Xueqin and Xakespeare

This book offers a detailed consideration of the iconic five-volume novel written by Cao Xueqin, translated into English as The Story of the Stone, when read through William Shakespeare's drama Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, A Tragedy in five Acts.

Judith Forsyth is a Shakespeare scholar with a long and enduring interest in Chinese literary culture. The language barrier inhibited serious critical enquiry until the advent of the 'Shakespearean' English translation of The Story of the Stone by David Hawkes and John Minford opened up the potential this book explores for detailed cultural exchange between the two great writers William Shakespeare and Cao Xueqin.