William Shakespeare: Comedy

All's Well That Ends Well

Published: 1623

Play.

Young Count Bertram bids farewell to his mother, the Countess and Helena, as he leaves for the court of Paris at the French King's order. Bertram's father has recently died and Bertram is to be the King's ward and attendant. Helena, a young minor noblewoman and ward of the Countess, whose father has also died, laments her unrequitable love for Bertram, and losing him to Paris, which weighs on her though it seems to others that she mourns her father. 

Parolles, a cowardly military man and parasite on Bertram, trades wits with Helena, as they liken amorous love and the loss of virginity to military endeavors. Helena nearly admits her love of Bertram to Parolles before he leaves for Paris with Bertram and Lafew. Alone again, Helena convinces herself to strive for Bertram despite the odds, mentioning the King's illness alongside her decision. 

In Paris, the King and noble lords discuss the Tuscan wars. Bertram, Parolles and Larfew arrive, and the King praises Bertram's father as more truly honorable, humble and egalitarian than the lords of his day or Bertram's. He welcomes Bertram as he would his own son. 

In Rousillon, the Clown asks permission to marry which he and the Countess debate. The Steward explains the Countess that he has overhead Helena lamenting her love for Bertram despite their social difference. The Countess, seeing Helena as her own daughter, coaxes a confession out of her. Helena admits her love, but reserves her previously realized ambition. They agree that she should travel to Paris to attempt to cure the King.

In Paris, the King advises the Lords leaving for war, urging them to seek honor with amorous terms and warning them of the Italian women in warlike terms. Bertram, to young to go to war and in Paris to serve the King, is encouraged by Parolles and the Lords to steal away to the Tuscan war. He swears to the Lords that he will, but after they leave he admits to Parolles his intention to stay at the King's side. Lafew asks the King to speak with Helena who offers to cure his fatal disease with her father's most potent and safeguarded recipe. The King acknowledges her late father's renown as a doctor, but refuses to entertain false hope. 

Lafew tries to speak of the powers of heaven in a world of scientists, but Parolles interrupts him at every turn, trying to one-up him and claim Lafw

As You Like It

The Comedy of Errors

Cymbeline

Love's Labours Lost

Merry Wives of Windsor

Merchant of Venice

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Published: 1605

Play. 

Demetrius and Lysander both want Hermia but she only has eyes for Lysander. Bad news is, Hermia's father wants Demetrius for a son-in-law. On the outside is Helena, whose unreturned love burns hot for Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander plan to flee from the city under cover of darkness but are pursued by an enraged Demetrius. 

In the forest, unbeknownst of the mortals, Oberon and Titania are having a spat over a servant boy. 

Much Ado About Nothing

Published: 1612

Play.

Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon, has recently defeated his half-brother, the bastard Don John, in a military engagement. Apparently reconciled, they returned to the capital, Messina, as guests of the Governor, Leonato. There Count Claudio, a young nobleman serving in Don Pedro's army falls in love with Hero, Leonato's daughter, whom Don Pedro woos on his behalf. 

Pericles, Prince of Tyre

Taming of the Shrew

Published: 1590

Play. 

The tale of two men, the hopeful Lucentio and the worldly Petruchio, and the two sisters they meet in Padua. 

Lucentio falls in love with Bianca, the apparently ideal younger daughter of the wealthy Baptista Minola. But before they can marry Bianca's formidable elder sister, Katherine, must be wed. Petruchio, interested only in the huge dowry, arranges to marry Katherine against her will. 

Tempest

Published:

Play.

Prospero, a magician on an enchanted island, punished his enemies, brings happiness to his daughter, and comes to terms with human use of supernatural power. 

Troilus and Cressida

Twelfth Night

Published: 1602

Play. 

Set in a topsy-turvy world like a holiday revel, this comedy devises a romantic plot around separated twins, misplaced passions, and mistaken identity. 

Gentlemen of Verona

Published: 1623

Play

Valentine is preparing to leave Verona for Milan so as to broaden his horizons. He begs his best friend, Proteus, to come with him, but he is in love with Julia, and refuses to leave. Disappointed, Valentine bids Proteus farewell and goes on alone. 

