Works concerning William Shakespeare

Waldstein: Part IV, "The Shakespearean City", contains Mr Auden's justly famous essays on Othello ("The Joker in the Pack"), The Merchant of Venice ("Brothers and Others") and Falstaff ("The Prince's Dog"), plus a shrewd comparison between Greek and Elizabethan drama ("The Globe"). Part VIII contains a long discourse on "Music in Shakespeare" which is not to be missed, either.

Waldstein: Shorter and older version than Mr Bryson's. Hardly dated. Contains, among other things, a concise and very valuable discussion of Shakespeare's development.

Waldstein: Light, informative, amusing, thought-provoking. Better than I expected. An ideal place to start, especially in combination with G. B. Harrison's Introducing Shakespeare.

Waldstein: Fascinating discussions, often descriptive but seldom mere descriptions, of Will's 11 tragedies by a Shakespearean scholar who also happened to be a brilliant writer. The general opening essay is a minor masterpiece.

Waldstein: An attempt to reconstruct Shakespeare's times (up until Lizzy's death) and personality by one of the twentieth-century's leading authorities on the subject. Compellingly written as fiction, but not intentionally fictional; meticulously researched yet boldly speculative. Available online.

Waldstein: Provocative study play by play. Argues that Will was first a poet and only then a playwright. Plenty of stimulating, though not always convincing, psychological discussions about the subconscious and all that kind of stuff. Frequent parallels with Dostoyevsky.

Waldstein: Massive exploration of the historical and mythological allusions play by play. Offers a good deal of controversial interpretation besides. Marvellously readable.

Waldstein: The definitive selection of Shakespearean criticism by one of Will's most brilliant detractors. To be read with caution due to the dangerously rhetorical style.

Waldstein: There is much to disagree with and not a little outright nonsense in Dr Johnson's Proposals (1756), Preface (1765) and notes on various plays, but his slightly convoluted prose and endearing personality are worth the time and the effort. This edition also contains a nice introduction by Walter Raleigh. Available online.

Waldstein: Priceless scholarly resource. Beautifully written by one of the greatest Shakespearean scholars from the last century. Vigorously argued, almost exhaustively, but always lucid and readable. Only Vol. 1 available online, unfortunately.

Waldstein: Magnificent resource. The full two-volume study is well worth the time and money you care to spend on it. Every Shakespearean enthusiast ought to have a copy on his or her shelves.

Waldstein: A selection of lengthy, erudite and enlightening essays as only E.K.C. could write.

Waldstein: Essays on the plays originally published as introductions. Rather lighter stuff than Sir Edmund's Shakespearean Gleanings (#14), but by no means superficial.

Waldstein: An extremely valuable anthology of contemporary writings. Available online.

Waldstein: The famous reference to the "vpstart Crow, beautified with out feathers". It occurs on pp. 44-45 in this edition.

Waldstein: The introduction by G.B.H. is an excellent essay on the putative foundations of this "botched text", Q1, which nevertheless is a quite readable, though greatly inferior, alternative to the original. Available online.

Waldstein: Chapter XVII, "Shakespeare and the Drama" (1906), is Tolstoy's notorious attack on the Bard. At least it would have been notorious had it not been extremely silly. Worth reading, though; if only to see how goofy a reportedly great writer can become. Available online.

Waldstein: Massive collection in 6 vols. of "the plays, romances, novels, poems and histories employed by Shakespeare in the composition of his works", first published in 1844. I suppose it has been superseded by the 8 vols. of Geoffrey Bullough's Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare (1961-75), but this is hard to find and rather expensive. On the other hand, Hazlitt's "second edition, carefully revised and greatly enlarged" (1875) is easily available online. William Carew Hazlitt (1834-1913) must not be confused with the famous essayist (and his grandfather, 1778-1830).

Waldstein: Remarkably comprehensive and competently written by a small army of renowned Shakespearean scholars. Nice to have as reference in hard offline times, but not without some curious omissions (Bloom, Goddard, Asimov) or unjustly perfunctory treatments (G.B.H.). More personal reflections here.

Waldstein: The essay "Shakespeare in Music" is a wonderful overview of the subject, beautifully written by an eminent musicologist who just happened to be a great writer as well.

Waldstein: Fascinating though very technical study. Hard for the layman but worth checking out. Contains the complete text of Antony and Cleopatra as an appendix, revised by the author in accordance with his own principles which, he believes, bring us closer to what Shakespeare originally intended. Available online.

Waldstein: Mr Winchester's essay on Antony and Cleopatra has been a revelation. This collection also contains essays on The Winter's Tale and As You Like It and a fascinating discourse of "Shakespeare the Man". The writing is simple, clear, sensible and remarkably modern. Unjustly forgotten treasure. Available online.

Waldstein: Bradley's criticism of Antony and Cleopatra is pretty ridiculous. He basically accuses the play of not being full with exciting events on the stage. True, of course, but a strange accusation against a playright known for vivid characters and brilliant language, not for action-packed plots and stage effects. Apart from that, Bradley has something interesting to say, though his dimissal of the tragedy as inferior to the Big Four rests on the "authority" of the public and is therefore not credible. Contains three essays more on Shakespeare. Available online.

Waldstein: "Lear, Tolstoy, and The Fool" (1947) is a brilliant refutation of Tolstoy's goofy criticism. Note that the Penguin Modern Classics edition does contain the essay, but the Everyman's Library's does not. The piece is readily available online.

Waldstein: Concise introduction to the London stage in Shakespeare's times. Well written and well researched.

Waldstein: Charmingly irreverent and remarkably comprehensive for its size introduction to Will and his complete works, their plots and characters, their place in the canon and their performance history.

Waldstein: Worth reading mostly as an example of misguided criticism. Johnson anticipated much of modern Shakespearean scholarship, but being a rigig moralist, he was fundamentally incapable of doing justice to the Bard's plays.

Waldstein : Asinine travesty hideously written for the wrong public. Recommended as an unintentionally hilarious trash (only for plays one is intimately familiar with).

Waldstein : Worth reading, but mostly not worth re-reading. Occasional insights are obliterated by overweening Bardolatry, sweeping generalisations and flimsy argumentation.

Waldstein : Views Will's language as an end in itself. Just about the most misguided book on Shakespeare ever published.

Waldstein : Apart from Larry's refreshing irreverence (Lear: "stupid old fart", Antony: "an absolute twerp", Romeo "lets an erection rule his life", and so on), there is little to gain from his Shakespearean musings. Better see any part of his "Shakespearean Trilogy" (Henry V, 1944; Hamlet, 1948; Richard III, 1955), or any of the Shakespearean movies he "merely" starred in (Othello, 1965; The Merchant of Venice, 1973; King Lear, 1983). He gave everything to the screen (and stage). Nothing was left for the page.

Waldstein : Superficial to the point of moronity.

Waldstein : G.B.H. (1933): "the best thing ever written on this problem". I disagree. Mr Bagehot's essay is a rambling collection of irrelevant comparisons (with Scott, Milton, whomever) and pedestrian parallels between Will's works and his personality. Available online.