THE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, COMPLETE

COMEDIES

THE TEMPEST

We are such stuff
As dreams are made of, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
-- ACT 4, SCENE I

Prospero, Duke of Milan, had been dethroned by his brother, Antonio, and placed on board a small boat with his little daughter Miranda. Set adrift, they reached an enchanted island, of which Prospero is now sole master, attended by the spirit Ariel and a brutal and deformed servant, Caliban. Miranda has grown into a lovely young woman, and Prospero has become a magician. He contrives to have cast upon the island from a foundering ship the usurper, Antonio, Alonzo King of Naples, and Alonzo's brother, Sebastian. Alonzo's son, Ferdinand, has made his way ashore also, but is separated from the others. He and Miranda meet and fall in love immediately, but Prospero is extremely gruff toward the youth.

In another part of the island, Sebastian plans to kill Alonzo, in conspiracy with Antonio, and become King of Naples, but Ariel thwarts the plot at Prospero's command.

Caliban schemes with the servants of the marooned kings to kill Prospero and ravish Miranda, but again Prospero's magic overcomes the conspirators.

Prospero brings the entire party together at a banquet, reveals his identity and forgives his brother, who gives him back his Dukedom. Miranda, of course, is to marry Ferdinand, and the ship, which was believed wrecked, is found to have ridden out the storm, and is waiting to take them all back to Naples and Milan.

THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA

O, they love least, that let men know their love.
-- ACT I, SCENE 2

Valentine and Proteus are intimate friends, living in Verona. Valentine is leaving to make his way in the world at the court of the Duke of Milan. Proteus is deeply in love with Julia, a lady of Verona. Soon after Valentine's departure, Proteus' father decides it is time his son also made a name for himself, and decides that he shall follow Valentine.

In Milan, Valentine has fallen in love with Silvia, the Duke's daughter, who is resisting her father's wish that she should marry Thurio, a clownish courtier. Proteus is highly recommended to the Duke by Valentine and is warmly welcomed. At first sight of Silvia he forgets Julia, who has followed him from Verona, and begins scheming to get both Valentine and Thurio out of the way.

Proteus' first trick results in Valentine being banished from the court, so he next prepares an elaborate betrayal of Thurio.

Julia learns of Proteus' perfidy, and Silvia, rejecting both Thurio and Proteus, prepares to go on a search for Valentine.

Proteus follows Silvia and rescues her from outlaws in the forest. She still rejects his advances, whereupon he threatens to force her to accede to his desires. All this has been overheard by Valentine, however, and he interrupts. Proteus is overcome by shame at all his scheming, and the timely arrival of the Duke and Julia complete the scene for explanations, reconciliations, and betrothals.

THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR

The world's mine oyster.
-- Act 2, SCENE 2

Sir John Falstaff is having difficulties with a country justice who accuses the knight and his three followers of all manner of misbehavior, including poaching. Page, a gentleman of the neighborhood, endeavoring to straighten the matter out, invites them both to dinner, and there Falstaff becomes enamored, in his heavy way, of both Mrs. Page and her friend Mrs. Ford. Later he sends one of his followers with two letters, expressing his feelings, one to each lady. While these incidents are occurring it appears that three young men have cast longing eyes upon Page's daughter Anne. These three are Slender, a country lout, Dr. Caius, a peppery Frenchman, and Fenton, a likeable youth.

Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Page compare notes, and decide to trap the fat knight, Falstaff. They send him word to be at Mrs. Ford's house at a certain hour.

The trick works better than they had hoped, for the untimely arrival of the jealous husband, Ford, causes the escape of Falstaff in a hamper of dirty linen, to be more realistic than was intended. Meanwhile, Fenton's courtship of Anne Page progresses.

Falstaff has hardly cleaned off the slime of the ditch into which he was thrown with the soiled clothes, when Mrs. Page and Mrs. Ford prepare another trap into which he falls with equal innocence. This time again his escape from Ford is real, but less successful. The merry wives dress the elephantine Falstaff as an old witch, and he gets a terrific beating, Ford having a special antipathy against witches. Fenton's love affair with Anne Page is not prospering quite so well.

Still unsuspecting, Falstaff follows a third lure, and appears in Windsor Park at midnight, disguised as a deer, at least to the extent of wearing a buck's head. Here he is attacked, pinched, buffeted, burned and otherwise tortured by a crowd dressed as fairies. In the confusion, two independent schemes, one to have Slender run off with Anne Page, and the other to have her spirited away by Dr. Caius, are frustrated by Fenton, who steals away with the girl himself.

TWELFTH NIGHT: OR WHAT YOU WILL

Some are born great, others achieve greatness,
others have greatness thrust upon them.
-- ACT 2, SCENE 3

Viola is shipwrecked upon the coast of Illyria and as it seems that her brother has been drowned, she is alone in the world. She disguises herself as a page and enters the service of Orsino, the reigning Duke. This nobleman is hopelessly in love with a neighbor, the Countess Olivia, who has recently suffered a double bereavement of her father and brother, and has refused to see him. In Olivia's household are three persons who furnish much amusement in the course of the play: Olivia's boisterous uncle, Sir Toby Belch; Sir Andrew Aguecheek, a friend of Sir Toby's, who aspires to Olivia's hand; Malvolio, the Countess' conceited steward; and Maria, her waiting woman. Duke Orsino sends Viola (still regarded by all as a handsome young man) as ambassador to plead his cause with Olivia, but Olivia soon becomes more interested in the messenger than in the message, and asks Viola to visit her again.

Orsino commands Viola to persist in the effort to win Olivia for him, though she assures him it is futile. At Olivia's house, Maria causes Malvolio to believe his. mistress is in love with him, and he makes a fool of himself, at the same time convincing the Countess he has gone insane.

Viola's brother, Sebastian, was not drowned. He and a sea captain find their way to Illyria. The captain hesitates to follow Sebastian to the Duke's neighborhood, as he has enemies there. They separate for a while, the captain leaving his purse with Sebastian. Viola again visits Olivia, and it is quite clear that the Countess has fallen in love with the masquerader. Sir Andrew Aguecheek, jealous of Viola, is about to fight a duel with her when the captain arrives, thinks Viola is Sebastian, and offers to take over the fighting, but officers arrive and arrest him. The captain's plea that Viola use the money he gave to Sebastian, to obtain his freedom only bewilders her.

No sooner had Viola gone back to the Duke's palace than Sebastian appears, and Olivia in turn falls into the error of identity. She persuades the young man to go with her to her house, he reciprocates her love, and they are married immediately.

The confusion of identities continues when Olivia next sees Viola, still in male attire, with the Duke, and calls Viola her husband. The Duke is infuriated at what appears to be treachery, and when the priest supports Olivia's statement the bewilderment is complete. The timely arrival of Sebastian (who has been busy trouncing Sir Toby and Sir Andrew) clears the air, and when all is explained the Duke suddenly discovers it is Viola he loves, and not Olivia.

MEASURE FOR MEASURE

O, it is excellent
To have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous
To use it like a giant.
-- ACT 2, SCENE 2

Vincentio, Duke of Vienna, absenting himself for a time from his official duties, leaves the severe and upright Angelo as his deputy. One of Angelo's first acts is to condemn to death Claudio, a young man who has seduced his sweetheart, Juliet, whom he is unable to marry because of financial difficulties. Claudio's sister, Isabella, is persuaded to make a personal appeal to Angelo on her brother's behalf.

