ABSTRACT
The aspect of time in Shakespeare's work has received much critical attention. Book-length studies of several kinds have been devoted to the subject in recent years: to its philosophical ramifications (Turner), to its comparative context (Quinones), to its function in the structure of the plays (Kastan). This chapter describes the ways in which time functions in two of Shakespeare's mature comedies, As You Like It and Twelfth Night, not so much in terms of Shakespeare's development as a playwright, nor to achieve any single interpretation, but as a variegated phenomenon that functions at many levels, revealing attitudes that are characteristic both of Shakespeare's dramatic presentation and of Renaissance ideas. Helen Gardner equates the way time operates in the comedies with 'a space in which to work things out' as illustrated by the measured 'space' of A Midsummer Night's Dream and the 'unmeasured time' of As You Like It and Twelfth Night.
