Macbeth - Act 1, scene 1 | Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBJul 31, 2015 — ALL. Fair is foul, and foul is fair; Hover through the fog and filthy air. They exit. Characters in the Play. Act 1, scene 2. In 1603, James VI of Scotland ascended the English throne, becoming James I of England. London was alive with an interest in all things Scottish, and Shakespeare turned to Scottish history for material.
Romeo and Juliet - Act 1, scene 1 | Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBJul 31, 2015 — Toggle Contents Act and scene list. Characters in the Play ; Entire Play The prologue of Romeo and Juliet calls the title characters “star-crossed lovers”—and the stars do seem to conspire against these young lovers.Romeo is a Montague, and Juliet a Capulet. Their families are enmeshed in a feud, but the moment they meet—when Romeo and his friends attend a party at Juliet’s house in ...
All Works | Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBDiscover Shakespeare’s stories and the world that shaped them. Deepen your understanding of his works and their cultural influence. Shakespeare's works Read and learn more about Shakespeare's plays and poems; Shakespeare in print The First Folio (the book that gave us Shakespeare) and what came after; Shakespeare in performance From playhouse to film sets, explore four centuries of staging ...
Hamlet - Entire Play - Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBJun 2, 2020 — Toggle Contents Act and scene list. Characters in the Play ; Entire Play Events before the start of Hamlet set the stage for tragedy. When the king of Denmark, Prince Hamlet’s father, suddenly dies, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, marries his uncle Claudius, who becomes the new king.A spirit who claims to be the ghost of Hamlet’s father describes his murder at the hands of Claudius and ...
A Midsummer Night’s Dream | Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBJul 16, 2024 — Introduction to the play. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare stages the workings of love. Theseus and Hippolyta, about to marry, are figures from mythology. In the woods outside Theseus’s Athens, two young men and two young women sort themselves out into couples—but not before they form …
Othello - Entire Play | Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBJul 31, 2015 — Synopsis: In Venice, at the start of Othello, the soldier Iago announces his hatred for his commander, Othello, a Moor. Othello has promoted Cassio, not Iago, to be his lieutenant. Iago crudely informs Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, that Othello and Desdemona have eloped. Before the Venetian Senate, Brabantio accuses Othello of …
Macbeth - Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBMacbeth was published for the first time in the 1623 First Folio (F1) and that text is the basis for all modern editions of the play. First Folio (1623) Second Folio (1632) Read and download Macbeth for free. Learn about this Shakespeare play, find scene-by-scene summaries, and discover more Folger resources.
Hamlet - Act 1, scene 2 | Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBJun 2, 2020 — Act 1, scene 2. Scene 2 . Synopsis: In an audience chamber in Elsinore, Claudius, the new king of Denmark, holds court. After thanking his courtiers for their recent support, he dispatches ambassadors to Norway to halt a threatened attack from Fortinbras. He gives Laertes permission to return to France but denies Hamlet’s request to return to ...
A Modern Perspective: Hamlet | Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBThe great Russian director Vsevolod Meyerhold used to maintain that “if all the plays ever written suddenly disappeared and only Hamlet miraculously survived, all the theaters in the world would be saved. They could all put on Hamlet and be successful.” 1 Perhaps Meyerhold exaggerated because of his frustration—he was prevented from ever staging the tragedy by Soviet dictator Joseph ...
Julius Caesar - Act 1, scene 2 | Folger Shakespeare Library
WEBJul 31, 2015 — Act 1, scene 2. ⌜ Scene 2 ⌝. Synopsis: A soothsayer advises Caesar that the fifteenth of March will be a dangerous day for him. When Caesar and others exit, Cassius and Brutus remain behind. Cassius urges Brutus to oppose Caesar for fear that Caesar may become king. After Brutus and Cassius talk with Casca about Mark Antony’s public offer ...