Introduction 1 Shakespeare in His Youth and His works 2 Shakespeare's Romantic Comedies 3 Shakespeare and Carnivalesque Section One The Exterior Carnivalesque Elements 1 Festive Rites 2 Game and Life 3 Grotesque Body Section Two The Interior Carnivalesque Characteristics 1 An Objective Authorial Position 2 The Multiplicity of Meaning 3 The Open-Endedness Section Three The Upside-down World 1 The Inversion of Genders 2 The Reversion of Age Groups 3 The Subversion of Classes Conclusion Bibliography Appendix