Abstract
In The Influence. of the Audience on Shakespeare's Drama Robert Bridges maintains that the blinding of Gloster upon the stage in the third act of King Lear notably instances the depraving effect of the playhouse public upon Shakespeare's art. Throughout the plays there is much that must have offended Shakespeare: the abundant obscenity, for example, and the foolish verbal trifling. These were surely imposed upon him by a coarse and stupid audience to whose solicitations he was amenable, and it is likely, therefore, that other of his artistic failures have their explanation here. A stupid audience will also be obtuse, and we must suppose that what seems horrible to us, and seemed horrible to Shakespeare, was deliberately purveyed to these 'wretched beings' as a mere pleasant excitement. Gloster's agony is a 'concession' made against the dramatist's better judgment.
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