No Fear Shakespeare
35 total works
Why fear Shakespeare? By placing the words of the original play next to line-by-line translations in plain English, this popular guide makes Shakespeare accessible to everyone. And now it features expanded literature guide sections that help students study smarter.
The expanded sections include:
Five Key Questions: Five frequently asked questions about major moments and characters in the play.
What Does the Ending Mean?: Is the ending sad, celebratory, ironic . . . or ambivalent?
Plot Analysis: What is the play about? How is the story told, and what are the main themes? Why do the characters behave as they do?
Study Questions: Questions that guide students as they study for a test or write a paper.
Quotes by Theme: Quotes organized by Shakespeare’s main themes, such as love, death, tyranny, honor, and fate.
Quotes by Character: Quotes organized by the play’s main characters, along with interpretations of their meaning.
No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of The Taming of the Shrew on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.
Each No Fear Shakespeare contains:
- The complete text of the original play
- A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language
- A complete list of characters with descriptions
- Plenty of helpful commentary.
The beautiful and sharp-tongued Katherina has sworn never to accept the demands of any would-be husband. But when she is pursued by the wily Petruchio, it seems that she has finally met her match. As he meets her caustic words with capricious cruelty, Katherina is forced to reconsider her position, in one of the greatest and most controversial of all comic battles of the sexes.
No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Much Ado About Nothing on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.
Each No Fear Shakespeare contains:
- The complete text of the original play
- A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language
- A complete list of characters with descriptions
- Plenty of helpful commentary.
Shakespeare's famous work about the foolish ways people behave when they're in love.
No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Henry V on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.
Each No Fear Shakespeare contains:
- The complete text of the original play
- A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language
- A complete list of characters with descriptions
- Plenty of helpful commentary.
No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Henry IV Part One and Two on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.
Each No Fear Shakespeare contains:
- The complete text of the original play
- A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language
- A complete list of characters with descriptions
- Plenty of helpful commentary.
No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Hamlet on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.
Each No Fear Shakespeare contains:
- The complete text of the original play
- A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language
- A complete list of characters with descriptions
- Plenty of helpful commentary.
William Shakespeare's Hamlet follows the young prince home to Denmark to attend his father's funeral, where Hamlet is shocked to find his mother already remarried to his Uncle Claudius. And Hamlet is even more surprised when his father's ghost appears and declares that he was murdered. Exact dates are unknown, but scholars agree that Shakespeare published Hamlet between 1601 and 1603. Many believe that Hamlet is the best of Shakespeare's work, and the perfect play.
No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of The Merchant of Venice on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.
Each No Fear Shakespeare contains:
- The complete text of the original play
- A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language
- A complete list of characters with descriptions
- Plenty of helpful commentary.
Shakespeare's tragicomic drama of love, wealth, and justice that revolves around a Venetian moneylender's bargain with a young merchant for "a pound of flesh".
No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Julius Caesar on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.
Each No Fear Shakespeare contains:
- The complete text of the original play
- A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language
- A complete list of characters with descriptions
- Plenty of helpful commentary.
Rome's greatest general, Julius Caesar, returns to the city celebrating a glorious victory. But among the cheering crowds a group of conspirators are determined to prevent Caesar becoming king...
No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of A Midsummer Night's Dream on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.
Each No Fear Shakespeare contains:
- The complete text of the original play
- A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language
- A complete list of characters with descriptions
- Plenty of helpful commentary.
Demetrius and Lysander both want Hermia, but she only has eyes for Lysander. Bad news is, Hermia's father wants Demetrius for a son-in-law. On the outside is Helena, whose unreturned love burns for Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander plan to flee from the city under cover of darkness but are pursued by an enraged Demetrius (who is himself pursued by an enraptured Helena). In the forest, unbeknownst to the mortals, Oberon and Titania (King and Queen of the faeries) are having a spat over a servant boy. The plot twists when Oberon's head mischief-maker, Puck, runs loose with a flower which causes people to fall in love with the first thing they see upon waking. Throw in a group of labourers preparing a play for the Duke's wedding and the complications become fantastically funny.
No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of King Lear on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.
Each No Fear Shakespeare contains:
- The complete text of the original play
- A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language
- A complete list of characters with descriptions
- Plenty of helpful commentary.
Foolish and bad-tempered, King Lear divides his kingdom between his two wicked daughters and disowns his honest youngest daughter. As the kingdom falls apart and Lear's humiliation turns him mad, will he finally realise what he has done?
No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of The Tempest on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.
Each No Fear Shakespeare contains:
- The complete text of the original play
- A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language
- A complete list of characters with descriptions
- Plenty of helpful commentary.
In The Tempest, long considered one of Shakespeare's most lyrical plays, Prospero - a magician on an enchanted island - punishes his enemies, brings happiness to his daughter, and comes to terms with human use of supernatural power.
No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Othello on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.
Each No Fear Shakespeare contains:
- The complete text of the original play
- A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language
- A complete list of characters with descriptions
- Plenty of helpful commentary.
A tragic tale of jealousy and human frailty.
No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Romeo and Juliet on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.
Each No Fear Shakespeare contains:
- The complete text of the original play
- A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language
- A complete list of characters with descriptions
- Plenty of helpful commentary.
The famous tale of star-crossed lovers.
No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Twelfth Night on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.
Each No Fear Shakespeare contains:
- The complete text of the original play
- A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language
- A complete list of characters with descriptions
- Plenty of helpful commentary.
Set in a topsy-turvy world like a holiday revel, this comedy devises a romantic plot around separated twins, misplaced passions, and mistaken identity.
No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Macbeth on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.
Each No Fear Shakespeare contains:
- The complete text of the original play
- A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language
- A complete list of characters with descriptions
- Plenty of helpful commentary.
Shakespeare's classic tale of witches, murder, and madness.
"Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good."
Macbeth: IV.i 10-19; 35-38