The Dialectics of Structure in Shakespearean Comedy

Abstract

When we speak of Shakespeare, at least three aspects of his magical personality seem to be unveiling. In the first place, he was a man who lived like other men of his times and died 400 years ago. We hardly know this man to a satisfactory extent and whatever we know is less than significant. Secondly, there is the dramatic genius whose plays are acted and performed all over the world and bring thousands of people from the globe to flutter around theatres to see the plays like moths around a light. When we look at the variety of people who come to see and hear these plays, we realize that the first remark ever made about Shakespeare’s admirers is still the best one. It is the opening sentence of the preface to the first Folio: “From the most able to him that can but spell. There you are numbered.”