On the day planned for his wedding to Hippolyta, Duke Theseus of Athens is petitioned by three queens to go to war against King Creon of Thebes, who has deprived their dead husbands of proper burial rites. In Thebes, the 'two noble kinsmen', cousins Palamon and Arcite, realise that their own hatred of Creon's tyranny must be put aside while their native city is in danger, but in spite of their valour in battle it is Theseus who is victorious.

Among the most popular of all Shakespeare's comedies, this play humorously celebrates the vagaries of love. With its several pairs of lovers, on-again, off-again romances, magic spells, fairies, and a bumbling troupe of would-be actors, the play continues to enchant audiences. Unabridged reprint of an authoritative British edition, complete with explanatory footnotes.

After years of distance, twenty-something Artemis tentatively decides to return to Athens and care for her father, Paris, after his recent decline in health. As she intimately cares for the stoic, near-wordless Paris, she tries to understand this man she never really knew. When Artemis discovers a well-kept secret from her father's past, she finally begins to not only better understand a complicated man, but the underlying love coursing through a...