John Dover Wilson Knihy

Gathers all of Shakespeare's plays, sonnets, and poems.

Příběh o lásce a nenávisti, o mstě a odpuštění, vypráví o ztroskotancích na pustém ostrově. Žije zde ve vyhnanství vévoda Prospero s dcerou Mirandou, která za celý svůj život viděla z lidí jen svého otce a syna čarodějnice Kalibána, ošklivu, který tam žije také. Prospero magií přivolá bouři, protože se chce pomstít uchvatiteli svého milánského vévodství, což je jeho vlastní bratr Antonio, a neapolskému králi Alonsovi, který Antoniovi pomohl. S pomocí lesních duchů a víl rozežene trosečníky po ostrově, bloudí a cítí se ztraceni. Syn Alonsa Ferdinand se dostane k Mirandě, oba se zamilují. Nakonec se všichni sejdou u Prosperovi chatrče a on ze své msty upustí, usmíří se a dá svou dceru Ferdinandovi za ženu.

Dr Dover Wilson examines Falstaff's role in the two parts of Henry IV and his relationship to the Prince. Like most other Shakespearean scholars he had accepted, Bradley's portrait as shown in The Rejection of Falstaff, until (as he writes) he 'began checking it with yet another portrait - that which I found in the pages of Shakespeare himself. As the result of much recent work on the two parts of Henry IV, a new Falstaff stands before me, as fascinating as Bradley's, certainly quite as human, but different; and beside him stands a still more unexpected Prince Hal. The discovery throws all my previous ideas out of focus.' As the reviewer in the Times Literary Supplement wrote, Falstaff 'is no hero, as the romantics have tried to make him out, nor is he merely a typical and traditional stage-butt. But he is Falstaff riding for a fall; and when he takes his toss he is up again in still unconquerable effrontery and humour … The Prince as we watch him through Dr Dover Wilson's eyes growing in grace, first in chivalry and then in justice, we do more than observe the making of a hero-king. We get to know a very lovable, faulty, generous, noble-minded young man; and a character in the play whose scenes are so far from being mere padding between Falstaff's that the whole is seen as a masterpiece of construction.'

Focusing on Renaissance drama, particularly Shakespeare, John Dover Wilson was a notable scholar and professor. His academic journey included prestigious institutions like Lancing College and Cambridge, leading to his role as Regius Professor of English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. He is best remembered for his editorial work on the New Shakespeare series, which aimed to provide comprehensive editions of Shakespeare's plays, collaborating with Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch to enhance the understanding of these classic works.