A balanced editorial approach, a highly respected editor, and comprehensive glosses, footnotes, and historical and cultural essays make this the most reader-friendly introduction to Shakespeare available today. The sixth edition of this comprehensive anthology addresses the two key issues confronted by readers approaching Shakespeare today: a lack of knowledge about the historical period and difficulty with the language of Shakespeare's plays. A richly illustrated general introduction offers insight into Shakespeare's England and background on the literary and cultural contexts in which Shakespeare wrote and produced plays. Each play is introduced by a descriptive essay designed to help the reader appreciate the cultural contexts and interpretive issues raised by the play -- without dictating their interpretations. Thoroughly revised and updated notes and glosses provide additional support to understanding the language of Shakespeare's time.

General Introduction --Life in Shakespeare's England -- Drama Before Shakespeare -- London Theaters and Dramatic Companies -- Shakespeare's Life and Work -- Shakespeare's Language: His Development as Poet and Dramatist -- Editions and Editors of Shakespeare -- Shakespeare Criticism -- Comedies -- Comedy of Errors -- Love's Labor's Lost -- Two Gentlemen of Verona -- Taming of the Shrew -- Midsummer Night's Dream -- Merchant of Venice -- Much Ado About Nothing -- Merry Wives of Windsor -- As You Like It -- Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will -- All's Well That Ends Well -- Measure for Measure -- Troilus and Cressida -- Histories -- First Part of King Henry the Sixth -- Second Part of King Henry the Sixth -- Third Part of King Henry the Sixth -- Tragedy of King Richard the Third -- Life and Death of King John -- Tragedy of King Richard the Second -- First Part of King Henry the Fourth -- Second Part of King Henry the Fourth -- Life of King Henry the Fifth -- Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eighth -- Tragedies -- Titus Andronicus -- Romeo and Juliet -- Julius Caesar -- Hamlet, Prince of Denmark -- Othello, the Moor of Venice -- King Lear -- MacBeth -- Timon of Athens -- Antony and Cleopatra -- Coriolanus -- Romances -- Pericles -- Cymbeline -- Winter's Tale -- Tempest -- Poems -- Venus and Adonis -- Rape of Lucrece -- Phoenix and Turtle -- Lover's Complaint -- Sonnets. -- Appendix 1 Canon, Dates, and Early Texts -- Appendix 2 Sources -- Appendix 3 Shakespeare in Performance.