35 important comments by critics on William Shakespeare, which will be helpful for the UP TGT exam:

 35 important comments by critics on William Shakespeare, which will be helpful for the UP TGT exam:

1-5: Early Critics (16th-17th Century)

1. Ben Jonson – "He was not of an age, but for all time!"

2. Francis Meres (1598) – "Shakespeare among the English is the most excellent in both comedy and tragedy."

3. John Dryden – "Shakespeare was the man who of all modern, and perhaps ancient poets, had the largest and most comprehensive soul."

4. Alexander Pope – "Shakespeare is the poet of nature, able to depict human passions more vividly than any other."

5. Samuel Pepys (1662, on ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’) – "It is the most insipid, ridiculous play that I ever saw."

6-10: 18th Century Critics

6. Dr. Samuel Johnson – "Shakespeare holds up to his readers a faithful mirror of manners and life."

7. Nicholas Rowe – "Shakespeare excelled in the boldness of his imagination and originality of expression."

8. Joseph Addison – "Shakespeare was a great genius, but he wrote without method or plan."

9. Edward Young – "He had the power to see into the very heart of human nature."

10. Voltaire (critical view) – "Shakespeare’s genius is powerful, but his works lack refinement."

11-15: 19th Century Romantic and Victorian Critics

11. Samuel Taylor Coleridge – "The characters of Shakespeare are not mere creations of fancy but real human beings."

12. William Hazlitt – "Shakespeare was the greatest genius of all time; his plays embody the universal truths of humanity."

13. Charles Lamb – "No writer has ever understood human emotions as deeply as Shakespeare."

14. Victor Hugo – "Shakespeare is the greatest poet that ever lived, a universe in himself."

15. Matthew Arnold – "Shakespeare remains the summit of literature, towering over all others."

16-20: 20th Century Critics

16. T.S. Eliot – "Dante and Shakespeare divide the world between them. There is no third."

17. G. Wilson Knight – "Shakespeare’s plays are more than literature; they are a philosophy of life."

18. A.C. Bradley – "Shakespearean tragedy shows the ruin of something great and beautiful."

19. L.C. Knights – "Shakespeare does not moralize; he dramatizes human experience."

20. E.M.W. Tillyard – "Shakespeare reflects the Elizabethan world order in his plays."

21-25: Modern and Postmodern Critics

21. Harold Bloom – "Shakespeare invented the human as we know it."

22. Stephen Greenblatt – "Shakespeare is the most remarkable storyteller in history, shaping cultural narratives even today."

23. Frank Kermode – "Shakespeare speaks to each age in a voice that is uniquely its own."

24. Jonathan Bate – "Shakespeare’s plays continue to redefine literature and drama across cultures."

25. Stanley Wells – "Shakespeare’s works are endlessly interpretable, which is why they endure."

26-30: Shakespeare’s Universality

26. Goethe – "Shakespeare’s world is so vast that he understands all people, past, present, and future."

27. Hegel – "Shakespeare’s drama represents the complete dialectic of human freedom and fate."

28. Jorge Luis Borges – "All literature, in some way, returns to Shakespeare."

29. Isaiah Berlin – "Shakespeare embodies the paradoxes of human nature like no other writer."

30. F.R. Leavis – "Shakespeare’s characters have a life beyond the text."

31-35: Critiques and Dissenting Opinions

31. George Bernard Shaw – "Shakespeare is a great writer, but he is vastly overrated."

32. Leo Tolstoy – "Shakespeare’s plays lack depth; they do not provide real moral lessons."

33. Virginia Woolf – "If Shakespeare had a sister with his talent, she would never have been allowed to write."

34. Terry Eagleton – "Shakespeare’s plays are products of ideology, reinforcing power structures."

35. Sigmund Freud – "Shakespeare understood the unconscious mind long before modern psychology."

These critical opinions cover Shakespeare’s literary genius, influence, and some critiques, making them valuable references for exams and literary discussions.