A Third Summer Reading Book Report

A summer reading book report about Essays On Shakespeare, Edited by Gerald W. Chapman.   I read a book of six essays published in 1965.  One author, Robert Heilman, was professor for a class I took at the University of Washington in 1971.  His essay was about the many ideas the public brings to Shakespeare, including our approach like religion, with special hymnals, religious places, and festivals.  One essay was about the elevated language of Shakespeare, and one about his nomenclature – the importance of naming places, people, animals.  Three essays in the book treated plays – Love’s Labors Lost, Hamlet, and King Lear.  The author of the Lear essay argued for this play as the best Shakespeare for the world after World War Two because of the confusion and violent suffering.  The essays developed the topic of Shakespeare with a lot of thought.