First published in 1961.

Critiquing the critics, and examining the vocabulary of twentieth century criticism of the Shakespearean tragedies, John Holloway's book covers Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Timon of Athens and the themes of Shakespearean Tragedy and the idea of human sacrifice and the concepts of myth and ritual in literature.