Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth

A.C. Bradley, a preeminent literary scholar of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was renowned for his incisive analyses of William Shakespeare's plays. Born in 1851, Bradley's scholarly pursuits culminated in his most celebrated work, 'Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth' (1904), which remains a seminal text in Shakespeare studies. Bradley's method of analyzing the psychological complexity of Shakespeare's characters and the overarching themes of the tragedies marked a departure from the dry, historical approaches of his predecessors. His lectures emphasized the importance of the personal and individual aspects of the characters, interpreting the plays as entities where character destiny was closely interwoven with dramatic structure. Bradley's insights into the moral framework and the existential concerns present in Shakespearean tragedy profoundly influenced subsequent generations of scholars and students. His work is characterized by eloquence, intellectual rigor, and a deep appreciation of the bard's artistic genius. Though some of Bradley's theories have been contested in modern literary discourse, his contribution to the field of Shakespearean criticism remains invaluable and continues to inspire critical thought and scholarly discourse.