This tutorial will explore the comic elements of five Shakespeare plays: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry the Fourth, part one, and Anthony and Cleopatra. Though we will consider numerous theories of comedy, our emphasis will be mainly practical criticism, focused on the texts: why and how is this comical? What does this humorous character or that comic scene contribute to the play? What are some larger patterns of comedy? How does this play apply, revise, or complicate the traditional patterns? How central is comedy to the play's vision? We will explore the nature of comedy generally with some reading in comic theory (Hobbes, Bergson, Meredith, Freud, Bakhtin, Frye) and Shakespearean criticism (C. L. Barber, Helen Gardner, Alvin Kernan, Susanne K. Langer, Anne Barton, etc). We will also view and discuss several films, including Orson Welles's "Chimes at Midnight" and Kenneth Branagh's "Much Ado." The emphasis of the course is upon Shakespeare's language and dramatic art. Format: tutorial. Requirements: students meet weekly with a tutorial partner and the instructor to discuss one student's paper and the other student's response. Each student writes five 5-page arguments and five 2-page critiques. Prerequisites: a 100-level English course, except 150. Enrollment limit: 10 (expected: 10). Preference given to sophomores considering the English major. (Pre-1700)