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Hamlet: No Fear Shakespeare Side-by-Side Plain English Paperback – Abridged, July 31, 2003
- Print length340 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherSparkNotes
- Publication dateJuly 31, 2003
- Dimensions7.52 x 0.71 x 5.31 inches
- ISBN-101586638440
- ISBN-13978-1586638443
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SparkNotes No Fear Shakespeare
The full text of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets side-by-side with translations into modern English
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No Fear Shakespeare
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SparkNotes are the most helpful study guides around! Sometimes you don't understand your teacher, your textbooks make no sense, or you have to read sixteen chapters by tomorrow. We're here with multiple ways to study:
- SparkNotes Literature Guides chapter-by-chapter analysis & summaries
- No Fear Shakespeare side-by-side translations of Shakespeare into plain English
- SparkTeach teaching guides
- SparkCharts reference tools
Product details
- Publisher : SparkNotes
- Publication date : July 31, 2003
- Language : English
- Print length : 340 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1586638440
- ISBN-13 : 978-1586638443
- Item Weight : 12.4 ounces
- Dimensions : 7.52 x 0.71 x 5.31 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #20,685 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #10 in British & Irish Poetry
- #731 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- #1,918 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
William Shakespeare 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". His surviving works, including some collaborations, 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 in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire and was baptised on 26 April 1564. Thought to have been educated at the local grammar school, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he went on to have three children, at the age of eighteen, before moving to London to work in the theatre. Two erotic poems, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece were published in 1593 and 1594 and records of his plays begin to appear in 1594 for Richard III and the three parts of Henry VI. Shakespeare's tragic period lasted from around 1600 to 1608, during which period he wrote plays including Hamlet and Othello. The first editions of the sonnets were published in 1609 but evidence suggests that Shakespeare had been writing them for years for a private readership.
Shakespeare spent the last five years of his life in Stratford, by now a wealthy man. He died on 23 April 1616 and was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. The first collected edition of his works was published in 1623.
(The portrait details: The Chandos portrait, artist and authenticity unconfirmed. NPG1, © National Portrait Gallery, London)
Study smarter with today's most popular study guides! Sometimes you don't understand your teacher, your textbooks make no sense, and you have to read sixteen chapters by tomorrow.
SparkNotes is a resource you can turn to when you're confuzzled. We help you understand books, write papers, and study for tests. We're clear and concise, but we never leave out important info.
As SparkNotes editors, our mission is to help you make sense of confusing schoolwork. We are well qualified to lend a hand: we're graduates of top schools, we have advanced degrees galore, we've taught undergraduate and graduate classes, and we've edited books on Shakespeare, The Scarlet Letter, and the SAT (and that's just the S's!). We work with experts to create books, blogs, quizzes, and flashcards that will help you master hard material.
SparkNotes are the most helpful study guides around to literature, math, science, and more. Find sample tests, essay help, and translations of Shakespeare. Explore additional resources at sparknotes.com.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book's translation helpful, particularly for tricky passages, and appreciate its value, noting it's worth more than $3. Moreover, the story quality receives positive feedback, with one customer highlighting how it helps understand plot twists. Additionally, the book's readability is praised, with one customer mentioning it takes only a couple of hours to read.
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Customers appreciate the book's translation, finding it very good for understanding the text and particularly helpful for tricky passages.
"...one or two stars, my answer is that they are at least a door into the world of Shakespeare for those of us unable to navigate the originals on our..." Read more
"...It has the original version (which I teach from) and the plain English version for kids so they can understand the sldense verbage Shakespeare uses...." Read more
"Nice, heavy-duty book, easy to understand" Read more
"My son used it for class . He found it easy to follow ." Read more
Customers find the book very helpful and useful, particularly for students, with one customer mentioning it made their college essay possible.
"Lifesaver. Shakespearean language can be hard to decipher so receiving this book was such a relief that I literally kissed it...." Read more
"Grandson had to present project on quotes from Hamlet and this guide was wonderful putting the old English quotes into present day English for him...." Read more
"...attending plays, but this line-by-line translation is perfect for our high schooler in her Shakespeare lit class. Highly recommend!" Read more
"This is the most sensible thing I've ever gotten. Before getting this, I was so confused that I thought Laertes was in love with Ophelia...." Read more
Customers find the book worth more than $3 and consider it a good buy.
