A.C. Bradley

A.C. Bradley (1851–1935) was an English literary scholar whose Shakespearean Tragedy became one of the most influential works of Shakespeare criticism ever written. His close readings of Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth shaped how generations understood the great tragedies' characters and plots.

Bradley spent his academic career first at Glasgow and then as Professor of Poetry at Oxford. His detailed character criticism has been challenged by later schools, yet his 1904 masterwork remains the indispensable starting point for anyone studying the four major tragedies.