Oxford School Shakespeare is an acclaimed edition especially designed for students, with accessible on-page notes and explanatory illustrations, clear background information, and rigorous but accessible scholarly credentials. The Merchant of Venice is a popular text for study by secondary students the world over.
Key features:
1. Accessible notes and commentataries
2. Two-column format for easy reference checking and immediate explanations
3. Wide margins to provide plenty of space for annotations and note taking
4. Additional information and reading lists (including websites)
5. Illustrations dotted throughout, both contextual and explanatory
Suitable for:
- Students aged 11+
- All exam boards
The Oxford School Shakespeare range includes over 20 of Shakespeare's plays, plus revision resources for Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language, and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, who bore him three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later.
