Abstract
This book takes off from three claims: (1) in Shakespeare studies at the present time, the level of conviction required to sustain a healthy critical practice is problematically if not dangerously low; (2) the qualities which the Romantics valued in an engagement with Shakespeare are either ignored these days or fundamentally misunderstood; and (3) there is a causal relation between the first two points. The Romantics invented Shakespeare studies (a bald assertion to which I shall return in a moment), and current Shakespeareans, having grown increasingly remote from their origins, have not been able to develop an adequate alternative foundation on which to build their work.
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© 2011 Edward Pechter
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Pechter, E. (2011). Introduction. In: Shakespeare Studies Today. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230119369_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230119369_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-29581-4
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-11936-9
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature CollectionLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)