Ruth Nevo 
Comic Transformations in Shakespeare [EPUB ebook] 

First published in 1980.
In this study of Shakespeare”s ten early comedies, from The Comedy of Errors to Twelfth Night, the concept of a dynamic of comic form is developed; the Falstaff plays are seen as a watershed, and the emergence of new comic protagonists – the resourceful, anti-romantic romantic heroine and the Fool – as the summit of the achievement.
The plays are explored from three complementary perspectives – theoretical, developmental and interpretative which lead to a further understanding of the powerful relation between the plays” formal complexity and their naturalistic verisimilitude.