This second of a two-volume study of the literature of Shakespeare''s time covers the dramatic works, leaving the verse and prose for another volume. Here, the authors consider the state of pre-Shakespearean drama in works by writers such as Kyd, Lyly, and Marlowe; then the plays of the Bard himself are discussed--including brief chapters on metrical developments, Shakespeare''s use of prose within the plays, and some notes on his world view and on the First Folio. Finally, the authors evaluate the works of Shakespeare''s later contemporaries and succesors: Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher, Webster, and Middleton, among others.