Stories from Shakespeare

I used this book successfully to help negotiate top grades in an Ivy League Shakespeare class more than 30 years ago, and I still use a copy to reorient myself and my family to Shakespeare's works. An invaluable guide to the essence of each play, including all significant aesthetic themes. Indispensable as a quick read before seeing a Shakespeare play that hasn't been read or seen for some time. I've come across no other book that is so helpful yet concise.

Chute's book provides a basic summary for each of Shakespeare's plays. Her writing is as lyrical as it is complete for such a book, which makes it a handy, enjoyable reference. Her main goal is to make the stories digestible, and to that end, the essence of Shakespeare's plays emerges brilliantly, freeing the average reader of dusty Elizabethan language. Unlike other books that give choppy scene-by-scene summaries (though helpful in their own way) or brief plot highlights, Chute's summaries seamlessly tie the play's entire action, principle and otherwise.The plays are grouped by comedies, tragedies, and histories, with comedies and tragedies in the likely order they were written and the histories arranged chronologically by reign. She includes an illuminating introduction that sheds light on Shakespeare's genius and innovation as well as how best to approach his work. An index of characters is also included. One of the many things I appreciated about this book is Chute's resistance to overemphasizing popular texts. With the exception of "Titus Andronicus," she devotes a fair amount of text to each play, though some do receive added attention.Those looking for a more detailed or critical reading of Shakespeare's work would not benefit from Chute's book. There are numerous (non-academic) guides for those desiring more than a casual read and study of the Bard. ("Shakespeare for Dummies," "The Pocket Companion to Shakespeare," and "The Age of Shakespeare" are all books I've consulted for more background and a better understanding of the author and era.) In her introduction, however, she points out that the purpose of her book "is to give the reader a preliminary idea of each of the thirty-six plays by telling the stories and explaining in a general way the intentions and points of view of the characters." On occasion she gives critical analyses of characters and plays but in an informative and unobtrusive manner. This book is not Cliff's Notes or a substitute for the actual play, but it does make Shakespeare understandable.

Margaret Chute's Stories of Shakespeare uses an novel technique. She writes treatments for 36 of the plays (those in the First Folio), a present tense chronology of the plot in simple, eloquent language. This book is useful for actors, students or the casual fan. The book also appreciates the beauty of Shakespeare's language by offering selected excerpts. Further, it recognises the humor, the history and the tragedy of the story and gives concise summaries so the reader can always follow the action. This is an excellent book.

Marchette Chute's Stories from Shakespeare is quite simply the best collection of summaries of the plays. Chute uses clear language to retell the story, she follows the order of the play in her telling, and, while her love of the plays is evident, she never degenerates into bardolatry (or into pedantry or into excessive personal comments.) If you want to be able to quickly refresh your memory of a play before going to the theater, buy this book. If you find it easier to know the story of the play before you read it, buy this book. If you're a parent who wants to give your children simple retellings of the plays, buy this book. If you're an adult who wants to know what all those other plays of Shakespeare were about (the ones you never bothered to--or were never forced to--read), buy this book. If you're a high school student with only fifteen minutes left before an exam on a play you didn't read, you'll wish you'd bought this book.(A word on competitors: Forget the Lambs' Tales from Shakespeare. They are not as easy to read as Chute's book, they contain sexist undertones, they do not always follow the order of the play, and they form an incomplete collection.)

I thought that this was a great book because it told the great stories of Shakespeare so that everyone could understand it. I think it is a great book to read before you read the unabridged plays.