The Tragedy of King Richard II

The Tragedy of King Richard II Synopsis

Excerpt from The Tragedy of King Richard II: Edited by C. H. Herford

To the above account of the general design of the series, it may be well to add a word upon the special aims of the present edition of Rickard the Second. While endeavouring to give prominence throughout to the strictly literary qualities of the play, the Editor has sought to take cognizance of all branches of Shakespearian scholarship which fall within the purview of an English History. Many of these are, indeed, as yet too backward to be adequately utilized. The historical study of Elizabethan style and syntax, for instance, is, in spite of some excellent beginnings, quite immature; that of Eliza! Bethan prosody has to be treated with a far stricter regard to historical phonetics than has yet been done. An educational book would in no case be a proper place for the full investiga tion of these matters. Yet it is hoped that, here and there, some hints have been thrown out which the student may be tempted to develop and expand. Throughout, indeed, the Editor has aimed less at supplying a complete apparatus of needful information, than a collection of starting-points, - of 'openings' in the eternal chess-game of Shakespearian study, which may call the student's own instincts and judgment into play.

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