Five Great Comedies: Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It and The Merry Wives of Windsor (Dover Thrift Editions)

Merriment abounds in these beloved comedies by the Bard, in forms that range from magical mischief to rollicking farce. Five of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies appear here, in one convenient and economical volume. Contents include: Much Ado About Nothing, in which a betrothed couple set a lover’s trap for a confirmed bachelor and his sharp-tongued sparring partner Twelfth Night; or What You Will, the tale of a shipwrecked maiden who disguises herself as a boy and assists a duke in wooing a recalcitrant sweetheart A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in which the fairies of an enchanted forest employ a love potion to sport with four young lovers As You Like It, concerning the retreat of banished royalty to a greenwood, where the constraints of everyday life are loosened and the characters free to reinvent themselves The Merry Wives of Windsor, starring the jolly old rogue Sir John Falstaff in a madcap romp that gives his greed and vanity a humorous comeuppance.