Angelo replies to all Isabella's arguments with a stern refusal to interfere with the course of the law, but promises to see her again the following day. When she bas left, he muses upon the temptation he feels coming upon him. At their next meeting he offers to save her brother, at the price of her own chastity. Confident that Claudio would prefer his own death to her dishonor, Isabella scornfully rejects the offer and goes to visit her brother.

Isabella finds that Claudio has not the moral stamina she expected, but she leaves the prison still determined not to submit herself to Angelo. The Duke, masquerading as a friar, learns all the facts, and tells Isabella to pretend to accept Angelo's proposal.

There is a woman, Mariana, to whom Angelo was betrothed, but whom he abandoned because she lost her dowry. The Duke arranges to substitute her for Isabella in Angelo's house, under cover of darkness.

The Duke reappears in his own guise and resumes his position as ruler of the city. He tells Angelo what has happened, and requires him to marry Mariana. He himself makes Isabella his Duchess, and Claudio is freed, to make an honest woman of his Juliet.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

There was never yet philosopher
That could endure the toothache patiently.
-- ACT 5, SCENE I

In the household of Leonato, Governor of Messina are his daughter, Hero, and his niece, Beatrice. Don Pedro, Prince of Arragon visits the Governor on his way home from a victorious campaign, in which two of his retainers have especially distinguished themselves, Claudio and Benedick. A less desirable member of his company is his ill-natured brother, Don John, whose greatest happiness is in causing trouble. Claudio falls in love immediately with Hero, and the Prince says he will arrange the match. Beatrice and Benedick are old acquaintances however, and they have made such a constant game of biting repartee that each thinks the other is in earnest in the sarcasm and abuse.

Don John arranges a plot with his servant Borachio to disgrace Hero, and break up the match with Claudio. More benevolent schemes surround Benedick, for a conversation is staged purposely for him to hear, in which it is declared that Beatrice is fairly ill for love of him. A similar trick is played upon Beatrice, who believes her presence is unsuspected while Hero and a waiting woman discuss Benedick's adoration of her.

The arrangements for Claudio to marry Hero are completed when Don John informs the Prince and Claudio that Hero is a wanton. He takes them at night to the garden beneath Hero's window, and there shows them Borachio making love to a woman who, they have every right to believe is Hero, but who is actually her waiting woman. Claudio decides that Hero shall be disgraced publicly.

The marriage ceremony is about to take place, when Claudio denounces Hero, and is supported by Don John. Amazed and shocked, Hero falls, apparently dead. The scene changes to a prison, where Dogberry, an amusing constable, is questioning Borachio, who was heard telling about the trick that had been played on Hero and Claudio.

Leonato still believes his daughter was maligned, and in a quarrel with Claudio they have reached the verge of deadly combat when Benedick interrupts. Dogberry arrives with his prisoner, and Borachio, whose master has fled from Messina, confesses the entire plot. Claudio repents at the family tomb of Leonato, and praises the innocent Hero. Leonato has forgiven Claudio, and has suggested that he marry Beatrice. Leonato learns, however, that his daughter is not dead, but has been secreted by the friar. A wedding in masks is arranged by Leonato, at which it appears that Claudio is marrying Beatrice, to the great discomfiture of Benedick. The masked bride, however, turns out to be Hero, and Benedick gets his Beatrice after all.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
-- ACT 3, SCENE 2

Theseus, Duke of Athens, about to marry Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, is asked by a citizen, Egeus, to discipline his daughter, Hermia. This young woman is loved by Demetrius, to whose suit Egeus has given his consent, and also by Lysander, whom the girl herself prefers. She refuses to obey her father's orders, and the Duke is asked to corroborate Egeus' statement of the law. This is, that a rebellious daughter shall either be put to death or banished from the society of men forever. Hermia still refuses to marry Demetrius, and the D.uke gives her a fortnight to change her mind. Now another fair lady, Helena, is in love with Demetrius, and is broken-hearted. Hermia and Lysander tell her to be patient, as they propose to fly from Athens.

The scene changes to another court, that of Oberon, King of the Fairies. The King and his Queen, Titania, are engaged in a bickering quarrel because Titania will not accede to Oberon's whim to have her give him a certain changeling boy who is among her attendants. Oberon sends the merry sprite Puck for a magic flower which, when placed upon the eyes of a sleeping person, will cause her, or him, to fall in love with the first living being seen upon awakening. He proposes, for revenge, to place it on Titania's eyes, and tells Puck to place some on the eyes of Demetrius in such circumstances that, when he awakes, he will immediately see Helena, of whose unrequited passion Oberon has learned.

Oberon's trick on Titania is successful. When she wakes she sees the ridiculous clown, Bottom, wearing an ass' head as a mask, and becomes helplessly enamored of him. Puck, however, lacking an exact description of Demetrius, places the flower on the eyes of Lysander, and Helena being near when he awakes in the wood where all these pranks are played, Lysander dismays that lady by making love to her. The sorcery is now worked upon Demetrius and he too now loves Helena, so Hermia is broken-hearted and the two young men decide to fight a duel, but Puck throws them into confusion, to give Oberon time to straighten out the tangle, which he soon does.

In her obsession for the clown, Titania thinks nothing of granting Oberon's request for the changeling boy. The transfer made, the King of the Fairies now uses his magic flower again and Titania comes to her senses, enamored again of her husband. To celebrate the triple nuptials, Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helena and Theseus and Hippolyta, a performance is given by Bottom and his troupe. This group of players provide much of the buffoonery with which several acts of this comedy are enlivened.

LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST

A jest's prosperity lies in the ear
Of him that hears it, never in the tongue
Of him that makes it.
-- ACT 5, SCENE 2

Ferdinand, King of Navarre, has decided to go into academic retirement for three years, to see no woman, and to live very simply and spend the time in study. He is accompanied by three lords, Biron, Longaville and Dumain. The enterprise is barely launched when they receive word that the King of France is sending his daughter to Navarre to attend to the settlement of a claim involving title to Aquitaine. Ferdinand's modest court is also haunted by a curious Spaniard, Armada, whose doings, together with those of various country folk, provide comedy scenes paralleling the main story.

Ferdinand meets the Princess, who is accompanied by three ladies, Rosaline, Maria and Katharine, but excuses himself for not inviting the party to his court, explaining the vow which he and his three companions have taken. It appears, however, that the resolution of the four recluses has been weakened by the presence of the lovely ladies.

The Princess and her party are entertained in the King's park, and Ferdinand and his friends are finally compelled to admit to one another that love has caused them to lose interest in scholarly pursuits. They make little progress in the good graces of the ladies, however. This merry war, and masquerades, comprise the greater part of the play.

News arrives that the Princess' father is dead, and she must return home. To the proposals of marriage by the King and the three lords, the ladies reply that they will give the men a twelve-month to prove themselves worthy. Biron complains that this is not the way a play should end, and to the King's observation that it is only a year they have to wait, replies "That's too long for a play." And there it ends.

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

The quality of mercy is not strained.
-- ACT 4, SCENE I

Antonio, a wealthy merchant of Venice, has a kinsman, Bassanio, who is in need of money. He tells Antonio of a beautiful woman, Portia, with whom he has fallen in love, and whose wealth and charm draw suitors from all parts of the world. Bassanio cannot pay court to her because of his comparative poverty. Antonio would willingly give him the money he requires, but the merchant himself is temporarily out of ready cash, his entire fortune being invested in various shipping ventures. In this predicament, Antonio decides to borrow three thousand ducats from a usurer, Shylock, although he has reviled this Jew for his practices. Shylock reminds Antonio of all the insults he has endured, but agrees to lend the money for two months, provided that, if it is not repaid on the date it is due, he may cut a pound of flesh from whatever part of Antonio's body he may decide. Over Bassanio's protests Antonio agrees, his ships being due to return a full month before the date of payment.

