ON THE PRINCIPLES OF SHAKESPEAREAN INTERPRETATION
ON THE PRINCIPLES OF SHAKESPEAREAN INTERPRETATION The following essays present an interpretation of Shakespeare’s work which may tend at first to confuse and perhaps even repel the reader: therefore I here try to clarify the points at issue. In this essay I outline what I believe to be the main hindrances to a proper understanding of Shakespeare; I also suggest the path which I think a sound interpretation should pursue. My remarks are, however, to be read as a counsel of perfection. Yet, though I cannot claim to follow them throughout in practice, this preliminary discussion, in showing what I have been at pains to do and to avoid, will serve to indicate the direction of my attempt. THE SHAKESPEAREAN METAPHYSIC Two groups must be contrasted: first, plays of the hate-theme, that is: Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida, Othello, King Lear, Timon of Athens; second, plays analysing evil in the human mind: the Brutus-theme in Julius Caesar, Hamlet, and Macbeth. The divisi