Based on Chaucer's Knight's Tale the central themes of this humourous and moving play are the claims of love and friendship. The introduction to this new edition offers an illuminating account of Shakespeare's collaboration with his younger colleague John Fletcher, and there are full and helpful notes on unfamiliar words, stage business, allusions, and the play's often complex language.

Eugene Waith is Douglas Tracy Smith Professor of English Literature Emeritus at Yale University, USA