I just got scolded by the biggest name in Shakespeare studies

Drama on Facebook

“Wonderful scholarship,” one person said.

“100% you nailed it,” said another.

“I love it,” said another still.

It was the warmest response I’d yet received to a share on the Shakespeare group on Facebook. It was also the most surprising, since I wasn’t sure anyone would care about an analysis of one word from a play they might not have read recently, if at all.

Original post:

The "Love-feat" at the center of Love's Labor's Lost

But the real surprise was still to come, because yesterday afternoon I checked in again. And what name did I see?

Stanley Wells. Yes, that Stanley Wells.

Author of many books on Shakespeare.

Editor of the Oxford Complete Works.

Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

A screen-shot:

I guess he didn’t like my tone. As you can see above, he wrote,

Editors try to detect and to correct error in texts many of which
are full of manifest error. You may disagree with individual
readings but it is mean-spirited to sneer at deeply considered
efforts.

To “sneer”? I had to re-read my own piece to know what Stanley might be referring to. Must be the final sentence:

Unfortunately, some editors are a little too good at their jobs, readily going and substituting their thoughts and words for Shakespeare’s.

Is this too strong? Maybe. I can’t help but see some irony in me defending Shakespeare and the Shakespearean of Shakespeareans defending the editorial tradition.

Thoughts?