Portia had promised her dead father that she would marry no man except the one who chose, among three caskets, the one which contained her portrait. Two princes now visit her, and each makes the wrong choice, to her great relief. Meanwhile Shylock suffers a double loss, his daughter has eloped and taken a considerable sum in gold and jewels.

Bassanio pays formal court to Portia, selects the right casket, and Portia gladly becomes his betrothed. Their happiness is marred by the news that Antonio's ships have failed to arrive, and he must forfeit the pound of flesh to Shylock, obviously a death sentence.

At the ducal court, Shylock demands payment of the penalty, but Portia, disguised as a lawyer, appears and makes her famous defense, that he may take a pound of flesh, but spill not one drop of blood, for in the bond nothing was said of blood. Before these impossible conditions, Shylock is helpless, and as punishment for his inhuman insistence upon his bargain the Duke orders him to pay half his fortune to his daughter who eloped.

In a playful scene the identity of the brilliant young lawyer is revealed and the love stories brought to their desired denouement.

AS YOU LIKE IT

Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.
-- ACT 2, SCENE I

Oliver, older brother of Orlando, has kept him out of his share of their father's estate and otherwise mistreated him. Now he plots to have him killed in a bout with a professional wrestler. The match is to take place before Frederick, a usurper, who has banished his brother, the Duke. Frederick's daughter, Celia, has persuaded her father to permit the Duke's daughter, Rosalind, to remain as her companion. When Orlando comes to wrestle, Rosalind tries to persuade him to avoid the match, as he is much too young for such a struggle. He insists, however, and is the victor. Unexpectedly, Frederick orders Rosalind to leave his house, accusing her of treachery. She decides to disguise herself as a man, and Celia determinedly announces she will leave with her, smirching her face and pretending to be a humble peasant girl.

A faithful servant warns Orlando that his brother, disappointed at the failure of his plot, is more than ever determined to destroy Orlando, and together they escape to the Forest of Arden. Rosalind and Celia are also wandering in this forest, where the banished Duke has his humble abode. Orlando stumbles upon the Duke's retreat, and is welcomed, as the Duke and his father were firm friends.

Orlando encounters Rosalind, still in man's attire, in the forest. She learns of his love for Rosalind, and promises to produce that lady if he will pretend she is a maid and show how he makes love. There is much sport, and romance, and singing, and a bit of adventure when Orlando saves his brother, the wicked Oliver, from a lion.

The regenerated Oliver seeks his brother's pardon, falls in love with and is accepted by Celia, and Rosalind finally appears to Orlando in her own guise. To complete the happiness of all, the usurper Frederick repents, enters a religious institution, and the Duke is restored to his dominion.

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

He needs must go that the devil drives.
-- ACT I, SCENE 3

Bertram, Count of Rousillon, is about to leave home to enter the service of the King of France. In his mother's household is an orphan, Helena, whose father was a physician. She is in love with Bertram, but he scarcely notices her, regarding her as far below his station in life. Helena learns that the King is desperately ill of a malady his physicians cannot cure, and that it is one for which her father had a remedy, the secret of which is now in her possession. She decides to go to Paris, partly to cure the King, and partly because Bertram is there.

Helena's treatment is a success, and in his gratitude at his recovery the King tells Helena she may choose a husband from among all his knights. Though many are willing to espouse her, it is Bertram she chooses. He declines to marry her, until he is ordered to do so by the King. He is leaving for the war in Italy, however, and immediately after the ceremony sends Helena back to Rousillon.

Here Helena receives a message from her husband saying that he will have nothing to do with her until she shows him a certain ring she must take. from his finger, and also a child she has begotten by him. In pilgrim's garb she sets out for Florence.

Bertram becomes enamored of a certain Diana, daughter of a Florentine widow, and tries to seduce her. Helena persuades the girl to pretend to consent, and then let Helena herself take her place under cover of darkness. In this way she persuades Bertram to trade rings with her, and begets a child.

Again in France, Bertram is confronted with an accusation of seduction by Diana, and when he is relieved of his predicament by Helena's explanation of what actually transpired, he has the good grace to admit his cruelty, and really seems to have fallen in love with his wife at last.

TAMING OF THE SHREW
He that is giddy thinks the world turns round.
-- ACT 5, SCENE 2

This play begins with a prologue in which a drunken tinker is persuaded by a fun-loving nobleman that he is a lord, and is made the guest of honor at the performance, the story of which runs thus:

Baptista, a wealthy Paduan, has two daughters, the elder the shrewish Katherina, the younger the gentle Bianca. The latter has three suitors, but her father refuses to let her marry until a mate has been found for the elder. The suitors unite in persuading Petruchio, a gentleman of Verona, to break the deadlock by winning Katherina.

Katherina's father agrees to the match and the battle between the shrew and her betrothed begins. The young woman says she'll see Petruchio hanged before she'll marry him.

The wedding day arrives, however, and with it the bridegroom in nondescript clothes, riding a horse that has glanders. During the ceremony he swears, cuffs the priest, and misbehaves generally. At its conclusion he carries off the bride instead of going with her to the wedding feast.

This rough treatment is continued when the couple reaches Petruchio's house, until Katherina no longer rebels, but falls in with all her husband's vagaries.

The couple visit Katherina's father at Padua, and everyone is astonished at the change which has come over the former shrew. She has learned her lesson arid it is no longer necessary for Petruchio to carry on his boisterous treatment, which, it appears, was merely for educational purposes. Bianca gets the suitor she wanted. The tipsy tinker is never seen again.

THE WINTER'S TALE

Slander,
Whose sting is sharper than a sword's.
-- ACT 2, SCENE 3

Leontes, King of Sicily, is endeavoring to persuade his guest, Polixenes, King of Bohemia, to remain another week, and when Polixenes declines firmly, asks his wife Hermione to add her pleas. Hermione is so charming in her insistence that Polixenes yields. Now Leontes is overwhelmed with jealousy and suspects his wife of having been too familiar with the visitor. He even plots the death of Polixenes, but an honest courtier warns the King of Bohemia, who hurriedly departs for home.

This flight confirms all Leontes' suspicions, and he openly accuses his wife of infidelity, even declaring that her baby soon to be born is the child of their recent visitor. When this girl is born, Leontes orders a courtier to take it to some foreign land where it will never be heard of again.

Hermione is placed on trial, but a message from the Oracle of Apollo at Delphos declares her innocent. She faints and appears to be dead. The custodian of the child, meanwhile, has landed on the coast of Bohemia.

Years pass, and Polixenes worries over the frequent absences of his son, Florizel, from court. In disguise, the King follows the prince, and finds him enjoying himself in the home of a shepherd with a peasant girl of unknown parentage, Perdita. The King reveals FlorizeI's identity to the people, but the prince refuses to give up Perdita when ordered to do so. Instead, he flies with her to Sicily.

Here the truth becomes known, that Perdita is Hermione's daughter, and therefore a mate for Florizel whom his father would approve. Also it is revealed that Hermione is not dead, but had merely fallen into a trance.

The play is enlivened by the singing and pranks of Autolycus, one of Shakespeare's most lovable rascals.