Meanwhile, Julia is discussing Proteus with her maid, Lucetta, who tells Julia that she thinks Proteus is fond of her. Julia, acts coyly, embarrassed to admit that she likes him. Lucetta then produces a letter; she will not say who gave it to her, but teases Julia that it was Valentine's servant, Speed, who brought if from Proteus. 

Julia, still unwilling to reveal her love, tears up the letter angrily. She sends Lucetta away, but then, realizing her own rashness, picks up the fragments of the letter and kisses them, trying to piece them back together. 

Proteus' father has decided he should travel to Milan and join Valentine, ordering that Proteus must leave the next day, prompting a tearful farewell with Julia, to whom he swears eternal love. The two exchange rings and vows and Proteus promises to return as soon as he can. 

In Milan, Proteus finds Valentine in love with the Duke's daughter, Silvia. Despite Julia, Proteus falls instantly in love with Silvia and vows to win her. Unaware of Proteus' feelings, Valentine tells him the Duke wants Silvia to marry the foppish but walthy Thurio, against her wishes. Because the Duke suspects that Silvia and Valentine are in love, he locks her in a tower, to which he keeps the only key; however; Valentine tells Proteus that he plans to free her by means of a corded ladder, and together they will elope. Proteus immediately informs the Duke, to captures and banishes Valentine. 

In Verona, Julia decides to join her lover in Milan. She convinces Lucetta to dress her in boy's clothes and help her fix her hair so she will not be harmed on the journey. Once in Milan, Julia discovers Proteus' love for Silvia, watching him attempt to serenade her. She contrives to become Sebastian, his page boy, until she can decide upon a course of action. Proteus sends her to Silvia with a gift of the same ring that Julia gave to him but Julia learns that Silvia scorns Proteus' affections and is disgusted that he would forget about his love back home. Silvia mourns the loss of Valentine, who Proteus has told her is rumored to be dead. Silvia decided to flee the city. 

Winter's Tale

Published: 1623

Play

The play begins with the appearance of two: Leontes, King of Sicilia, and Polixenes, the King of Bohemia. Polixenes is visiting the kingdom of Sicilia, and is enjoying catching up with his old friend. However, after nine months, Polixenes yearns to return to his own kingdom to tend to affairs and see his son. 

Leontes desperately attempts to get Polixenes to stay longer, but is unsuccessful. Leontes then decides to send his wife, Queen Hermione, to try to convice Polixenes. Hermione agrees and with three short speeches is successful. Leontes is puzzled as to how Hermione convinced Polixenes so easily, and Leontes suddenly goes insane and suspects that his pregnant wife has been having an affair with Polixenes and that the child is a bastard. Leontes orders Camilo, a Sicilian Lord, to poison Polixenes. Camilo instead warns him and they both flee to Bohemia. 

Furious at their escape, Leontes now publicly accuses his wife of infidelity, and declares that the child she is bearing must be illegitimate. He throws her in prison, over the protests of his nobles, and sends two of his lords, Cleomenes and Dion, to the Oracle at Delphi for what he is sure will be confirmation of his suspicions. Meanwhile; the queen gives birth to a girl, and her loyal friend Paulina takes the baby to the king, hoping that the sight of the child will soften his heart. He grown angrier, however, and orders Paulina's husband, Lord Antigonus, to take the child and abandon it in a desolate place. 

Cleomenes and Dion return from Delphi with word from the Oracle and find Hermione publicly and humiliatingly put of a trial before the king. She asserts her innocence, and asks for the word of the Oracle to be read before the court. The Oracle states that Hermione and Polixenes are innocent, Camillo and honest man, and that Leontes will have no heir until his lost daughter is found. 

Leontes shuns the news, refusing to believe it as the truth. As this news is revealed, word comes that Leonete's son Mamillius, has died of a wasting sickness brought on by the accusations against his mother. Hermione falls in a swoon, and is carried away by Paulina, who subsequently reports the queen's death to her husband. Leontes vows to spend the rest of his days atoning for the loss of his son and his queen. 

