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NAME :- PRONASMITA SARKAR

CLASS ROLL NO :- 6

REGISTRATION NO:- 0191705011170

PAPER :-104
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ENUMERATE THE FAULTS OF SHAKESPEARE AS EXPLICATED BY Dr. JOHNSON

IN HIS ''PREFACE''

INTRODUCTION:-

''Shakespeare with his excellences has likewise faults, and

faults sufficient to obscure and overwhelm any other merit''

-Johnson, "Preface to Shakespeare"

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), a flamboyant and versatile scholar, expresses his view of

Shakespeare in his edition of Shakespeare's plays which are enriched by his prefaces. But like

other critics, he doesn't eulogize the poet; on the contrary, he represents a totally wholesome

commentary upon Shakespeare, in which he has been shown as a true genius, but that genius

is not emancipated from faults. Johnson shows a very balanced and unbiased mind capable of

judging the merits and demerits of his plays without being influenced by the hallow effect. In

''Preface to Shakespeare'', Johnson admires Shakespeare as :-

''the poet of nature, not of learning; the creator of characters who spring to life;

and a writer whose works express the full range of human passions''

In his Preface, Johnson first considers the excellences of Shakespeare and then turns to his

defects. His judgement of Shakespeare has both positive and negative aspects and he does not

indulge in ''bardolatry'' like other critics. He believes that dead writers are unnecessarily

glorified and the living ones are neglected. He rightly says :-

''Shakespeare is above all writers, at least above all modern writers, the poet of nature,

the poet that holds up to his reader a faithful mirror of manners and of life''

but also disparages the uncritical acceptance of Shakespeare as perfect; he points out his

faults as well, without undermining his genius.

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The first defect of Shakespeare of according to Dr. Johnson is that :-

1.Virtue Sacrifice to convenience :-

''He sacrifices virtue to convenience and is so much more careful to please than to instruct

that he seems to write without any moral purpose''

Moreover he lacks poetic justice - ''he makes no good distribution of good or evil''. He carries

his characters indifferently through right or wrong, and at the end dismisses them without

further attention, leaving their examples to operate by chance. This fault is serious because of

the fact that it is always a writer's duty to make the world morally better.

2.Carelessness about plot development:-

According to Johnson, Shakespeare's plots are ''loosely formed'' and ''carelessly pursued'': -

'' He omits opportunities of instructing and delighting which the train of his story seems to

force upon him, and apparently rejects those exhibitions which would be affecting, for the

sake of those which are more easy''

The plots are so loosely knit and carelessly developed; in a majority of the cases, just a little

more attention would have been enough to improve them.

3.Anachorism:-

Thirdly, fault in Shakespeare's plays is anachorism - his violation of chronology or his

indifference to historical accuracy. Shakespeare shows no regard to distinction of time or

place. He attributes to a certain nation or a certain period of history, the customs, practices

and opinions of another. Thus, we find Hector quoting Aristotle in ''Troilus and Cressida'' and

the love of Thesus and Hipolyta combined with the Gothic mythology of fairies in ''A

Midsummer Night's Dream''. There are no clear cut distinctions between history and tragedy

in the plays of Shakespeare.

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4.Fondness for quibbles:-

Shakespeare's another fault in the eyes of Johnson is his over fondness for quibbles and craze

for puns. Whatever be the occasion of the dialogue, whether the situation is amusing or tense,

Shakespeare seizes the opportunity of employing a pun -

''A quibble was to him the fatal Cleopatra for which he lost the world, and was content to lose

it''

5.Declamations or set speeches:-

Next, Shakespeare's declamations or set speeches are commonly dispiriting, and feeble, for

his power was the power of nature; when he endeavoured, like other tragic writers to catch

opportunities of amplification, and instead of inquiring what the occasion demanded, to show

how much his stories of knowledge could supply, he seldom escapes without the pity and

resentment of his reader.

6.Losing intensity to feebleness:-

Shakespeare's another fault is, what he does best, he soon ceases to do. He no sooner begins

to arouse the reader's sympathy than he counteracts himself. He cuts short his own highest

excellence in arousing tragic feelings by the spectacular of the fall of a great man, or the

misfortune of an innocent character, or a disappointment in love. The result is that the intense

feelings aroused by him suddenly lose their intensity and become feeble.

7.Narration:-

In Shakespeare's narration according to Dr. Johnson -

''He affects disproportionate train of circumlocution, and tells the incident imperfectly in

many words, which might have been more plainly delivered in few''
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Narration in dramatic poetry is naturally tedious, as it is unanimated and inactive, and

obstructs the progress of the action; it should therefore always be rapid, and enlivened by

frequent interruption. Shakespeare found it an encumbrance, and instead of lightening it by

brevity, endeavoured to recommend it by dignity and splendour.

8.Performance in tragedies worse when more labour is spent:-

Johnson also reprehends Shakespeare's style and expression. According to him, there are

many passages in the tragedies over which Shakespeare seems to have laboured hard, only to

ruin his own performance. The effusions of passion which exigence forces out are for the

most part striking and energetic; but whenever he solicits his inventions, or strains his

faculties, the offspring of his throes is tumour, meanness, tediousness and obscurity.

9.Dialogue in comedy:-

Another objection raised by Dr. Johnson is with regard to ''reciprocations of smartness and

contents of sarcasm'' which are frequently seen in Shakespeare's comedies. Johnson asserts

that the jests in which the comic characters indulge are often coarse and licentious. Since a

majority of the characters are guilty of this, distinction between refined characters and low

characters is lost.

''In his comic scenes he is seldom very successful, when he engages his characters in

reciprocations of smartness and contents of sarcasm; theirs jests are commonly licentious;

neither his gentleman nor his ladies have much delicacy nor are sufficiently distinguished

from his clowns by any appearance of refined manners''

Shakespeare has often been charged for his neglect of the unities of time and place, his

violation of those laws, which have been instituted and established by the joint authority of
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poets and critics. But Johnson defends Shakespeare in this matter. He believes that

Shakespeare, apart from histories maintains the unity of action and follows the Aristotelian

rules. His plots have a beginning, middle and an end and the plot moves slowly but surely

towards an end that meets the expectations of the reader. Johnson says that the critics insist

on the observation of the unities of time and place, as they believe it contributes to dramatic

credibility. They hold that the audience would find it difficult to believe in an action spread

over many months and years when the actual play lasts only for three hours. In addition, since

the audience is seated in the same place for the duration of the play, their belief would be

strained if one action takes place in Alexandria and the other in Rome. To refute this

arguments Johnson argues that if an audience in a theatre can accept the stage as a locality in

the city of Rome, they will also accept the change from Rome to Alexandria. The unity of

time may likewise be violated on the same principle. He concludes this discussion by saying

that the unities of time and place are not of much use.
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WORKS CITED

1.Johnson, Samuel, "Preface to Shakespeare'', Outlook GmbH, Deutschland, 2018.

2.Mustafa, Obaidul, Shah, ''Demerits of Shakespeare according to Dr. Samuel Johnson'', 2014

3.''Dr. Johnson's Criticism of Shakespeare'', StudyMoose, 2016

4.Islam, Naibul, ''Preface to Shakespeare",