Samuel Johnson’s desire to produce a scholarly edition of William Shakespeare’s plays began as a response to a long tradition of editorial meddling that dogged them for much of the eighteenth century. From Nicholas Rowe in 1709 to Alexander Pope in 1726, Shakespearean editors typically saw their role as translators/adaptors rather than editors in the modern sense. To that end, they took incredible liberties with the texts, often altering and paraphrasing passages to conform to contemporary notions of theater. In 1765, after more than a decade of editorial labor, Johnson published his own version with a now-famous
Prefaceand a series of informative notes that virtually jumpstarted Shakespearean criticism. Though he refused to place Shakespeare on a pedestal, he affirmed the…
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Citation: Grasso, Joshua. "The Works of William Shakespeare". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 May 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8217, accessed 24 November 2024.]
