Scholarly Shakespearean character study rejected (7)
I believe the answer is:
learned
'scholarly' is the definition.
('learned' can be similar in meaning to 'scholarly')
'shakespearean character study rejected' is the wordplay.
'shakespearean character' becomes 'lear'.
'study' becomes 'den' (I've seen this before).
'rejected' says the letters should be written backwards.
'den' written backwards gives 'ned'.
'lear'+'ned'='LEARNED'
(Other definitions for learned that I've seen before include "Studied" , "Well educated and knowledgeable" , "a word defining friend from Chambers?" , "Knowledgeable - scholarly" , "widely read" .)