Penelope Freedman taught Literary Linguistics and Stylistics at the University of Kent until 1992, combining her academic work with acting and directing at the Gulbenkian Theatre in Canterbury. She now lives and works in Stratford-upon-Avon.

• Contents: Preface; Introduction; The Merry Wives of Windsor: a paradigm of usage; Earlier comedies: Two Gentlemen of Verona to The Merchant of Venice; Later comedies and romances: Much Ado About Nothing to Two Noble Kinsmen; The tragedies; The histories; Conclusions; Appendix: a note on the sonnets; Glossary of linguistic terms; Bibliography; Indexes.

’In helping us learn to become attentive to how Shakespeare uses the complex relationships of you and thou in articulating a wide range of affects, Penelope Freedman deepens our engagement with his plays. Her study is a valuable aid on which directors and actors, and readers, too, can fruitfully call.’ European Legacy ’... a unique and provocative book.’ Sixteenth Century Journal