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS

The pleasing punishment that women bear.
-- ACT I, SCENE I

It is quite impossible to tell the story of this comedy, since it is what today would be called "slapstick." It is a comedy of twins identical in appearance, and not merely of one pair of twins, but two. Only the background of the farce can be related coherently.

The time is between two and three centuries B.C. AEgeon, a merchant of Ephesus, was presented by his wife with twins while they were away from home, he on a business trip. In the same inn a poor woman at the same time also gave birth to twins, and the merchant bought them to be servants to his own. The couple started home on a ship, a storm arose, the ship was wrecked, and AEgeon with one of his own children and one of the other twins drifted one way and his wife with the other half of the quartet in another.

Years passed, AEgeon had no word of his wife, but his son and the servant twin insisted that the merchant go searching for the remainder of the household. He finally reached Ephesus, his funds depleted, and becoming separated from his son and their attendant was arrested because of a feud between Ephesus and his own city of Syracuse. So bitter was this rivalry that any man of Syracuse found in Ephesus was automatically sentenced to pay a large fine or be executed. AEgeon could not pay the fine. The Duke listened to his story and was quite sympathetic, but insisted that the law must be obeyed, and unless the Syracusan could raise  the money for his fine, he would have to die.

With this, the farce begins, its action being based upon repeated incidents of mistaken identity involving the two pairs of twins. It may be as well here to relieve all suspense by promising that the unfortunate merchant will not be executed.

HISTORIES

KING JOHN

In sooth, I would you were a little sick,
That I might sit all night and watch with you.
-- ACT 4, SCENE I

John is King of England. An ambassador from France announces that King Philip demands Ireland and the greater part of England's continental territory on behalf of Arthur, son of John's elder brother Geffrey, the late Duke of Bretagne. John refuses and tells the ambassador to warn the King of France to prepare for war.

The two kings meet before the walls of Angiers, which is in the disputed territory. The young Prince Arthur is present, with his mother, Constance, who has induced Philip to take up her cause. King John is accompanied by his mother Elinor, and these two women engage in bitter wrangling. The citizens of Angiers propose a compromise-that Blanch, daughter of the King of Spain and niece of John, shall marry the Dauphin, and unite the two monarchies, giving Arthur, for consolation, the Dukedom of Bretagne.

This satisfies everybody except Constance, but the agreement is soon disrupted by Pandulph, a papal legate, who brings an ultimatum from Rome. The Pope demands that John cease his opposition to Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury. John defies the church, and not only is himself excommunicated, but the threat of excommunication is also issued to any king who is his ally. Philip then withdraws from the treaty and a battle ensues in which John is victorious and takes Arthur prisoner to England, ordering his chamberlain, Hubert de Burgh, to kill the boy secretly.

Hubert is unable to carry out the King's order, having become very fond of Prince Arthur, but John believes the boy is dead and so informs certain lords who have told him that there is much discontent over Arthur's imprisonment. France invades England. Needing public support, John regrets Arthur's death, and when he learns that he is alive orders him set free. Meanwhile, however, Arthur bas committed suicide.

John yields to Rome and the legate Pandulph tries to call off the Dauphin, who is leading the invaders, but now that Arthur is dead, Louis through his marriage to Blanch is heir to the English throne, and says that the war shall continue. The French are defeated, but King John dies of poison administered by a monk, and his son succeeds him as Henry III.

KING RICHARD II

There is no virtue like necessity.
-- ACT I, SCENE 3

Bolingbroke, son of the wealthy and powerful John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, accuses Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, of treason. They are about to settle their quarrel in single combat when King Richard intervenes and banishes both, being especially glad to be rid of Bolingbroke because of his power and growing popularity with the people. The King needs money to quell a rebellion in Ireland, his own funds being exhausted. John of Gaunt dies and the King seizes his property, raises an army and sets out for Ireland. Bolingbroke hears of the King's action, raises an army and returns to England. His forces are joined by a number of lords who are disgusted with Richard. The King returns and finds himself in Bolingbroke's power, and while the latter says all he wants is the return of his father's possessions, Richard knows the end bas come. He goes before Parliament and abdicates and Bolingbroke is crowned Henry IV. The new king has Richard murdered.

KING HENRY IV (PART I)

The better part of volour is discretion.
-- ACT S, SCENE 4

King Henry IV in his old age, faces a double threat to the safety of his kingdom. Owen Glendower, a Welsh rebel, is leading an uprising in the west, and the Earl of Douglas one in the north. Glendower defeats and captures Mortimer, Earl of March, but Henry Percy, son of the Earl of Northumberland, conquers Douglas. Percy, known as Hotspur, wants to trade his prisoners to obtain the release of Mortimer, but the King refuses, as he declares that Mortimer betrayed his own army. Hotspur is infuriated, and joins the Welsh and Scotch rebels, taking a large force with him. The rebels are not unified, however. They discuss the division of the kingdom before they have struck a blow to gain possession of it, and a private quarrel between Hotspur and Glendower nearly breaks up the coalition.

The King is worried over the escapades of his son, Prince Hal, heir to the throne, who spends a great deal of his time in the lower parts of London with that fat knight who appears in so many of Shakespeare's plays, the lying, bragging, guzzling Falstaff. Prince Hal promises to reform, but actually puts Falstaff in command of a part of his troops as he sets out to participate in the campaign against the rebels.

The royal forces are victorious, largely because of the absence of coordination in the rebel command. Prince Hal himself kills Hotspur, and the Battle of Shrewsbury brings promise of peace.

KING HENRY IV (PART 2)

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
-- ACT 3, SCENE I

Undaunted' by the victory of the King at Shrewsbury, a new coalition is formed against him, including the Archbishop of York and Lords Mowbray and Hastings. The Earl of Northumberland, father of Hotspur, is persuaded by his wife and Hotspur's widow not to join the rebels until there is some indication that they will succeed. The uprising is further weakened by the death of the Welshman, Glendower. The King sends his third son, John of Lancaster, and the Earl of Westmoreland against the rebels.

Prince Hal still grieves his father by his association with the gang of which Falstaff is the leading spirit, and much of the play is devoted to the doings of this riotous crew.

Under a promise that their grievances will be remedied, the rebel leaders disband their army, but as soon as this is done they are all treacherously seized and executed. The King, feeling death approaching, is worried over the future of England with the irresponsible Prince Hal as monarch. The Prince receives a long lecture from his father and promises to reform.

News reaches Falstaff that the King is dead, and feeling that his fortune is made, now that his friend Hal is King, he hurries to court. There he is disillusioned. Prince Hal, now King Henry V, apparently intends to keep his promise to his dying father, and he turns from his former dissolute companions to the men upon whom his father had relied for advice and support.

KING HENRY V

They sell the pasture now to buy the horse
-- ACT 2, PROLOGUE

King Henry seeks a sanction for his claim upon certain French provinces, against his title to which the Salic Law is quoted by the French. The Archbishop of Canterbury, to gain the King's favor, and to obtain the defeat of a proposed law which would reduce the power of the church, in a lengthy argument upholds Henry's claim, and war is declared upon France.

Falstaff dies, cursing wine and women, hut his old companions carryon his function of enlivening the drama. The King diverts himself by occasionally mingling with this crew, but not to the point of neglecting serious affairs.