Antigonus abandons the baby on the coast of Bohemia, reporting that Hermione appeared to him in a dream and bade him name the girl Perdita. He leaves a fardel by the baby containing gold and other trinkets which suggest that the baby is of noble blood. A violent storm suddenly appears, wrecking the ship on which Antigonus arrived. He wishes to take pity on the child, but is chased away.

In Sicilia, Leontes is still in mourning. Cleomenes and Dion plead with him to end his time of repentance because the kingdom needs an heir. Paulina convinces the kind to continue his penance until she alone finds him a wife. Florizel and Perdita arrive, effusively greeted by Leontes. Florizel pretends to be on a diplomatic mission from his father, but is cover in blown when Polixenes and Camillo arrive in Sicilia. 

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Author: Leo Tolstoy

Published: 1869
Novel.

The novel begins in July 1805 in Saint Petersburg, at a soirée given by Anna Pavlovna Scherer, the maid of honour and confidante to dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. Pierre is the illegitimate son of a wealthy count, who is dying after a series of strokes; educated abroad at his father's expense following his mother's death, Pierre is kindhearted but socially awkward, and finds it difficult to integrate into Saint Petersburg society. 

The Roscov family is in Moscow; Count Ilya Andreyevich Rostov and Countess Natalya Rostova are an affectionate couple but forever worried about their disordered finances. They have four children.

Thirteen-year-old Natasha believes herself in love with Boris Drubestskoy, a young man who is about to join the army. 

Twenty-year-old Nikolai pledges his love to Sonya, his fifteen-year-old cousin, an orphan who has been brought up by the Rostovs. 

Vera, the eldest, is cold and haughty but has good prospective marriage in a Russian-German officer, Adolf Karlovich Berg. 

Petya, the youngest, is impetus and eager to join the army. 

Characters: 

Count Pyotr Kirillovich (Pierre) Bezukhov
Prince Andrei Nikolayevich Bolkonsky
Princess Maria Nikolayevna Bolkonskaya
Count Ilya Andreyevich Rostov
Countless Natalya Rostova
Countless Natalya Ilyinichna (Natasha) Rostova
Count Nikolai Ilyich (Nikolenka) Rostov
Sofia Alexandrovna (Sonya) Rostova
Countess Vera Ilyinichna Rostova
Pyotr Ilyich (Petra) Rostov
Prince Vasily Sergeyevich Kuragin
Princess Elena Vasilyevna Kuragina
Prince Anatole Vasilyevich Kuragin

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Author: Charles Dickens

Published: March 1852 - September 1853, as a serial

Novel.

Sir Leicester Dedlock and Lady Honoria Dedlock live in the estate of Chesney Wold. Lady Dedlock is a haughty and reserved woman, and her husband's junior by more than twenty years. Her good looks, fine clothes, and regal bearing garner her admiration in society. 

Unknown to Sir Leicester, Lady Dedlock had a lover, Captain Hawdon, before she married, and had a child with him, Esther Summerson. 

Lady Dedlock, who believes her daughter is dead, has chosen to live out her days bored to death as a fashionable lady of the world. 

Esther, Lady Dedlock's daughter, is raised by Miss Barbary, her godmother and Lady Dedlock's spartan sister. Miss Barbary instils a sense of inferiority in Esther, holding macabre vigil on Esther's birthday each year. Miss Barbary explains that her birth is no cause for celebration, because she is her mother's disgrace. 

Esther does not know that Miss Barbary is her aunt. 

After Miss Barbary dies, the Chancery Lawyer Conversation Kenge takes charge of Esther's future on the instruction of his client, John Jarndyce. 

Jarndyce becomes Esther's guardian, and after attending school in Reading for six years, she moves in with him at Bleak House. 

Jarndyce simultaneously assumes custody of two other wards, Richard Carstone and Ada Clare. 

Esther soon befriends both Ada and Richard. They are beneficiaries in one of the wills at issue in Jarndcye and Jarndyce; their guardian is a beneficiary under another will, and in some undefined way the two wills conflict. No one realizes that Esther is also connected to Jarndcye and Jarndyce. 

Richard and Ada soon fall in love, but though Mr. Jarnduce doesn't oppose the match, he stipulated that Richard must first choose a profession. Richard first tries the medical profession. 

Lady Deadlock is also beneficiary under one of the wills in Jarndyce and Jarndyce. 

