The Greenwood Companion to Shakespeare [Four Volumes] A Comprehensive Guide for Students

Subjects:

• Literature » Drama
• Literature » English Literature
• Literature » World Literature

Awards:

• The New York Public Library Best of Reference 2006
• Library Journal Best Reference Sources 2005

Reviews:

• While there are many valuable resources on English literature's preeminent icon, this ranks among the most-user friendly. The combined talents of 41 mostly American specialits have produced 77 essays arranged by genre into four volumes (Overviews and the History Plays, The Comedies, The Tragedies, The Romances and Poetry). Certain to be in high demand.
  —Library Journal April 15, 2006
• [T]his set offers background essays on Renaissance literary culture and on biographical, theatrical, and linguistic matters....Those who teach undergraduate Shakespeare courses should familiarize themselves with these volumes, which may tempt beginning students with misappropriation. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-/upper-division undergraduates; general readers.
  —Choice March 2006
• To help students approach Shakespeare's works without "shuddering fear," this comprehensive companion provides a grounding in the author's life and work.
  —Reference & Research Book News August 2005
• By collecting guides to all of Shakespeare's works into a single work and imposing a strict order and consistent approach, the Greenwood Companion provides students with a synoptic view of the Shakesperean corpus that is singularly valuable. It can be recommended without hesitation for undergraduates, as well as advanced high school students and general readers.
  —Reference & User Services Quarterly Summer 2006
• The four-volume reference set provides a wealth of information about Shakespeare and the origin and essence of his canon....The books are well written and easy to comprehend. Although the audience is students, teachers and serious scholars will get the most use out of them. An essential purchase for high school and public libraries, the set helps demystify Shakespeare's major works.
  —VOYA December 2005
• This new set is aimed at high-school and college students in need of clear introductory-level outlines of Shakespeare's major works....This set is very useful for the student or general reader and stands out in a surprisingly uncrowded market. Although there is no shortage of criticism on Shakespeare's major works aimed at students, such as A Companion to Shakespeare's Works (Blackwell, 2003) or Gale's Shakespearean Criticism series, a basic plot outline and simple analysis can be difficult to find. Befuddled students trying to translate the Bard's antiquated terminology often need some guidance, and this set provides just such assistance. Mining similar territory are the single-topic, more detailed Cliffs Notes series or the less-extensive Masterplots series (Salem). Highly recommended for all high-school, college, and public libraries.
  —Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin October 15, 2005
• This extremely well done set lives up to its subtitle. The volumes are organized by genre beginning with "Overviews and the History Plays." The essays in that volume offer information on Shakespeare's life, the age and culture in which he lived, the Elizabethan and Jacobean theater, the texts and publication histories of the plays, and the English language of the era. These pieces are followed by detailed articles about the history plays. The comedies and the tragedies are discussed in volumes 2 and 3, respectively. The final volume includes articles on the romances, the sonnets, and the Bard's longer poems....The scholarship is impressive and up-to-date and the writing is clear and accessible....This set is more comprehensive than Shakespeare for Students (Gale, 2000) and would be an excellent addition to any collection.
  —School Library Journal October 2005
• If it's a definitive and comprehensive student's reference you seek to Shakespeare, for either advanced high school through college level grades, then Greenwood's weighty 4-volume Companion to Shakespeare: A Comprehensive Guide for Students is the item of choice. Overviews of the history, comedy, tragedy and romantic writings of Shakespeare offer students scene-by-scence analysis of plots, as well as a general overview summary of each work. Themes, interpretations of meaning, reviews of controversies surrounding each work are provided in clear, scholarly analysis. An exquisite interplay of critical thinking and analysis encourages college-level students to delve into Shakespeare's skills and literary devices.
  —MBR Bookwatch September 2005

Table of Contents:

• Volume 1: Overviews and the History Plays
• Alphabetical List of Plays
• Preface
• A Shakespeare Chronology
• Overviews
• The History Plays
• Volume 2: The Comedies
• Volume 3: The Tragedies
• Volume 4: The Romances and Poetry
• Appendix: Shakespeare Resources on the Web
• About the Editors and Contributors
• Index

PDF Catalogs:

Greenwood Literature Spring 2008.pdf