Comedy ages poorly in every medium and for every author, and Shakespeare’s reputation is not really built on his comedies. I think it would be fairer to examine Hamlet (as overrated as I find it), or Romeo and Juliet (or my personal favourite, The Tempest). I think people really do treat the comedies differently, and in many cases go to see them explicitly because they’re by Shakespeare rather than on their merits. We already know about the effects that will lead people to praise a bad book by a good author.
That said, my intuition is there’s an important truth under your argument. There’s a real rich-get-richer effect in terms of literary popularity; critics have a lot of incentives to hold particular opinions, and an author who is seen as good in one age will influence other works, which is then rather circularly taken as evidence as their quality. I think the mechanics of culture have a tendency to amplify small differences between good and great, and the pedestal Shakespeare is placed on is a particularly tall one. But I suspect he was, even objectively in his time, better than those around him—just not by as much as we treat him as.
I suddenly realized, “This… is a bad play.” Up until that moment, I had somehow believed that it was one of my favorite plays without actually liking almost anything in it.
Sounds like an interesting experience. Did you enjoy going to see it? I have a friend who counts Manos: The Hands of Fate among his favourite movies, not because it’s a good movie per se but because he enjoys watching it. If you didn’t enjoy it, why did you think it was a favourite? Were you signalling? (Asking for information, not trying to trap you)
And what do you do if you still feel that you like Shakespeare? If you logically conclude that you’ve been deceived into over-valuing his work, do you will yourself by force of intellect to stop liking it so much?
I think the key consideration in answering this is: rationalists should win.
Hmmm. Comedy is sometimes overstuffed with contemporary references which lose their appeal and meaning with time, but this seems like a bit too sweeping of a generalization here. I actually like Shakespeare’s comedies, for the most part, and find plenty to laugh at in the comedies of Aristophanes, which are obviously far more dated yet. Conversely, it certainly isn’t the case that all drama ages well. I wonder if it’s more that comedy consistently gets less respect; perhaps old comedy is not as well regarded as old drama for the same reason new comedy is generally regarded as less substantial than new drama.
Comedy ages poorly in every medium and for every author, and Shakespeare’s reputation is not really built on his comedies. I think it would be fairer to examine Hamlet (as overrated as I find it), or Romeo and Juliet (or my personal favourite, The Tempest). I think people really do treat the comedies differently, and in many cases go to see them explicitly because they’re by Shakespeare rather than on their merits. We already know about the effects that will lead people to praise a bad book by a good author.
That said, my intuition is there’s an important truth under your argument. There’s a real rich-get-richer effect in terms of literary popularity; critics have a lot of incentives to hold particular opinions, and an author who is seen as good in one age will influence other works, which is then rather circularly taken as evidence as their quality. I think the mechanics of culture have a tendency to amplify small differences between good and great, and the pedestal Shakespeare is placed on is a particularly tall one. But I suspect he was, even objectively in his time, better than those around him—just not by as much as we treat him as.
Sounds like an interesting experience. Did you enjoy going to see it? I have a friend who counts Manos: The Hands of Fate among his favourite movies, not because it’s a good movie per se but because he enjoys watching it. If you didn’t enjoy it, why did you think it was a favourite? Were you signalling? (Asking for information, not trying to trap you)
I think the key consideration in answering this is: rationalists should win.
Hmmm. Comedy is sometimes overstuffed with contemporary references which lose their appeal and meaning with time, but this seems like a bit too sweeping of a generalization here. I actually like Shakespeare’s comedies, for the most part, and find plenty to laugh at in the comedies of Aristophanes, which are obviously far more dated yet. Conversely, it certainly isn’t the case that all drama ages well. I wonder if it’s more that comedy consistently gets less respect; perhaps old comedy is not as well regarded as old drama for the same reason new comedy is generally regarded as less substantial than new drama.
Romeo and Juilet is a comedy, at least until the part where bodies start piling up...