Shakespeare: A Lecture

Ingersoll, Robert Green, 1833-1899Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.4

Word count: 78K words
Chapters: 8

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. Shakespeare: A Lecture by Robert Green Ingersoll. Author: Ingersoll, Robert Green, 1833-1899. Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Nov 22, 2011

Editor's review

This is a public lecture on Shakespeare by Ingersoll, not a scholarly treatise. Its value lies not in offering new material for Shakespeare's biography or close textual reading, but in showing how a famous nineteenth-century American orator introduced Shakespeare to ordinary audiences in plain, impassioned language. The prose carries a distinct oratorical rhythm and rhetorical coloring; its argument rests largely on admiration for Shakespearean genius and affirmation of literature's edifying role, giving a sense of the public atmosphere of Shakespeare reading at the time. It is short, written in nineteenth-century English with rather elaborate sentence structure, and serves as a small window into English oratorical style and the reception history of Shakespeare in the English-speaking world. Readers should not expect systematic argument; it is better read as a tribute bearing the warmth of its era, and may be compared with passages from Shakespeare's plays to see how the speaker's colloquial expression stirs audience interest.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Shakespeare's reception history and nineteenth-century English oratory
English learners who want to approach English oratorical style in a short, accessible text
Teachers needing a short text for classroom extensive reading or discussion

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking biographical research on Shakespeare or systematic analysis of his works
Beginners needing a modern Chinese translation or a heavily annotated edition
Researchers preferring rigorous scholarly argument and documentary citation

Reading tips

Read through once to feel the oratorical rhythm, then mark recurring praise and rhetorical devices.
Read alongside one or two passages from Shakespeare's plays to see how the speaker's colloquial language stirs audience interest.
With nineteenth-century long sentences, do not parse word by word; grasp the paragraph's main idea first, then return to details.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this lecture an academic paper?

No. It is a public lecture Ingersoll delivered to an audience, mainly praise and accessible introduction, lacking systematic argument and citation; it is better read as material on oratorical style and reception history.

How difficult is the English, and what background is needed?

The original is nineteenth-century English with long sentences and much rhetorical elaboration, though the vocabulary is not very difficult. A college-level reading ability in English suffices to read it through; with long sentences, grasp the main structure first, then look at modifiers.

What can this lecture teach about Shakespeare?

Mainly how nineteenth-century American audiences understood and admired Shakespeare, and how the speaker discussed his genius and literary value in plain language—not specific biographical facts or textual scholarship.

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About the author

Ingersoll, Robert Green, 1833-1899 Author

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) was a prominent nineteenth-century American orator and writer, known for his eloquence and his critique of religious orthodoxy. This site holds thirty-two of his works, including lecture collections and collected writings, commonly classified under inspirational growth. Representative titles include Walt Whitman: An Address, the multi-volume Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, and Hell: Warm Words on the Cheerful and Comforting Doctrine of Eternal Damnation. His prose is direct and incisive, using parallel structure and satire to address reason, free thought, and moral questions before ordinary audiences. His speeches were widely influential in his day and remain important sources for studying the American freethought tradition. Because public information is limited, biographical details are omitted; readers may sense his argumentative style and intellectual concerns through these works.