11 h 32 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 11 h 32 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A storm breaks near a lonely island, and a wronged magician prepares to face his enemies.
In Tales from Shakespeare, Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb retell twenty plays as clear prose stories. The book opens with The Tempest, where Prospero lives with his daughter Miranda. Elsewhere, Viola survives a shipwreck and takes on a disguise, while Romeo and Juliet fall in love across a bitter family feud.
Love, mistaken identity, jealousy and dangerous choices run through these tales. In The Merchant of Venice, Antonio borrows money so his friend Bassanio can court Portia. The Winter's Tale brings a king's groundless jealousy, while Macbeth faces a prophecy of kingship and Hamlet receives a terrible task from a ghost.
What you’ll discover
- An island after the storm Meet Prospero and Miranda as strangers arrive on the island where they live.
- Love behind a disguise Follow Viola into Twelfth Night, where dressing as a boy entangles her in others' loves.
- Money, friendship and quick thinking Meet Antonio, Shylock and clever Portia in a story where borrowing serves a friend's courtship.
- Choices shadowed by danger Encounter Macbeth's prophecy and Hamlet's terrible task in tales that bring their conflicts into focus.
- A path into the plays Discover the people, quarrels and choices behind plays you may want to explore next.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy fairy tales and old stories will love this collection, as will those eager to meet Shakespeare's best-known plots. It also suits anyone who likes reading aloud to children.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The Lambs keep Shakespeare's own words
- A magician on an island tests young love
- Lovers lose their way in the fairy wood
- A jealous king breaks his own household
- Merry plots and disguises in Messina and Arden
- Friendship, debt and a cruel bond
- Kings, thanes and the cost of bad judgment
- Mistaken faces and wedding bargains in comedy
- Falling fortunes, family feuds and hidden poison
- What the tales give, and how to read them
Who’s who
- ProsperoThe exiled Duke of Milan, who rules an island through magic and tests his daughter's suitor.
- PortiaA rich heiress of Belmont who dresses as a lawyer to save her husband's friend from a cruel bond.
- BeatriceA quick-witted lady of Messina who trades insults with Benedick and defends her cousin Hero.
- RosalindA banished duke's daughter who dresses as a shepherd boy in the Forest of Arden and teaches Orlando how to woo.
- ViolaA shipwrecked girl who serves Duke Orsino as a page named Cesario while loving him in secret.
- King LearAn aged king who divides his land among his daughters according to their words of love.
- HamletA grieving Danish prince who meets his father's ghost and pretends to be mad.
- IagoAn officer who resents Cassio's promotion and plots to make Othello doubt his wife.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Racconti da Shakespeare
by Charles Lamb; Mary Lamb · 1807
Prospero conjures a storm, Portia argues in a lawyer's robes, and Hamlet meets a ghost in twenty short tales.
Challenging10–20 hours to readItaliano
Excellent
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In short
What would it take to hand Shakespeare to a child? Charles Lamb and his sister Mary Lamb answered by turning twenty of the plays into short prose tales.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The Lambs keep Shakespeare's own words
Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb wrote these tales for young readers who could not yet take on the plays. Their preface states the rule they followed. Wherever possible, the words on the page are Shakespeare's own.
When they had to add words to join the scenes into stories, they chose carefully. They avoided words that entered the language after his time.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1807
- Language
- Italiano
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Lamb, Charles, and Mary Lamb. Tales from Shakespeare. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-from-shakespeare.
Lamb, C., & Lamb, M. (2026). Tales from Shakespeare. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-from-shakespeare (Original work published 1807)
Lamb, Charles, and Mary Lamb. Tales from Shakespeare. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-from-shakespeare.
@book{lamb2026tales,
author = {Lamb, Charles and Lamb, Mary},
title = {Tales from Shakespeare},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-from-shakespeare},
note = {First published 1807}
}
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What is Tales from Shakespeare about?
It retells twenty Shakespeare plays as short prose stories, from The Tempest to Pericles. Comedies, romances and tragedies appear in turn, each in a few pages, using many of Shakespeare's own words.
Who wrote Tales from Shakespeare?
Charles Lamb and his sister Mary Lamb wrote it. Mary is generally credited with the comedies and Charles with the tragedies. They meant it as an introduction to Shakespeare for young readers.
Which plays are in Tales from Shakespeare?
It covers twenty plays, including The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, King Lear, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello and Pericles.
The author
Charles Lamb
1775–1834 · English essayist and poet
Charles Lamb (1775–1834) was an English essayist and poet. He was born in London and died in Edmonton, then in Middlesex. He worked as a clerk for the East India Company. With his sister Mary Lamb, he wrote Tales from Shakespeare, published in 1807. His Essays of Elia appeared in 1823.
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