William Shakespeare is one of the most well-known English poets and playwrights of the seventeenth century. Most people have heard of William Shakespeare and are familiar with at least one of his works. To this day, his influence is still seen in the themes of many popular movies and stories. The works of Shakespeare are commonly taught in the English classroom; however, was he truly as talented as everyone says?
Students are taught from a young age that Shakespeare is the best British author, and his works far surpass those of any other poet. Is this true? According to Wikipedia, Shakespeare is “widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist.” However, in the work of Samuel Johnson entitled The Preface to Shakespeare, many of Shakespeare’s writing flaws are addressed.
Johnson writes, “He (Shakespeare) sacrifices virtue to convenience, and is so much more careful to please than to instruct that he seems to write without any moral purpose” (Johnson 2940). He continues to argue that Shakespeare does not provide justice for his characters who are good while not punishing those characters who are innately bad. Johnson mentions he leaves the fate of his characters “up to chance” (Johnson 2940). At the end of this paragraph, Johnson informs the reader that it was Shakespeare’s duty to add to the good of the world. By not providing appropriate justice, or lack thereof, Shakespeare is cheating his readers.
Johnson mentions another failure of Shakespeare regarding the plots of his plays. Johnson describes, “the plots are often so loosely formed that a very slight consideration may improve them, and so carelessly pursue that he seems not always fully to comprehend his own designs” (Johnson 2490). By saying this, Johnson means Shakespeare did not take the time to carefully plan his works prior to performing them. It is inferred that Johnson means Shakespeare did not carefully think out his plays and simply wrote down the first thoughts which came to his mind.
The harshest criticism of William Shakespeare comes in the next paragraph. Here Johnson states, “It may be observed that in many of his plays the latter part is evidently neglected. When he found himself near the end of his works, and in view of his reward, he shortened the labor to snatch the profit” (Johnson 2490). Here, Johnson accuses Shakespeare of not caring enough about his pieces to spend a sufficient amount of time on the conclusions. Johnson says Shakespeare is more focused on the monetary gain his plays provide rather than providing his audiences with a good story.
Personally, I love the work of Shakespeare. I find his plays fascinating and always enjoy reading them in class. However, I do question whether Shakespeare truly is the greatest playwright. After reading the work of Samuel Johnson, I question this even more. Are Shakespeare’s works as amazing as everyone says, or are they overhyped purely because of the name William Shakespeare?