PREFATORY NOTE

Summary

Three of the live plays contained in this volume are to be found among the Tragedies in the First Folio, although, perhaps, strictly speaking, only two—Julius Caesar and Macbeth—really belong to that category; Troilus and Cressida being a play of that nondescript class which is generally described as tragi—comedy. Of the two comedies which complete this volume, All's Well That Ends Well is one of the least popular of all Shakespeare's plays of that class; while Measure for Measure forms, as it were, a stepping-stone between the greatest of his comedies and the greatest of his tragedies. It is a play but seldom seen upon the stage; yet it is quite as dramatic as The Merchant of Venice, though the nature of the story, and the almost total absence of the element of high comedy, will prevent its ever attaining any great popularity.

The delay in the issue of this volume has been caused by more than one circumstance, chiefly by an unfortunate loss of nearly four acts of the text of Hamlet, which had been prepared for the printers. It was thought better, therefore, to include Macbeth in this volume; though it must be clearly understood that this play is entirely out of its chronological order. In fact, according to the original plan, Hamlet should have preceded both Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida. I have to thank Mr. Arthur Symons for enabling us to get this play ready under very considerable pressure as to time.