William Shakespeare’s Classics Collection: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark and The Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet (Annotated)

With a Historical Introduction, an Overview, a Study of Themes and Famous Quotes

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Drew Kallen-Keck, Andrew Arnett

Unique to this title is:

• A historical introduction
• An overview
• A study of themes
• A list of famous quotes

You may of course skip all of it and go straight to the main title if you do not want any spoilers and come back later to the beginning.

William Shakespeare, the 16th-century English poet, playwright, and actor, is generally regarded as the best writer in the English language and the world's best dramatist.

He was a very prolific writer, and his work consists of 39 plays, 154 sonnets, a few poems, and two long narrative poems. His plays have been translated into every major language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in England. He married young, at the age of 18. His wife was 26 and already three months pregnant. They had three children, one of whom died at the age of 11. The child who died, Hamnet, was Shakespeare's only son, and it is speculated that he named Hamlet after the boy.

Most people don't realize that there are three versions of Hamlet, printed at different times. There is a considerable difference between the texts of these versions, so to have a "complete" version of this play, editors had to make some adjustments. The three text are simply different versions of the play.

In Hamlet, the prince of Denmark has recently lost his father, but his mother is in a hurry to marry her late husband's brother. Hamlet is overwhelmed with grief for his father's death but also outraged because of the hurried marriage.

In Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare writes about the plight of Romeo and Juliet with a lot of empathy and views their tragedy as a result of bad fate, rather than a problem with their characters. We sense from the very start that their relationship is doomed.

Romeo and Juliet are portrayed as sincere and virtuous young people who are madly in love, but because of the feud between their families, their relationship has to end. As they won't even consider a separation, the only way out of the situation they find themselves in is by taking their own lives.

What makes this story so sad is that romantic love ends so grimly for a very stupid reason. And the tender age and the innocence of the young lovers make their fate even more tragic.

Enjoy this timeless classic collection!

Public Domain (P)2020 Chronos Publishing

Great collection

This a collection of some of Shakespeare’s best known works. The stories are fantastic and the narration is terrific.

Reminds me why I love Shakespeare

This reminds me why I love Shakespeare. Well read with very good emphasis. A joy to listen to.

Shakespeare is so eloquent and this is read clearly with precision. So easy to understand.

Narration hamlet 4/5, narration Romeo and Juliet 3

I’ve previously listened to Hamlet and Romeo Juliet through Audiobook Giveaways and other producers. Having both stories in this compilation is great.
I thoroughly enjoy the extra chapters with the historical context, etc. that they have in their books. Their narrators seem to have varying degrees of ability, but only once I had to stop listening yet upon a second listen, my opinion altered. ——-

HAMLET: This was the first book I listened to by this narrator ( Drew Kilkenny-Keck ). He did a great job performing , not just reading, this book. Shakespeare can be difficult for many people to pull off naturally. He not only does this, but does it with various character voices. He has a nice range of voices he uses. The female voices were as good as the male ones. I am unsure who the female narrator is , but she also did a great job performing this story. Narration 4/5 ——-

ROMEO AND JULIET
*after listening a second time, I need to modify my review. This is my previous one:
This is the first book I’ve listened to by this narrator (Andrew Arnett). He uses the same expression in every conversation which makes everything run together. Parts like ‘Enter Romeo’ seem part of the conversation due to a lack of pause or differentiate in the narration. It makes listening awkward and confusing. His cadence is not very fluid and takes the fluidity from the words. Character voices are not well differentiated. Unfortunately I’ve listened to much better renditions.
** I am modifying to say: I find his reading a bit more fluid and natural this time and the “enter...” less uncomfortable- not sure why. I still think there is little differentiation between the characters however he does add expression.
Narration 3/5——

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful.

Story 5/5
Narration 4/5