Romeo and Juliet (Folger Shakespeare Library) [Mass Market Paperback]

William Shakespeare (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 23, 2003 | Series: Folger Shakespeare Library

Each edition includes:

• Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
• Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play
• Scene-by-scene plot summaries
• A key to famous lines and phrases
• An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language
• An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
• Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit www.folger.edu.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-Skillfully read by Claire Higgins, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet will hold listeners spellbound as they become involved in the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues and in Romeo and Juliet's plight of love. Higgins' reading is very natural, and her voice is exceedingly pleasant to listen to. The cassette includes a plot summary, an introduction to Shakespeare by Leon Garfield, as well as supplementary information about Shakespeare and his writings by Dr. Rex Gibson, all read by Simon Russell Beale. This additional information is very worthwhile and will increase the listener's understanding of Shakespeare and why he continues to be important in literature. Peter Hutchins arranged the period background music. The technical qualities are excellent, and the teaching objectives are met. This program is appropriate for individual or group listening, and the additional information will provide an excellent springboard for discussion. A superior acquisition for both public and school libraries with audio collections.
Kathy Dummer, Newcastle Middle School, WY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"We can more easily decide between Shakespear and any other author, than between him and himself. Shall we quote any more passages to shew his genius or the beauty of Romeo and Juliet? At that rate, we might quote the whole." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 2004 edition (December 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743477111
• ISBN-13: 978-0743477116
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (265 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,125 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #26 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Drama > British & Irish

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Immortal Story Presented So Anyone Can Understand The Vocabulary December 4, 2006

By John Boland

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Of course this is an immortal story that has been read for centuries and at least one beautiful motion picture has been based on it. But, I guess I'm a "dunce" because I never could understand much of the dialogue. "What he say?" was my reaction to much of it. But, I discovered these Folger Shakespeare Library editions that have the dialogue as written by Shakespeare in Elizabethan English on the right side of the page and the "translations" and explanations on the left. Wow! That format makes it very easy to enjoy this book without going to a dictionary every 90 seconds or so! And, for teachers, I think they'll be overjoyed when they see the positive results they could get in class! If you have any opinions about this edition please email boland7214@aol.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Kindle Version June 17, 2012

By MsEnglishTeacher

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am a high school English teacher looking at the different versions of classics texts available for Kindle (fire), so my review will not be for the play itself, but rather for the eBook--readability, layout, price, and other features.

This version of Romeo and Juliet is my favorite 99 cent version for several reasons. First, there are links to each act and scene. Next, the page layout is clean and easy to read with spaces between each speaker. Finally, the line formatting is in the correct iambic pentameter format, though there are no line numbers. There are no annotations or explanations, but none of the good 99 cent versions provide that either. Bottom line, easy to use!

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Romeo & Juliet - Dover Thrift Edition October 28, 2000

By Lauren

Format:Paperback

For the cost of ..., you can own a copy of the world's greatestlove story: Romeo & Juliet. Made possible to own ... by the DoverThrift Edition line of books, this edition of Romeo & Juliet iscomplete and unabridged. Use this copy for your performance of theplay, for an English class when you have to buy (or want to buy) abook to have of your own to highlight and annotate as you wish, orsimply to read at your own leisure. The only downside of this editionis that there are no notes of any kind, so you have to throroughlyknow the play itself. Outside of that one setback, the book isdefinitely worth purchasing if you need it or want it, but don't wantto spend lots of money on a copy.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Edition for High School Students June 13, 2010

By M. Lovejoy

Format:Paperback

As an experienced high school English teacher, I always advise my students and their parents to purchase a Folger's edition of Shakespeare's plays. The notes, summaries, and other commentary serve the novice Shakespearean reader well and make the classical allusions and denotations of unfamiliar and common words and phrases from the Elizabethan age much easier for 21st Century readers to understand.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Innocent young love doomed due to unavoidable circumstances April 18, 2002

