(Hardback)

Expert contributors provide alphabetically arranged entries for some 60 fools and jesters ranging from Woody Allen, Lucille Ball, and the Marx Brothers to Falstaff, Hephaestus, and Loki.

(Hardback)

The volume also includes entries for women of color, such as Kamala Markandaya and Buchi Emecheta.

Each entry is written by an expert contributor and includes an overview of the writer's background, an analysis of her works, an assessment of her achievements, and lists of primary and secondary sources.

(Hardback)

The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare's most frequently performed plays. This reference is a comprehensive introduction to the play, its themes and contexts, its critical reception, and its performance history.

The volume begins with a discussion of the play's creation and textual history.