Shakespeare on Love [Hardcover]

William Shakespeare (Author), Benjamin Darling (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 14, 2000

Shakespeare on Love is a collection of poems and quotes selected from the plays and sonnets of William Shakespeare. Fine-art, and book illustrations from Arthur Rackham, Charles Robinson, Richard Dadd, Henry Fuseli, Sir John Everett Millais, William Blake, Noel Paton, and William Holman Hunt will grace the pages of this elegant edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall Press (February 14, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735201749
• ISBN-13: 978-0735201743
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,960,469 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

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Love sought is good, but given unsought is better.", June 29, 2000

By 

Roland (Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shakespeare on Love (Hardcover)

This is a great little book. It has some of Shakespeare's greatest words on love from some of his greatest plays and sonnets. The entire book is beautifully illustrated and provides a strong depiction of the quotes. If you're a fan of Shakespeare then you must have this book.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty pictures, thin content, March 21, 2003

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shakespeare on Love (Hardcover)

William Shakespeare wrote a lot about love; many of his stories have a noteworthy love story, be the consequences sad or happy. (Not to mention his many sonnets) But this rather thin, fluffy book of quotations about love won't really satisfy the Shakespeare buffs out there.

It covers romantic love -- in sonnets and quotations -- love in song ("A hey and a ho and a hey nonino"), humorous love (like the kiss in "Taming of the Shrew" that was heard all over the church), sonnets that make comparisons to summer's days, and so forth.

The problem with the text is that there isn't much of it. It's a short book to begin with, and there's only one quotation (often an extremely short one) for every two pages. I came out of it wondering why, given the wealth of material, the editor couldn't scrounge a few more slightly more insightful quotes. The pictures are quite pretty, mostly Pre-Raphaelite stuff. Some is based on Shakespeare's work, some isn't; my main problem with them was that they were too small to study carefully.

Basically, this book is pretty much for the lovestruck youths who express their feelings through Shakespeare's quotations. Try buying a book of artwork and the love-quote book edited by Frank Finamore.