Northrop Frye on Shakespeare

One of the greatest literary critics of our time here provides a remarkable introduction to the genius of William Shakespeare through a study of ten of Shakespeare’s most popular plays: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Ric... Read more

One of the greatest literary critics of our time here provides a remarkable introduction to the genius of William Shakespeare through a study of ten of Shakespeare’s most popular plays: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, Henry IV, Measure for Measure, Hamlet, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest. The outgrowth of a lifetime of study and teaching, Frye’s insights will inform and delight both the expert and the first-time reader of Shakespeare.“The sensibility and wisdom informing the book make it a delight.”—S. Schoenbaum, New York Times Book Review“The most accessible and sheerly enjoyable of [Frye’s] books….The effect is that of listening to a fluent, genial conversationalist who loves Shakespeare and unabashedly celebrates him in that high aspect of criticism well called ‘appreciation.’”—Edmund Fuller, Wall Street Journal“A boon to both Shakespearean scholars and readers dipping into the Bard’s work for the first time. … Written with verve, erudition and more-than-occasional humor, this ‘summing-up’ of 50 years of scholarship will be read with pleasure, profit and gratitude by drama lovers for years to come.”—Kirkus ReviewsNorthrop Frye, professor of English, has been on the faculty of the University of Toronto for almost fifty years. He is the author of numerous books, including the seminal work Anatomy of Criticism Less