Some Analysis of Shakespeare's Plays

On February 7, I mentioned that, since 2016 is the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, I will occasionally focus on some Shakespeare books to be found on Schatje’s Shelves.  I’ve already recommended my choice for a single-volume of the entirety of Shakespeare’s work; today I’m suggesting two books which may help readers with their understanding of the plays.

Northrop Frye on Shakespeare, edited by Robert Sandler, won the 1986 Governor General’s Award for Non-Fiction.  Frye’s lecture notes for an undergraduate Shakespeare course focus on several plays:  Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Bolingbroke Plays, Hamlet, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, Measure for Measure, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest.

Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human by Harold Bloom has 35 essays, offering a fairly comprehensive interpretation of the plays.

Some readers prefer not to read literary criticism, but to those who enjoy reading the interpretations of scholars, I’d definitely recommend these two books to enrich one’s appreciation of The Bard.