Nonfiction. Literary Criticism & History. In these essays, John O'Meara re-assesses both the tragic limitations and inherent promise of Romantic tradition in the interpretation of Shakespeare. The philosophical theory of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, is brought forward as consummating that tradition. Building on concepts which Anthroposophy supplies O'Meara proceeds to a fresh reading of Shakespeare's work. A wide range of plays is covered from Richard II to The Tempest, with special focus on Othello and King Lear. The endings of these plays, O'Meara sees as pivotal to Shakespeare's evolution into a final phase prophetic of the Romantic experience to come which Steiner fulfils.