On the Tragedies of Shakespeare E-book
Author: Charles Lamb
Genre: Literature
Lamb, Charles (1775-1834) English essayist and critic well-known for the
humorous and informal tone of his writing. His life was marked by tragedy
and frustration; his sister Mary, whom he took lifelong care of, killed
their parents in a fit of madness, and he himself spent time in a madhouse.
On the Tragedies of Shakespeare, Considered with Reference to their
Fitness for Stage Representation (1811).
First published in 1811 in The Reflector, Lamb takes issue with one
of Shakespeare's most famous soliloquies and states, "I confess
myself utterly unable to appreciate that celebrated soliloquy in
Hamlet, beginning 'To be or not to be', or to tell whether it be
good, bad, or indifferent; it has been so handled and pawed about
by declamatory boys and men, and torn so inhumanly from its living
place and principle of continuity in the play, till it is become to
me a perfect dead member."
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