The English army invades France, and at the Battle of Agincourt wins a decisive victory. The Duke of Burgundy brings together Charles, the King of France, and Henry, and Henry's claims are recognized. Permanence is to he given to the treaty by Henry's marriage to Katharine, daughter of Charles. The play closes with Henry's amusing courtship of Katharine, carried on against the handicap of neither understanding much of the other's language.

KING HENRY VI (PART I)

She's beautiful, and therefore to be woo'd;
She is a woman, therefore to be won.
-- ACT 5, SCENE 3

The first part of the Henry VI trilogy consists of a series of scenes which have only the slightest relation to each other. They begin with messages arriving in England of disasters to the armies in France. The Dauphin, Charles, who is attempting to raise the English siege of Orleans, accepts the offer of La Pucelle, commonly known as Joan of Arc. She weakens the English strategically as well as numerically by persuading the Duke of Burgundy to forswear his alliance with England and join the French cause. The factional differences in England which are to result in the Wars of the Roses begin to appear. The ambitious Earl of Suffolk arranges a marriage, supposed to bring peace, between Margaret of Anjou and King Henry, and expects to become the actual ruler of England through his influence over the queen.

It is generally believed that very little of this play was the actual work of Shakespeare.

KING HENRY VI (PART 2)

Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just.
-- ACT 3, SCENE 2

With the arrival in England of Margaret of Anjou to be Henry's queen the intrigues of the court are multiplied. Suffolk is created Duke by the grateful monarch, and starts plotting the downfall of the King's uncle, the Duke of Gloster, who is himself faithful to the King, although it is true that Eleanor, his wife, is scheming to have her husband seize the throne. Suffolk brings about the betrayal of Eleanor, and Gloster's enemies immediately combine to encompass his complete ruin.

Gloster is murdered at the instigation of Suffolk, and Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, dies of remorse at his part in the plot. Suffolk has aroused the enmity of the people and the King orders his banishment, being further urged to it by evidences of a love affair between him and the Queen. Suffolk is murdered by sailors.

Meanwhile the star of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, is rising rapidly. He wins the support of the powerful Earls of Salisbury and Warwick, the latter of whom is to become famous as the Kingmaker. York is sent to Ireland to put down a minor uprising, and he returns to England with a strong force, claims the crown, and wins his first engagement, the Battle of St. Albans.

KING HENRY VI (PART 3)

The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on.
-- ACT 2, SCENE 2

The victorious Duke of York moves on from the Battle of St. Albans to seat himself on the throne. The weak King agrees to a compromise, proclaiming York his successor, thus dispossessing his own son, Edward, Prince of Wales. The Queen refuses to recognize this agreement, however, and leads an army against York, defeats him and herself stabs him to death.

His sons Edward and Richard, assisted by Warwick, attack the royal forces at Towton and win a complete victory. King Henry escapes to Scotland, Queen Margaret to France, Edward is crowned King Edward IV and Richard becomes Duke of Gloster.

Warwick goes to France to arrange a marriage between Bona, sister of Lewis XI and King Edward, but in his absence Edward, carried away by an infatuation, marries Lady Grey. Warwick is furious, and meeting Margaret at the French court, takes up her cause.

Edward has made the deposed King Henry prisoner, but Warwick surprises him, frees Henry and imprisons Edward. Edward escapes to Burgundy, raises a new army, and turns the tables on Warwick, seizes Henry and again takes the throne. Henry is sent to the Tower.

Pursuing his advantage, Edward surprises Warwick at Coventry and finally defeats and kills him at Barnet. Margaret is beaten at Tewksbury and her son, Prince Edward, murdered in her presence by the Duke of Gloster, who then hurries to the Tower and kills Henry. Margaret is ransomed by her father, the King of Sicily, and Edward IV looks forward to peace and "lasting joy."

KING RICHARD III

A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
-- ACT 5, SCENE 4

Between Richard, Duke of Gloster, and the throne, there now stand his brother, King Edward, Edward's two sons, and another brother of the King, the Duke of Clarence. But the hunchbacked Richard deliberately sets out to remove these obstacles. First, he cynically but successfully proposes marriage to Anne, widow of the prince he killed at Tewksbury. He then hires assassins to murder the Duke of Clarence.

The King dies a natural death, and now only the two young princes remain in the path the unscrupulous Richard is carving toward the throne. These he kills, and also procures the execution of nobles who oppose him. He obtains the consent of the Mayor of London and the populace to his coronation by pretending a religious fervor, and making a pretence of reluctance.

Meanwhile there are uprisings against Richard throughout England, and the Earl of Richmond, whom Henry VI had said would one day reign, leads a united force against the King and himself kills Richard on Bosworth Field.

KING HENRY VIII

Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness!
-- ACT 3, SCENE 2

This play follows the course of three of the important advisers of Henry VIII, the Duke of Buckingham, Cardinal Wolsey and Archbishop Cranmer. The ambitious Wolsey convinces the King that Buckingham has designs upon the crown, in the event that Henry should have no children, and Buckingham is executed. Henry, meanwhile, has become enamored of Anne Bullen, and pretending that his conscience troubles him because he has married his dead brother's wife, though that marriage was never consummated, has Wolsey try to persuade Queen Katharine to consent to an annulment. Failing in this, the King demands that Wolsey obtain the Pope's consent to a divorce, and when the Cardinal opposes this, has him executed and appropriates his property. The more pliable Cranmer now becomes Henry's trusted adviser -- or rather instrument of Henry's wishes. Henry marries Anne and the play ends with Cranmer's glowing prediction of the future greatness of Anne's daughter, Elizabeth.

Serious doubts have been cast upon Shakespeare's part in the authorship of any considerable portion of this play, at least half of which, it has been established, was by Fletcher.

TRAGEDIES

TROILUS AND CRESSIDA

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.
-- ACT 3, SCENE 3

The scene is the siege of Troy by the Greeks. Troilus, one of the sons of Priam, King of Troy, is in love with Cressida, daughter of Calchas, a Trojan priest. She reciprocates his affection, but pretends the opposite, when her uncle, Pandarus, praises Troilus. The Greeks discuss the progress of the war, especially a challenge from Hector, another of Priam's sons, to fight the best man the Greeks can offer. Nestor suggests Ajax, who is presented as an ignorant braggart, because Nestor fears their champion, Achilles, is becoming too opinionated.

The Greek leaders, whose names are familiar in the roster of ancient heroes, bandy sneering remarks, for it seems they were anything but heroes to one another. Achilles, sulking, refuses to fight Hector, and the generals agree to Nestor's choice of Ajax. The Trojans, in council, consider an offer from the Greeks to end the war. The cause of the conflict was the abduction of Helen, Wife of Menelaus, by Paris, son of the King of Troy. The Greeks' sole demand is that she be surrendered, but the Trojans refuse.

Pandarus succeeds in breaking down Cressida's pretended dislike of Troilus, and they spend a night in Pandarus' house. Cressida's father, Calchas, who has deserted to the Greeks, asks them to exchange for his daughter a Trojan they have captured and they agree.

Cressida first refuses to go to the Greek camp, then consents, but promises to be true to Troilus. Arriving at the camp she is kissed by all the Greek generals except Ulysses, who regards her as a trollop. The fight between Ajax and Hector comes to a draw. Cressida falls to the lot of Diomedes.

Achilles finally decides to fight Hector. Troilus fights With Diomedes, who merely takes his horse away from him and sends it to Cressida. Instead of fighting with Hector in single combat, Achilles has his troops surround the Trojan, kill him, and tie his body to the tail of Achilles' horse. The entire play is a satire on the ancient heroes of Greek mythology.

