Tales from Shakespeare is a unique anthology containing twenty of William Shakespeare’s best-known plays adapted into stories for children of all ages. It was written over two hundred years ago in 1807 and yet it has remained in print to this day. One could say that Tales from Shakespeare really has become a classic book in its own right. The beauty of this collection lies in the ability of its authors, Charles and Mary Lamb, to bring Shakespeare’s stories to life as they skilfully weave his original language into their own readable prose, capturing the richness of Shakespeare’s characters and imagery, and guiding young readers through the intricacies of his plots in a simple and easy manner.
Charles and Mary Lamb originally wrote the tales for children as an introduction to the study of Shakespeare, preparing them for when they were older and able to learn about the complexities of life through the original plays. It was their wish that children be enriched by such virtues as courtesy, kindness, generosity and humanity – all of which can be found within Shakespeare’s plays, be they of fairy-tale magic, romance, humour or tragedy.
Mary Lamb wrote fourteen of the twenty stories in Tales from Shakespeare and the book opens with ‘The Tempest’ – a tale about a young woman whose destiny is in the hands of her much-adored father – and it ends with ‘Pericles, Prince of Tyre’ about a lost and broken father, brought back to the joys of life by his independent daughter. The relationship between fathers and daughters is just one of the many themes to explore. And in between these two stories there are romances and comedies – ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, ‘Measure for Measure’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘Twelfth Night’ and more – all written by Mary Lamb. Mary’s brother Charles chose to retell the tragedies: that of King Lear, driven to madness by two of his scheming daughters, Goneril and Regan, and blind to the true love of his third, youngest daughter, Cordelia; Macbeth, whose burning ambition to become king leads to a trail of bloody murders and evil witches; the tormented soul of Hamlet following the murder of his father; and the sad story of Othello, compelled by jealousy to kill his own wife.
In Tales from Shakespeare, you will find heroes and villains, heroines and deceivers, kings, queens, fairies and magic – the same ingredients that all the very best stories are made of. This is why Shakespeare has endured for hundreds of years: his themes are timeless, his characters universal and they still speak to each and every one of us.
Today, William Shakespeare is as alive as ever, thanks to organizations such as the Royal Shakespeare Company of actors, directors, writers and technicians who perform Shakespeare’s plays throughout the UK and raise awareness in schools. Nothing can compare to seeing a much-loved Shakespeare story performed live on stage. It is important for a child to see a Shakespeare production that is exciting, because a bad production will put a child off for life and they will never want to see another. I was lucky enough to see my brothers act in productions of The Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth when I was a child. It is a wonderful experience for a child to see a well-acted play that tells a story. One of the best places to experience Shakespeare is at the Globe theatre on the south bank of the River Thames in London, recreated just a short way from the original Globe theatre built in 1599, where many of Shakespeare’s plays were first performed. Charles and Mary, whose retellings have inspired generations of young readers to embrace Shakespeare, would have loved it!