William ShakespeareFive Revenge Tragedies: The Spanish Tragedy; Hamlet; Antonio's Revenge; The Tragedy of Hoffman; The Reve nger's Tragedy (Penguin Classics)

Good edition overall, I was pleasantly surprised to find the Quarto 1 version of Hamlet in it. Some more critical comments and historical background would definitely help.

Very interesting read.

The book is a good compilation of a few of the most classic revenge tragedies but when I was reading Hamlet, I noticed that it didn't have the Acts marked. Since I was reading for class, it was very important for me to have these marked.

This is a strange and unsatisfactory assemblage from the usually reliable Penguin Classics, and so a word of warning is in order. Editor Smith doesn't give reasons for this particular selection of plays, and I can't fathom the logic at work.The Hamlet included here is the 1603 "bad quarto," generally thought to be a bootleg edition constructed from memory by the actors, without Shakespeare's involvement. It is about half the length of the real Hamlet, and vastly inferior. The 1603 Hamlet really doesn't have much non-scholarly appeal, but this edition isn't scholarly enough for its inclusion to make sense.Likewise, Chettle's Tragedy of Hoffman is a mediocre rip-off of Hamlet which only exists in a corrupted quarto, making it ill-suited for a non-scholarly edition.Marston's Antonio's Revenge, originally acted by a children's troupe, is more a parody of a revenge tragedy than an actual one. It's a hoot but it doesn't fit here. Marston's somewhat more serious The Malcontent would have been a better choice.The two remaining plays, Kyd's Spanish Tragedy and Middleton's Revenger's Tragedy, are better obtained along with two other excellent plays by Ford and Webster in  Four Revenge Tragedies: The Spanish Tragedy, The Revenger's Tragedy, 'Tis Pity She's A Whore and The White Devil (New Mermaids) , which offers more extensive on-page notes and a better introduction.

I mainly wish to comment on the negative response of reviewer David Auerbach, whose principal complaint is that editor Emma Smith includes the Quarto Hamlet. As Ms Smith points out, there are three variants of the play. Most people will be unfamiliar with the early version, however "corrupt" it may be thought. It was the first version that ever came to print and therefore deserves consideration. I mainly bought this book to be able to read Henry Chettle's piece, and to compare it with the other works. All the plays included here are in addition to, not competition with, those available in the compilation which Mr Auerbach refers to and prefers. Put all the plays from both editions together and the quality varies considerably, but so what? To be able to read the Chettle and the Marston themselves makes this collection well worth having, in my view, and one might argue that to set the "bad" quarto of Hamlet beside Chettle, or vice versa, is instructive in itself, as indeed comparisons between the most famous of all revenge tragedies (to wit, Hamlet, of course) and all the others are likewise telling. As for the introduction, it is an introduction, not a study, and there are several pages of recommendations for further reading. I would suggest, therefore, that no one should be put off by Mr Auerbach's to my mind carping criticisms.

This is such a brilliant little anthology. Emma Smith’s introduction and notes are, as you’d expect, so illuminating; I also really enjoyed reading the eccentric ‘bad quarto’ text of Hamlet, which she takes the fun decision to print here (instead of, for example, a conflated version as most affordable paperbacks prefer). Brilliant.

Good edition of themed near-contemporary plays.