The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 2 of 9]

In Short

This second volume of the Cambridge edition gathers five of Shakespeare’s most vibrant comedies: Much Ado About Nothing, Love’s Labour’s Lost, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, and As You Like It. Across courts, enchanted forests, and Venetian canals, lovers navigate sharp-tongued bickering, absurd academic vows, magical interference, lethal financial contracts, and rustication in exile. Through razor-sharp banter, romantic confusion, and high-stakes courtroom drama, the plays examine how social conventions test personal devotion. These works endures because they transform the messy uncertainties of attraction and loyalty into enduring art, pairing buoyant verbal wit with an underlying awareness of human fragility.

The Story

In Much Ado About Nothing, the court of Messina becomes a battleground of wit and deception. Benedick and Beatrice wage a merry war of insults, swearing off romance entirely, while Claudio falls swiftly for Hero. Don Pedro and his friends trick Benedick and Beatrice into believing each loves the other. Meanwhile, the malicious Don John hatches a plot to ruin Hero’s reputation, staging a fake encounter that leads Claudio to denounce her at the altar. Hero feigns death to preserve her honor while Friar Francis and her family seek the truth. Claudio, believing himself responsible for her death, repents through a solemn night vigil at her family monument. Upon discovering the trick, he agrees to marry Leonato’s masked "niece," who is revealed as the living Hero, while Benedick and Beatrice finally drop their pretenses and join them in marriage.

Love’s Labour’s Lost begins at the court of Navarre, where the King and three lords take a strict three-year oath to foreswear women and dedicate themselves to intellectual study. Their plan crumbles immediately upon the arrival of the Princess of France and her ladies on a diplomatic mission. The men break their vows, courting the women while disguised as Russians, but the ladies see through their charades and mock their sudden passion. Interrupting their playful revels, news arrives that the Princess’s father has died. The women postpone all courtships, ordering the men to undergo a year of trial and self-reflection before any marriage vows can be spoken.

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, romantic conflict spills into the supernatural realm outside Athens. Hermia flees into the woods with Lysander to escape an arranged marriage to Demetrius, while Demetrius pursues them, trailed by a desperate Helena. Deep in the forest, Oberon, King of the Fairies, uses a magic love juice to punish his queen, Titania, and to make Demetrius love Helena. The sprite Puck misapplies the potion, causing both Lysander and Demetrius to fall frantically in love with Helena, throwing the four mortals into bitter argument. Puck eventually corrects the mistake, restoring Lysander’s devotion to Hermia while leaving Demetrius enchanted by Helena, clearing the path for a triple wedding celebrated alongside an amateur theatrical performance by local tradesmen.

The Merchant of Venice shifts to a world of commerce and legal peril. Antonio, a Venetian merchant, borrows money from the Jewish moneylender Shylock to fund his friend Bassanio’s quest to win the heiress Portia in Belmont. Shylock demands a bond stipulating a pound of Antonio's flesh if the debt is defaulted. Portia’s suitors must choose among three caskets—gold, silver, and lead—to win her hand; Bassanio chooses correctly. When Antonio’s ships are reported lost and the bond defaults, Shylock demands his penalty in court. Portia disguises herself as a male lawyer, arguing that Shylock may take his flesh but not a drop of blood, turning Venetian law against him and stripping him of his fortune unless he converts to Christianity.

In As You Like It, political oppression forces young lovers into the Forest of Arden. Duke Frederick usurps his brother’s throne, exiling him to the woods. Rosalind, the banished Duke's daughter, escapes into the forest disguised as the young man Ganymede, accompanied by her loyal cousin Celia. In the forest, she meets Orlando, who has fled his abusive brother Oliver. Still disguised, Rosalind offers to cure Orlando of his love sickness by having him court "Ganymede" as if she were Rosalind. Through this game, she tests his sincerity while steering local rustic romances. Once Oliver reforms and Duke Frederick repents his usurpation, Rosalind reveals her true identity, uniting four couples in a celebratory forest wedding.

How It Unfolds

The merry war opens In Messina, Beatrice and Benedick exchange stinging insults masked as banter, insisting they are immune to love, while Claudio quickly falls for Leonato’s daughter Hero.

Traps of affection are set Hero and her attendants staged a conversation for Beatrice to overhear, claiming Benedick wastes away for love of her, prompting Beatrice to abandon her pride and return his affection.

Slander at the altar Tricked by Don John into believing Hero is unfaithful, Claudio publicly humiliates her at their wedding, leading her family to pretend she has died of grief to uncover the truth.

Repentance at the tomb A grieving Claudio reads an epitaph and sings a midnight hymn at Hero’s monument, agreeing to marry her cousin sight unseen to make amends for his fatal accusation.

An academic oath collapses The King of Navarre and his lords swear to avoid women for three years of study, but immediately fall for the visiting Princess of France and her noble retinue.

The Russian disguise Hoping to win the ladies, the lords dress in Russian attire to woo them, but the quick-witted women mock their bad poetry and outmaneuver their courting games.

A solemn delay News of the French King's death interrupts the courtly revels, prompting the Princess and her ladies to demand a year of mourning and self-discipline before accepting any suitors.

Flight into the forest Hermia and Lysander run away into the Athenian woods to escape an forced marriage, pursued by Demetrius and a heartbroken Helena who longs for Demetrius’s love.

Puck’s enchanted blunder Using a magical flower that causes a sleeper to love the first creature seen upon waking, Puck mistakenly drops the juice on Lysander's eyes, plunging the four lovers into absolute chaos.

The dawn of harmony Puck releases Lysander from the spell while leaving Demetrius enamored with Helena, allowing the Athenian Duke Theseus to sanction the happy couples' joint weddings.

