Shakespearean Tragedy

A. C. Bradley
Shakespearean Tragedy

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Title: Shakespearean Tragedy Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear,
Macbeth
Author: A. C. Bradley
Release Date: October 30, 2005 [EBook #16966]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
LONDON·BOMBAY·CALCUTTA·MADRAS·MELBOURNE

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK·BOSTON·CHICAGO·DALLAS·SAN FRANCISCO
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.
TORONTO

SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY
LECTURES ON
HAMLET, OTHELLO, KING LEAR
MACBETH
BY
A.C. BRADLEY
LL.D. LITT.D., FORMERLY PROFESSOR OF POETRY IN THE
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
SECOND EDITION (_THIRTEENTH IMPRESSION_)
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN'S STREET,
LONDON
1919
_COPYRIGHT._
First Edition 1904.
Second Edition March 1905.
Reprinted August 1905, 1906, 1908, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1914, 1915,
1916, 1918, 1919.

GLASGOW: PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY
ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO. LTD.
TO MY STUDENTS

PREFACE
These lectures are based on a selection from materials used in teaching
at Liverpool, Glasgow, and Oxford; and I have for the most part
preserved the lecture form. The point of view taken in them is
explained in the Introduction. I should, of course, wish them to be read
in their order, and a knowledge of the first two is assumed in the
remainder; but readers who may prefer to enter at once on the
discussion of the several plays can do so by beginning at page 89.
Any one who writes on Shakespeare must owe much to his
predecessors. Where I was conscious of a particular obligation, I have
acknowledged it; but most of my reading of Shakespearean criticism
was done many years ago, and I can only hope that I have not often
reproduced as my own what belongs to another.
Many of the Notes will be of interest only to scholars, who may find, I
hope, something new in them.
I have quoted, as a rule, from the Globe edition, and have referred
always to its numeration of acts, scenes, and lines.
_November, 1904._
* * * * *
NOTE TO SECOND AND SUBSEQUENT IMPRESSIONS
In these impressions I have confined myself to making some formal
improvements, correcting indubitable mistakes, and indicating here and
there my desire to modify or develop at some future time statements
which seem to me doubtful or open to misunderstanding. The changes,

where it seemed desirable, are shown by the inclusion of sentences in
square brackets.

CONTENTS
PAGE INTRODUCTION 1
LECTURE I.
THE SUBSTANCE OF SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY 5
LECTURE II.
CONSTRUCTION IN SHAKESPEARE'S TRAGEDIES 40
LECTURE III.
SHAKESPEARE'S TRAGIC PERIOD--HAMLET 79
LECTURE IV.
HAMLET 129
LECTURE V.
OTHELLO 175
LECTURE VI.
OTHELLO 207
LECTURE VII.
KING LEAR 243
LECTURE VIII.
KING LEAR 280

LECTURE IX.
MACBETH 331
LECTURE X.
MACBETH 366
NOTE A. Events before the opening of the action in Hamlet 401
NOTE B. Where was Hamlet at the time of his father's death? 403
NOTE C. Hamlet's age 407
NOTE D. 'My tables--meet it is I set it down' 409
NOTE E. The Ghost in the cellarage 412
NOTE F. The Player's speech in Hamlet 413
NOTE G. Hamlet's apology to Laertes 420
NOTE H. The exchange of rapiers 422
NOTE I. The duration of the action in Othello 423
NOTE J. The 'additions' in the Folio text of Othello. The Pontic sea 429
NOTE K. Othello's courtship 432
NOTE L. Othello in the Temptation scene 434
NOTE M. Questions as to Othello, IV. i. 435
NOTE N. Two passages in the last scene of Othello 437
NOTE O. Othello on Desdemona's last words 438
NOTE P. Did Emilia suspect Iago? 439

NOTE Q. Iago's suspicion regarding Cassio and Emilia 441
NOTE R. Reminiscences of Othello in King Lear 441
NOTE S. King Lear and Timon of Athens 443
NOTE T. Did Shakespeare shorten _King Lear_? 445
NOTE U. Movements of the _dramatis personæ_ in King Lear, II 448
NOTE V. Suspected interpolations in King Lear 450
NOTE W. The staging of the scene of Lear's reunion with Cordelia 453
NOTE X. The Battle in King Lear 456
NOTE Y. Some difficult passages in King Lear 458
NOTE Z. Suspected interpolations in Macbeth 466
NOTE AA. Has Macbeth been abridged? 467
NOTE BB. The date of Macbeth. Metrical Tests 470
NOTE CC. When was the murder of Duncan first plotted? 480
NOTE DD. Did Lady Macbeth really faint? 484
NOTE EE. Duration of the action in Macbeth. Macbeth's age. 'He has
no children' 486
NOTE FF. The Ghost
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