The William Shakespeare Collection : Comedies (Set of 9 Books) (Boxed Set - 2020)

Collection of (1) The Tempest; The Tempest, a play in five acts, is believed to have been written in 1610-1611 and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. The play was first performed about 1611 and published in the First Folio of 1623 from an edited transcript, by Ralph Crane. (2) The Merchant Of Venice; The Merchant of Venice is a 16th century play written by Shakespeare between 1596-1598 in which a merchant in Venice must default on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. (3) Twelfth Night; Twelfth Night is a tale of unrequited love, hilarious and heartbreaking, written around 1601-02 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centers on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck on the Illyrian coast.(4) As You Like It; (5) A Midsummer Night'S Dream; A Midsummer Night's Dream, comedy in five acts by Shakespeare, written about 1595-96 and published in 1600 in a quarto edition from the author's manuscript. (6) Much Ado About Nothing; (7) The Comedy of Errors; The Comedy of Errors, in five-acts, is one of the shortest and most lively of Shakespeare’s comedies. It was written during 1589—94 and first published in the First Folio of 1623 from Shakespeare’s manuscript. (8) Measure For Measure; Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. Originally published in the First Folio of 1623, where it was listed as a comedy, the play's first recorded performance occurred in 1604. The play's main themes include justice, "mortality and mercy in Vienna," and the dichotomy between corruption and purity (9) Love’s Labour’s Lost, in five-acts, was written sometime between 1588 and 1597, and published in a quarto edition in 1598, with a title page suggesting that an earlier quarto had been lost. The 1598 quarto was printed seemingly from an authorial working draft showing signs of revision.

William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England’s national poet and the “Bard of Avon” (or simply “The Bard”). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language, and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1590 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century. Next he wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest examples in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime, and in 1623 two of his former theatrical colleagues published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare’s.