diff options
Diffstat (limited to '22281.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 22281.txt | 10831 |
1 files changed, 10831 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/22281.txt b/22281.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f7ee922 --- /dev/null +++ b/22281.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10831 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Facts About Shakespeare, by +William Allan Nielson and Ashley Horace Thorndike + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Facts About Shakespeare + +Author: William Allan Nielson + Ashley Horace Thorndike + +Release Date: August 8, 2007 [EBook #22281] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FACTS ABOUT SHAKESPEARE *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Stephen Blundell and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: The Shakespeare Monument in the Parish Church, +Stratford-on-Avon.] + + + + + THE FACTS ABOUT + SHAKESPEARE + + + BY + + WILLIAM ALLAN NEILSON, PH.D. +PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY + + AND + + ASHLEY HORACE THORNDIKE, PH.D., L.H.D. +PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY + + + [Illustration] + + + New York + THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + 1927 + + _All rights reserved_ + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1913, +BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. + +Set up and electrotyped. Published November, 1913. Reprinted April, +1914; July, 1915; May, November, 1916; January, 1918; February, +September, 1920; September, 1921; March, 1922; February, December, 1923; +October, 1924; June, 1926; January, December, 1927. + + + +PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY +THE BERWICK & SMITH CO. + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + Unique page headings have been retained, marked as [Page Heading:], + and positioned at the first available paragraph break of the page or + the preceding page. + + Many spelling inconsistencies exist due to the historical period of + the quoted sources. These, in addition to the original punctuation, + have been retained. + + Obvious typesetting errors have been corrected and noted in the + Transcriber's Endnotes at the end of the text. + + Some index entries have been re-sequenced to allow for clarity of + sub-entries. These changes are recorded in the Transcriber's + Endnotes along with a copy of the original text. + + The following non-standard characters have been represented as + follows: + + [oe] oe ligature + [OE] OE ligature + [~e] tilde over e. A contraction of en. + + + + +Contents + + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I. SHAKESPEARE'S ENGLAND AND LONDON 1 + + II. BIOGRAPHICAL FACTS AND TRADITIONS 17 + + III. SHAKESPEARE'S READING 50 + + IV. CHRONOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT 67 + + V. THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 89 + + VI. THE ELIZABETHAN THEATER 117 + + VII. THE TEXT OF SHAKESPEARE 131 + +VIII. QUESTIONS OF AUTHENTICITY 156 + + IX. SHAKESPEARE SINCE 1616 167 + + X. CONCLUSION 188 + +APPENDIX A. BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTS AND AUTHORITIES 203 + +APPENDIX B. INDEX OF THE CHARACTERS IN SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS 226 + +APPENDIX C. INDEX OF THE SONGS 241 + +APPENDIX D. BIBLIOGRAPHY 243 + +INDEX 265 + + + + +THE FACTS ABOUT SHAKESPEARE + + + + +The Facts about Shakespeare + +[Illustration] + +CHAPTER I + +SHAKESPEARE'S ENGLAND AND LONDON + + +Shakespeare lived in a period of change. In religion, politics, +literature, and commerce, in the habits of daily living, in the world of +ideas, his lifetime witnessed continual change and movement. When +Elizabeth came to the throne, six years before he was born, England was +still largely Catholic, as it had been for nine centuries; when she died +England was Protestant, and by the date of Shakespeare's death it was +well on the way to becoming Puritan. The Protestant Reformation had +worked nearly its full course of revolution in ideas, habits, and +beliefs. The authority of the church had been replaced by that of the +Bible, of the English Bible, superbly translated by Shakespeare's +contemporaries. Within his lifetime, again, England had attained a +national unity and an international importance heretofore unknown. The +Spanish Armada had been defeated, the kingdoms of England and Scotland +united, and the first colony established in America. Even more +revolutionary had been the assertion of national greatness in literature +and thought. The Italian Renaissance, following the rediscovery of Greek +and Roman literature, had extended its influence to England early in the +century, but only after the accession of Elizabeth did it bring full +harvest. The names that crowd the next fifty years represent fine native +endowments, boundless aspiration, and also novelty,--as Spenser in +poetry, Bacon in philosophy, Hooker in theology. In commerce as well as +in letters there was this same activity and innovation. It was a time of +commercial prosperity, of increase in comfort and luxury, of the growth +of a powerful commercial class, of large fortunes and large +benefactions. Whatever your status, your birth, trade, profession, +residence, religion, education, or property, in the year 1564 you had a +better chance to change these than any of your ancestors had; and there +was more chance than there had ever been that your son would improve his +inheritance. The individual man had long been boxed up in guild, church, +or the feudal system; now the covers were opened, and the new +opportunity bred daring, initiative, and ambition. The exploits of the +Elizabethan sea rovers still stir us with the thrill of adventure; but +adventure and vicissitude were hardly less the share of merchant, +priest, poet, or politician. The individual has