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''Characters of Shakespear's Plays'' is an 1817 book of criticism of Shakespeare's plays, written by early nineteenth century English essayist and literary critic William Hazlitt. Composed in reaction to the neoclassical approach to Shakespeare's plays typified by Dr. Johnson, it was among the first English-language studies of Shakespeare's plays to follow the manner of German critic A. W. Schlegel, and, with the work of Coleridge, paved the way for the increased appreciation of Shakespeare's genius that was characteristic of later nineteenth century criticism. It was also the first book to cover all of Shakespeare's plays, intended as a guide for the general reader. Then becoming known as a theatre critic, Hazlitt had been focusing increasingly on drama as literature, contributing miscellaneous literary criticism to various journals, including the prestigious ''Edinburgh Review''. This was the first of his book-length literary studies. The plays, the thirty-five that Hazlitt considered genuine, are covered in thirty-two chapters, with new material added to passages reworked from periodical articles and reviews. A Preface establishes his main theme of the uniqueness of Shakespeare's characters and looks back at earlier Shakespearean criticism. Two concluding chapters on "Doubtful Plays of Shakespear" and the "Poems and Sonnets" round out the book. The centre of attention is in large part on the characters, described often with a personal slant and using memorable expressions ("It is ''we'' who are Hamlet"), and incorporating psychological insights that were to become highly influential in later criticism. Though at first less influential, Hazlitt's comments on the plays' dramatic structure and poetry, and on the central themes and general mood of each play, laid the groundwork for later critics' more elaborate interpretations. Frequently expressing the view that stage presentation could not do justice to Shakespeare's plays, Hazlitt nevertheless also found certain plays eminently actable, and he frequently voices admiration for the performances of certain actors, particularly Edmund Kean. At first highly acclaimed—it made an immediate and powerful impact on the poet John Keats among others—then brutally criticised, Hazlitt's book lost much of its influence in the author's lifetime, only to reenter the mainstream of Shakespearean criticism in the late nineteenth century. The first edition sold out quickly; sales of the second, in mid-1818, were at first brisk, but they ceased entirely in the wake of harshly antagonistic, personally directed, politically motivated reviews in the Tory literary magazines of the day. Although some interest continued to be shown in Hazlitt's work as an essayist, it was not until the end of the nineteenth century, long after Hazlitt's death, that significant interest was again shown in his interpretations of Shakespeare. In the twentieth century, the influential critic A.C. Bradley and a few others began to take seriously the book's interpretations of many of Shakespeare's characters. But then Hazlitt along with Bradley was censured for displaying faults of the "character" school of Shakespearean criticism, primarily that of discussing dramatic characters as though they were real people, and again Hazlitt's contributions to Shakespearean criticism were deprecated. A revival of interest in Hazlitt as a thinker began in the middle of the twentieth century. As it gained momentum, his thoughts on Shakespeare's plays as a whole, particularly the tragedies; his discussions of certain characters, such as Shylock, Falstaff, Imogen, Caliban, and Iago; and his ideas about the nature of drama and poetry in general, as expressed for example in the essay on ''Coriolanus'', gained renewed appreciation and influenced other Shakespearean criticism. Hazlitt's ideas about many of the plays have now come to be valued as thought-provoking alternatives to those of his contemporary Coleridge, and ''Characters of Shakespear's Plays'' is now viewed as a major study of Shakespeare's plays, placing Hazlitt with Schlegel and Coleridge as one of the three most notable Shakespearean critics of the Romantic period. ==Background== On 26 January 1814, Edmund Kean debuted as Shylock in Shakespeare's ''Merchant of Venice'' at London's Drury Lane theatre. William Hazlitt, drama critic for the ''Morning Chronicle'' since the previous September, was in the audience. He wrote a stunning review,〔Jones 1989, pp. 133–34.〕 followed by several others applauding (but sometimes censuring)〔Maclean 1944, p. 300.〕 Kean's performances in other Shakespearean tragedies, including ''King Richard II'', ''King Richard III'', ''Hamlet'', ''Macbeth'', ''Romeo and Juliet'', and, what Hazlitt considered the best of Kean's performances, ''Othello''.