William Shakespeare is an 1864 work by Victor Hugo, written in his 13th year of exile. The title is misleading; the true subject of the work is the writers that Hugo considered "the greatest geniuses of all time."

Background

When Hugo began writing it he intended for it to be an introduction to a collection of French translations of Shakespeare's plays written by his son, François-Victor Hugo. However it grew to be approximately 300 pages in length and Hugo had to write a separate introduction to the plays.

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References

  • Hugo, Victor William Shakespeare Paris, Librairie internationale, 1864 at Internet Archive (idem)
  • Hugo, Victor William Shakespeare translated by Melville B. Anderson. Chicago, A.C. McClurg, 1887 at Internet Archive
  • Victor Hugo Concerning Shakespeare and Everything – Westralian Worker, 20 December 1918
  • The Minds and the Masses (translation)
  • William Shakespeare (partial translation)