Hamlet
Shakespeare: The Critical Tradition, Volume 1
Published on 1. December 2022
Book
Hardback
456 pages
978-1-4742-5701-5 (ISBN)
Description
Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's four great tragedies, studied and performed around the world. This new volume in Shakespeare: The Critical Tradition increases our knowledge of how Shakespeare's plays were received and understood by critics, editors and general readers. It traces the course of Hamlet criticism, from the earliest items of recorded criticism to the latter half of the Victorian period. The focus of the documentary material is from the late 18th century to the late 19th century. Thus the volume makes a major contribution to our understanding of the play and of the traditions of Shakespearean criticism surrounding it as they have developed from century to century. The introduction constitutes an important chapter of literary history, tracing the entire critical career of Hamlet from the beginnings to the present day.
The volume features criticism from leading literary figures, such as Henry James, Anna Jameson, Victor Hugo, Thomas Carlyle, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Mary Cowden Clarke. The chronological arrangement of the text-excerpts engages the readers in a direct and unbiased dialogue, whereas the introduction offers a critical evaluation from a current stance, including modern theories and methods. Thus the volume makes a major contribution to our understanding of the play and of the traditions of Shakespearean criticism surrounding it as they have developed from century to century.
The volume features criticism from leading literary figures, such as Henry James, Anna Jameson, Victor Hugo, Thomas Carlyle, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Mary Cowden Clarke. The chronological arrangement of the text-excerpts engages the readers in a direct and unbiased dialogue, whereas the introduction offers a critical evaluation from a current stance, including modern theories and methods. Thus the volume makes a major contribution to our understanding of the play and of the traditions of Shakespearean criticism surrounding it as they have developed from century to century.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
840 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4742-5701-5 (9781474257015)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Persons
Hardin Aasand is Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English and Linguistics at Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne, USA.
Content
general editor's preface
preface
introduction
1. thomas davies, on Steevens's and Malone's editions and various 18th century theatrical performances, 1784
2. william richardson, a philosophical analysis of Hamlet's character, 1784
3. walter whiter, on Hamlet's melancholic disposition, 1794
4. johann wolfgang von goethe, Hamlet's character as analogue for Wilheim Meister's own disenchantment, 1797
5 lord john chedworth, Glosses and personal annotation of early variorum editions (Johnson, Steevens, Malone), 1805
6 e.h. seymour, on collations of various passages from quartos as a means of making the 'brightness of Shakespeare's genius still more conspicuous', 1805
7 francis douce, on the historical, cultural analogues and 'anachronisms' of the play, 1807
8 henry james pye, various commentary notes, 1807
9 john monck mason, various commentary on variorum editions, 1807
10 august wilhelm von schlegel, on Hamlet's unheroic predisposition, 1808
11 samuel taylor coleridge, on Hamlet's "unpractical being" and similarity with Wilhelm Meister, 1810
12 charles lamb, on the difficulty of representing theatrically Hamlet's 'solitary musings', 1811
13 samuel taylor coleridge, on Hamlet's "irresoluteness" of his revenge in Act 3, 1812
14 samuel taylor coleridge, Hamlet's use of 'trivial objects and familiar circumstances', 1813
15 william hazlitt, on Edmund Kean's rehearsal of Hamlet's 'undulating lines', 1814
16 andrew becket, on the importance of collation and conjecture in determining Shakespeare's meaning, 1815
17 william hazlitt, on the complexity of Hamlet's characters, with passing reference to Kemble and Kean's flawed performances, 1817
