Descripciones mejoradas de Syndetics:

Challenging the long-held view that Johnson's criticism of Shakespeare is of historical interest only, having been assimilated and superseded by later work, this study argues that Johnson's interpretaion of Shakespeare as "the poet of nature" is actually a radical and provocative proposition. Parker provides an illuminating series of contrasts of the leading Romantic critics--Coleridge, Schlegel, and Hazlitt--arguing that the dichotomies that emerge from their writings reflect tensions exhibited by or explored within the plays themselves. He relates Johnson's feeling for general nature to the characteristic scepticism of his thought, and concludes with a fresh discussion of Johnson's response to the "unnatural deeds" of Shakespearean tragedy. Parker also includes the central portion of the Preface to Shakespeare, as well as critically interesting notes, offering a fully developed anthology of Johnson's criticism and commentary on Shakespeare.

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• Acknowledgements(p. vii)
• From Johnson's Preface to Shakespeare(p. xi)
• Note on References(p. xxi)
• 1. Taking Johnson Seriously(p. 1)
• 2. Just Representations of General Nature(p. 15)
• Sceptical Thinking(p. 28)
• The Pleasure of Generality(p. 42)
• Not Heroic but Human(p. 51)
• 3. The Mind against the World(p. 63)
• The Idealist Imagination--Wordsworth--Falstaff--Hamlet(p. 63)
• The Defiant Imagination--Lear--Audience Identification and Dramatic Illusion(p. 91)
• Individuals or Species?(p. 106)
• Supernatural Creation--Caliban and Prospero(p. 111)
• Organic Unity--Wordplay--Romeo and Juliet(p. 126)
• Conclusion: On the Necessity of Choosing(p. 153)
• 4. Johnson and Tragedy(p. 156)
• Index(p. 199)

Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics

CHOICE Review

A most useful synthesizing study of some of the major problems concerning the understanding of Johnson's critical assessment of Shakespeare. Parker's Johnson is well worth reading, if only to follow, in the last chapter, his interesting and cogent argument involving Johnson's reaction to certain disturbing passages in Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth that "move us in ways so powerfully disturbing to our human nature as to be hardly endurable." In an effort to place Johnson's view of Shakespeare in proper perspective, the author, who has read deeply in the area of criticism, explores major Johnsonian critical principles in respect not only to the plays themselves but also to critical commentary by three primary Romantic critics: Coleridge, Schlegel, and Hazlitt. The first two chapters deal with Johnson's concept of "general nature" (an excellent summary of significant points), with the most informative and fascinating chapter concentrating on Johnson's view of the creative mind in relation to his special reading of Shakespeare. Highly recommended for anyone interested in 18th-century literature and literary criticism. Includes extracts from Preface to Shakespeare. Adequate notes and index. Levels: graduate and upper-division undergraduate. -R. G. Brown, Ball State University

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

G. F. Parker is a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge