Conflict is at the heart of much of Shakespeare's drama. First published in 1987, Boorman makes this 'warfare of our nature' the central theme of his approach to Shakespeare. He points to the moral context within which he wrote, in part comprising earlier notions of human nature, in part the new tentative perceptions of his own age.

Introduction. Part 1: Forms of Human Conflict (a) Soul-Body (b) Immortal-Mortal (c) Greatness-Littleness (d) Freedom-Fate (e) Reason-Unreason (Control of Self--Lack of Control) (f) Reason-Love (Man and Woman) (g) Reason-Fantasy (h) Private Man-Public Man (i) Order-Disorder (j) Justice-Mercy Part 2 (a) Human Conflict in Early English Drama (b) Human Conflict in Plays of Shakespeare's Contemporaries Part 3 Human Conflict in Shakespeare Introduction. Comedies. English History Plays. Classical Plays. Tragedies. Retrospect. The Last Plays. Appendix 1: Marlow's Doctor Faustus. Appendix 2 Comedy and Tragedy in Drama. Notes. Indexes: 1. Elizabethan (Non-Dramatic) References 2. Shakespeare's Plays: (a) Titles (b) Characters 3. Non-Shakespearean Plays: Titles 4. General.