The Singularity of Shakespeare

From Ralph Waldo Emerson to Harold Bloom, writers and literary critics from throughout Atlantic history analyze and pay tribute to the Bard.

Ralph Waldo Emerson on Shakespeare (September 1904)
An Atlantic founder recalls to "the most robust and potent thinker that ever was." By Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Case for Oxford (October 1991)
Were the works of Shakespeare actually written by the Earl of Oxford? By Tom Bethell

The Case for Shakespeare (October 1991)
A counter-argument. By Irvin Matus

The Ghost's Vocabulary (October 1991)
How a computer listens for Shakespeare's "voiceprint." By Edward Dolnick

Sonnet 116: An Essay (October 1999)
An exposition of Shakespeare's "marriage of true minds" sonnet, with links to audible poetry readings. By Linda Gregerson

Ranting Against Cant (July 2003)
Harold Bloom, a staunch defender of the Western literary tradition, returns to Shakespeare, "the true multicultural author." By Jennie Rothenberg Gritz

Would Shakespeare Get Into Swarthmore? (March 2004)
How several well-known writers (and the Unabomber) would fare on the new SAT. By John Katzman, Andy Lutz, and Eric Olson

Shakespeare in Love, or Context (December 2004)
If society creates art, as Stephen Greenblatt believes, then why was Shakespeare's achievement so singular? By Cristina Nehring

Shakespeare Unleashed (December 2006)
Ron Rosenbaum, author of The Shakespeare Wars, on releasing the "infinite energies" within Shakespeare's words. By Jennie Rothenberg Gritz