Shakespeare’s Histories

Shakespeare's Histories is a prose translation of Shakespeare's eleven history plays into Standard English. These translations stand on their own so that they may be read quickly and easily, eliminating the need to search for the meaning of every second word of Shakespeare's original text. As well they are supplemented by explanations of the world in which Shakespeare lived for those who are curious about it. Jeanne Arthur's Shake Shakespeare's Hand and make a friend for life translations make Shakespeare's texts accessible to the ordinary person by clearing away four hundred years of changes to the English language to reveal the fresh liveliness of Shakespeare's dialogue. She hopes that they will enable the reader or audience member to travel back in time to the history of England that Shakespeare wrote for his own audience and make it live in contemporary Western culture once again for many more people. Some lovers of Shakespeare's writing may object to the idea that his work needs to be translated. However Jeanne Arthur believes that their love of Shakespeare argues for a translation rather than against one. It is over four hundred years since Shakespeare's death. Not only has the English language evolved since this time but so has the culture of the world. Making a translation of the language enables us to appreciate more accurately the cultural differences and similarities between us and the world he lived in. With the right help our imagination is a wonderful tool that can enable us to move freely into the past, across cultures and into the future. Drama and other fictional forms exploit this capacity that we have to imagine ourselves anywhere and in any time.