Table of Contents

Praise

Title Page

Copyright Page

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Acknowledgements

Introduction

A USER’S GUIDE TO THE COMPLETE WORKS

THE LANGUAGE OF SHAKESPEARE

CONTEMPORARY ALLUSIONS TO SHAKESPEARE

COMMENDATORY POEMS AND PREFACES (1599-1640)

THE COMPLETE WORKS

THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW

The Taming of the Shrew

THE FIRST PART OF THE CONTENTION - (2 HENRY VI)

The First Part of the Contention of the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster

RICHARD DUKE OF YORK - (3 HENRY VI)

The True Tragedy of Richard Duke of York and the Good King Henry the Sixth

HENRY VI PART ONE

The First Part of Henry the Sixth

TITUS ANDRONICUS

The Most Lamentable Roman Tragedy of Titus Andronicus

RICHARD III

The Tragedy of King Richard the Third

VENUS AND ADONIS

Venus and Adonis

THE RAPE OF LUCRECE

The Rape of Lucrece

EDWARD III

The Reign of King Edward the Third

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS

The Comedy of Errors

LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST

Love’s Labour’s Lost

LOVE’S LABOUR’S WON - A BRIEF ACCOUNT

RICHARD II

The Tragedy of King Richard the Second

ROMEO AND JULIET

The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

KING JOHN

The Life and Death of King John

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

The Comical History of the Merchant of Venice, or Otherwise Called the Jew of Venice

1 HENRY IV

The History of Henry the Fourth

THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR

The Merry Wives of Windsor

2 HENRY IV

The Second Part of Henry the Fourth

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

Much Ado About Nothing

HENRY V

The Life of Henry the Fifth

JULIUS CAESAR

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

AS YOU LIKE IT

As You Like It

HAMLET

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

TWELFTH NIGHT

Twelfth Night, or What You Will

TROILUS AND CRESSIDA

Troilus and Cressida

SONNETS AND ‘A LOVER’S COMPLAINT’

Sonnets

A Lover’s Complaint

VARIOUS POEMS

Various Poems

SIR THOMAS MORE

NOTE ON SPECIAL FEATURES OF PRESENTATION

The Book of Sir Thomas More

MEASURE FOR MEASURE

Measure for Measure

OTHELLO

The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice

THE HISTORY OF KING LEAR - THE QUARTO TEXT

The History of King Lear

TIMON OF ATHENS

The Life of Timon of Athens

MACBETH

The Tragedy of Macbeth

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA

The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra

ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

All’s Well That Ends Well

PERICLES

A Reconstructed Text of Pericles, Prince of Tyre

CORIOLANUS

The Tragedy of Coriolanus

THE WINTER’S TALE

The Winter’s Tale

THE TRAGEDY OF KING LEAR - THE FOLIO TEXT

The Tragedy of King Lear

CYMBELINE

Cymbeline, King of Britain

THE TEMPEST

The Tempest

CARDENIO - A BRIEF ACCOUNT

ALL IS TRUE - (HENRY VIII)

All Is True

THE TWO NOBLE KINSMEN

The Two Noble Kinsmen

FURTHER READING

A SELECT GLOSSARY

INDEX OF FIRST LINES OF SONNETS

Martin Droeshout’s engraving of Shakespeare, first published on the title-page of the First Folio (1623)

To the Reader

This figure that thou here seest put,

It was for gentle Shakespeare cut,

Wherein the graver had a strife

With nature to outdo the life.

O, could he but have drawn his wit

As well in brass as he hath hit

His face, the print would then surpass

All that was ever writ in brass!

But since he cannot, reader, look

Not on his picture, but his book.

BEN JOHNSON