Tales from Shakespeare

Charles and Mary Lamb, two English siblings, published the children's book Tales from Shakespeare in 1807.

The comedies were told by Mary Lamb and the tragedies by Charles.

All of the Roman plays were excluded, and the historical stories they chose to recount were altered. It's claimed that dialogue has been used far too frequently for young readers who aren't used to reading or writing in a theatrical style.

However, this flaw, if it exists, was brought about by a sincere desire to utilize as many of Shakespeare's original words as possible.

Too often, the need of converting many of his brilliant phrases into less expressive ones undermines the beauty of his language. The topics of the majority of these tales made it quite difficult to make them easy to read for very young children.

Giving the history of men and women in ways that a very young mind could understand was not an easy task.

The courteous aid of young gentlemen is needed to explain to their sisters those sections of these Tales that are most difficult for them to grasp, as opposed to suggesting them for the reading of young gentlemen who can read them so much better in the originals.