This unabridged, unexpurgated edition has been prepared in the belief that the student can reach a clear understanding of the play only through close and careful reading of the text. To this end, the commentary facing each page of text. To this end, the commentary facing each page of text has been designed so that, while providing semantic glosses and suggesting critical interpretation of the play, it is not fully comprehensible without a prior reading of the text to which it refers. Teachers and students should bear in mind that there are almost as many divergent interpretations of each play as there are critics of the play, and that they need therefore have no qualms about departing from the reading offered in this edition. We have, throughout, been concerned about our series as a teaching instrument; one that would give as much background material as practicable so that the teacher and student would be assisted with the complex ramifications of Shakespeare’s plays.