really old Shakespeare criticism
Because this sort of thing is always fun.
From an old complete works, which does not have a date on it, annoyingly, but from the appearance of the book I would guess was probably published between 1860 and 1900:
No man of sound sense ever writes unintelligibly, and no true poet ever makes inharmonious verses. Shakespeare was both; and yet in his plays we meet with passages which are devoid of meaning, and lines without any poetic melody. The natural inference then is, that these defects are due not to him, but to transcribers and printers, and it becomes the duty of the critic to endeavour to discover and bring back the real words of the poet.
This one is from a 1926 complete works and is less funny but is kind of eye-opening:
The present edition of Shakespeare's Works has been prepared in the belief that world events of the past ten years have rendered almost imperative a revaluation of his plays. Ideas which have long lain buried under established institutions and accepted beliefs have suddenly been shocked into the open, with the result that we are now facing the facts of life with a frankness unknown to Christendom since the days of the Elizabethans. Indeed, it would not be surprising to find that with the violent changes in men's thoughts following the World War, a large part of the Shakespearean criticism of the past has become obsolete.
From an old complete works, which does not have a date on it, annoyingly, but from the appearance of the book I would guess was probably published between 1860 and 1900:
No man of sound sense ever writes unintelligibly, and no true poet ever makes inharmonious verses. Shakespeare was both; and yet in his plays we meet with passages which are devoid of meaning, and lines without any poetic melody. The natural inference then is, that these defects are due not to him, but to transcribers and printers, and it becomes the duty of the critic to endeavour to discover and bring back the real words of the poet.
This one is from a 1926 complete works and is less funny but is kind of eye-opening:
The present edition of Shakespeare's Works has been prepared in the belief that world events of the past ten years have rendered almost imperative a revaluation of his plays. Ideas which have long lain buried under established institutions and accepted beliefs have suddenly been shocked into the open, with the result that we are now facing the facts of life with a frankness unknown to Christendom since the days of the Elizabethans. Indeed, it would not be surprising to find that with the violent changes in men's thoughts following the World War, a large part of the Shakespearean criticism of the past has become obsolete.