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Preface to Shakespeare

Samuel Johnson

  • Essays
  • Book language: English
  • 73 pages

Samuel Johnson's preface to his 1765 edition of Shakespeare's plays is a major essay in literary criticism. It examines Shakespeare's genius, his characters, and his faults, offering a balanced assessment that shaped how later generations read the plays. Listen for Johnson's robust prose and his enduring insights into Shakespeare's art.

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Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.

Opening of the book

Steve

Harris,

Charles

Franks

and

the

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PREFACE TO SHAKESPEARE

Together with selected notes on some of the plays

By Samuel Johnson

[Johnson published his annotated edition of Shakespeare's Plays in

1765.]

PREFACE TO SHAKESPEARE

Some of the notes to

Measure for Measure

Henry IV

Henry V

King Lear

Romeo and Juliet

Hamlet

Othello

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Contents

  1. PREFACE TO SHAKESPEARE
  2. PREFACE TO SHAKESPEARE

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