An examination of the themes in Shakespeare's plays, following on from Robert Fallon's "Theatergoer's Guide to Shakespeare". Fallon discusses the revelations about human nature that give the plays substance, weight and such an enduring quality.

This book surveys the most pervasive of Shakespeare's themes, among them love, war, illusion, statecraft, heroism, the supernatural, and the comic. In chapters devoted to each, Mr. Fallon explains how these patterns of meaning were viewed in Shakespeare's time, what history the poet draws upon in presenting them on the stage, and how he suggests them through his pageant of men and women engaged in the business of living.