14 MAY 1948, Page 16

SIR,—Allow me to say in reply to Mr. Fleming that

Bradley did not sponsor the " good boy " view of Hamlet. His theory of Shakespearian tragedy was that the defects, mental or moral, of the hero unfitted him from coping with problems presented to him, and so led to tragedy. This is quite consistent with Hamlet's having nobility and beauty in his character. The " good boy" theory of Hamlet can be found in Hazlitt, who died when Victorianism was unknown, and who speaks of Hamlet's moral perfection. (Bradley would not have said this.) If Mr. Fleming's paraphrase of Mr. de Madariaga's book is correct, the latter has given us a complete villain, and had Hamlet been that, we would not be interested in his fate or in the play.—I am, &c., THEODORE D. LowE.

Caldwell Road, West Kilbride.