"...The book only costs five bucks, so why not invest a couple of hours and read it?..." Read more
"...Additionally, they come at a great price!" Read more
"...He said it was valuable." Read more
"...Also, this book was very inexpensive compared to some editions of Hamlet...." Read more
Customers enjoy the story quality of the book, with several mentioning they loved it, and one customer noting how it helped them understand the plot's twists.
"I am pleased with the No Fear Shakespeare books. As homeschoolers, they have helped us understand the story's twists and turns...." Read more
"...This one is truly, absolutely, no fear. So glad we purchased it!" Read more
"...I found the modern version accurate. Most important, it maintained the spirit and soul of the original work." Read more
"I really like the No Fear version when reading any Shakespeare plays...." Read more
Customers find the book easy to read, with one mentioning it takes only a couple of hours to complete.
"...And they only take a couple of hours to read. It's not like this is a lifetime commitment or anything...." Read more
"...It saved a lot of time that would otherwise have been spent on reading from online "translation" versions with misaligned line numbers...." Read more
"...It is actually exciting because you can go through it quickly and not loose the dramatic build-up - glancing across at the poetic language actually..." Read more
"No fear is amazing. My book arrived in perfect condition and speedily. Also it is an amazing play." Read more
Reviews with images

Excellent quality
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2025good
- Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2010I cannot more highly recommend this particular book, No Fear Shakespeare's Hamlet.
I am approaching 50 years old and my only real experience trying to read Shakespeare was in high school where we were assigned roles in class and made to read, without comprehension, Romeo and Juliet and Julius Cesar. In the interim, I tried watching a few plays and dragged my kids to see the play Taming of the Shrew, which they hated because they couldn't understand the language nor the plot. Rather than becoming a Shakespeare hater, I've always felt inadequate and dumb for this huge hole in my education.
My current inspiration to try Shakespeare again was my desire to try and help my high school aged son become more educated and cultured than I have been.
I tried first with the Folger annotated editions of Shakespeare. They look excellent and define the unfamiliar words, but I still could not make sense of a substantial portion of the dialogue. I guess maybe I'm just dumb, I don't know.
Anyway, I saw good reviews about this No Fear series, and I ordered several. So far I have read the modern English translations of Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, and The Tempest. While I feel a bit like I'm 'cheating', I actually have really enjoyed all the plays and at least now I know the plots and the characters and even some of the more subtle themes. I can't answer the complaints that the translations don't adequately translate Shakespeare's meanings. There are a few side notes that point out double meanings and things like that, though there are not extensive footnotes or sidenotes.
To answer those who rate these books one or two stars, my answer is that they are at least a door into the world of Shakespeare for those of us unable to navigate the originals on our own. And they only take a couple of hours to read. It's not like this is a lifetime commitment or anything. The book only costs five bucks, so why not invest a couple of hours and read it? And, for me, I liked the plays so much that I AM now going to dig out the Folger editions and read the originals, with the No Fear books available in case I get in trouble. These modalities of trying to appreciate Shakespeare are not mutually exclusive.
Well, hopefully that's helpful to someone. I wanted to write this so that people would know that these books are not just for lazy students hoping to avoid reading the originals or somehow 'cheat' in their English classes. I'm not a Shakespeare scholar or teacher and never will be, just an ordinary guy, but for me, these books were the window of opportunity that I had been searching for. Two thumbs up, most definitely.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2024I teach HS English and would recommend this book. It has the original version (which I teach from) and the plain English version for kids so they can understand the sldense verbage Shakespeare uses. We get both the famous quotes and passages and then the kids can have it "translated" for their understanding.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2024I am pleased with the No Fear Shakespeare books. As homeschoolers, they have helped us understand the story's twists and turns. Additionally, they come at a great price!
- Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2022A shame am not smart or pick up on things good enough to notice the message o themes on this play
- Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2024Good
- Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2024Nice, heavy-duty book, easy to understand
- Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2023My junior in high school son asked for this. It was recommended by a fellow student to go along with the reading to help. He said it was valuable.
Top reviews from other countries
- jackiedeeReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 15, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Great item
Great item
- RitwikReviewed in India on January 11, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars Reasonable price, error-free printing on good quality paper
Reasonably priced, printed on good quality paper with easy-to-understand modern day English translations of the original text. This will really make Shakespeare available to everyone's reach.
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thiagoluzzi • comReviewed in Brazil on August 20, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Peça fantástica, edição muito útil
(OBS.: 1- Esta avaliação foi feita por um leitor brasileiro e para leitores de língua portuguesa. 2- Aproveitei o começo de uma outra avaliação sobre as edições da Sparknotes; o final é específico sobre Hamlet)
As edições da Sparknotes que colocam as peças originais de Shakespeare lado a lado com versões em inglês moderno das mesmas obras foram uma sacada e tanto. O livro fica editado como fosse uma obra "bilíngue", e contém ainda uma lista mais detalhada das personagens da peça, no início, bem como curtas notas explicativas que ajudam a entender alguns trocadilhos, alusões e outros produtos sutis do 'wit' shakespeariano (poderiam ser até mais numerosas essas notas, na minha opinião).
Muitas das peças na versão 'No Fear Shakespeare' estão disponíveis online, mas gostei muito de ter comprado a versão impressa, que chegou rápido, apesar de ser importada, em bom estado e por um preço justo.
Quem lê em português mas quer aventurar-se pelos originais do Bardo encontrará uma ferramenta de trabalho muito interessante. Depois de ler uma ou duas traduções de uma peça clássica como Hamlet, por exemplo, ir ao original pode ficar muito mais fácil se o texto moderno estiver logo à direita, ajudando no destrinçamento de passagens mais complicadas. Já se o leitor quiser conhecer a estrutura geral da peça sem ter a intenção, naquele momento, de ler Shakespeare no original, poderá seguir o texto em inglês moderno e só por curiosidade recorrer, durante a leitura ou em visitas futuras que faça à obra, ao belíssimo inglês shakespeariano.
Quanto a Hamlet, é leitura obrigatória. O príncipe da Dinamarca é uma personagem muito bem-feita; inteligente e irônico, é também capaz de se mostrar bastante humano, de modo que podemos experimentar com ele o seu conflito, entrar um pouco na sua cabeça -- não é necessária uma "identificação" com ele, basta imaginar que o que ele faz, faz porque vive o problema de maneira séria, moral e intelectualmente séria.
A peça é longa, mas é incrivelmente equilibrada. Depois de ter feito algumas releituras, concluo que não há nada que poderia ser cortado ou enxugado. Nem tudo é igualmente penetrante, há sutilezas que dialogam com um contexto social e mesmo linguístico que está bem distante do leitor brasileiro. Mas a leitura de Hamlet no original é muito acessível, principalmente porque somos recompensados tanto (i) por detalhes saborosos, como (ii) por cenas que se integraram ao imaginário da literatura e até mesmo correm na conversa popular ["Something is rotten in the state of Denmark], ou ainda (iii) pela forma total da peça, que só apreendemos bem depois que ela termina, um tanto aliviados por saber que há uma testemunha que contará ao povo dinamarquês exatamente como se chegou àquela "bloody question" que é a cena final da tragédia de Hamlet.
- Amazon KundeReviewed in Germany on September 6, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars very good
This series is amazingly good!!
It turns a difficult reading into the pleasure of understanding Shakespeare by re-paraphrasing the utterances into Modern English.
As a non-native speaker, I can only recommend all books from this collection.
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Lorenzo V.Reviewed in Italy on October 15, 2013
4.0 out of 5 stars Ottimo libro per scuola
A scuola il nostro professore di Inglese ci fa leggere Shakespeare e questo libro è ottimo poiché ha contemporaneamente testo originale e una traduzione in inglese moderno per capire meglio.