Dr. Johnson is one of the greatest
critics. As a literary critic he was an exponent of classicism. He is almost
always penetrating and stimulating. His 'Preface to Shakespeare' is considered
as one of the noblest monuments of English neo-classical criticism. His
judgment of Shakespeare marks the date in the history of criticism.
'The Preface to
Shakespeare' deals with Johnson's judgment of Shakespeare as a dramatist.
According to Johnson, the basic requirement of literary greatness is fidelity
to facts of nature. According to him, Shakespeare is, par excellence, the poet
of nature. He holds up to his readers a faithful mirror of manners and of life.
His characters have a universal appeal. They act and speak like human beings.
They are commonly a species.
Dr. Johnson defends Shakespeare for his
mingling of the tragic and comic elements in his plays on the grounds of
realism and historical background. According to him such mingling only serves
to show us the world in which the loss of one man is the gain of another.
‘In
Preface to Shakespeare’ Dr. Johnson defends Shakespeare for his mingling of the
tragic and comic elements in his plays on the grounds of realism and historical
background. According to him such mingling only serves to show us the world in
which the loss of one man is the gain of another.
In
his "Preface" Johnson defends Shakespeare in many matters, but he
does not consider him to be a faultless dramatist. According to him,
Shakespeare tries more to please his audience than to instruct them. It seems
that he writes without any moral purpose.
Thus,
Johnson is a great critic. His "Preface" is called as a balanced
estimate. Here Johnson shows his penetrating power that probes to the very core
of Shakespeare's art. His praise of Shakespeare as the dramatist of realism par
excellence is wholly justified and convincing.
0 comments:
Post a Comment