The personality of Shakespeare

the long version

First of all, as the title indicates, I am concerned with exploring a method. This method derives from the theory of personality projection. It is quantitative in part, but its operation depends, as everything in science does, upon a human observer and assessor. With regard to the personality of Shakespeare, I should like to make it plain that I have not attempted to be comprehensive and final. I do not see how we can be comprehensive and final with regard to any personality. Here, in studying Shakespeare, I have been deliberately fragmentary, limiting myself to a mere handful of questions. In particular, I have not tried to analyze the plays as artistic wholes in their entire complexity, but have only traced out a few general characteristics and a few patterns, which I have called "themes," occurring in more than one play. My analysis has focused on the dramatis personae and their interrelations. - Preface.