Presents the works of William Shakespeare, along with an analysis of the nature and authority of the early documents, a list of the canon and chronological order of composition, an essay on Shakespeare's language, and a bibliography. A compact edition of the complete works of William Shakespeare. It combines impeccable scholarship with beautifully written editorial material and a user-friendly layout of the text. Also included is a foreword, list of contents, general introduction, essay on language, contemporary allusions to Shakespeare, glossary, consolidated bibliography and index of first lines of Sonnets. ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CONTENTS xi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii GENERAL INTRODUCTION xv A USER'S GUIDE TO THE COMPLETE WORKS xliii THE LANGUAGE OF SHAKESPEARE BY DAVID CRYSTAL xlv CONTEMPORARY ALLUSIONS TO SHAKESPEARE lxv COMMENDATORY POEMS AND PREFACES lxix The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1589-91) 1(24) The Taming of the Shrew (1590-1) 25(30) The First Part of the Contention of the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster (1590-1) 55(36) The True Tragedy of Richard Duke of York and the Good King Henry the Sixth (1591) 91(34) The First Part of Henry the Sixth (1592) 125(30) The Most Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus (1592) 155(28) The Tragedy of King Richard the Third (1592-3) 183(40) Venus and Adonis (1592-3) 223(14) The Rape of Lucrece (1593-4) 237(20) The Reign of King Edward the Third (1594) 257(28) The Comedy of Errors (1594) 285(22) Love's Labour's Lost (1594-5) 307(30) Love's Labour's Won (1595-6): A Brief Account 337(2) The Tragedy of King Richard the Second (1595) 339(30) The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet (1595) 369(32) A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595) 401(24) The Life and Death of King John (1596) 425(28) The Comical History of the Merchant of Venice, or Otherwise Called the Jew of Venice (1596-7) 453(28) The History of Henry the Fourth (1596-7) 481(30) The Merry Wives of Windsor (1597-8) 511(26) The Second Part of Henry the Fourth (1597-8) 537(32) Much Ado About Nothing (1598-9) 569(26) The Life of Henry the Fifth (1598-9) 595(32) The Tragedy of Julius Caesar (1599) 627(28) As You Like It (1599-1600) 655(26) The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1600-1) 681(38) Twelfth Night, or What You Will (1601) 719(24) Troilus and Cressida (1602) 743(34) Sonnets (1593-1603) and 'A Lover's Complaint' (1603-4) 777(28) Various Poems (1593-1616) 805(8) The Book of Sir Thomas More (1603-4) 813(30) Measure for Measure (1603-4; adapted 1621) 843(30) The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice (1603-4) 873(36) The History of King Lear (1605-6): The Quarto Text 909(34) The Life of Timon of Athens (1606) 943(26) The Tragedy of Macbeth (1606; adapted 1616) 969(26) The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra (1606) 995(36) All's Well That Ends Well (1606-7) 1031(28) Pericles, Prince of Tyre (1607): A Reconstructed Text 1059(28) The Tragedy of Coriolanus (1608) 1087(36) The Winter's Tale (1609-10) 1123(30) The Tragedy of King Lear (1610): The Folio Text 1153(32) Cymbeline, King of Britain (1610-11) 1185(36) The Tempest (1610-11) 1221(24) Cardenio (1612-13): A Brief Account 1245(2) All Is True (1613) 1247(32) The Two Noble Kinsmen (1613) 1279(32) FURTHER READING BY SUSAN BROCK 1311(16) SELECT GLOSSARY 1327(16) INDEX OF FIRST LINES OF THE SONNETS 1343