Leslie's remarks on criticism are right to the point. I would like to add
that literature must be seen as a "treatment" applied to the "ailments"
of a variety of societies, and so is more that just what it was when it
was written and addressed to the issues of the day.  In fact, one might
say that the "greatness" of a work can be measured in how well it trans-
cends the woes of any specific age and speaks to issues that trouble
us yet.  I think that is exactly the respect in which the Greek tragedians
and Shakespeare have succeeded, the questions they address are as current
now as they were when the works were first written.

Dave Gomberg