The deadly bond Antonio borrows three thousand ducats from Shylock to aid Bassanio's courtship, agreeing to a contract that forfeits a pound of his own flesh if the payment is missed.

The casket trial At Belmont, Bassanio bypasses the shiny temptations of gold and silver to pick the humble lead chest, winning Portia's hand and her vast estate.

Judgment in Venice Disguised as a young legal scholar, Portia strictly interprets Shylock’s contract to forbid bloodletting, saving Antonio’s life and turning the legal trap back onto the moneylender.

Exile to Arden Banished from court by her usurping uncle, Rosalind disguises herself as the youth Ganymede and flees to the Forest of Arden alongside her devoted cousin Celia.

Wooing in disguise Rosalind encounters the exiled Orlando in the woods and, remaining in her male disguise, promises to cure him of his love-melancholy if he courts "Ganymede" as his lost love.

Forest courtships united After orchestrating resolutions for both noble and rustic lovers, Rosalind sheds her disguise, reuniting with Orlando and joining three other couples in a joyous group wedding.

The People

• Benedick: A lord of Padua who prides himself on his cynical bachelorhood. He wants to maintain his sharp intellectual independence, but his pride gives way when he learns Beatrice supposedly loves him, ultimately leading him to challenge his friend Claudio for her sake.
• Beatrice: Leonato’s niece, whose fierce wit hides a deep capacity for loyalty. She wants to avoid the subjugation of traditional marriage, but surrenders her scorn once she believes Benedick loves her, demanding he avenge her wronged cousin Hero.
• The King of Navarre: A ruler seeking intellectual immortality through a strict ascetic lifestyle. His vow to avoid women is immediately blocked by his diplomatic duties, forcing him to learn that romantic passion cannot be governed by political decrees.
• Rosaline: A lady attending the Princess of France, who uses her sharp tongue to challenge Biron’s romantic pretenses. She wants sincere devotion rather than empty courtly rhetoric, forcing Biron to spend a year serving the sick before she accepts him.
• Helena: A young woman of Athens whose obsessive love for Demetrius drives her to self-humiliation. She pursues him despite his cruelty, using the chaotic magic of the woods to win his devotion and gain the status she desperately seeks.
• Shylock: A Jewish moneylender in Venice who suffers systematic discrimination from Christian merchants. Driven by resentment, he seeks legal vengeance through a deadly bond against Antonio, but ends up stripped of his fortune, his faith, and his daughter.
• Portia: A wealthy heiress restricted by her deceased father’s casket lottery. She wants to secure her own destiny, achieving it by guiding Bassanio’s choice and later using her legal brilliance disguised as a lawyer to save Antonio’s life.
• Rosalind: The displaced daughter of the banished Duke, whose intelligence dominates the Forest of Arden. Disguised as Ganymede, she wants to test Orlando’s devotion before revealing herself, successfully orchestrating four marriages to restore social order.

In Its Own Voice

When Beatrice reflects on her reputation for sharp criticism and pride, she immediately resolves to change her path:

"Contempt, farewell! and maiden pride, adieu! No glory lives behind the back of such."

In the forest, Helena begs Demetrius to accept her affection regardless of how poorly he treats her:

"I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius, The more you beat me, I will fawn on you:"

Addressing the court during Antonio’s trial, Shylock captures the bleak financial reality of his sentence:

"You take my house, when you do take the prop That doth sustain my house; you take my life, When you do take the means whereby I live."

During their disguised meeting in Arden, Rosalind offers Orlando a vivid description of how a true lover looks:

"A lean cheek, which you have not; a blue eye and sunken, which you have not; an unquestionable spirit, which you have not; a beard neglected, which you have not;"

What It's Really About

Beneath their sparkling comedy, these five plays investigate the fragile structures of human trust, social contract, and self-deception. They explore how easily public reputation can be destroyed by unfounded slander or manipulated by malicious rumors. Love is rarely presented as a simple or purely gentle emotion; instead, it acts as a disruptive force that exposes hypocrisies, shatters rigid academic vows, and drives sensible people to irrational behavior.

The plays repeatedly question the rigidity of law and social custom, contrasting cold institutional justice with human mercy, flexibility, and forgiveness. Disguise and role-playing serve as essential tools for self-discovery, allowing women like Portia and Rosalind to navigate male-dominated power structures and reshape their own destinies. Ultimately, the collection asks whether individuals can look past social pretenses, absurd pride, and surface appearances to build relationships grounded in genuine self-knowledge and mutual respect.

Why Read It Today

This volume offers an incredible look at Shakespeare’s emerging comic genius, showing his mastery of romantic narrative, rapid dialogue, and theatrical design. For modern readers, the plays remain remarkably accessible because their primary interest lies in the universal messiness of human relationships. Watching Beatrice and Benedick trade insults or listening to Rosalind dismantle romantic cliches feels strikingly modern, offering timeless humor rooted in human vanity and vulnerability.

Reading the edition presents specific challenges inherent to late sixteenth-century texts. The verse is filled with Elizabethan wordplay, obscure classical references, and period puns that sometimes require patience or explanatory notes to fully unlock. Early modern attitudes regarding gender roles, religious conversions, and ethnic differences—most visibly in Shylock’s trial—can feel jarring and harsh to contemporary sensibilities. Furthermore, the textual notes included in this scholarly Cambridge edition highlight line variations between early Quarto and Folio printings, reflecting the complex publication history of the texts.

Yet these hurdles are easily outweighed by the sheer beauty and vitality of the language. The plays move effortlessly from poetic romance to absurd slapstick, giving readers an unmatched experience of poetic craftsmanship. What stays with you long after reading is the collection's deep warmth—its ultimate insistence that despite our flaws, cruelties, and folly, human beings are capable of reconciliation, forgiveness, and profound joy.