Shakespeare Question.

[mallory]

I'm about to buy my first Shakespeare anthology and I'm debating between The Riverside Shakespeare and a Norton anthology.

My acting teacher, who also teaches a Shakespeare class, swears by the Riverside Shakespeare. The new edition is absolutely beautiful and contains Edmund III, as well as several well written essays on Shakespeare that are intriguing and useful. However, the book is very expensive ($103 along with the cost of shipping; a bit out of my price range considering I'm a broke high school student), heavy, and apparently the footnotes, while extensive, are a bit hard to keep track of.

On the other hand the Norton anthology is much cheaper (at only $68). I know a lot of Shakespeare fans prefer Norton, but I don't know much about it, and it received more unfavorable reviews on Amazon than the Riverside Shakespeare.

Does anyone have any advice?

[sammybluejay]

For my Shakespeare courses I've had, the profs have always had us buy Norton editions of anthologies and I find they're always really good. The introductions are always very helpful and the in-text explanations very clear. Then again, I've never seen the Riverside one, so my opinion is a bit one-sided.

[onlyaworkingtitle]

I agree with sammybluejay: the Norton's definitely more widespread, and is more likely to be expressly required. Also, price is a big issue, and $100+ is a lot to spend on a book (even for we bibliophiles). I'd recommend getting the Norton for yourself, for everyday use, and asking for the Riverside as a birthday/holiday gift -- if you receive it, you can keep it as your "nice edition," and mark the Norton up freely.

[Dodger Thirteen]

See if you can find a physical copy and decide from that. Sometimes, anthologies seem REALLY REALLY AWESOME and then you get it and it's like "What the eff is this." Look at both before you buy it and figure which one you like better. I know the Riverside is quite, quite large (about the size of a very nice dictionary) but I know little on the Norton anthology of Shakespeare; however, I do tend to prefer Nortons over any other editions (though Penguin makes some nice copies as well; it depends on what you're using it for).