Jonathan Bate

An immortal tale of a vengeful Danish prince quite possibly driven to madness, Hamlet, Shakespeare’s most widely performed play, is filled with startling insight into humankind’s unconscious desires.

Under the editorial supervision of Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, two of today’s most accomplished Shakespearean scholars, the volumes in this Modern Library series incorporate definitive texts and authoritative notes from William Shakespeare: Complete Works. Each play includes an Introduction, an overview of Shakespeare’s theatrical career; interviews with leading directors, actors, and designers; scene-by-scene analysis; key facts about the work; a chronology of Shakespeare’s life and times; and black-and-white illustrations.

Ideal for students, theater professionals, and general readers, these modern and accessible editions set a new standard in Shakespearean literature for the twenty-first century.

Praise for William Shakespeare: Complete Works

“A remarkable edition, one that makes Shakespeare’s extraordinary accomplishment more vivid than ever.”
–James Shapiro, professor, Columbia University, bestselling author of A Year in the Life of Shakespeare: 1599

“Two eminent Shakespeareans . . . have applied modern editing techniques and recent scholarship to correct and update the First Folio. . . . Superb.”
–The New York Times

“A feast of literary and historical information.”
–The Wall Street Journal

“I look forward to using it over many years, enjoying Bate’s perceptive comments, trusting Rasmussen’s textual scholarship.”
–Peter Holland, president of the Shakespeare Association of America and editor of Shakespeare Survey