had no such opportunity +for fame in England before or since. The nineteenth century, which saw +the industrial revolution, the triumphs of steam and electricity, and +the discoveries of natural science, is the only period that equalled the +Elizabethan in the rapidity of its changes in ideas and in the +conditions of living; and even that era of change offered relatively +fewer new impulses to individual greatness than the fifty years of +Shakespeare's life. + +[Page Heading: Tudor England] + +Shakespeare's England was an agricultural country of four or five +million inhabitants. It fed itself, except when poor harvests compelled +the importation of grain, and it supplemented agriculture by grazing, +fishing, and commerce, chiefly with the Netherlands, but growing in many +directions. The forests were becoming thin, but the houses were still of +timber; the roads were poor, the large towns mostly seaports. The +dialects spoken were various, but the speech of the midland counties had +become established in London, at the universities, and in printed books, +and was rapidly increasing its dominance. The monasteries and religious +orders were gone, but feudalism still held sway, and the people were +divided into classes,--the various ranks of the nobility, the gentry, +the yeomen, the burgesses, and the common people. But changes from one +class to another were numerous; for many lords were losing their +inheritances by extravagance, while many business men were putting their +profits into land. In spite of persecutions, occasional insurrections, +and the plague which devastated the unsanitary towns, it was a time of +peace and prosperity. The coinage was reformed, roads were improved, +taxes were not burdensome, and life in the country was more comfortable +and secure than it had been. Books and education were spreading. +Numerous grammar schools taught Latin, the universities made provision +for poor students, and there were now many careers besides that of the +church open to the educated man. + +Stratford, then a village of some two thousand inhabitants, somewhat off +the main route of traffic, was far more removed from the world than most +towns of similar size in this day of railways, newspapers, and the +telegraph. With the nearby country, it made up an independent community +that attended to its own affairs with great thoroughness. The +corporation, itself the outgrowth of a medieval religious guild, +regulated the affairs of every one with little regard for personal +liberty. It was especially severe on rebellious servants, idle +apprentices, shrewish women, the pigs that ran loose in the streets, and +(after 1605) persons guilty of profanity. Regular church attendance and +fixed hours of work were required. The corporation frequently punished +with fines (the poet's father on one occasion) those who did not clean +the street before their houses; and it was much occupied in regulating +the ale-houses, of which the village possessed some thirty. Like all +towns of this period, Stratford suffered frequently from fire and the +plague. Trade was dependent mainly on the weekly markets and semi-annual +fairs, and Stratford was by no means isolated, being not far from the +great market town of Coventry, near Kenilworth and Warwick, and only +eighty miles from London. + +[Page Heading: Sports and Plays] + +Shakespeare's England was merry England. At least, it was probably as +near to deserving that adjective as at any time before or since. There +was plenty of time for amusement. There were public bowling-greens and +archery butts in Stratford, though the corporation was very strict in +regard to the hours when these could be used. Every one enjoyed hunting, +hawking, cock-fighting, bull-baiting, dancing, until the Puritans found +such enjoyments immoral. The youthful Shakespeare acquired an intimate +knowledge of dogs and horses, hunting and falconry, though this was a +gentleman's sport. The highways were full of ballad singers, beggars, +acrobats, and wandering players. Play-acting of one kind or another had +long been common over most of rural England. Miracle plays were given at +Coventry up to 1580, and bands of professional actors came to Stratford +frequently, and on their first recorded appearance received their +permission to act from the bailiff, John Shakespeare (1568-1569). There +was many a Holofernes or Bottom to marshal his pupils or +fellow-mechanics for an amateur performance; and Shakespeare may have +seen the most famous of the royal entertainments, that at Kenilworth in +1575, when Gascoigne recited poetry, and Leicester, impersonating Deep +Desire, addressed Elizabeth from a bush, and a minstrel represented +Arion on a dolphin's back. The tradition may be right which declares +that it was the trumpets of the comedians that summoned Shakespeare to +London. + +In the main, life in the country was not so very different from what it +is now in the remoter places. Many a secluded English village, as +recently as fifty years ago, jogged on much as in the sixteenth century. +Opportunity then as now dwelt mostly in the cities, but the city of the +sixteenth century bore slight resemblance to a city of to-day. + +London, with less than 200,000 inhabitants, was still a medieval city in +appearance, surrounded by a defensive wall, guarded by the Tower, and +crowned by the cathedral. The city proper lay on the north of the +Thames, and the wall made a semicircle of some two miles, from the Tower +on the east to the Fleet ditch and Blackfriars on the west. Seven gates +pierced the wall to the north, and the roads passing through them into +the fields were lined with houses. Westward along the river were great +palaces, behind which the building was practically continuous along the +muddy road that led to the separate city of Westminster. The Thames, +noted for its fish and swans, was the great