18 samuel taylor coleridge, and Hamlet's "flying" from reality, 1818
19 t[homas] c[ampbell] [john wilson] 'Letters on Shakspeare - No. 1. - Hamlet.', 1818
20 samuel taylor coleridge, Hamlet and the development of his 'philosophical criticism', 1819
21 zachary jackson, presenting 700 passages needing penetration and restoration, 1819
22 anon. 'Observations on Mr. Campbell's Essay on English Poetry', 1819
23 samuel taylor coleridge, and the 'easy language of common life' in Hamlet, 1819
24 samuel taylor coleridge, on Hamlet Act 1, 1819
25 samuel taylor coleridge, miscellaneous manuscript notes, 1819
26 augustine skottowe, various observations on scenes, 1824
27 samuel weller singer, and the dating of Hamlet, 1826
28 hartley coleridge, on the complexity of reading Hamlet's character, 1828
29 george farren, an appendix on mania and melancholy in Hamlet and Ophelia, 1829
30 thomas caldecott, a defense of Hamlet's behavior as a means of enacting revenge, 1832
31 james boaden, a memoir of Garrick's Hamlet, 1832
32 anna jameson, Ophelia, 'the snowflake dissolved in air', 1832
33 nathan drake, Hamlet's reticence to revenge, 1838
34 thomas carlyle, Shakespeare: Priest of Mankind, 1840
35 alexander dyce, a critique of Collier's 1841 and Knight's 1842 editions, 1844
36 joseph hunter, Shakespearean variants, 1845
37 henry n. hudson, the 'universality' of Hamlet's character, 1848
38 edward strachey, Hamlet as a 'man' and the 'triumph' of his revenge, 1848
39 samuel weller singer, "the meaning of 'Drink Up Eisell' in Hamlet." 1850
40 nicolaus delius, selected commentary notes, 1854
41 rev. arthur ramsay, and the 'mystery of humanity', 1856
42 henry hope reed, on Hamlet's 'meditative mind', 1856
43 william maginn, on Polonius as 'ceremonious courtier', 1856
44 william rushton, on Shakespeare's legal acumen, 1859
45 ivan turgenev,on the 'turbulent sea' and the 'deep flowing tranquility', 1860
46 charles cowden clarke and the 'shrouding' of Hamlet's revenge, 1863
47 georg gottfried gervinus, the 'conscientious' Hamlet, 1863
48 b[rinsley] nicholson, Shakespeare and 'sour and stale beer', 1864
49 james henry hackett, reviews of contemporary 'Hamlets', 1864
50 victor hugo , Hamlet and "hesitation", 1864
51 albert cohn, the German 'Hamlet', 1865
52 samuel bailey, on the empirical Shakespeare, 1866
53 john bucknill, 'Ophelia, so simple, so beautiful, so pitiful', 1867
54 thomas keightley, on individual passages, 1867
55 benno tschischwitz, on Bruno's atomistic philosophy and Hamlet, 1867
56 benno tschischwitz, on Shakespeare's philosophy and Giordano Bruno's influence, 1869
57 p[eter] a[ugustin] daniel, notes and conjectures, 1870
58 george miles, A Review of ''Hamlet'. 1870
59 r[obert] g[ordon] latham, the 'hopelessness' of Hamlet's pre-cursors, 1872
60 mary cowden clarke, on Ophelia's youth, 1873
61 karl elze, the French Hamlet, 1874
62 edward dowden, and mystery, the 'baffling, vital obscurity of the play', 1875
63 [francis] frank a[lbert] marshall, 'the early life' of Hamlet, 1875
64 hermann ulrici, Hamlet's 'double contradiction', 1876
65 john bulloch, and the Globe edition emendations, 1878
66 j. o. halliwell-phillipps , on Hamlet's 'singular determination', 1879
67 charles cowden clarke and mary cowden clarke, 'unlocking the treasures of his style', 1879
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
preface
introduction
1. thomas davies, on Steevens's and Malone's editions and various 18th century theatrical performances, 1784
2. william richardson, a philosophical analysis of Hamlet's character, 1784
3. walter whiter, on Hamlet's melancholic disposition, 1794
4. johann wolfgang von goethe, Hamlet's character as analogue for Wilheim Meister's own disenchantment, 1797
5 lord john chedworth, Glosses and personal annotation of early variorum editions (Johnson, Steevens, Malone), 1805
6 e.h. seymour, on collations of various passages from quartos as a means of making the 'brightness of Shakespeare's genius still more conspicuous', 1805
7 francis douce, on the historical, cultural analogues and 'anachronisms' of the play, 1807
8 henry james pye, various commentary notes, 1807
