Part of the relaunch of the celebrated Penguin Shakespeare series - with a fresh new look and a wealth of new editorial material
· The most widely read editions of Shakespeare's plays - offering authoritative, accessible texts to be enjoyed by theatre goers, actors, general readers and students alike
· Pocket-sized A format editions with a newly designed page, featuring only Shakespeare's words and all critical apparatus appearing at the front and back of the books
· With a new general introduction to Shakespeare's life and the Elizabethan theatre by Stanley Wells and a new introduction to the play by one of one of today's leading Shakespeare scholars
· Also features a new essay on the play in performance on stage and screen, a chronology of Shakespeare's works, further reading and a commentary
· Used and recommended by the National Theatre
· Backed by a massive national marketing and publicity campaign - in collaboration with the National Theatre. Kicking off with Shakespeare's birthday on 23rd April and Nick Hytner's new production of Henry IV, Parts One and Two (starring Michael Gambon) at the start of their 2005 £10 season.
In the Duke's absence from Vienna, his strict deputy Angelo revives an ancient law forbidding sex outside marriage. The young Claudio, whose fiancée is pregnant, is condemned to death by the law. His sister Isabella, soon to become a nun, pleads with Lord Angelo for her brother's life. But her purity so excites Angelo that he offers her a monstrous bargain - he will save Claudio if Isabella will visit him that night.
