“Mr. Raleigh has given us an essay, overflowing with life, crammed with suggestion, full of stimulating ideas and happy turns of phrase, and with no dull page from beginning to end. It is table-talk in excelsis, stamped with all the freshness and brightness of an original mind. This impromptu nature of Mr. Raleigh’s criticism brings with it, of course, the defect of its quantity.”
| + + − | Lond. Times. 6: 130. Ap. 26, ’07. 2870w. |
“We are delighted to find him penetrating to the root of the matter, which is that Shakespeare’s stage was a platform and not, like ours, a picture-frame, and that drama written to be played on a platform took a peculiar shape from that very fact. Alive to the fact, he seems to be dead, or only half alive, to its consequences. He has the key, nourishes it, and then, instead of using it, puts it in his pocket.”
| + − | Lond. Times. 6: 141. My. 8, ’07. 1700w. |
“The book is not well constructed; and throughout, the author’s strength lies rather in stimulating comment than in logical inference.”
| + − | Nation. 84: 454. My. 11, ’07. 1400w. | |
| + | N. Y. Times. 12: 256. Ap. 20, ’07. 330w. |
“Prof. Raleigh’s comprehension of this theatre and its demands lends much value to his book.”
| + − | N. Y. Times. 12: 288. My. 4, ’07. 1230w. |
“It is in his consideration of Shakespeare as a poet and as a creator of character that Professor Raleigh is seen at his best.” Brander Matthews.
| + + | No. Am. 185: 780. Ag. 2, ’07. 1090w. |