Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies
1765
Samuel Johnson stands as one of the defining critical intelligences in English letters, and his annotations on Shakespeare constitute a landmark in literary scholarship. This third volume focuses exclusively on the tragedies, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, and others, offering Johnson's meticulous readings, textual notes, and interpretive commentary. Johnson brings his characteristic blend of moral seriousness and aesthetic discernment to Shakespeare's darkest plays, questioning, illuminating, and sometimes disputing the Bard's choices while always acknowledging genius. The volume reveals Johnson's personal emotional stakes, he was deeply moved by scenes like the Ghost in Hamlet and Cordelia's death in King Lear, while maintaining rigorous analytical perspective. For anyone seeking to understand not just Shakespeare but how sophisticated minds have wrestled with his work across centuries, Johnson's notes remain essential. They offer a window into the critical conversation that continues to shape how we read these plays today.
