Samuel Johnson wrote the preface to Shakespeare's plays in which he analyzed Shakespeare's style and characters. Johnson acknowledged Shakespeare's genius but also discussed three main faults: immoral plots, disregarding time and place unities, and loose plots. Johnson argued that critics should judge works based on their merits rather than following outdated conventions. He believed Shakespeare followed the unity of action but intentionally disregarded the unities of time and place, which was acceptable for history plays depicting events over long periods. Overall, Johnson provided a balanced analysis of Shakespeare's strengths and weaknesses through a classic critical lens.