Four Comedies

Front Cover
Penguin, 1994 - 678 pages
Shakespearean comedy has as much to do with the structure and movement of the drama as with the wit of its dialogue or the humour of its characters. In these four comedies there is a near-tragic crisis at which disaster or happiness may ensue, but the overriding force of goodwill and the power of understanding, love and generosity brings us through to a joyful conclusion. In comedy, 'sweet are the uses of adversity', so that the most bitter circumstances - exile, oppression, unrequited love - can give rise to higher feelings of friendship, respect, sympathy and acceptance. In this collection of Shakespeare's four most spirited comedies, each text comes complete with notes and an introduction, making this edition of particular value to students, scholars and theatre-goers.

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Contents

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
1
Introduction
3
Further Reading
37
An Account of the Text
41
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
53
The Sly Scenes in A Shrew
200
A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM
203
Introduction
205
Introduction
347
Further Reading
379
An Account of the Text
382
The Songs
389
AS YOU LIKE IT
395
TWELFTH NIGHT
513
Introduction
515
Further Reading
544

Further Reading
232
An Account of the Text
234
A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM
243
AS YOU LIKE IT
345
An Account of the Text
547
The Songs
554
TWELFTH NIGHT
563
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About the author (1994)

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born to John Shakespeare and mother Mary Arden some time in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), a collection of sonnets and a variety of other poems.

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