DR. JOHNSON AS A CRITIC [PREFACE TO SHAKESPEARE]: DR.

HARESHWAR ROY

By Hareshwar Roy November 19, 2017

INTRODUCTION: Dr. Johnson is one of the greatest critics. As a literary critic he was an exponent of
classicism. He condemned everything that did not conform to classical doctrines. He is almost always
penetrating and stimulating. His 'Preface to Shakespeare' is considered as one of the noblest
monuments of English neo-classical criticism. His judgment of Shakespeare marks the date in the history
of criticism.

FIDELITY TO FACTS OF NATURE: 'The Preface to Shakespeare' deals with Johnson's judgment of
Shakespeare as a dramatist. According to Johnson, the basic requirement of literary greatness is fidelity
to facts of nature. This is clearly the neo-classical theory of art as imitation. Johnson praises Shakespeare
for meeting this requirement fully and most satisfactorily. According to him, Shakespeare is, par
excellence, the poet of nature. He holds up to his readers a faithful mirror of manners and of life. His
characters have a universal appeal. They act and speak like human beings. They are commonly a species.

SHAKESPEARE'S REALISM: Johnson has praised Shakespeare's realism. He says that his depiction of the
truth of human nature and human psychology is praiseworthy. He portrayed human characters in a
realistic manner. His plays are full of practical axioms and domestic wisdom. He does not depict love as
the major human motive and emotion. He knew that love is only one of many passions. It has no great
influence upon the totality of life. Thus it has little operation in the drama of Shakespeare. Johnson
discusses the realistic quality of Shakespeare's dialogues too.
MINGLING OF TRAGIC AND COMIC ELEMENT: ‘In Preface to Shakespeare’ Dr. Johnson defends
Shakespeare for his mingling of the tragic and comic elements in his plays on the grounds of realism and
historical background. According to him such mingling only serves to show us the world in which the loss
of one man is the gain of another. In other words, Shakespeare was equally at home in writing tragic and
comic plays. He could combine comic and tragic elements in one and the same play. Almost all his plays
are divided between serious and ludicrous characters and they sometimes produce sorrow and
sometimes laughter.

THREE UNITIES: Shakespeare has been charged for his neglect of the unitities of time and place. But
Johnson defends him in this matter. According to him this neglect is not really a fault. He 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 essential to a good play.

FAULTS OF SHAKESPEARE: In his "Preface" Johnson defends Shakespeare in many matters, but he does
not consider him to be a faultless dramatist. According to him, Shakespeare tries more to please his
audience than to instruct them. It seems that he writes without any moral purpose. His plots are often
very loosely formed and carelessly pursued. His comic scenes are seldom very successful. In such scenes
the jests are generally indecent. Johnson does not take a favourable view of Shakespeare's tragic plays.
He accuses him of employing a disproportionate pomp of diction. He condemns Shakespeare for
inappropriate use of idle conceit and his over-fondness for quibbles.

CONCLUSION: Thus, Johnson is a great critic. His "Preface" is called as a balanced estimate. Here
Johnson shows his penetrating power that probes to the very core of Shakespeare's art. It reveals its
deep humanity and its sovereign realism. His praise of Shakespeare as the dramatist of realism par
excellence is wholly justified and convincing. //////Preface to Shakespeare by Samuel Johnson: An
Overview

Johnson's Preface to Shakespeare published in 1765 is a comment on the argument over the ancients
and moderns. Johnson forwards his criticism with moral consideration and prescribes imitation which is
closer to truth, reality and to the right. Imitation has to be of general nature rather than particular. The
business of a poet is to examine not the individual but the species. Johnson restrains the "wild strain of
imagination", but his moral concerns are principally important.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

The essay deals with the qualities that Shakespeare possesses. Johnson praises Shakespeare and finds
his position above all the modern writers: the greatness of his reputation has stood the test of time; his
highest praise is that he holds up to his readers a faithful mirror of manners and of life;” (321) his
characters, unlike “the phantoms which other writers raise up before him” (322) are real men and
women. That he mingled tragedy and comedy together is not account against him, for he “exhibits the
real state of sublunary nature, which partakes of good and evil, joy and sorrow…” (322).

In terms of characterization Johnson defends Shakespeare stating that characters in his plays are faithful
representation of humanity. They are universal, as well as individual. His characters are not exaggerated.
They have the common feelings and virtues of humanity. Iago, Hamlet, Desdemona, Macbeth etc. are
the true human types found in all times in all places.

Shakespeare has been much criticized for mixing comic and tragic elements. But Johnson defends him in
the following ways: he is true to nature. In real life also, there is the intermingle of good and evil, joy and
sorrow, tears and smiles and so in mixing tragedy and comedy, Shakespeare holds a mirror to nature. In
tragi-comedy, there is the combination of pleasure and instruction; serious and the gay. It can satisfy a
great variety of tastes as all pleasure consists in variety.

Johnson defends Shakespeare on the ground of unities. According to him, Shakespeare has well
maintained the unity of action. His plots have a beginning, middle and an end. One event is logically
connected with other, and the plot makes gradual advances towards denouement. Since the spectators
show no concern to time by looking at the clock or calendar there is no regard for the unities of time
and place. Therefore there is no absurdity in showing different actions at different places. The unity of
time also has no validity. A drama imitates successive actions and just as they may be represented at
successive places. So they may be represented at different periods separated by the range of several
years.

However, Shakespeare does not escape from the criticism. Johnson goes on listing Shakespeare’s faults-
“faults sufficient of obscure and overwhelm any other merit” (324). No single system of morality can be
detected in his plays; the plots are loose; he is thoroughly full of anachronisms; his jests are gross;
language tedious and tumultuous; he never cares for realism and regards pun as the true dramatic
qualities; he falls into pathos////////////rowseNotessearch

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HOMEWORK HELP > PREFACE TO SHAKESPEARE

Dr. Johnson is a biased critic of Shakespeare. Do you agree?Please give reference from Johnson's Preface
to Shakespeare.

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Expert Answers

GPANE eNotes educator| CERTIFIED EDUCATOR

Johnson is biased in the sense that he generally favours the neo-classical standards of criticism of his
day, that is to say, standards deriving from the ideas of ancient classical writers. This leads him to
express disapproval of certain features of Shakespeare's plays - features which are nowadays regarded
as being some of Shakespeare's greatest strengths. Johnson recognises the power of the plays in
presenting an intense and truthful view of human nature and is true to his classical values in praising
Shakespeare for dealing in universal truths, but also castigates him for a lack of morality in his plays. For
instance, in the tragedies, virtue is not seen to be rewarded. Johnson's neo-classical ideals led him to
believe that the main purpose of art is to morally instruct whereas he sees Shakespeare as being
primarily an entertainer. Johnson also criticises Shakespeare for not observing the dramatic unities of
time, place and action as proposed by the influential Ancient Greek critic Aristotle and frowns upon
Shakespeare's excessive punning and wordplay. Such things do not trouble the majority of critics today.

However, overall, Johnson does recognize and praise the great power of Shakespeare's work and his
Preface to Shakespeare did much to bring Shakespeare's plays to the forefront of critical attention -
where, of course, they remain today