Esther meets her mother at church and talks with her at Chesney World; though, at first, neither woman recognized their connection. Though Esther and Lady Dedlock are happy to be reunited, Lady Dedlock tells Esther that they must never acknowledge their connection again. 

Richard, having failed at several professions, has elected to disobey his guardian and is wasting his resources pushing Jarndyce and Jarndyce to conclusion. In the process of becoming an active litigant, Richard loses all his money and declines in health. In further defiance, he and Ada have secretly married and she is carrying Richard's child. 

Esther experiences romance when meeting Dr. Woodcourt one more time,  having first met him at the house of Richard's prospective tutor, Mr. Bauynham Badger; after he returns to England, after surviving a shipwreck. Unfortunately, Esther has already agreed to marry her guardian. 

Developments in Jarndyce and Jarndyce seem to take a turn for the better when a later will is found which revokes all previous wills and leaves the bulk of the estate to Richard and Ada. Meanwhile, John Jarndyce cancels his engagement to Esther, who becomes engaged to Dr. Woodcourt. 

Characters:

Esther Summerson

Honoria, Lady Dedlock

Captain Hawdon / Nemo

John Jarndyce

Richard Carstone

Ada Clare

Harold Skimpole

Lawrence Boythorn

Sir Leicester Dedlock

Mr. Tulkinghorn

Mr. Snagsby

Miss Flite. 

Mr. William Guppy

Inspector Bucket

Mr. George

Caddy Jellyby

Krook

Jo

Allan Woodcourt

Grandfather Smallweed

Mr. Vholes

Conversation Kenge

Mr. Gridley

Mrs. Snagsby

Guster

Neckett

Charley

Tom

Emma

Mrs. Jellyby

Mr. Jellyby

Peepy Jellyby

Hortense

Miss Barbary

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Published: 1925
Novel. 

Nick Carraway, a Yale graduate and World War I veteran from the Midwest takes a job in New York as a bond salesman. He rents a small house on Long Island, in the village of West Egg, next door to the lavish mansion of Jay Gatsby, a mysterious millionaire who holds extravagant parties but does not participate in them.

Nick drives around the bay to East Egg for dinner at the home of his cousin, Daisy Fay Buchanan, and her husband, Tom, a college acquaintance of Nick's. They introduce Nick to Jordan Baker, an attractive, cynical young golfer with whom Nick begins a romantic relationship. She reveals to Nick that Tom has a mistress, Myrtle Wilson, who lives in the valley of ashes. 

Not long after this revelation, Nick travels to New York City with Tom and Myrtle to an apartment they keep for their affair. At the apartment, a vulgar and bizarre party takes place. It ends with Tom breaking Myrtle's nose after she annoys him by saying Daisy's name several times. 

As summer passes, Nick eventually receives an invitation to one of Gatsby's parties. Nick encounters Jordan Baker at the party, and they meet Gatsby himself, an aloof and surprisingly young man who recognizes Nick from their same division in World War I. Through Jordan, Nick learns that Gatsby knew Daisy from a romantic encounter in 1917 and is deeply in love with her. 

Gatsby spends many nights staring at the green light at the end of her dock, hoping to one day rekindle their lost romance. Gatsby's extravagant lifestyle and wild parties are an attempt to impress Daisy in the hope that she will one day appear at his doorstep. 

Gatsby wants Nick to arrange a reunion between himself and Daisy; Nick invites her to have tea at his house, without telling her that Gatsby will also be there. 

They begin an affair and, after a short time, Tom grows suspicious of his wife's relationship with Gatsby. At a luncheon, Daisy speaks to Gatsby with such intimacy that Tom realizes she is in love with him. 

Characters: 
Nick Carraway
Jay Gatsby
Daisy Fay Buchanan
Thomas Buchanan
Jordan Baker
George B. Wilson. 
Myrtle Wilson. 
Meyer Wolfshiem

Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Author: Margaret Mitchell

Published: 1936

Novel. 

Takes place in the southern United States in the state of Georgia, during the American Civil War. The novel unfolds against the backdrop of rebellion where in seven southern states, have declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America.