TIMON OF ATHENS

Men shut their doors against a setting sun.
-- ACT I, SCENE 2

Timon, a wealthy Athenian, has been squandering his money in gifts, entertainments, dowries and all manner of extravagances. His steward, Flavius, tries to warn him that he is exhausting his resources, but he will not listen.

Finally things reach a crisis, and Flavius having no funds to meet the mounting debts, Timon is forced to face the situation. He first rebukes Flavius, then sends to al1 his former friends, who have been forever flattering him in order to share in his showers of gold, but they are unanimous in refusing to help him.

He then invites al1 these persons to a feast at his house, and when they sit down and uncover the dishes they find that they are being served only with warm water, which Timon flings in their faces and leaves Athens, swearing never to return. Alcibiades, at this time, is banished from the city for his temerity in denouncing the Senate for refusing to pardon an offense of a friend of his, who has performed valuable services to the state in the past.

Timon goes to live in the woods, and discovers a vast store of gold. He passes his entire time in cursing mankind. Alcibiades encounters him, and when Timon learns that Alcibiades desires to attack Athens, but lacks funds to equip an army, Timon supplies the gold. In fact he gives gold to al1 who ask it, and with the gold a curse. Only Flavius escapes his vituperation.

Artists and senators seek him out, pocketing their pride and begging for gold and the response is always the same -- gold and a curse. Alcibiades succeeds in intimidating the Athenian authorities, and they beg him to return. He demands the punishment of his enemies and those of Timon and they agree. Timon dies, having first written his own epitaph, which is a curse against al1 mankind.

CORIOLANUS

O, a kiss
Long as my exile, sweet as my revenge!
-- ACT 5, SCENE 3

Caius Marcius is a Roman noble, with nothing but contempt for the mob. The citizens, complaining of the price of corn, decide to make an example of him as their principal enemy. Menenius Agrippa, a friend of Marcius, encounters a rabble and argues with them, but Marcius arrives and berates them. News is received of an impending attack by the Volscians, and Marcius' services are needed. He leads the Romans to Corioli and gains a complete victory, personally overcoming his ancient rival in arms Tullus Aufidius.

Returning to Rome in triumph, Marcius is christened Coriolanus in commemoration of his victory. He finds that the weak Tribunes have given in to the demands of the populace and sold them corn at their own price. Coriolanus' popularity is such that his friends demand he shall be made Consul, but in asking for the votes of the people he insults them to such a degree that the Tribunes, jealous of his power, arouse the rabble against him, and he is exiled.

Coriolanus goes to Antium, where Aufidius is planning a new campaign against Rome, and offers to join him. The mere word of this alliance, before a blow is struck, terrifies the Romans. To the Volscian camp, a short distance from Rome, Coriolanus' patrician friends come begging for peace at any price, but he refuses to listen. Not until his mother, wife and son appeal to him does he consent to a treaty.

Aufidius has become jealous of the popularity of Coriolanus with the army, and when they return to Antium he organizes a conspiracy, denounces Coriolanus, and has him murdered.

JULIUS CAESAR

There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.
-- ACT 4, SCENE 3

Julius Caesar returns in triumph to Rome after having conquered Pompey. He is the idol of the people, but a group, in which Cassius and Casca are leading spirits, fears his power is becoming too great. They need the aid of Marcus Brutus to meet this peril, but he hesitates. Caesar refuses the crown which Antony offers him thrice before the cheering crowd.

The conspirators enlist Brutus, though he is still troubled by doubts, especially when his wife pleads with him to tell her what secret he has from her, that she can see is troubling him. He puts her off. Caesar's wife has premonitions of disaster and begs Caesar not to go to the Senate, but Brutus and his friends come to accompany him and he cannot refuse.

The excuse for the attack upon Caesar at the Capitol is a petition by Metellus Cimber for the repeal of the decree banishing his brother. Caesar refuses and the conspirators stab him to death. Marc Antony asks Brutus for an explanation and Brutus goes to the Forum where he makes his famous speech, "Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more." The citizens are satisfied, until Marc Antony delivers his funeral oration, and the populace then becomes infuriated against the conspirators. Brutus and his friends fly from Rome.

The Triumvirate of Octavius Caesar, Antony and Lepidus is formed to govern Rome. Brutus in his camp at Sardia quarrels with Cassius. They receive word that the Triumvirate has put to death a hundred senators. The Triumvirate leads an army against the conspirators and the forces meet at Philippi, where Octavius is victorious and Cassius kills himself. Brutus kills himself also, and Antony says, "This was the noblest Roman of them all."

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA

Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety
-- ACT 2, SCENE 2

Marc Antony, one of the Triumvirate governing Rome -- Antony, Caesar and Lepidus -- has gone to Egypt and has fallen under the spell of Cleopatra. He pays no attention to affairs of state or to dispatches from Rome. At last he receives news of the death of his wife, Fulvia, of civil war in Italy, of a threat from Pompey and other difficulties menacing the state. With a supreme effort he separates from the Egyptian queen and returns to Rome.

In Rome, Antony frankly admits his faults to Caesar, and the triple alliance is sealed by his marriage to Caesar's sister, Octavia. When Cleopatra hears this, she has to be restrained from killing the messenger. An advantageous peace with Pompey is signed and all seems well, but it is clear that Antony still feels the tug toward Egypt.

Antony goes to Athens, with Octavia, to take command of the Roman forces in the east. His generals are successful. He is indignant at the news that Caesar has deprived the third triumvir, Lepidus, of power and made war upon Pompey. Octavia returns to Rome to try to make peace between Caesar and Antony, but Antony gathers forces for an attack upon Caesar. Cleopatra has joined Antony with a strong sea force, but at a critical moment her fleet deserts, and Caesar is victorious. Antony flees to Alexandria with Caesar following and demanding that Cleopatra surrender her lover. Antony has Caesar's messenger whipped and sent back as his answer.

In a battle before Alexandria, Antony beats back Caesar, but again he is betrayed by Cleopatra, who fails to support him. Antony denounces Cleopatra, who has a report sent to him that she died through grieving over his defeat. Antony fans on his sword, and is then borne to Cleopatra's hiding place, and dies.

Caesar sends word to Cleopatra that he will treat her honorably, but she has reason to believe that he proposes to drag her through the streets of Rome, and she kills herself by pressing poisonous asps to her body.

CYMBELINE

There's no motion
That tends to vice in man but I affirm
It is the woman's part.
-- ACT 2, SCENE 5

Cymbeline, King of Britain, has a daughter, Imogen, whose mother is dead. He marries a widow who has a worthless son, Cloten, and it is intended that Imogen shall marry him. Imogen, however, marries Posthumous Leonatus, who has derived this name from his valor against the Roman invaders. Before the marriage is consummated, the King exiles Posthumous, who goes to Rome. Parting with Imogen he places a bracelet on her arm and she gives him a ring, which they mutually agree to wear constantly until they meet again. In Rome, Posthumous boasts of the virtue of Imogen. Iachimo wagers ten thousand ducats against Posthumous' ring, that he can seduce Imogen, and goes to Britain for this purpose.

Iachimo is unsuccessful, but he hides in Imogen's bedroom, and while she is asleep makes note of all the details of the room and a birthmark beneath her breast, and steals her bracelet. He returns to Rome and with this evidence convinces Posthumous that he has won his wager.

