The Two Shakespeares
Arthur Clutton-Brock complained that idealising Shakespeare had made him dull.
1916
King George V 1910-1936
Arthur Clutton-Brock complained that idealising Shakespeare had made him dull.
1916
King George V 1910-1936
Arthur Clutton-Brock was, for many years, art critic for the Times, and knew something of the artistic temperament. On the tercentenary of the death of William Shakespeare (1564-1616), he deplored the way that Shakespeare had been turned into a National Institution.
Artists have their peculiar vanities, and one of them is a desire to be liked for what they have done best. The real Shakespeare must have known quite well that, like other human beings, he did not always do his best; but this institutional Shakespeare always did his best, and therefore he is not a human being and so not an artist. He is praised indiscriminately for passages of which the real Shakespeare must have been a little ashamed, if he ever remembered them, and of which he would certainly not care to be reminded; and the effect of this praise is to make him seem almost a dull writer. But the real Shakespeare, unlike some of the greatest poets, was at great pains not to be dull; he was an entertainer who succeeded because he was himself much entertained with life; he could be amused even by bores, and so he could make them amusing. But the bores have had their posthumous revenge upon him; they have almost persuaded us that he is too great and good to be amusing, and they have made a practice of quoting in speeches and books those passages from him which are least amusing, which, divorced from their context, seem almost dull.
From Essays on Books (1920) by Arthur Clutton-Brock (1868-1924).
1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
According to Clutton-Brock, how have the ‘bores’ taken revenge on Shakespeare for making fun of them?
By quoting him until he sounded dull.
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Artists do work of varying quality. No artist denies it. Shakespeare was an artist.
See if you can include one or more of these words in your answer.
IAcknowledge. IIGood. IIIException.