JOHN RUSSELL BROWN is visiting Professor of Theatre at Middlesex University, UK, and was formerly an Associate Director of the Royal National Theatre. He has published widely on Shakespeare, including Shakespeare: The Tragedies and editions of numerous plays. He has directed Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth and other tragedies, some of them several times.A.C. BRADLEY was Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford until his death in 1935.

'John Russell Brown has performed an excellent job in producing a beautifully compact, perceptive and lucid companion to Bradley's magnum opus.' - Robert Shaughnessy, Professor of Theatre, University of Kent, UK

• IntroductionPART ONE: PRACTICAL STUDY AND CRITICISMVerbal and Physical ImagerySubtextual Meanings, Tensions and SensationsAction, Narrative and PlotCharactersThe HeroContextsBradley's Scepticism and Search for a 'Tragic Vision'PART TWO: FROM SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY AND LATER LECTURESHamletOthelloKing LearMacbethAntony and CleopatraCoriolanusBiographical Notes.