bittiness

1931, E. M. Forster, “The Creator as Critic,” V., in Jeffrey M. Heath (ed.), The Creator as Critic And Other Writings by E.M. Forster, Toronto: Dundurn Press, p. 94, D[ryden]’s lit[erary] patriotism [is] genuine, but he made good use of it to cover up the “bittiness” of his own plays. He could always point to the “bittiness” of Shakespeare and does not realize that though Shakespeare wrote tragi-comedies and indulged in double plots, he nevertheless attained an unity of his own, an unity that is missed in e.g. The Spanish Fryar.