Friedrich Theodor Vischer’s Shakespeare Criticism

What is it about?

Vischer's positivist approach, compared with Bradley and others. Following German national unification in 1871 Vischer is seen as a 'sculptural imperialist' who claimed Shakespeare as a 'Germanic' genius. The article concentrates on Hamlet and Vischer deserves credit for having provided an interpretation which liberates Shakespeare criticism from the constraints of domestic tragedy and its bourgeois morality. Hamlet is seen as a figure caught in a net of adverse circumstances.

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