This book is concerned with those patterns, strategies, and systems of organization that determine the shape of a Shakespeare play and are the expression of the deliberate nature of Shakepeare's art. Considering his plays as human documents, the book makes clear how and why Shakespeare composed as he did and demonstrates why Shakespeare is the consummate literary artist. Contents: Shakespeare's Deliberate Art: The Tempest; King John: The Plight of the Bastard; Richard II: The Garden Scene as a Clarification of the End of the Play; Richard II and I Henry IV: An Enlarged Context; All's Well That Ends Well: The Significance of the First Scene; Readjustment in Much Ado About Nothing; Despair and Shakespearean Affirmation: Twelfth Night; Recapitulative Lists; Roles and Offices; The Redemption of Emilia; The Plight of Coriolanus; The First Scene of Act 2: The Beginning of an Extended Episode; Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear as a Trilogy; Shakespeare's Four Great Tragedies: ''Tis Time to Look About'; Two-Part Design and the Impasse in King Lear; Affirmation in Troilus and Cressida; Thematic Point of View in Troilus and Cressida; Conclusion: Plight-Directed Action; Index.