To Be or Not to Be: Shakespeare's Soliloquies [Paperback]

William Shakespeare (Author), Michael Kerrigan (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: March 25, 2003

From the universally celebrated to the less well-known, from the tragic to the comic and the witty to the wise, the monologues of Shakespeare's characters provide some of the most thrilling and memorable moments in his plays. In this collection Michael Kerrigan presents a delightful sampling of Shakespeare's soliloquies, revealing the Bard's poetic genius in all of its range and richness. Here Shakespeare lovers, students, actors, and general readers will find some of the most profound and artfully phrased ruminations on life, death, love, vengeance, and more.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Kerrigan is a freelance writer and journalist. He was born in Liverpool, England, and educated at Oxford University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (March 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0146003772
• ISBN-13: 978-0146003776
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,799,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a merchant of some standing in his community. William probably went to the King's New School in Stratford, but he had no university education. In November 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was pregnant with their first child, Susanna. She was born on May 26, 1583. Twins, a boy, Hamnet ( who would die at age eleven), and a girl, Judith, were born in 1585. By 1592 Shakespeare had gone to London working as an actor and already known as a playwright. A rival dramatist, Robert Greene, referred to him as "an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers." Shakespeare became a principal shareholder and playwright of the successful acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later under James I, called the King's Men). In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain's Men built and occupied the Globe Theater in Southwark near the Thames River. Here many of Shakespeare's plays were performed by the most famous actors of his time, including Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare had a hand in others, including Sir Thomas More and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and he wrote poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. His 154 sonnets were published, probably without his authorization, in 1609. In 1611 or 1612 he gave up his lodgings in London and devoted more and more time to retirement in Stratford, though he continued writing such plays as The Tempest and Henry VII until about 1613. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. No collected edition of his plays was published during his life-time, but in 1623 two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, put together the great collection now called the First Folio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Marred by its layout, and possibly more, March 7, 2004

By 

tahl2 "tahl2" (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Be or Not to Be: Shakespeare's Soliloquies (Paperback)

If you want to study Shakespeare's construction of the soliloquy -- a speech in which one character speaks his thoughts aloud, "to himself" and not to any other character onstage -- then this book may serve you well. Every soliloquy given by every character, male and female, is here.

But Shakespeare's great one-character speeches are often not true soliloquies; they're delivered to another character onstage. (Think "Friends, Romans, countryment, lend me your ears" from Julius Caesar, or Portia's "The quality of mercy is not strained" from Merchant of Venice.) Because Kerrigan's book is limited to the soliloquy subcategory, none of these are here. Nor are any of the alone-on-stage speeches by non-characters, like the Chorus in Henry V ("Now entertain conjecture of a time . . . ).

The layout of the book is inconvenient for flipping through or for getting an overall mental picture of each speech. Presumably to save space -- it's an attractive, smaller-than-normal paperback -- the editor hasn't bothered to start each soliloquy on a new page.

If what you want is to read or to learn Shakespeare's great monologues -- not just the soliloquies -- I'd definitely recommend instead "Soliloquy! The Shakespeare Monologues: The Men" and the corresponding book for "The Women" (both edited by Michael Earley and Philippa Keil). Nice layout, good notes and brief commentaries, and many more of the striking speeches.