Part I:

April 1861. At the "Tara" plantation, owned by Gerald O'Hara, a lucky Irish immigrant, and his wife, Ellen Robillard O'Hara, who is from a coastal aristocratic family of French descent; their 16-year-old daughter, Scarlett is not beautiful, but men seldom realize it once they were caught up in her charm. It was the day before the men were called to war.

Part II:

Aunt Pittypat is living with Melanie in Atlanta and invites Scarlett to stay with them. In Atlanta, Scarlett's spirits revive, and she is busy with hospital work and sewing circles for the Confederate army. Scarlett encounters Rhett Butler at the benefit dance for the Confederate, and he is dresses like a dandy. Although he believes the war is a lost cause, he is blockade running for the profit. 

Men must bid for a dance with a lady, and Rhett bids for a dance with Scarlett. 

Everyone is shocked that Rhett would bid for Scarlett, the widow still dresses in black. 

Part III: 

The war is going badly for the Confederacy. Atlanta is besieged from three sides; the city becomes desperate and hundreds of wounded Confederate soldiers pour in. Melanie goes into labor with only Scarlett to assist, as all the doctors are attending the soldiers. 

Prissy, a young slave, cries out in despair and fear. 

Melanie gives birth to a boy, Beau, and now they must scurry for refuge. Scarlett tells Prissy to go find Rhett, but she is afraid. Finally, Prissy finds Rhett and Scarlett begs him to take her, Wade, Melanie, Beau and Prissy to Tara. Rhett laughs at the idea but steals a horse and a wagon, and they follow the army out of Atlanta. 

Part way to Tara, Rhett abandons Scarlett to enlist in the army. Scarlett makes her way to Tara, where she is welcomed by her father. But things are not as Scarlett remembers them. 

Part IV:

Life at Tara slowly begins to recover when new taxes are levied on Tara. Scarlett knows only one man with enough money to help. She looks for Rhett in Atlanta, only to learn he is in jail. Leaving the jailhouse, she runs into Frank Kennedy, who runs a store in Atlanta and is betrothed to Scarlett's sister, Suellen. Realizing Frank also has money, Scarlett hatches a plot and tells Frank that Suellen will not marry him. Frank succumbs to Scarlett's charms and he marries her two weeks later knowing he has done something romantic and exciting for the first time in his life. Always wanting her to be happy and radiant, Frank gives Scarlett the money to pay the taxes. 

Characters: 

Katie Scarlett (O'Hara) Hamilton Kennedy Butler

Rhett K. Butler

George Ashley Wilkes

Melanie (Hamilton) Wilkes

Ellen (Robinson) O'Hara

Gerald O'Hara

Susan Elinor (Suellen) O'Hara

Caroline Irene (Carreen) O'Hara

O'Hara Boys

Charles Hamilton

Wade Hampton Hamilton

Frank Kennedy

Middlemarch by George Eliot

Author: George Eliot

Published: 1872
Novel. 

Written as a third-person narrative, it centers on the lives of the residents of Middlemarch, a fictitious Midlands town from 1829. It emphasizes on the life of Dorothea Brooke; the career of Terius Lydgate; the courship of Mary Garth by Fred Vincy; and the disgrace of Blustrode. 

Dorothea Brooke appears set for a comfortable and idle life as the wife of Sir James Chettam, but to the dismay of her sister Celia and her uncle Mr. Brooke, she marries the Reverend Efward Casaubon. Expecting fulfillment by sharing in his intellectual life, Dorothea discovers his animosity towards her  ambitions during an unhappy honeymoon in Rome. Realizing his great project is doomed to failure, her feelings change to pity.

Dorothea forms a warm friendship with a young cousin of Casaubon's, Will Ladislaw, but her husband's antipathy towards him is clear and he is forbidden to visit. In poor health, Casaubon attempts to extract from Dorothea a promise that, should he die, she will avoid doing what I should deprecate and apply yourself to do what I desire. He dies before she is able to reply, and she later learns of a provision to his will that, if she marries Ladislaw, she will lose her inheritance. 

