Provides overviews of each discussed work, giving researchers the information they need to write effectively on the subject. Sample essay topics and an introduction from Shakespearean scholar Harold Bloom completes the volume. --from publisher description

"A comic, contemporary vision of rural life in England's green and pleasant land. On the morning of the local county fair, Johnny Byron is a wanted man. Local officials want to serve him an eviction notice, his son wants his full attention, and his motley crew of friends wants his ample supply of booze"--Page 4 of cover.

"With his wedding a week away, hot-blooded Claudio can't wait to marry the beautiful young Hero. To distract him, his best friend Don Pedro devises mischief: a romantic trap for the sharp-tongued Beatrice and the man she loves to hate, Benedick. Their amusement is almost spoiled by the jealous scheming of the rakish Don John, but love and laughter prevail when the local constable unwittingly exposes the plot--and all the trouble proves to be much...