In this edition of Shakespeare an attempt is made to present the greater plays of the dramatist in their literary aspect, and not merely as material for the study of philology or grammar. Criticism purely verbal and textual has only been included to such an extent as may serve to help the student in the appreciation of the essential poetry. Questions of date and literary history have been fully dealt with in the I ntroductions, but the larger space has been devoted to the interpretative rather than the matter-of-fact order of scholarship. A esthetic judgments are never final, but theE ditors have attempted to suggest points of view from which the analysis of dramatic motive and dramatic character may be profitably undertaken. In theN otes likewise, while it is hoped that all unfamiliar expressions and allusions have been adequately explained, yet it has been thought even more important to consider the dramatic value of each scene, and the part which it plays in relation to the whole. These general principles are common to the whole series;in detail each Editor is alone responsible for the play or plays that have been intrusted to him. Every volume. of the series has been provided with aG lossary, anE ssay upon Metre, and an I ndex; and Appendices have been added upon points of special interest, which could not conveniently be treated in the Introduction or theN otes. The text is based by the several Editors on that of the Globe edition: the only omissions made are those that are unavoidable in an edition likely to be used by young students. By the systematic arrangement of the introductory matter, and by close attention to typographical details, every effort has been made to provide an edition that will prove convenient in use. (Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)