Shakespeare's major plays are not abridged or summarised in these editions, but are paraphrased line-by-line in modern English to create a prose narrative that also incorporates stage directions and dialogue. Inspired by Goethe's idea that Shakespeare's great plays should be read the way novels are read - for their essence is located within the human mind, not on the auditorium stage - this series removes the Elizabethan usage and poetic dressing in order to make the plays unfold as if they were novels, carried along by the intensity of Shakespeare's page-turning plots and the rich development of character, mood, and setting.