By Karina A. Suarez VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

At least that's what I feel should have been a worthy epitaph for these two ill-fated lovers. I read this classic work of fiction because I've never read anything by Shakespeare before. Being a romantic, I found it appealed to me as one unfathomable story of doomed love, and may I say the ending could not have been any other, even if it hadn't been a fictitious story. I agree with Ms. Paster, who in this edition gives a final, parallel account of the story in comparison to modern times; when she says that Romeo and Juliet's only way out to consumate their love was through death, because they had trespassed socially acceptable conventions of the era, and not just due to a family feud. This is true especially of Juliet, who, because she was a woman, had the least advantages and the most pressures to be married to someone previously chosen and approved by her father. She defies the world - literally - and runs to the arms of her Romeo to be married in secret. I cannot imagine the terrible strain and fear a woman would have gone through in the 1500's should she choose to follow her heart in such a way. I find Juliet, in this sense, a true pioneer of women's rights. She definitely risks it all, defying even her own father (the man who would "owned" her until she got married). The passage where he confronts her about her arranged marriage to Count Paris has to be one of the cruelest speeches in classic literature. She certainly would have to make use of a humongous supply of nerve to defy convention.

Romeo, on his behalf, is truly besotted with Juliet. He admires her beauty more than her courage and, like most men when in love, shows himself a pathetic spectacle. However, he loves her and cannot live without her. He only has eyes and, what's really important, heart for her.... That is why, when he receives news of her death, he decides to go to her tomb and kill himself there. The ill-fated destiny plays these lovers a bad hand when Romeo does not get a letter in time explaining his beloved's circumstances for her death.

I enjoyed Shakespeare's language the most during the first half of the book. When Romeo climbs to Juliet's window and stays with her for a few hours in the night (the only time the young lovers have for each other throughout the play). He expresses his love with unforgettable lines. He wishes he would be someone else, so that he could love her freely: "Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized." (2.2.54)

This edition by the Folger Library has new comments and offers historical background on the life of William Shakespeare as well his times and his theatre. Dimensions of The Globe and explanations on how the plays were acted are shown in detail; together with illustrations of engravings of the period. It all helps to give a good understanding of the play. If, like me, you are new to Shakespeare, you will find the left pages in the book an invaluable resource since they are like a mini-dictionary clarifying words, idiomatic expressions of the era and even full verses. Above all, fear not; and dare to dive into this torrent of love. Read more ›

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed March 15, 2009

By Eartha Kit

Format:Kindle Edition

I bought this for the Kindle and there is none of the modern text translation referred to by the other reviews. I am very disappointed because that is the only reason I purchased this book. They should not use printed version reviews for Kindle books.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Review of Arden Edition, Second Series, Romeo and Juliet April 1, 2011

By pandajama

Format:Paperback

For some reason Amazon puts reviews of any edition of a given Shakespeare play on each edition's webpage. So, if you are wondering why to buy the Folger over the Cambridge or the Cambridge over the Arden, or just to spend a buck on the Dover Thrift Edition, you have to wade through dozens or hundreds of reviews of all the other editions. I have no idea why Amazon does this, as many people will have very particular interests, and various editions will serve those interests differently. It's maddening. Amazon should keep its Arden reviews on the Arden page, Dover on the Dover page, and so on. What gives???

Anyway, it appears that Arden's Third Series of R&J is unavailable, or perhaps not yet out. If it is available when you read this and you are looking for a first-rate scholarly edition, I'd buy that one -- although I confess I've personally never seen it. But the Third Series of the Ardens, and I have read many, are really first-rate.

The Second Series of the Ardens vary. I'd put this one in the middle. It's quite a bit more thorough than what you would get from, say, the Signet editions (or Dover) but maybe a wee bit out of date and, like most Arden Second Series editions, extremely concerned with editorial conundrums and less concerned with exegesis. But there's a lot of that in this edition, and I am quite satisfied with it. I will, however, buy the Third Series when I can.

One other point I always make about the Ardens: of all the various editions, these are the sturdiest, by far. They are extremely well bound, with sturdy bindings and paper, and will hold up to years and years of abuse and underlining and spilled coffee. Honestly, I prefer them for that reason alone.

Happy reading to you all!