Posthumous writes a letter to Imogen, asking her to meet him in Wales, and another to his servant in Britain, Pisanio, ordering him to take Imogen to Wales and kill her. Pisanio is convinced of Imogen's innocence, and shows her the letter. Imogen disguises herself in boys' clothing, and seeks shelter in a cave in the mountains, where she meets Guiderius and Aviragus, two grown sons of Cymbeline, who were stolen away in infancy.

Cloten, following Imogen, is killed by Belarius, the supposed father of Cymbeline's sons. The Romans invade Britain, and Posthumous, Belarius, Guiderius and Aviragus all ally themselves with Cymbeline. The Romans are defeated, and Iachimo captured. He confesses his deceit, Imogen and Posthumous are reunited and the two sons of Cymbeline restored to their father.

TITUS ANDRONICUS

He lives in fame, that died in virtue's cause.
-- ACT I, SCENE 2

This play is nothing more than a series of scenes of licentiousness and murder, and many devotees of Shakespeare are loud in their insistence that he had nothing to do with it, or at most merely polished up the verse.

Titus Andronicus returns to Rome from a successful campaign against the Goths. Two brothers, Saturninus and Bassianus, are in conflict over the succession to the crown. Titus supports Saturninus and he is crowned, with the understanding that he will marry Titus' daughter, Lavinia. The unsuccessful Bassianus, however, elopes with Lavinia and marries her himself. Saturninus then marries Tamora, queen of the Goths, who has been brought to Rome a prisoner, with Aaron, her Moorish lover, and her two sons.

Titus kills his own son, Mutius, who prevented him from pursuing the elopers. Tamora's sons find Bassianus and Lavinia in a forest, kill the former, and mutilate the latter after first ravishing her. This crime is charged against two other sons of Titus, who allows a hand to be cut off as the price of their pardon, but Aaron arranges for the execution of the sons after all. Titus' son Lucius goes to join the Goths to fight his foes in Rome. Tamora gives birth to a black child, and Aaron murders the midwife and nurse to insure their silence.

Tamora and her two sons go in disguise to Titus to persuade him to have Lucius return. He pretends not to recognize them, induces Tamora to leave the sons with him, and having previously learned the truth about their crime, kills them. He invites Tamora and Saturninus to a banquet, at which he serves a pie made of the fragments of the bodies of Tamora's sons. Then he kills Lavinia and Tamora. Saturninus kills Titus. Lucius kills Saturninus and becomes emperor.

PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE

How courtesy would seem to cover sin!
-- ACT I, SCENE I

Pericles, Prince of Tyre, has the spirit of a knight errant, and goes on one adventure after another. In the first he accepts the challenge of the King of Antioch to read a certain riddle. Success is to be rewarded with the band of the King's beautiful daughter, failure punished with death. Pericles discovers the secret of the riddle, and that it means the King has committed incest with his daughter. Pericles refuses to marry this princess and returns to Tyre. He is seen next relieving a famine at Tharsus, where he wins the enduring gratitude of the governor, Cleon, and his wife Dionyza.

Now he is shipwrecked near Pentapolis, and finds himself among some fishermen who, drawing in their nets, discover Pericles' armor in them. The Prince dons the armor and enters the lists at Pentapolis, wins first honors, and marries Thaisa, daughter of King Simonides.

Sailing for home, Thaisa apparently dies in childbirth and is buried at sea. Pericles takes his daughter, Marina, to Tharsus to be cared for by his old friends Cleon and Dionyza. Thaisa is washed ashore alive at Ephesus. For some reason she believes Pericles is dead, and takes the veil of chastity.

Dionyza becomes jealous because Marina so far surpasses her own daughter in beauty and intelligence, and arranges to have her murdered, but she is stolen by pirates and sold to procurers in Mitylene. She escapes violence by her purity and beauty, and becomes a teacher, to earn her living without sacrificing her honor.

Pericles hears from Tharsus that his daughter is dead. His ship is driven to Mitylene, and there he is entertained by Lysimachus, who sends for the now famous Marina to divert the saddened and bereft Pericles. The Prince recognizes his daughter, and the goddess Diana appears to him in a vision, directing him to go to Ephesus. Here he finds his lost wife, Thaisa, and the family is reunited.

KING LEAR

How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child.
-- ACT I, SCENE 4

Lear, King of Britain, has three daughters, Goneril, wife of the Duke of Albany; Regan, married to the Duke of Cornwall, and Cordelia, whose hand is sought by both the Duke of Burgundy and the King of France. Lear, in his dotage, tells the three that he proposes to divide his kingdom among them, and the one which loves him most shall have the largest share. Both Goneril and Regan employ the most extravagant terms to describe their affection, to Lear's great delight, but Cordelia refuses to enter into such a contest. Lear disowns her, Burgundy withdraws his suit, but the King of France admires her the more and marries her. The Earl of Kent, a true friend of the King, is banished for his defense of Cordelia, but in disguise remains in the King's train. No sooner has the division of the kingdom been effected than Goneril shows her true colors, rebukes her father for all manner of petty offenses, and cuts down his followers from a hundred to fifty.

Lear sends Kent to precede him to Regan with the news of what has happened, expecting a welcome and redress. Kent is put in the stocks, and Lear, when he arrives, treated worse than ever. Goneril follows Lear, and the sisters decide to deprive their father of all his men. A storm breaks and they refuse even to shelter him.

An important secondary plot is the scheming of Edmund, illegitimate son of the Earl of Gloster to usurp the rights of Edgar, Gloster's legitimate heir. Edgar is finally forced to fly, and calling himself Poor Tom, he joins Lear, Kent, and Lear's sole remaining retainer, his Fool, on the storm-swept heath. Glostertells Edmund of a movement to restore Lear to the throne, and Edmund immediately betrays him to the Dukes of Albany and Cornwall, and is made Earl of Gloster. The old earl is captured, and Cornwall gouges out his eyes, but an indignant servant kills Cornwall.

Albany rebukes his wife, Goneril, for her unscrupulous plots, and she becomes desirous of ridding herself of him, in favor of Edmund, whom the widowed Regan also admires as a kindred spirit. Lear, now mad, is led to Dover by Kent, and the blinded Gloster by his son Edgar (whom he does not recognize) to meet the King of France, who is expected to arrive with a strong force and bring redress to Lear. They meet the French forces and are cared for by Cordelia.

The French are defeated by the army led by Albany and Edmund, and Lear and Cordelia captured. Edmund orders them killed immediately. In an altercation after the battle, Edgar and Edmund fight and Edmund is fatally wounded. Goneril poisons Regan and stabs herself. In a moment of final remorse Edmund tries to countermand his order for the execution of Lear and Cordelia, but Cordelia is already slain, and Lear falls dead upon her body. Albany, ashamed of his part in the series of tragedies, turns the government of the realm over to Kent and Edgar.

ROMEO AND JULIET

What's in a name? that which we call a rose,
By any other name would smell as sweet.
-- ACT 2, SCENE 2

Two noble families of Verona, the Montagues and Capulets, have been in a feud for years. Romeo is a Montague; Juliet a Capulet. The Capulets are giving a feast, at which one of the guests is Paris, a kinsman of the Prince of Verona, and Juliet is asked by her mother to pay especial attention to him. Romeo and his friends; Benvolio and Mercutio, intrude themselves unobserved into the crowd at the feast. Romeo and Juliet see each other, and fall in love at sight.

