Central Kansas Library System

It is part of Shakespeare's extraordinary contribution to our culture that, through his dramas based on English history, he played a unique part in forming our view of ourselves and our nationhood. From King John, in which through Magna Carta the king's absolute power was first limited and the people's freedoms assured, to--almost in his own lifetime--Henry VIII, Shakespeare wrote a series of ten plays portraying the course of history. It represents...

Honor and Shame, One of Shakespeare's very best plays. This hilarious romp is both engaging and entertaining. Hero is engaged to marry Claudio, but Don John plots to make Hero look unfaithful. Claudio denounces Hero on the altar and storms out. Hero's father wishes for her death, but instead the presiding Friar intervenes, fakes Hero's death and with the help of the terribly inept local watch the truth is discovered. Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no...

There have been thousands of books written about William Shakespeare in the last four hundred years. But very few about his formative years in Stratford, upon, Avon in Warwickshire. His date of birth in 1564 is known from the parish records of The Holy Trinity Church in Stratford as are the births of his daughter Elizabeth in 1583, his twins Hamnet and Judith in 1585 and his burial in 1616. In the Worcester Cathedral Diocese records, there is an entry...

Originally published in the First Folio of 1623, William Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale" is a play which has been classified by some critics as a comedy and by others as a romance. The confusion arises out of the fact that the first three acts are filled with intense psychological drama while the last two acts provide a comedic and happy ending. At the outset of the play we are introduced to two childhood friends, Leontes, King of Sicilia, and Polixenes,...

In ancient Britain during the reign of King Cymbeline, Imogen, daughter to the king, dares to fall in love with a talented young nobleman named Posthumus. But when the king discovers that the couple has secretly married, he banishes Posthumus, and the two lovers must struggle against the power of the king and other status-seeking members of the court to preserve their love. Known as "The Bard of Avon," William Shakespeare is arguably the greatest...

Othello, a Moorish captain, secretly falls in love with and marries Desdemona, the daughter of a Venetian nobleman. While the two live happily at first, a spurned suitor of Desdemona's and Iago, an ambitious officer under Othello's command, plan to tear the couple apart out of revenge for perceived slights suffered at their hands. Known as "The Bard of Avon," William Shakespeare is arguably the greatest English-language writer known. Enormously popular...

Widely accepted as Shakespeare's earliest tragedy, "Titus Andronicus" is the bloody story of a Roman general engaged in terrible revenge with the Queen of the Goths, Tamora. The play begins with Titus returning to Rome after ten years of fighting. He brings with him the defeated Tamora, Queen of the Goths, and her sons. Titus sacrifices one of Tamora's sons to avenge the sons he lost in the war, which begins a cycle of revenge in which Tamora and...

Originally published in the First Folio of 1623, "Measure for Measure" is William Shakespeare's play which was likely written sometime in 1603 or 1604. The play begins with Vincentio, the Duke of Vienna, who leaves the government in charge of the authoritarian justice, Angelo, when he departs the city on a diplomatic mission. Lord Angelo believes that there is too much debauchery in the city and seeks to more strictly enforce laws against certain...

The Passionate Pilgrim is a collection of poems and sonnets that were attributed to William Shakespeare upon their publication, though it is unclear which of them were truly written by the bard. Three of the poems contained in The Passionate Pilgrim were originally written for Shakespeare's play Love's Labour's Lost. Known as "The Bard of Avon," William Shakespeare is arguably the greatest English-language writer known. Enormously popular during his...

Mercy and Justice- Measure for Measure is a play that balances Mercy against Justice and pride against humility. Vincentio, the Duke of Vienna, tells his people that he is leaving on a diplomatic mission and will leave the city in the care of a judge, Angelo. But, the Duke does not leave, he disguises himself and see how his fair city is run in his absence. No ceremony that to great ones 'longs, Not the king's crown, nor the deputed sword, The marshal's...