Synopsis
1908. From the Introduction: In these lectures I propose to consider the four principal tragedies of Shakespeare from a single point of view. Nothing will be said of Shakespeare's place in the history of either English literature or of the drama in general. No attempt will be made to compare him with other writers. I shall leave untouched, or merely glanced at, questions regarding his life and character, the development of his genius and art, the genuineness, sources, texts, interrelations of his various works. Even what may be called, in a restricted sense, the poetry of the four tragedies-the beauties of style, diction, versification-I shall pass by in silence. Our one object will be what, again in a restricted sense, may be called dramatic appreciation; to increase our understanding and enjoyment of these works as dramas; to learn to apprehend the action and some of the personages of each with a somewhat greater truth and intensity, so that they may assume in our imaginations a shape a little less unlike the shape they wore in the imagination of their creator.
About the Author
Bradley, Andrew Cecil was born in 1851 in Cheltenham. He was the son of a clergyman and the younger brother of the philosopher F.H. Bradley. He received his education at Cheltenham College and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he became a fellow in 1874, lecturing in Philosophy and English. In 1882 Bradley became the first Professor of Literature and History at Liverpool, and later on Professor of English Language and Literature at Glasgow from 1890, and Professor of Poetry at Oxford from 1901 until 1906, when he retired from academic life.
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