〔Wardle 1971, p. 142; Jones 1989, p. 134.〕 (These were written for the ''Morning Chronicle'', the ''Champion'', and the ''Examiner''; he was to continue as principal drama critic for the last of these for three years.)〔See ''A View of the English Stage'', in Hazlitt 1930, vol. 5, pp. 179–90, 200–24.〕 Kean was hitherto unknown in London. Hazlitt, having recently begun a career as a theatrical reviewer, was no better known than the subject of his reviews. These notices quickly brought both Kean and Hazlitt before the public eye.〔Maclean 1944, pp. 301–2; Jones 1989, pp. 133–35.〕 In the course of his preparing for a drama review, Hazlitt was in the habit of reading or rereading the play he was soon to see,〔Grayling 2000, p. 166.〕 and his reviews came to include extensive commentary on the plays themselves, turning rapidly from dramatic criticism to literary criticism.〔Maclean 1944, p. 302.〕 With Shakespeare in particular, this led to considerations of the ways in which the actors—again, particularly his favourite Kean—communicated the message of the plays. But he also noted ways in which no actor's interpretation could live up to the dramatist's conception.〔Kinnaird 1978, p. 166.〕 As his musings developed along these lines, Hazlitt continued to contribute miscellaneous articles to various periodicals.〔Wardle 1971, pp. 147–48.〕 In February 1816, he reviewed August Wilhelm Schlegel's ''Lectures on Dramatic Literature'' for the ''Edinburgh Review''. The German critic Schlegel showed an appreciation for Shakespeare of a kind that no one in Hazlitt's country had yet demonstrated, and Hazlitt, sympathising with many of Schlegel's ideas, felt there was a place for a whole book that would provide appreciative criticism of all of Shakespeare's plays. Such a book would provide liberal quotations from the text, and focus on the characters and various qualities particular to each play; and he felt that he could write it.〔Wardle 1971, p. 197.〕 His writing career was now moving in this direction (he had been contributing miscellaneous literary criticism to the ''Examiner'' and elsewhere during this period), he needed the money to support his family,〔Wu 2008, p. 184.〕 and his growing reputation as a drama critic enabled him to have his name appear on the title page (as a reviewer for periodicals, his contributions were anonymous, as was customary at the time).〔 Thus, ''Characters of Shakespear's Plays'' was born. Considerable material that he had already worked up in his drama reviews was incorporated into the book. One essay, on ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', was taken entire from a contribution to "The Round Table" series in the ''Examiner'', first published on 26 November 1815, with a concluding paragraph tacked on from a drama review, also published in the ''Examiner'', on 21 January 1816. There was material from other essays. Most of "Shakespear's Exact Discrimination of Nearly Similar Characters" (the ''Examiner'', 12 May 1816) made its way into the chapters on ''King Henry IV'', ''King Henry VI'', and ''Othello''.〔Hazlitt 1930, vol. 20, p. 407.〕 Portions of "Shakespear's Female Characters" (the ''Examiner'', 28 July 1816) found a place in the chapters on ''Cymbeline'' and ''Othello''.〔Hazlitt 1930, vol. 20, p. 408.〕 Hazlitt filled out the rest of what he needed to make a complete book in 1816 and possibly early 1817.〔It was complete by 20 April. Wardle 1971, p. 197. See also Maclean 1944, p. 352; Wu 2008, p. 184.〕 At this time, unhappy with the way his collection ''The Round Table'', issued in the same year, was being promoted by its publisher, he began to promote his new book himself, partly by word of mouth and also by getting a friend to publish the chapter on ''Hamlet'' in ''The Times'' and requesting Francis Jeffrey, editor of the ''Edinburgh Review'', to notice it in that periodical.〔Wu 2008, p. 211.〕 He had already had it printed privately (instead of offering it directly to a publisher) by his friend the printer Carew Henry Reynell, who purchased the copyright for £100. As a publicity tactic, copies were circulated privately. Finally, Hazlitt got the book published, by Rowland Hunter and the brothers Charles and James Ollier in collaboration, who brought it out on 9 July 1817.〔 It was extremely successful, this first edition selling out in six weeks. A second edition was issued by Taylor and Hessey in 1818,〔Wardle 1971, p. 224.〕 and later that year an unlicensed edition was brought out in Boston by Wells and Lilly.〔Wu 2008, p. 212.〕 No further editions appeared in Hazlitt's lifetime.〔Wardle 1971, p. 226.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Characters of Shakespear's Plays」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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