...the universality of Shakespeare's characters — 'In the writings of other poets a character is too often an individual; in those of Shakespeare it is commonly a species' — he was articulating the principle that informed Betterton's portrayal of Hamlet and Garrick's.27...

...mirrour of manners and of life. His characters ... are the genuine progeny of common humanity, such as the world will always supply, and observation will...the whole system of life is continued in motion." 'Preface to Shakespeare,' in A Johnson Reader, ELMcAdam, Jr. and George Milne, eds. (New York: Pantheon,...

...characters are not modified by the customs of particular places, unpracticed by the rest of the world His persons act and speak by the influence of those...motion. In the writings of other poets a character is too often an individual; in those of Shakespeare it is commonly a species.20 Whether a knowledge of...

...of common humanity" - and by the absence of a judgmental perspective in Johnson's appraisal of "the general passions and principles ... by which all minds...and the whole system of life is continued in motion" (Shakespeare 1, 62). It has become axiomatic that Johnson's conception of literature is ethical, for...

...transient fashions or temporary opinions: they are the genuine progeny of common humanity such as (he world will always supply, and observation will always...motion. In the writings of other poets a character is too often an individual; in those of Shakespeare it is commonly a species." It is worth emphasizing...

...of transient fashions or temporary opinions: they are the genuine progeny of common humanity, such as the world will always supply, and observation will...motion. In the writings of other poets a character is too often an individual; in those of Shakespeare it is commonly a species. (Johnson 1765, viii-ix)...

...common humanity, such as the world will always supply and observation will always find'; they exemplify 'those general passions and principles by which all...the whole system of life is continued in motion'. And all this is so because the poet correctly 'overlooks the casual distinction of country and condition,...

...nature is reinforced by the pleasure of self-recognition. As Johnson goes on to say, Shakespeare's 'persons act and speak by the influence of those general...agitated, and the whole system of life is continued in motion'.50 In this respect the plays are timeless and placeless, not merely Elizabethan and English,...

...influence of thoie general paííions and principles by which all minds are agitated, and the whole fyftem of life is continued in motion. In the writings of other poets a character is too often an individual ; in thoie of Shakefpeare it is commonly a ipecies. It is from this wide exteniion...

...of transient fashions or temporary opinions: they are the genuine progeny of common humanity, such as the world will always supply, and observation will...motion. In the writings of other poets a character is too often an individual; in those of Shakespeare it is commonly a species. It is from this wide extension...