Four Comedies: The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night (Bantam Classic)

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The Taming of the ShrewRobust and bawdy, The Taming of the Shrew captivates audiences with outrageous humor as Katharina, the shrew, engages in a contest of willsx2013;and lovex2013;with her bridegroom, Petruchio, in a comedy of unmatched theatrical brilliance, filled with visual gags and witty repartee. A Midsummer Night's DreamFairy magic, love spells, and an enchanted wood turn the mismatched rivalries of four young lovers into a marvelous mix-up of desire and enchantment, all touched by Shakespearex2019;s inimitable vision of the intriguing relationship between dreams and the waking world.The Merchant of VeniceThis dark comedy of love and money contains one of the truly mythic figures in literaturex2013;Shylock, the Jewish moneylender. The x201C;pound of fleshx201D; he demands as payment of Antoniox2019;s debt has become a universal metaphor for vengeance. Here, pathos and farce combine with moral complexity and romantic entanglements, to display the extraordinary power and range of Shakespeare at his best.Twelfth NightSet in a topsy-turvy world like a holiday revel, this comedy juxtaposes a romantic plot involving separated twins and mistaken identity with a more satiric one about the humiliation of a pompous killjoy. The hilarity is touched with melancholy, and the play ends, not with laughter, but with a clownx2019;s plaintive song.Each Edition Includes:x2022; Comprehensive explanatory notes x2022; Vivid introductions and the most up-to-date scholarship x2022; Clear, modernized spelling and punctuation, enabling contemporary readers to understand the Elizabethan Englishx2022; Completely updated, detailed bibliographies and performance histories x2022; An interpretive essay on film adaptations of the play, along with an extensive filmography