In this Readers' Guide, Martin Coyle provides students with guidance to the ways in which this play has been received by audiences, critics and academics since its first production. Beginning with a discussion of early commentaries, the Guide steers a clear path through the huge body of critical material that has been amassed over the past three centuries. The most significant critical arguments are presented and assessed, and the reader is brought to a clear understanding of the ways in which each generation has sought to invest the play with new meanings. In the final section of the Guide, consideration is given to the radical new readings of Shakespeare's work provided by contemporary critics.