Evidence: | Macaulay's marginalia in response to a note by Dr Johnson at the end of King Lear. Johnson protested against the unpleasing character of a story, "in which the wicked prosper, and the virtuous miscarry." Macaulay responds: "There is nothing like this last scene in the world. Johnson talks nonsense. Torn to pieces as Lear's heart had been, was he to live happily ever after, as the story-books say? Wonderful as the whole play is, this last passage is the triumph of Shakspeare's [sic] genius. Every character is perfectly supported." |
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Century: | 1800-1849, 1850-1899 | ||||||||||
Date: | Between 1800 and 1859 | ||||||||||
Country: | n/a | ||||||||||
Time: | n/a | ||||||||||
Place: | n/a | ||||||||||
Type of Experience (Reader): |
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Type of Experience (Listener): |
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Reader: | Thomas Babington Macaulay |
Age | Adult (18-100+) |
Gender | Male |
Date of Birth | 25 Oct 1800 |
Socio-economic group: | Professional / academic / merchant / farmer |
Occupation: | Historian and Critic |
Religion: | Church of England |
Country of origin: | England |
Country of experience: | n/a |
Listeners present if any: (e.g. family, servants,
friends, workmates) |
n/a |
Additional comments: | n/a |
Author: | William Shakespeare |
Title: | King Lear |
Genre: | Drama |
Form of Text: | Print: Book |
Publication details: | The twelve volume edition of Shakespeare of 1778 |
Provenance: | owned |
Record ID: | 791 | |
Source - | ||
Author: | Thomas Babington Macaulay | |
Editor: | George Otto Trevelyan | |
Title: | The Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay | |
Place of Publication: | Oxford | |
Date of Publication: | 1978 | |
Vol: | 2 | |
Page: | 417 | |
Additional comments: | In chapter on Macaulay's marginal notes |
Citation: | Thomas Babington Macaulay, George Otto Trevelyan (ed.), The Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay (Oxford, 1978), 2, p. 417, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/reading/recorddetails2.php?id=791, accessed: 25 April 2024 |
Reading Experience Database version 2.0. Page updated: 27th Apr 2016 3:15pm (GMT)