Voltaire's criticisms, which are the more
noteworthy because Voltaire began with an extravagant admiration for
Shakespeare, and got more and more bitter against him as he grew older
and less disposed to accept artistic merit as a cover for philosophic
deficiencies.

Finally, I, for one, shall value Tolstoy's criticism all the more
because it is criticism of a foreigner who can not possibly be enchanted
by the mere word-music which makes Shakespeare so irresistible in
England.[5] In Tolstoy's estimation, Shakespeare must fall or stand as a
thinker, in which capacity I do not think he will stand a moment's
examination from so tremendously keen a critic and religious realist.
Unfortunately, the English worship their great artists quite
indiscriminately and abjectly; so that is quite impossible to make them
understand that Shakespeare's extraordinary literary power, his fun, his
mimicry, and the endearing qualities that earned him the title of "the
gentle Shakespeare"--all of which, whatever Tolstoy may say, are quite
unquestionable facts--do not stand or fall with his absurd reputation as
a thinker. Tolstoy will certainly treat that side of his reputation with
the severity it deserves; and you will find that the English press will
instantly announce that Tolstoy considers his own works greater than
Shakespeare's (which in some respects they most certainly are, by the
way), and that he has attempted to stigmatize our greatest poet as a
liar, a thief, a forger, a murderer, an incendiary, a drunkard, a
libertine, a fool, a madman, a coward, a vagabond, and even a man of
questionable gentility. You must not be surprised or indignant at this:
it is what is called "dramatic criticism" in England and America. Only a
few of the best of our journalist-critics will say anything worth
reading on the subject.

Yours faithfully,
G. BERNARD SHAW.

FOOTNOTES:

[4] Besides the prefaces here referred to, Mr. G. Bernard Shaw has at
various times written other articles on the subject.--(V. T.)

[5] It should be borne in mind that this letter was written before Mr.
G. B. Shaw had seen the essay in question, by Tolstoy, now published in
this volume.--(V. T.)

"No one will peruse a page without laying down the book a
better and a wiser man."--_Dundee Courier._

Tolstoy's Essays and Letters

By LEO TOLSTOY

Translated by AYLMER MAUDE

This work contains twenty-six essays