Romeo climbs the wall into the Capulet garden, and Juliet appears at her window. Then follows perhaps the most famous piece of dramatic writing in all literature, the balcony scene. Romeo asks Friar Lawrence to help him in his suit, and the friar agrees, hoping this may prove the means of ending the old feud. The lovers meet in the friar's cell and are married.

Tybalt, a truculent Capulet, tries to pick a quarrel with Romeo, who passes it off, but Mercutio takes up the quarrel and is killed. Romeo avenges him by killing Tybalt. Romeo is banished by the Prince, and this news reaches him at Friar Lawrence's cell. Juliet's parents set the following Thursday as the date for her marriage to Paris. Romeo says goodbye to Juliet and goes to Mantua.

Friar Lawrence gives Juliet a sleeping potion which he tells her to drink the night before her parents are to marry her to Paris, his plot being that she wl1l appear to be dead, will be placed in the family vault, and he will then have Romeo come and take her to Mantua.

The plot goes awry through the fact that had news travels faster than good, and Romeo hears of Juliet's supposed death before he has been prepared for it by the friar. He buys a deadly poison and goes to the tomb of the Capulets. Here he meets Paris, who tries to bar his path, and kills him. Breaking into the tomb he throws himself upon Juliet's body and swallows the poison. Just as he dies, Juliet revives, sees his body and that of Paris, and stabs herself. The only good that comes of it is a reconciliation of the houses of Montague and Capulet.

MACBETH

Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care.
-- ACT 2, SCENE 2

Macbeth and Banquo, two generals in the army of Duncan, King of Scotland, are returning from a victorious campaign against a rebellion, when they encounter three witches, who address Macbeth as thane of Cawdor and King, and Banquo as the forebear of kings. Macbeth learns that the King has rewarded him with fief of Cawdor, and his imagination is captured by the other prophecy. His wife's ambitions are fired, but she fears her husband is too full of "the milk of human kindness" to lend himself to carrying out the idea.

Nerved to the act by his wife, Macbeth murders the King in his sleep and Lady Macbeth smears blood from the dagger on two sleeping grooms, whom Macbeth accuses of the crime, and kills.

Macheth is crowned King, but the recollection of the witches' prophecy that Banquo would he father of kings, haunts him. Banquo and his son Fleance are waylaid by Macbeth's assassins and the father murdered, but Fleance escapes. Banquo appears to Macbeth at a feast, and the King's words become so strange that the Queen sends the guests away.

Macbeth, tortured by his conscience, goes to the witches and is told that "none born of woman" shall harm him, and that he shall never be defeated until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane. The murdered Duncan's eldest son, Malcohu, is in England, and Macduff goes there to try to persuade him to demand the crown from Macbeth. While there, Macduff hears that his own wife and children have been murdered, and he organizes a force to overthrow Macbeth.

Macbeth's wife dies of the strain upon her mind of all their crimes, and the King is besieged in Dunsinane. The witches' prophecy is fulfilled when the attacking army moves forward behind a shelter of branches cut from Birnam Wood. Macbeth engages in a hand- to-hand battle with Macduff, confidently relying upon the prophecy that "none born of woman" shall ever harm him. He is dismayed· to learn that "Macduff was from his mother's womb untimely ripped," and in the ensuing duel Macbeth is killed. Out of this welter of blood, Malcolm becomes King, the fulfilment of the prophecy concerning Banquo's progeny not being earried out in the play.

HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK

To be, or not to be: that is the question.
-- ACT 3, SCENE I

A ghost haunts the royal castle of Elsinore, the ghost of the. former king, father of Hamlet. The new King, Claudius, has married Hamlet's mother. Up to this time, Hamlet has shown signs of affection for Ophelia, daughter of the Lord Chamberlain, Polonius, but Hamlet has been acting so strangely that both Ophelia's father and her brother Laertes, warn her against the prince. Friends lead Hamlet to the spot where the ghost was last seen, and it again appears. Hamlet's father has returned to tell him that he was murdered by Claudius, and to ask that he be avenged.

Hamlet feigns a harmless form of madness manifested in erratic actions toward Ophelia and Polonius. Among intimate friends his speech is more coherent, though full of riddles for those who do not know his secret. To divert his mind, a company of strolling players is brought to the castle.

The King and Polonius decide to spy upon Hamlet, and arrange for him and Ophelia to meet, as if accidentally. Hamlet is by turns incoherent and ironical toward the girl, and the listeners make nothing of it. The players present their drama, which has been specially devised by Hamlet to parallel the murder of his father by Claudius. At the climax the King betrays his agitation and stops the performance. Though convinced, Hamlet hesitates to strike. He visits his mother, rebuking her for her part in the conspiracy against his father, and kills Polonius who was eavesdropping behind the tapestries.

The King, alarmed, decides to send Hamlet to England. Laertes demands justice for the death of his father, Polonius. His sister, Ophelia, goes mad and drowns herself. Letters from Hamlet indicate that he has returned.

Beside the grave of Ophelia, Hamlet and Laertes quarrel and a duel is arranged, but the quarrel is apparently settled. The duel is now to be a friendly contest, but Laertes has poisoned the tip of bis rapier. The King and Queen are to watch the duel, and the King prepares a poisoned cup of wine to offer Hamlet for refreshment. Hamlet wounds Laertes, then Laertes, with his poisoned blade, wounds Hamlet. There is a mixup in which the swords are exchanged, and Hamlet then wounds Laertes with the poisoned rapier. The Queen drinks the wine which the King had intended for Hamlet, and dies. Laertes, feeling the poison in his wound, confesses poisoning the foil, says they are both about to die, and Hamlet kills the King just before he himself falls dead.

OTHELLO

Trifles, light as air,
Are to the jealous, confirmations strong
As holy writ.
-- ACT 3, SCENE 3

Othello is a noble Moor in the service of the Duke of Venice. Iago, his lieutenant, is insanely jealous of his success and preferment. Othello elopes with Desdemona, daughter of Brabantio, a Venetian senator and Iago informs the father, who complains to the Duke. The frank and simple story of Othello and Desdemona wins the Duke's consent to the marriage, perhaps the more readily because he needs Othello's services against the Turks. Iago plans to take advantage of Othello's credulous nature to undermine his trust in Desdemona.

It is through Othello's faithful lieutenant Cassio that Iago hopes to succeed in his plot. Arriving at Cyprus before Othello, Iago tries to incite Cassio to make advances toward Desdemona, gets him drunk, has him attack Iago's own dupe, Roderigo, and involves him in such a turmoil of misdemeanors that Othello dismisses Cassio from his service.

Through his wife Emilia, Iago has Cassio introduced to Desdemona, to implore her to intercede for him with Othello. By various tricks Iago works upon Othello's jealousy, such as having a well-identified handkerchief of Desdemona's found in Cassio's lodgings.

The manufactured evidence of Desdemona's infidelity is supplemented constantly by Iago, until in his rage Othello strikes Desdemona publicly. Iago's wife tries to reassure the jealous husband but he will not listen.

Iago's plotting has reached such a point that he is in danger from both Cassio and Roderigo, so he incites the latter to attack Cassio at night, and stands by to see that neither escapes. In the fight, he kills Roderigo and maims Cassio, before he is interrupted. Othello now insane from Iago's suggestions, goes to Desdemona's bedchamber and smothers her. Emilia arrives just too late to save the innocent wife, and tells Othello the entire truth of Iago's treachery. Iago enters and stabs his wife. Othello wounds Iago in a fight, then kills himself. Iago is sent away to punishment and Cassio is made Governor of Cyprus.

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