Cymbeline is one of Shakespeare's late romance novels, combining comedy and tragedy (such as The Tempest and The Winter's Tale). Imogen, the daughter of King Cymbeline of England, married a noble but penniless gentleman, Posthumous, which angered her father. The king banished Posthumous, and he...

Shakespeare's passion for the history of Rome is evident in plays such as Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar and Antony, and Cleopatra. His tragedy, Coriolanus, probably written around 1605-07, dramatizes the rise and fall of a great Roman general, Caius Martius (later known as Coriolanus because of...

A fairy tale with real-life significance, all is well and with a happy ending about a poor doctor's daughter who goes to Paris to heal the king and propose to him; not himself, but the Count Roussillon, whose good father had live in his house. He married her but didn't sleep with her, he fled to...

Despite its upbeat title, Shakespeare's All Well Ended is often dismissed as a "problem play." Purported to be a comedy, the show also has fairytale elements, as it focuses on Helena, a kindhearted orphan who loves Bertram, the haughty son of her protector, the Countess of Roussillon....

Magic, fairies, young lovers chasing each other through a forest, a man with a donkey's head, and impish Puck wreaking havoc right and left. What's going on here? It's A Midsummer Night's Dream , Shakespeare at his most fanciful. The play opens with Theseus, Duke of Athens, preparing for his...

King Lear is widely regarded as the greatest of Shakespeare's tragedies. For some, this is the greatest drama of all time. King Lear abdicates the English throne and divides the kingdom among his three daughters according to their affection for him. His plans are thwarted when his youngest and most...

Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare. It is considered one of his darkest and most powerful tragedies. Set in Scotland, the play dramatically depicts the psychologically and politically devastating consequences when the Scottish protagonist, Lord Macbeth, chooses evil as a means of satisfying...

Shakespeare's great comedy, probably written and premiered around 1601, tells the adventures of twin twins Viola and Sebastian separated by a shipwreck. Believing her brother dead, Viola disguises herself as a page to serve the lovesick Duke Orsino, who is rejected by Countess Olivia. The cast...

The tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is Shakespeare's tragedy. Set in the Kingdom of Denmark, the play tells the story of Prince Hamlet avenging his uncle Claudius for murdering King Hamlet, Claudius' brother and Prince Hamlet's father, and then ascending the throne, the old king's The widow...

Troilus and Cressida is Shakespeare's "problem" play about the Trojan War. As the opening chorus tells us, the piece begins "in the middle" of the epic conflict, contrasting the drama of the struggle with the romance of the protagonist. Just as Agamemnon and his Greek army (and...