The hottest Shakespeare Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Who's afraid of A.C. Bradley?

The Common Reader • 673 implied HN points • 13 Mar 24
📚 Literature Criticism Shakespeare Character Psychoanalysis Realism
  1. Discussions on Shakespeare's characters often avoid delving into them as people, and those who do, like A.C. Bradley, are sometimes considered out of touch.
  2. Bradley's approach to literary criticism, focusing on the humanity of characters, has faced criticism and mockery over the years.
  3. The tension between traditional literary analysis, like Bradley's, and modern theories, such as Marxist political analysis, continues within academia.

Knights and Hawkes: inside Shakespeare's dream

The Common Reader • 779 implied HN points • 07 Mar 24
📚 Literature Analysis Criticism Shakespeare Characters Interpretation
  1. Shakespeare's characters were not meant to be seen as real people but rather as symbols representing larger themes and ideas in his plays.
  2. The historical context of drama before Shakespeare involved using archetypes to make moral points, which influenced how Shakespeare's characters were perceived by the contemporary audience.
  3. While some critics argued that only what is explicitly stated in the text matters, it is also important to consider the depth and complexity of characters beyond what is directly mentioned.

Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be

The Common Reader • 531 implied HN points • 21 Feb 24
📚 Literature Analysis Shakespeare Symbolism Interpretation
  1. Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet heavily utilizes the motif of light and dark, with light symbolizing various aspects like love, hope, and the passage of time.
  2. Light imagery in Romeo and Juliet is not always positive, as it also signifies challenges and obstacles faced by the lovers.
  3. Paid subscribers can access deeper analysis, such as understanding the tragic foreshadowing in Juliet's speeches and the profound line 'Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be'.

Love's Labour's Lost book club

The Common Reader • 248 implied HN points • 01 Mar 24
📚 Literature Shakespeare Book Club
  1. The Love's Labour's Lost book club is meeting on Sunday at 7 p.m. UK time to discuss the play.
  2. Participants are encouraged to compare Love's Labour's Lost with Romeo and Juliet, discuss if it's Shakespeare's worst play, and explore elements that are developed in later plays.
  3. Interested individuals can access the full post archives with a 7-day free trial of The Common Reader.
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Twenty-five ideas about Love's Labour's Lost

The Common Reader • 248 implied HN points • 28 Feb 24
📚 Literature Shakespeare Language Comparison Influence
  1. Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost explores themes of war, death, wit, festivity, Arcadia, lyricism, and satire, offering a darker ending that symbolizes the passing of old generations.
  2. The play remains relevant today as it touches on issues like the delay of marriage and children, and the struggle between speaking about creating a better world versus actually doing it.
  3. Love's Labour's Lost engages with the debate on language by contrasting post-modernist views with the idea of fixed meanings, tied to a concrete reality, which is portrayed through the characters' speech patterns.