Shakespeare's Influence | Shakespeare's Reputation-Then Till Now
About Shakespeare's reputation during his own time many misleading and even false statements have been popularly accepted because made by reputable critics and scholars. In the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries the admiration for the dramatist was so fervent that critics were certain that his genius must have dominated his own time, and they have looked for evidence to prove that it was. One famous scholar said in 1916:
In his own day Shakespeare was one of the bestknown figures in England. He was held in high esteem, both as a man and as a poet, while in his capacity...
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