Tolstoy admits that for fifty years he tried and failed to share the world’s admiration for Shakespeare. He walks scene by scene through King Lear to argue that the plots are absurd, the speech unnatural and the morality empty. Ernest Crosby adds an essay on Shakespeare’s contempt for working people, and Bernard Shaw contributes a letter.
A provocation from one giant to another, essential for anyone who loves, or doubts, Shakespeare. Download the free EPUB.