Discusses eight of Shakespeare's plays and the relationships between the main characters with them. This book is written for the thinking lay reader, and does not blind the ordinary reader with psychoanalytic terminology and concepts.

Prologue -- The qualities of people -- Much deceived: Leontes and Othello -- Death and the maiden -- The rei(g)ns of power -- Part-objects: Prospero and Caliban -- "Father" and son: Prince Hal and Falstaff -- The Macbeths: a childless couple? -- Antony and Cleopatra-"star-cross'd" lovers? -- Epilogue

'Another creative triumph from Michael Jacobs! You will discover as much about yourself as you do about Shakespeare's characters. There's a compassion for human frailties in these pages plus a demand that we all - not just therapists - shape up. In struggling to hold these two opposite positions, Jacobs reveals himself as a true Shakespearean - and the Bard's similar struggle is a model for today's psychotherapists and counsellors.'- Andrew Samuels, Professor of Analytical Psychology, University of Essex'Already reknowned for books that make psychodynamic thinking highly accessible, Michael Jacobs now offers an original approach to Shakespeare's stories and characters - making them more authentically psychological than ever. Such an analysis has been attempted before, but never in such a down-to-earth, readable fashion. Jacobs knows his Shakespeare and he knows psychodynamic psychotherapy from years of experience. So many of us - whether we are exploring Shakespeare, human psychology and therapy, or the interface between art and the mind - will all benefit from reading this fascinating work.'- Christopher Hauke, Psychotherapist, Goldsmiths College, University of London, Author of Jung and Film: Post-Jungian Takes on the Moving Image and Human Being Human: Culture and the Soul