'He's dead but he won't lie down!' Posthumous characterisation: the symbiosis of ghost and man, of spirit and flesh

In the case of some Shakespearian characters (e.g.Richard II and Julius Caesar) their postmortal presence influences our reading of their characters when they were alive. The past being is morally nourished by his postmortality. Of course, Shakespeare himself is magnified by his postmortal reputation

Shakespeare: assassin?

Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar' is historically linked to the assassination of President Lincoln and thereby to the Oklahoma bombing. 'The Merchant of Venice' was popular with the Nazis. If we praise Shakespeare for the good effects of his works, logically we should also condemn Shakespeare for the bad effects of his works. You can't have one without the other

The Titanic series: Reflections on Cambridge University Press’s edition of the literary works of Joseph Conrad

Cambridge University Press’s vast project to produce authoritative new editions of the literary works of Joseph Conrad is now well advanced; but the project is flawed. I maintain that this is the Titanic of editions: big, costly, important, and disastrous. I specify “the literary works”, because I am not concerned with the admirable volumes of Conrad’s letters. The industrious Cambridge editors have done excellent work in correcting longstanding errors and in bringing to light much textual material which was previously lost. The edition is therefore indispensable. The editors have, however, deleted much house styling and correction: “successive layers of non-authorial intervention affecting wording and ‘accidentals’ – punctuation, spelling and word-division”. The result of the Cambridge editorial procedures is a Conradian prose which is often impoverished and is sometimes even ungrammatical and uncouth. In removing much punctuation, the editors have often removed logical clarity and rhetorical effectiveness. In this essay, therefore, I use a sequence of comparisons to demonstrate the presence of a pattern of flaws. The sequences are taken from Notes on Life and Letters, ’Twixt Land and Sea / Tales, Last Essays, Lord Jim, and The Nigger of the “Narcissus”. I compare extracts from the Cambridge texts with extracts taken from other editions

Joseph Conrad and ‘literary impressionism’: a term best avoided?

In this essay, I propose that, although the term ‘literary impressionism’ has clear historical credentials, it is best avoided in future analyses of Joseph Conrad’s work

'Where Gone?' and other poems, fictions and memories

This volume gathers poems, recollections and fictional items written by Cedric Watts between 1966 and 2018. Some have been published, some not

NOSTROMO IN T.P.’S WEEKLY

NOSTROMO IN T.P.’S WEEKL

Final exam: a novel [by 'Peter Green', pseudonym of Cedric Watts]

The novel deals with the careers of three undergraduates who take final examinations in English at Cambridge University in 196

The two Hals

There are two Prince Hals in Shakepeare's 'Henry IV' plays: the one we see, and the one we hear about; and they differ greatly

Fantastic finds of Ann and Ron

Six tales in verse for youngster