Shakespeare's classic play explores the eternal themes of love and hate, mercy and justice, with parallel stories centred on the moneylender, Shylock, and the lovers, Portia and Bassanio. Shylock's angry insistence on the repayment of his debt from Bassanio ends in the Venetian courts where he demands his pound of flesh. Portia meanwhile, a wealthy young Venetian woman, must marry one of her many suitors. Her late father?s will has set the challenge...

Classic / British English Jane Eyre, a poor orphan, grows up in misery until she becomes the governess in the house of wealthy Mr Rochester and falls in love. But mysterious events take place in the house at night, and Mr Rochester appears to be hiding a terrible secret. Can Jane even hope for happiness?

The disparity between Emma Woodhouse's self-confidence and self-knowledge, and her determination to arrange marriages for her friends while avoiding one for herself, leads to a painful series of misunderstandings for everyone who suffers from her well-meaning altruism - and with Mr Knightley being the only person of her acquaintance who has the good sense to challenge her, Emma must eventually recognize her match in every sense.

Contemporary / British English This is a great love story set in the tragedy of war. It is 1941. The Italian officer, Captain Corelli, falls in love with Pelagia, a young Greek girl. But Pelegia's fiance is fighting the Italian army... Captain Corelli's Mandolin is now a film, starring Nicolas Cage.

Original / American English Martin Luther King had a dream. He wanted blacks and whites to live together happily. But in America in the 1950s and 1960s, all men were not equal. King led peaceful protests against the government and won changes for the blacks of America. But has King's dream really come true today?