9 john monck mason, various commentary on variorum editions, 1807
10 august wilhelm von schlegel, on Hamlet's unheroic predisposition, 1808
11 samuel taylor coleridge, on Hamlet's "unpractical being" and similarity with Wilhelm Meister, 1810
12 charles lamb, on the difficulty of representing theatrically Hamlet's 'solitary musings', 1811
13 samuel taylor coleridge, on Hamlet's "irresoluteness" of his revenge in Act 3, 1812
14 samuel taylor coleridge, Hamlet's use of 'trivial objects and familiar circumstances', 1813
15 william hazlitt, on Edmund Kean's rehearsal of Hamlet's 'undulating lines', 1814
16 andrew becket, on the importance of collation and conjecture in determining Shakespeare's meaning, 1815
17 william hazlitt, on the complexity of Hamlet's characters, with passing reference to Kemble and Kean's flawed performances, 1817
18 samuel taylor coleridge, and Hamlet's "flying" from reality, 1818
19 t[homas] c[ampbell] [john wilson] 'Letters on Shakspeare - No. 1. - Hamlet.', 1818
20 samuel taylor coleridge, Hamlet and the development of his 'philosophical criticism', 1819
21 zachary jackson, presenting 700 passages needing penetration and restoration, 1819
22 anon. 'Observations on Mr. Campbell's Essay on English Poetry', 1819
23 samuel taylor coleridge, and the 'easy language of common life' in Hamlet, 1819
24 samuel taylor coleridge, on Hamlet Act 1, 1819
25 samuel taylor coleridge, miscellaneous manuscript notes, 1819
26 augustine skottowe, various observations on scenes, 1824
27 samuel weller singer, and the dating of Hamlet, 1826
28 hartley coleridge, on the complexity of reading Hamlet's character, 1828
29 george farren, an appendix on mania and melancholy in Hamlet and Ophelia, 1829
30 thomas caldecott, a defense of Hamlet's behavior as a means of enacting revenge, 1832
31 james boaden, a memoir of Garrick's Hamlet, 1832
32 anna jameson, Ophelia, 'the snowflake dissolved in air', 1832
33 nathan drake, Hamlet's reticence to revenge, 1838
34 thomas carlyle, Shakespeare: Priest of Mankind, 1840
35 alexander dyce, a critique of Collier's 1841 and Knight's 1842 editions, 1844
36 joseph hunter, Shakespearean variants, 1845
37 henry n. hudson, the 'universality' of Hamlet's character, 1848
38 edward strachey, Hamlet as a 'man' and the 'triumph' of his revenge, 1848
39 samuel weller singer, "the meaning of 'Drink Up Eisell' in Hamlet." 1850
40 nicolaus delius, selected commentary notes, 1854
41 rev. arthur ramsay, and the 'mystery of humanity', 1856
42 henry hope reed, on Hamlet's 'meditative mind', 1856
43 william maginn, on Polonius as 'ceremonious courtier', 1856
44 william rushton, on Shakespeare's legal acumen, 1859
45 ivan turgenev,on the 'turbulent sea' and the 'deep flowing tranquility', 1860
46 charles cowden clarke and the 'shrouding' of Hamlet's revenge, 1863
47 georg gottfried gervinus, the 'conscientious' Hamlet, 1863
48 b[rinsley] nicholson, Shakespeare and 'sour and stale beer', 1864
49 james henry hackett, reviews of contemporary 'Hamlets', 1864
50 victor hugo , Hamlet and "hesitation", 1864
51 albert cohn, the German 'Hamlet', 1865
52 samuel bailey, on the empirical Shakespeare, 1866
53 john bucknill, 'Ophelia, so simple, so beautiful, so pitiful', 1867
54 thomas keightley, on individual passages, 1867
55 benno tschischwitz, on Bruno's atomistic philosophy and Hamlet, 1867
56 benno tschischwitz, on Shakespeare's philosophy and Giordano Bruno's influence, 1869
57 p[eter] a[ugustin] daniel, notes and conjectures, 1870
58 george miles, A Review of ''Hamlet'. 1870
59 r[obert] g[ordon] latham, the 'hopelessness' of Hamlet's pre-cursors, 1872
60 mary cowden clarke, on Ophelia's youth, 1873
61 karl elze, the French Hamlet, 1874
62 edward dowden, and mystery, the 'baffling, vital obscurity of the play', 1875
63 [francis] frank a[lbert] marshall, 'the early life' of Hamlet, 1875
64 hermann ulrici, Hamlet's 'double contradiction', 1876
65 john bulloch, and the Globe edition emendations, 1878
66 j. o. halliwell-phillipps , on Hamlet's 'singular determination', 1879
67 charles cowden clarke and mary cowden clarke, 'unlocking the treasures of his style', 1879
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index