Shakespeare's Symmetries

<p> The organization of Shakespeare's plays has challenged, even baffled audiences and critics since the 17th century. <I>Cymbeline</I> has been dismissed as "incoherent." <I>Hamlet</I> "is of no clear shape." And <I>Antony and Cleopatra</I> "bewilders the mind."</p><p> These judgments result from an incomplete understanding of Shakespeare's constructive practice. It is not the narrative arc alone that organizes the plays but a complex struct