In this edition of Shakespeare an attempt is made to present the greater plays of the dramatist in their literary aspect,
and not merely as material for the study of philology or gramMar. Criticism purely verbal and textual has only been
included to such an extent as may serve to help the student in the appreciation of the essential poetry. Questions of date
and literary history have been fully dealt with in the Introductions, but the larger space has been devoted to the
interpre¬tative rather than the matter-of-fact order of scholar¬ship. ?sthetic judgments are never final, but the Editors
have attempted to suggest points of view from which the analysis of dramatic motive and dramatic character may be