Lapham's Quarterly

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

In 1662 diarist Samuel Pepys saw two plays by William Shakespeare performed in London.

Of Romeo and Juliet he wrote, “It is a play of itself the worst that ever I heard in my life, and the worst acted that ever I saw these people do.” A Midsummer Night’s Dream he described simply as “the most insipid, ridiculous play that I ever saw in my life.”

More miscellany from the Comedy issue:http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/miscellany/wit-whine-whimsy.php

Wit, Whine, & Whimsy

laphamsquarterly.org

Gioachino Rossini was known to possess strong opinions about other composers. “Wagner has some fine moments,” he estimated, “but some bad quarters of an hour.” After hearing Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, he remarked,