Returning to Shakespeare addresses two broad areas of Shakespeare criticism: the unity of form and meaning, and the history of the plays' reception. Originally published in 1989, the collection represents the best of Brian Vickers' work from the previous fifteen years, in a revised and expanded form.

Acknowledgements. Returning to Shakespeare: An Autobiographical Preface. Part 1: Forms and Meanings 1. Rites of Passage in Shakespeare's Prose 2. 'Mutual Render': I and Thou in the Sonnets 3. Shakespeare's Hypocrites 4. Coriolanus and the Demons of Politics Part 2: Shakespeare and His Critics 5. The Emergence of Character Criticism, 1774-1800 6. Shakespearean Adaptations: The Tyranny of the Audience 7. Shakespeare. 'A National Asset' 8. Tribute to a Scholar-Critic. Index.