Publisher Description
William Shakespeare, long hailed as the history's greatest dramatic writer, has been lauded for his mastery of poetic expression, his insight into the human condition and his deep exploration into the psyche and motivations of his characters. These skills are perhaps best exemplified in the monologues he gives his various protagonists, villains and bit players. From King Henry V's inspiring speech to his soldiers on the field of Agincourt to the villainous Merchant of Venice Shylock defending his own cruelty, to the shepherdess Phebe from "As You Like It" grappling with her sudden attraction to a young courtier, to Nick Bottom from "A Midsummer Night's Dream," awaking from the strangest dream in history, Shakespeare's monologues are short distillations of his larger themes - love and loss, fairness and inequity, power and envy, lust and purity. Fort Raphael Publishing is proud to present - in this complete volume - the best of Shakespeare's greatest monologues, each of which captures a shining, brilliant moment from his plays that gives us a deeper understanding of each character, whether flattering, damning or inspiring. Enjoy this collection of monologues from the greatest theatrical writer in the English language - William Shakespeare - performed by some of the finest classical actors in the business.
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About William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (1564–1616), English poet and dramatist of the Elizabethan and early Jacobean period, is the most widely known author in all of English literature and often considered the greatest. He was an active member of a theater company for at least twenty years, during which time he wrote many great plays. Plays were not prized as literature at the time and Shakespeare was not widely read until the middle of the eighteenth century, when a great upsurge of interest in his works began that continues today.
About the Narrators
Mark Richard was born in
Manhattan and grew up surrounded by potato fields, clams, and bluefish on
eastern Long Island. After a year at the University of Freiburg in Germany with
brief sojourns in Rome, Paris, and Lille, he returned to the United States and became
a substitute teacher in the Boston Public School system. Shortly thereafter,
while at UMass-Amherst, meaning to study political philosophy, he was seduced
by the philosophy of language and linguistics. He was a professor in the
philosophy department at Harvard before attaining his current position as
professor and chair of philosophy at Tufts University.
Jeff Cummings, as an audiobook narrator, has won both an Earphones Award and the prestigious Audie Award in 2015 for Best Narration in Science and Technology. He is also a twenty-year veteran of the stage, having worked at many regional theaters across the country, from A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle and the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta to the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City and the International Mystery Writers’ Festival in Owensboro, Kentucky. He also spent seven seasons with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
David Blixt is an author of historical fiction, whose works have been named an Editor’s Choice fy the Historical Novel Society and been a finalist for the M. M. Bennetts Award for Historical Fiction. His novels, which span the Roman Empire and early Renaissance Italy to England’s Elizabethan era, combine a love of the theater with a deep respect for the quirks and passions of history.
Zondervan, part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, is a
world leading Bible publisher and provider of Christian communications. For
more than eighty years, Zondervan has delivered transformational Christian
experiences through its bestselling Bibles, books, curriculum, academic
resources, and digital products. The company’s products are sold in multiple formats,
worldwide in more than sixty countries, and translated into nearly two hundred
languages.