Helpful, informative apparatus by Russ McDonald and Lena Cowen Orlin frames each play to enrich student understanding.
- The "Preview" introduces just what students need to know before they read the play, including background on Shakespeare’s sources and a brief plot summary.
- Throughout the play, "Asides" illuminate significant moments in the text. Vivid images, brief commentaries on Shakespeare’s language, and striking quotations from actors, directors, and critics help students better understand what they are reading.
- After each play, the "View" offers a more extended critical approach.
- An annotated "Afterlife" highlights productions, films, television broadcasts, operas, adaptations, and paintings to emphasize the continuing cultural relevance of the play.
22 brief, illustrated, thematic "Contexts" interspersed with the plays provide essential information on key historical, literary, and performance issues ("Discovery," "Playhouses," "Bodies," "London," etc.)
3 instructional essays guide students on the fundamentals: "Reading Shakespeare" helps them decode and appreciate Shakespeare’s language; "Staging Shakespeare" enables them to imagine the plays in performance; and "Screening Shakespeare" helps them analyze Shakespeare on film.
A striking and functional design with a rich second color enhances the student experience of reading the plays.