Note: You will also find scholarship on concepts, historical periods, and other related ideas in these multidisciplinary databases.
The Explicator offers brief close readings of texts. While it turns up with a search of peer-reviewed journals, articles are accessible and can provide a good model of textual analysis. You can search directly within the literary criticism journal, The Explicator.
A close reading of a passage from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet:
"Throughout the balcony scene, Juliet endeavors to train and discipline Romeo and turn him into a 'manned' falcon the way Petruchio, the falconer in The Taming of the Shrew, trains and disciplines Katherine, his figurative bird. As the relationship between the falcon and her trainer is based on the domination and the subjugation of the falcon's powers to the trainer's will, Juliet shows strong tendency for power as she continually speaks of herself as a 'falconer' and of Romeo as her 'bird'.
'Juliet: [to romeo after midnight] ... I would have thee gone,
And yet no farther than a woman's bird,
That lets it hop a little from her hand,
Like a poor prisoner in hist tristed gyves,
And with a silk thread plucks it back again,
So loving jealuos of his liberty. (2.2.176-81)'"
Source citation:
Mansour, Wisam. "The Taming of Romeo in Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet." The Explicator, vol. 66, no. 4, 2008, pp. 206-208. ProQuest.
Image Source: "Romeo at Juliet's balcony." by Unknown Author is in the Public Domain
Use multiple keywords to find criticism of Hamlet or another play. Add Shakespeare to omit other articles with Hamlet as a keyword.
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Use the database below to search for articles on your topic. This is a great database to find different types of articles, including a mix of popular and scholarly criticism. Be sure to assess each source.
Use the search tips below to learn how to better navigate this database and the often complex search for literary criticism.
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The series I call "The BROWN BOOKS" is a set of books that collects reviews, criticism, interviews, and other information solely addressing Shakespeare's work. Currently, there are 140 volumes in the set, and they can be found in the library's reference collection.
In the back of each volume there are three indexes (all cumulative, so use the indexes in the latest volume if possible):
The early volumes of the series focus on historical criticism of Shakespeare's works.
The middle years focus on stage and film versions of Shakespeare's works.
The second half of the collection (approximately) compiles key literary criticism of Shakespeare's work. Many of the articles are excerpted from longer critical essays. Use article finder to see if we have the entire article in a library database.
The series is a great place to get an overview of the critical issues addressed by Shakespeare critics.
Use the links below to access and compare two texts, one an introductory essay and the other, scholarly.
Compare and contrast what you see. How do they differ?
Be sure to extend your search beyond our collection if you are not finding what you want.
Literary criticism is analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of authors and their works of literature, which can include novels, short stories, essays, plays and poetry.
Such critical analysis is often written by literary critics and is found in essays, articles and books.
Literary "criticism" is not necessarily negative; "criticism" means a thoughtful critique of an author's work or an author's style in order to better understand the meaning, symbolism or influences of a particular piece or a body of literature.
Some criticism, such as book reviews, is often written for the general public. Scholarly criticism is more in depth and sustained, and is written for an academic audience.