Download or read book Johnson's and Lessing's Dramatic Critical Theories and Practice with a Consideration of Lessing's Affinities with Johnson written by Emma Hawari and published by Peter Lang Group Ag, International Academic Publishers. This book was released on 1991 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lessing displays a remarkable familiarity with the English literary scene and shows himself especially aware of Samuel Johnson's literary output and his dramatic critical achievement in neo-classical England. The study traces and examines affinities of Lessing's ideas with those of Johnson and a certain impact of Johnson on Lessing's ideas in the field of dramatic critical theory and practice. The investigation centres on Johnson's Rambler, his Dictionary, and his edition of The Plays of William Shakespeare and on Lessing's Laokoon and the Hamburgische Dramaturgie. Plays studied are Irene, Miss Sara Sampson, Emilia Galotti and Minna von Barnhelm.