Comic Transformations in Shakespeare

First Published In 1980. In This Study Of Shakespeare's Ten Early Comedies, From The Comedy Of Errors To Twelfth Night, The Concept Of A Dynamic Of Comic Form Is Developed; The Falstaff Plays Are Seen As A Watershed, And The Emergence Of New Comic Protagonists - The Resourceful, Anti-romantic Romantic Heroine And The Fool - As The Summit Of The Achievement. The Plays Are Explored From Three Complementary Perspectives - Theoretical, Developmental And Interpretative Which Lead To A Further Understanding Of The Powerful Relation Between The Plays' Formal Complexity And Their Naturalistic Verisimilitude.