Table of contents : Cover......Page 0 Copyright page......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Acknowledgements......Page 10 Introduction by Stephen Orgel......Page 11 Note on Editions Used......Page 19 Cleopatra—deadbeat mum? (Anthony and Cleopatra)......Page 21 The watch on the centurion's wrist (Julius Caesar)......Page 27 'Too much i' the sun': is it summer in Elsinore? (Hamlet)......Page 34 Where is the Ghost from? Is he stupid? and: Is Hamlet really Hamleth? (Hamlet)......Page 37 Desdemona's posthumous speeches (Othello)......Page 51 'Great thing of us forgot!': Albany's amnesia or Shakespeare's? (King Lear)......Page 59 Poor Tom's a yokel? (King Lear)......Page 66 How ancient is Lear? How youthful is Juliet? (King Lear • Romeo and Juliet)......Page 71 What's in a name? Why does Juliet confuse 'Montague' with 'Romeo'? (Romeo and Juliet)......Page 78 Real or Pretend I: Lady Macbeth: feint or faint? (Macbeth)......Page 85 Real or Pretend II: Hamlet's knock-knees (Hamlet)......Page 89 Real or Pretend III: Does Cleopatra really care about her 'petty things'? (Anthony and Cleopatra)......Page 92 Real or Pretend IV: Othello's magical handkerchief (Othello)......Page 96 How much time did Richard waste? (Richard II)......Page 105 Who killed Woodstock? (Richard II)......Page 112 Hal and Francis: what's the issue? (Henry IV Part I)......Page 119 Henry V, war criminal? (Henry V)......Page 128 Henry V's claim to France: valid or invalid? (Henry V)......Page 137 What happens to Viola's 'eunuch' plan? (Twelfth Night)......Page 146 Malvolio: vengeful or reconciled? (Twelfth Night)......Page 151 Does Bottom cuckold Oberon? (A Midsummer Night's Dream)......Page 157 Never act with dogs and babies (A Midsummer Night's Dream)......Page 163 Why is Shylock unmusical? (The Merchant of Venice)......Page 168 Is Portia a virgin at the end of the play—and will she stay one? (The Merchant of Venice)......Page 174 Muddle or method? (Troilus and Cressida)......Page 182 The mystery of the putrefièd corpse (Troilus and Cressida)......Page 188 Shakespeare's feminist play? (Love's Labour's Lost)......Page 194 Why does the Duke leave town? (Measure for Measure)......Page 204 Why Barnardine? and: Angelo: guide to sanity? (Measure for Measure)......Page 210 How many Shakespearian cannibals? (Titus Andronicus)......Page 217 'Too much i' the sun': is it summer in Elsinore? (Hamlet)......Page 223 'Great thing of us forgot!': Albany's amnesia or Shakespeare's? (King Lear)......Page 224 How ancient is Lear? How youthful is Juliet? (King Lear • Romeo and Juliet)......Page 225 What's in a name? Why does Juliet confuse 'Montague' with 'Romeo'? (Romeo and Juliet)......Page 226 Real or Pretend III: Does Cleopatra really care about her 'petty things'? (Anthony and Cleopatra)......Page 227 Real or Pretend IV: Othello's magical handkerchief (Othello)......Page 228 Who killed Woodstock? (Richard II)......Page 229 Henry V's claim to France: valid or invalid? (Henry V)......Page 230 What happens to Viola's 'eunuch' plan? (Twelfth Night)......Page 231 Does Bottom cuckold Oberon? (A Midsummer Night's Dream)......Page 232 Why is Shylock unmusical? (The Merchant of Venice)......Page 234 Muddle or method? (Troilus and Cressida)......Page 235 The mystery of the putrefièd corpse (Troilus and Cressida)......Page 236 Shakespeare's feminist play? (Love's Labour's Lost)......Page 237 Why does the Duke leave town? (Measure for Measure)......Page 238 How many Shakespearian cannibals? (Titus Andronicus)......Page 239