ABSTRACT

Originally published in 1921 this volume consists of the first of Croce’s literary criticisms to be published in English and as well as a section on Shakespeare, it contains unique essays on Ariosto and Corneille which together inaugurated a new era in literary criticism. The essays are based on Croce’s Theory of Aesthetic - a theory which to many is the only one that completely explains the problem of poetry and the fine arts - and as a result are profound and suggestive.

part I|114 pages

Ludovico Ariosto

chapter I|15 pages

A Critical Problem 1

chapter III|14 pages

The Highest Love: Harmony

chapter IV|21 pages

The Material for the Harmony

chapter V|26 pages

The Realisation of Harmony

chapter VI|22 pages

Historical Disassociations

part II|220 pages

William Shakespeare

chapter VIII|25 pages

Shakespearean Sentiment

chapter X|26 pages

The Art of Shakespeare

chapter XI|28 pages

Shakespearean Criticism

chapter XII|9 pages

Shakespeare and Ourselves

part III|96 pages

Pierre Corneille

chapter XIII|25 pages

Criticism of the Criticism

chapter XIV|28 pages

The Ideal of Corneille

chapter XV|18 pages

The Mechanism of the Cornelian Tragedy

chapter XVI|23 pages

The Poetry of Corneille