Studying Shakespeare

This engaging book draws on all of Shakespeare's plays to show they can still be used as a guide to life. Introduces beginning students and general readers to Shakespeare's plays by highlighting the connections between the issues addressed by the plays and those of our own time. Focuses on the characters, situations and stories in Shakespeare which are still familiar today. Shows how Shakespeare's plays illustrate some of life's most familiar stories - love and obsession, parents and children, sex and politics, suffering and revenge. Makes Shakespeare's plays accessible to the widest possible audience. The book groups the stories into five broad categories, moving from those concerned with personal identity to those dealing with romance and marriage, family life, politics, and public life. This thematic arrangement makes the plays accessible to the widest possible audience, and helps readers graps the connection between the issues addresssed by the plays and those of our own time. -- Book cover.