On the Tragedies of Shakespeare
by Charles Lamb
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1811
- Form
- Essay
- Language
- English
- Length
- Short · 30 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Harvard Classics, Volume 27: English Essays from Sir Philip Sidney to MacaulayP. F. Collier and Son, 1910The essay in the collection that puts it on the lists; free online, and also in any selection of Lamb.
These links go straight to Amazon and Bookshop.org and earn this site nothing today. Prices are the same either way. How this works.
An essay first published in Leigh Hunt's Reflector, arguing that Shakespeare's great tragedies are better read than seen. Lamb contends that acting reduces Hamlet's inward thought to gesture, that Lear's storm and madness cannot be represented without becoming painful or absurd, and that stage Richards and Iagos make villainy attractive. The essay speaks for the Romantic view of Shakespeare as a poet of the mind, and was long quoted against the theatre.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns On the Tragedies of Shakespeare are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
