Margaret Webster

Shakespeare Without Tears, written by Margaret Webster, is a comprehensive guide to understanding and appreciating the works of William Shakespeare. This book is designed to help readers overcome any fear or confusion they may have about Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. Webster begins by providing an overview of Shakespeare's life and times, as well as the cultural and historical context in which he wrote. She then delves into the language and structure of Shakespeare's works, explaining the meaning of unfamiliar words and phrases and highlighting key themes and motifs. The book also includes detailed analyses of several of Shakespeare's most famous plays, including Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear. Webster provides insights into the characters, plot, and themes of these works, as well as suggestions for how to approach them as a reader or performer. In addition to its practical advice and analysis, Shakespeare Without Tears is also a celebration of Shakespeare's enduring legacy. Webster explores the ways in which his works continue to resonate with audiences today, and encourages readers to discover their own personal connections to his plays and sonnets. Overall, Shakespeare Without Tears is an accessible and engaging guide that will help readers of all levels appreciate the genius of William Shakespeare. This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

The first English hospitals appeared soon after the Norman Conquest. By the year 1300 they numbered over 500, caring for the sick at every level of society—from the gentry and clergy to pilgrims, travelers, beggars, and lepers. Excluded from towns but placed by main highways where they could gather alms, they had a complex relation with medieval society: cherished yet marginalized, self-contained yet also parasitic. This book—the first general history of medieval and Tudor hospitals in eighty-five years—traces when and why they originated and follows their development through the crisis periods of the Black Death and the English Reformation when many disappeared. Nicholas Orme and Margaret Webster explore the hospitals' religious, charitable, and medical functions, examine their buildings, staffing, and finances, and analyze their patients in terms of social background and medical needs. They reconstruct the daily life of hospitals, from worship to living conditions, food, and care. The general survey is complemented by a regional study of hospitals of the southwest of England, including detailed histories of all the recorded institutions in Cornwall and Devon.