Shakespeare Well-Versed: A Rhyming Guide to All His Plays - Softcover

9780802777331: Shakespeare Well-Versed: A Rhyming Guide to All His Plays
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 

In Shakespeare Well-Versed James Muirden captures the essence of each of the bard's plays in quick-witted, rhyming verse. These clever synopses--with varied rhyme schemes--bring to life the high points and high jinks of all of Shakespeare's plays. Here the best-loved scenes and characters―Romeo and Juliet's impassioned balcony rendezvous, Henry V's speech before the Battle of Agincourt, Hamlet's melancholy soliloquy, the three witches meddling in Macbeth--are given fresh perspective by Muirden's charming, insightful interpretations.

Whether you are a lifelong devotee of Shakespeare or one who hasn't read his work since high school, you will be delighted by Muirden's verse and by David Eccles's wickedly clever illustrations that are featured throughout the book. Shakespeare Well-Versed is a smart and entertaining companion to Shakespeare's plays.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

James Muirden is the author of A Rhyming History of Britain. He lives in Devon, England, with his wife and two children.

From Booklist:
Muirden's Rhyming History of Britain [BKL S 1 03] made brushing up on all those monarchs and PMs a romp, and now he makes absorbing the corpus of England's great dramatist more pleasant than Cliffs Notes ever did. History stuck to rhymed iambic tetrameter couplets to keep things comical throughout. For Shakespeare, however, Muirden uses several metrical forms to be differently witty about plays that vary from frothy (The Comedy of Errors, recounted in, essentially, A-B-A-B-rhyming iamb-tet quatrains) to prickly (Troilus and Cressida, the astringency of which is conjured by uneven stanzas of uneven lines that rhyme only in their final couplets). The six central Wars of the Roses plays are limned in Shakespeare's usual line, iambic pentameter, with plenty of feminine endings (and rhymes), while the plays that frame them are in jolly old iamb tets (Richard II) and even jollier iambic and dactylic trimeters (Richard III). Best, verse-wise, comes last: The Winter's Tale is abstracted in limericks. More fun than seeing many a Shakespearean production, and good prep for seeing any. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherWalker Books
  • Publication date2005
  • ISBN 10 0802777333
  • ISBN 13 9780802777331
  • BindingPaperback
  • Number of pages224
  • IllustratorEccles David
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780802714411: Shakespeare Well-Versed: A Rhyming Guide to All His Plays

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780802714411
Publisher: Walker Books, 2004
Hardcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Muirden, James
Published by Walker Books (2005)
ISBN 10: 0802777333 ISBN 13: 9780802777331
New paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
zeebooks
(Foley, AL, U.S.A.)

Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Eccles, David (illustrator). May have light shelf wear due to warehouse storage and handling. Seller Inventory # 240229062

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 9.59
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Muirden, James
Published by Walker Books (2005)
ISBN 10: 0802777333 ISBN 13: 9780802777331
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Eccles, David (illustrator). New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0802777333

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 22.33
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Muirden, James
Published by Walker Books (2005)
ISBN 10: 0802777333 ISBN 13: 9780802777331
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
Wizard Books
(Long Beach, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Eccles, David (illustrator). New. Seller Inventory # Wizard0802777333

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 26.66
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.50
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Muirden, James
Published by Walker Books (2005)
ISBN 10: 0802777333 ISBN 13: 9780802777331
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Austin, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Eccles, David (illustrator). New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0802777333

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 28.57
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Muirden, James
Published by Walker Books (2005)
ISBN 10: 0802777333 ISBN 13: 9780802777331
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
The Book Spot
(Sioux Falls, SD, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. Eccles, David (illustrator). Seller Inventory # Abebooks226120

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 59.00
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Muirden, James
Published by Walker Books (2005)
ISBN 10: 0802777333 ISBN 13: 9780802777331
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
BennettBooksLtd
(LOS ANGELES, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Eccles, David (illustrator). New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 0.5. Seller Inventory # Q-0802777333

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 94.06
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.13
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds