Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

Shakespeare for Students: Critical Interpretations of Shakespeare’s Plays and Poetry. 2nd ed. Edited by Anne Marie Hacht. Detroit, Mich.: Thomson Gale, 2007. 3 vols. 987 p. $285.00. ISBN 10: 1-1444-1255-X; 13: 978-1-4144-1255-9.

A student able to continue into high school in the late 18^th century and the beginning of the 19^th century read Shakespeare perhaps because there wasn’t much else available to study. Shakespeare continues to be assigned to high school students who at least stumble through Romeo and Juliet. These two volumes aim to prepare the student to read the plans and to help them understand the plays after they have finished reading them. Most students study the footnotes and look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary making it difficult to absorb the plots and understand the characters will find this study guide most helpful. The three-page chronology at the beginning starts with Shakespeare’s birth in 1564 and continues through four year range "probably writes" dates for his plays. Each entry has the title and date, an overview introduction with publication information such as when it was published and any controversies concerning its publication, how it may have been written, and a discussion of the work itself. The plot summary follows with acts and scenes for the plays helping the student learn the names of the characters. The next section describes the characters more fully and places them within the scenes. A discussion of both themes and style is followed by the placement in its historical context. The critical overview shares what critics have said about the work; and a collection of essays provide criticism written by Shakespeare scholars. Each entry ends with a list of sources and suggested further reading. Inset boxes include information about media adaptations, suggestions to "compare and contrast," and "Topics for Further Study." Black and white illustrations, reproductions of paintings of scenes, and some photographs of present-day actors in scenes from the plays are also in the text. Each volume ends with the same two-page glossary and a cumulative index to major themes and characters. This provides some help especially for those students for whom reading Shakespeare is a challenge because of their reading skills. It will help them sort out characters and plot in a more sophisticated way than a reference written for a younger audience.