The young doctor Terius Lydgate arrives in Middlemarch. Through his voluntary hospital work he meets the town's financier, Mr. Blustrode, and through him Bulstrode's niece, the mayor's beautiful daughter, Rosamond Vincy. Rosamond is attracted to Lydgate, particularly by what she believes to be his aristocratic connections. Rosamond and Lydgate marry, and in Lydgate's efforts to please her, he is soon deeply in debt and force to seek help from Mr. Blustrode. He is partly sustained through this by his friendship with Camden Farebrother.

Rosamond's brother, Fred, is reluctantly destined for the Church. He is in love with Mary Garth, who will not accept him until he abandons the Church and settles on a more suitable career. At one time Fred has been bequeathed considerable fortune by Mr. Featherstone, but he later rescinded the will. However, Mr. Featherstone, on his deathbed, begs Mary to destroy his second will; to which Mary refuses and begs him to wait until the morning when a new legal will can be drawn up, but he dies before being able to do so. In debt, Fred is forced to take out a loan guaranteed by Mary's father, Caleb Garth. When Fred cannot pay the loan, Mr. Garth's finances become compromised. This humiliation shocks Fred into reassessing his life, and he resolved to train as a land agent under the forgiving Caleb.

John Raffles, who knows Bulstrode's shady past, appears in Middlemarch with the intent to blackmail him. In his youth, Bulstrode engaged in questionable financial dealings, and his fortune is founded on a marriage to a much older, wealthy widow. Mr. Bulstode's terror of public exposure as a hypocrite leads him to hasten de death of the mortally-sick Raffles; though word has already spread. Bulstrode's disgrace engulfs Lydgate, as knowledge of the financier's loan to the doctor becomes known, and he is assumed to be his accomplice. Only Dorothea and Farebrother maintain faith in him, but nonetheless Lydgate and Rasamond are encouraged by the general opprobrium to leave Middlemarch. 

Characters:
Dorothea Brooke
Tertius Lydgate
Reverend Edward Casaubon
Mary Garth
Arthur Brooke
Celia Brooke
Sir James Chettam
John Raffles
Rosamond Vincy
Fred Vincy
Lucy Vincy
Will Ladislaw
Humprey Caldwallader
Eleanor Cadwallader
Walter Vincy
Caleb Garth
Peter Featherstone
Rigg Featherstone
Camdem Farebrother
Nicholas Bulstrode
Jane Waule
Mr. Hawley

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Author: Audrey Niffenegger

Published: 2003
Novel.

The novel tells the stories of Henry DeTamble, a librarian at the Newberry Library in Chicago, and his wife, Clare Anne Abshire, an artist who makes paper sculptures. Henry has a rare genetic disorder, which comes to be known as Chrono-Impairment, that causes him to involuntarily travel through time. When 20-year-old Clare meets 28-year-old Henry at the Newberry Library in 1991, he has never seen her before, although she has known him most of her life. 

Henry begins time traveling at the age of five, jumping forward and backward to his own timeline. When he leaves, where he goes, or how long his trips will last are all beyond his control. His destinations are tied to his subconscious. Certain stimuli such as stress can trigger Henry's time traveling; he often goes jogging to keep calm and remain in the present. He also searches out pharmaceuticals in the future that may be able to help control his time traveling. 

Once their timelines converge naturally at the library, Henry starts to travel to Clare's childhood and adolescence in South Haven, Michigan, beginning in 1977 when she is six years old. On one of his early visits, Henry gives her a list of the dates he will appear and she writes them in a diary so she will remember to provide him with clothes and food when he arrives. During another visit, he inadvertently reveals that they will be married in the future. Over time they develop a close relationship. 

Clare is last visited in her youth by Henry in 1989, on her eighteenth birthday, during which they make love for the first time. They are separated for two years until finally meeting in the library. 

Clare and Henry marry, but Clare has trouble bringing a pregnancy to term because the genetic anomaly Henry may presumably be passing on to the fetus. After six miscarriages, Henry has a vasectomy. However a version of Henry from the past visits Clare and they make love, she gives birth to Alba. Before she is born, Henry travels to the future and meets his 10-year-old daughter, learning that he will die when she is five years old. 

Characters: 
Clare Abshire
Henry DeTamble
Anette DeTamble
Alba DeTamble
Richard DeTamble