius Cesar. In the interim, I tried watching a few plays and dragged my kids to see the play Taming of the Shrew, which they hated because they couldn't understand the language nor the plot. Rather than becoming a Shakespeare hater, I've always felt inadequate and dumb for this huge hole in my education.My current inspiration to try Shakespeare again was my desire to try and help my high school aged son become more educated and cultured than I have been.I tried first with the Folger annotated editions of Shakespeare. They look excellent and define the unfamiliar words, but I still could not make sense of a substantial portion of the dialogue. I guess maybe I'm just dumb, I don't know.Anyway, I saw good reviews about this No Fear series, and I ordered several. So far I have read the modern English translations of Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, and The Tempest. While I feel a bit like I'm 'cheating', I actually have really enjoyed all the plays and at least now I know the plots and the characters and even some of the more subtle themes. I can't answer the complaints that the translations don't adequately translate Shakespeare's meanings. There are a few side notes that point out double meanings and things like that, though there are not extensive footnotes or sidenotes.
I find this very interesting, at least one of the reviewers who gave such a low review not only reviewed this book, but every other book in this Ignatius Critical Series edit by Joseph Peace. In each one, he gives only one star, basially saying the book is a waste of time and money.Something is rotten in the state of Denmark!Why would someone, keep on reading all the books in this series, and then say that reading them is a waste of time? It just does not make sense! Not only that, but the majority of the book is giving nothing but the text of Hamlet. How can any true fan of Shakespeare give that one star. Just the text of Hamlet alone would make it at least 2 stars.So it seems to me that there are some here who have a hidden agenda of not wanting me to read this book - not because of its allegedly poor literary value. So the more they protested, the more I was intrigued.So I got the book, and I am so glad I did! For the first time, Hamlet came alive to me. The footnotes were enough to hep be understand the arachaic phrases, but I was not overwhelmed with them. The editor wanted Shakespear to speak for himself. None of the footnotes tried to persuade you to their interpretations. That was left to the commentaries after you read the Hamlet story.The commentaries were extremely insightful, looking at Hamlet from a Catholic perspective. And why not? Other commentaries look at Hamlet from a modernist or a feminist perspective. Why not from a Catholic perspective? Again, I do not understand these one-star critics. If they were really fans of Shakespeare, they would be happy to see a book like this that would broaden Shakespeare's audience.
Hamlet: The Texts of 1603 and 1623: Third Series (Arden Shakespeare) Hamlet (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series) Hamlet: Oxford School Shakespeare (Oxford School Shakespeare Series) Romeo And Juliet: Third Series (Arden Shakespeare) Antony and Cleopatra (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series) Macbeth: Third Series (Arden Shakespeare) King Henry IV Part 2: Third Series (Arden Shakespeare) King Henry V (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series) King Henry IV, Part 1 (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series) (Pt. 1) Othello (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series) Othello: Revised Edition (The Arden Shakespeare Third Series) King Lear (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series) The Winter's Tale: Third Series (Arden Shakespeare) The Merchant of Venice: Third Series (Arden Shakespeare) Third Eye: Awakening Your Third Eye Chakra: Beginner's Guide (Third Eye, Third Eye Chakra, Third Eye Awakening, Chakras) Third Eye: Third Eye Activation Secrets (Third Eye Awakening, Pineal Gland, Third Eye Chakra, Open Third Eye) A Midsummer Night's Dream (Arden Shakespeare: Second Series) Shakespeare and the Victorians: Arden Critical Companions The Tempest (Arden Shakespeare) Books of Breathing and Related Texts -Late Egyptian Religious Texts in the British Museum Vol.1 (Catalogue of the Books of the Dead and Other Religious Texts in the British Museum)
