The Best of William Shakespeare - The Comedies

William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer to ever exist, in the English language. His entire lifework consist of approximately 38 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 longer narrative poems, and a handful of additional verses, some of indeterminate authorship. His plays have been translated into every major current language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright, past or present.

"Comedy," in Elizabethan terms, is very different from the connotation we assign to the phrase today. A Shakespearean comedy is one that has a ‘happy ending,’ and is more upbeat in tone as opposed to creating the intention to make one laugh, though sometimes, a happy side-effect. Such plays include: As You Like It; The Merchant of Venice; A Midsummer Night's Dream and Much Ado About Nothing.