This play is a dramatization of Boccaccio’s story of Gillette of Narbonne. Only the comic parts were of Shakespeare’s invention; he added the characters of the pusillanimous Parolles, the lofty courtier Lafew, the Clown Lavatch, and the long suffering Countess. He gave new depth and vitality to the leading characters, who are mere outlines in Boccaccio’s tale.The comedy has for its heroine a young woman who loves the haughty Bertram with an unrequited and despised passion,...

Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, and As You Like It are usually regarded as Shakespeare’s crowning achievements in the world of mirth and humor. In this group of plays, written during the playwright’s Second Period (1595–1600), the author depicts chiefly the cheerful, energetic side of life.In As You Like It, a wicked Duke expels his virtuous brother, the lawful ruler, from his domains. The banished Duke takes refuge with his followers in t...

This collection of 35 short poems was first published in 1927, and is a sequel to When We Were Very Young, which was the first anthology of verse dealing with the domestic adventures of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh.As the author explains in the introduction: “We have been nearly three years writing this book. We began it when we were very young … and now we are six. So, of course, bits of it seem rather baby-ish to us, almost as if they had slipped out of some other book b...

Much Ado About Nothing appears to have been written around 1599, shortly before As You Like It and Twelfth Night. The action combines two narrative threads: the spirited comedy of the courtship of Benedick and Beatrice, and the sombre tale of confused love between Hero and Claudio. The first is a creation by Shakespeare and the second appears to have been drawn from an Italian source, either by Bandello or Ariosto.The action takes place in Messina. Eponym...

Halfmoon Ridge is a tale of when the one you love is right before your eyes and they still can not see the real you. Not until the family makes some business changes to the dude ranch does the couple really get to know one another. The couple has been working side by side for years, but now as two grown adults, feelings develop between them. Are they practical with an entire family surrounding them and already running a business together? The family gets tired of staying behind the scenes ...

Inspired by radio dramas of the past, the Narada Radio Company endeavors to create audio dramas that go from amusing to terrifying.An audio adaptation of the classic horror film starring Bela Lugosi. In 1930s Haiti, a young couple are troubled by a wealthy plantation owner and a mysterious woman who has harnessed a strange Voodoo power.

Together with The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s most magical plays.One night, two parties creep from Athens into the surrounding forest. One party includes sweethearts Lysander and Hermia, fleeing from Athenian law and the disapproval of Hermia’s father to get married. In pursuit is Demetrius, the suitor of Hermia favored by her father, and the doleful Helena, formerly affianced to Demetrius.Six tradesman (the “rude mechanicals”) make u...

Emily Dickinson was one of the most reclusive of all poets. She spent much of her life in seclusion in her father’s house in Amherst, and only a handful of her 1800 poems were published in her lifetime. Credit for the posthumous publication of her work must be given to her editor and friend Thomas W. Higginson, who reported that, in spite of the voluminous correspondence which passed between himself and Dickinson, he only met her twice in person.Dickinson’s poems are all short; few...

Romance and the French Revolution! Politics and love! Scaramouche, published in 1921, explores age-old tensions that continue into the present.“He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad …” So begins this historical tale of romantic adventure. Andre-Louis Moreau is an orphan and cousin of the beloved Aline. He is raised by his godfather, the Lord of Gavrillac, and matures into an educated lawyer—while Aline sets her mind on marrying the rich but...

The eleven stories in this Gaskell collection illustrate the author’s mastery in capturing the innate drama that is present even in the most mundane situations.“The Nurses’ Story”“Clopton House”“The Crooked Branch”“Crowley Castle”“Curious, If True”“Disappearances”“Two Fragments of Ghost Stories”“The Heart of John Middleton”“Morton Hall”“The Well of Pen Morfa”“The Shah’s English Gardener"

Measure for Measure is one of darkest of Shakespeare’s comedies. Written in about 1603 and first performed in 1604, it immediately preceded the composition of the major tragedies Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth.Duke Vincentino, the ruler of Vienna, fears that under his mild sovereignty, the people may have become lazy and lax. He decides to “go over cover” in the disguise of a monk and appoint his deputy, Angelo, who is a reputed paragon of virtu...

This collection contains eight of Shakespeare’s best loved comedies. Each exhibits the vigour, humour, and optimism of the young master before he turned to the gloom and bitterness of the great tragedies.ContentsA Midsummer Night’s DreamAll’s Well That Ends WellTwelfth NightMuch Ado About NothingThe Comedy of ErrorsAs You Like ItMeasure for MeasureThe M...