Intended as an accessible resource for students researching William Shakespeare's (1564-1616) "Comedies," this collection of essays about the great playwright contains an in-depth biography and writings taken from a wide variety of sources. The essays are edited to accommodate the reading and comprehension levels of young adults; each essay is introduced by a concise summation of the contributor's themes and insights. Additional features include an annotated table of contents, a chronology of the author's life and career as well as of concurrent historical events, a glossary of literary terms, and primary and secondary bibliographies to facilitate research. The 20 essays and their authors include: "Shakespeare's Comedies Are Playful" (John Jay Chapman); "Shakespeare's Comedies Are Progressively More Masterful" (G.B. Harrison); "Shakespeare's Comedies Show Women as Equal Partners with Men" (Germaine Greer); "Strong Women Prevail in Shakespeare's Comedies" (Angela Pitt); "Shakespeare's Comedies Combine Convention and Personal Style" (George Gordon); "Imagery Establishes Atmosphere and Background in the Comedies" (Caroline F.E. Spurgeon); "The 'Comedy of Errors' Is a Farce" (Francis Fergusson); "Serious Themes in 'The Comedy of Errors'" (R.A. Foakes); "The 'Taming of the Shrew' Is a Farce" (Mark Van Doren); "An Understanding of Elizabethan Medicine Enlightens 'The Taming of the Shrew'" (John W. Draper); "Shakespeare Constructs Two Interacting Worlds in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'" (David Young); "Four Worlds Merge in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'" (Madeleine Doran);"A Midsummer Night's Dream as Entertainment for a Wedding" (Paul N. Siegel); "'As You Like It' as Romance" (Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. LaMar); "'As You Like It': A Comedy of Discovery" (Helen Gardner); "Creative Devices Make 'Twelfth Night' a Great Comedy" (Harold Jenkins); "Morality Lessons in 'Twelfth Night'" (John A. Hollander); "Shakespeare's Mastery Is Evident in the Last Plays (Edward Dowden); "Similarities between 'Measure for Measure' and 'The Tempest'" (Harold S. Wilson); and "Three Themes in 'The Tempest'" (Northrop Frye). (NKA)