From The Two Gentlemen of Verona in the early 1590s to The Two Noble Kinsmen at the end of his career around 1614, Shakespeare wrote at least eighteen plays that can be called 'comedies': a far higher number than that for any other genre in which he wrote. So what is a Shakespearean comedy? We associate these plays with such themes as mistaken identities, happy marriages, and exuberant cross dressing, but how representative are these of the oeuvre

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"With summaries, discussions, and excerpts from primary source documents, this book examines Shakespeare's world through careful consideration of the historical background of four of his comedies"--

An epic romance set in Russia during the final days of the Tsarist autocracy, Barrymore stars as Sgt. Ivan Markov, a dedicated soldier who defies the rigid class system to receive an officer's commission. But even as he rises through the ranks of military and society, he must contend with resentment from the aristocratic officers-including the monocled Ullrich Haupt, who delivers a sinister performance worthy of Erich von Stroheim, himself an uncredited...