FOUR GREAT COMEDIES: The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, and The Tempest

by William Shakespeare

The four plays selected for this collection--The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, and The Tempest--represent a significant stage in the development of the world's greatest dramatist.

Genres: Classics, Plays, Shakespeare, Fiction, Drama, Poetry, Comedy

355 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1625

About the author

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is 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 extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shakespeare had to have been on drugs when he wrote some of this. It's hilarious and very entertaining. I highly recommend A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night. If you can't get passed how it is written, go see the plays.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taming Of The Shrew 1 star
Can we all just agree that gaslighting, manipulation, and abuse are not comedy? I was so uncomfortable reading this.

A Midsummer Night's Dream 5 stars
Still my favorite play so far!

The Twelfth Night 4 stars
This is the first time I've read this and I found it entertaining and funny. Happy endings all around.

The Tempest 3 stars
Also first time I read this. In which Prospero gets back at the people who wronged him and advantageously marries his daughter off. XD

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Taming of the Shrew - 3/5 stars - Great writing, but not a real fan of the story. I guess if you're into gaslighting and verbal abuse and forced isolation to win a woman over then you might like this one more than I did, but personally I was a little shocked and didn't find this to be comedy as much as it was a misogynistic wet dream.

A Midsummer Night's Dream - 5/5 - One of my favourites. All of the classic sitcom tropes owe their thanks to this one.

Twelfth Night - 5/5 - Pure comedy delivered perfectly. I don't remember having read this one before, and it's one I'll revisit often. Just fantastic! I hope to be in a performance of it someday. I think I'd make a good Malvolio.

The Tempest - 5/5 - One of my all-time top five Shakespeare plays. The story is fantastic and just so well written. If I could give it six out of five stars without spinning out my OCD, I would.

[Rachel Matsuoka · Rating 2 out of 5]

So the 2-star rating is really only for The Taming of the Shrew, which is the only play I hadn't read yet. I thought I couldn't dislike a Shakespeare comedy any less than All's Well That Ends Well, and I was wrong. Worst romance and terribly developed characters, however witty and at times clever. Kudos to whoever adapted 10 Things I Hate About You from this, they made the story 10x better.

[Erin Konarski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read 3 out of the 4 plays in the beginning of the year for my Shakespeare class and thought I would read the last one longgggg ago...better late than never lol.

[Monika · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Taming of the Shrew 1,5/5 ⭐
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 4/5 ⭐
Twelfth Night 4/5 ⭐
The Tempest 3,5/5 ⭐

[Marguerite Hargreaves · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read "Shrew" before seeing the production at the Virginia Shakespeare Festival, and -- sorry Sras. Santiful, Paffrath, McLeod -- I concluded that Shakespeare is meant to be heard and seen. I understand the language in performance perfectly well. So, I've left myself a dilemma: to finish this volume, or not. Well, I've already purchased a copy of "Othello," and have tickets to see that show, so I think I'll carry on with my reading, but might also rent some DVD's. As for "Shrew," I think Shakespeare hadn't quite hit his comedic stride, although I did enjoy the production. The dynamics between men and women offer a world of material, some comic and some tragic.

I'll get back to the other comedies here eventually...

[Bob Glynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read " A Midsummer Night's Dream" but couldn't figure out how to get only that title on the Goodreads update. I rarely Shakespeare in school, and now I have to teach this play for A level exams. Give me strength, Lord! Still this was much more fun than any Shakespeare play was in high school.

[Madelyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

i have been required to read this book three times now, and it has slowly died away in my mind. "caliban" is an anagram for "canibal," blah blah blah.

[Jeanne]

Read them all and still cherish every line and character!

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

c'mon it is Shakespeare they're all good and there are a million books to tell you why. Some will even tell you Shakespeare didn't exist

[Emalei (VC) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out of this I just read Midsummer Night's Dream, and only because I was in the play. I loved it-all the faeries and magic of it.

[John McLaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Misognyny does not become him - the Taming of the Shrew is a bad play, and 12th Night is sadistic. The other two are excellent, the Tempest crowns the canon.

[Kaisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taming of the Shrew was my favorite of the four.

[Tryce]

i read tree of the four... and the first two are my favs

[Stacey Betts]

Read only Twelfth Night

[Littlej · Rating 5 out of 5]

i found the book very interesting.for the most part i would laugh my butt off.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

All were good, but ooh I really liked a Midsummer Night's Dream. Laughed out loud a few times and I loved the chaos of the storyline and it's resolution was sweet. :)

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of great comedies.

[Meredith Boyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved twelfth Night. It remains my favorite of his comedies