thoroughfare, crowded with +many kinds of boats and spanned by the famous London Bridge. By one of +the many rowboats that carried passengers hither and thither, or on foot +over the arches of the bridge, between the rows of houses that lined it, +and under the heads of criminals which decorated its entrance, you +might cross the Thames to Southwark. Turning west, past St. Saviour's +and the palace of the Bishop of Winchester, you were soon on the +Bankside, a locality long given over to houses of ill fame and rings for +the baiting of bulls and bears. The theaters, forbidden in the city +proper, were built either in the fields to the north of the walls, or +across the river close by the kennels and rings. Here, as Shakespeare +waited for a boatman to ferry him across to Blackfriars, the whole city +was spread before his eyes, in the foreground the panorama of the +beautiful river, beyond it the crowded houses, the spires of many +churches, and the great tower of old St. Paul's. + +[Page Heading: Tudor London] + +It was a city of narrow streets, open sewers, wooden houses, without an +adequate water supply or sanitation, in constant danger from fire and +plague. But dirt and disease were no more prevalent than they had been +for centuries; in spite of them, there was no lack of life in the +crowded lanes. The great palaces were outside the city proper, and there +were few notable buildings within its precincts except the churches. The +dismantled monasteries still occupied large areas, but were being made +over to strange uses, the theaters eventually finding a place in +Blackfriars and Whitefriars. The Strand was an ill-paved street running +behind the river palaces, past the village of Charing Cross, on to the +royal palace of Whitehall and to the Abbey and Hall at Westminster. The +walls and surrounding moat had ceased to be of use for defense, and +building constantly spread into the fields without. These fields were +favorite places for recreation and served the purpose of city parks. The +Elizabethans were fond of outdoor sports and spent little daytime +indoors. The shops were open to the street, and the clear spaces at +Cheapside and St. Paul's Church-yard seem to have been always crowded. +St. Paul's, although still used for religious services, had become a +sort of city club or general meeting place. Mules and horses were no +longer to be found there as in the reign of Mary, but the nave was in +constant use as a place for gossip and business. The churchyard was the +usual place for holding lotteries, and here were the shops of a majority +of the London booksellers. In its northeast corner was Paul's Cross, the +famous pulpit whence the wishes of the government were announced and +popularized by the Sunday preachers. And here the variety of London life +was most fully exhibited. The processions and entertainments at court, +the ambassadors from afar, the law students from the Temple, the old +soldiers destitute after service in Flanders, the seamen returned from +plundering the Spanish gold fleet, the youths from the university come +to the city to earn their living by their wits, the bishop and the +puritan, who looked at each other askance, the young squire come to be +gulled of his lands by the roarers of the tavern, the solid merchant +with his chain of gold, the wives who aped the court ladies with their +enormous farthingales and ruffs, the court gallant with his dyed beard +and huge breeches, the idle apprentices quick to riot, the poor poets in +prison for debt--these and how many more are familiar to every reader of +the Elizabethan drama. As often in periods of commercial prosperity, +luxury became fantastic. Men sold their acres to put costly garments on +their backs. Clothing was absurd and ran to extreme sizes of ruffs, +farthingales, and breeches, or to gaudy colors and jewels. Enormous sums +were spent on feasts, entertainments, and masques, especially in the +reign of James I. Cleanliness did not thrive, perfumes took the place of +baths, and rushes, seldom renewed, covered the floor even of the +presence chamber of Elizabeth. But the comforts and luxuries of life +increased and spread to all classes. Tobacco, potatoes, and forks were +first introduced in Shakespeare's time. Building improved, streets were +widened, and coaches became so common as to excite much animadversion +and complaint. If some poets spent much time in the debtors' prison, +others lived well, and some actors gained large fortunes. + +[Page Heading: Commercial Prosperity] + +The industrious apprentice who refused the allurements of pageants, +theaters, tailors, and taverns, was sure to have his reward. It was a +time of commercial expansion, such as the last generation has witnessed +in Germany and the United States. Bankers, brokers, and merchants gained +great fortunes and managed to protect them. Industry, thrift, and +shrewdness were likely to win enough to buy a knighthood. The trade of +the old East and the new West came to the London wharves, and every one +was ready to take a risk. The merchants of London had furnished support +to the policies of Henry VIII and were rich enough to fit out the +expedition against Flanders and to pay for a third of the fleet that met +the Armada. It was a time, too, for great enterprises and benefactions +to charity. Sir Thomas Gresham built the Exchange, Sir Hugh Middleton +paid for the New River water supply, and there were many gifts to +hospitals. With all this increase in wealth, the various professions +prospered, especially that of law. The inns of court were crowded with +students, not a few of whom forsook the courts for the drama. The age of +chivalry was over, that of commerce begun. No one gained much glory by a +military career in the days of Elizabeth. The church, the law, banking, +commerce, even politics and literature, offered better roads to wealth +or fame. + +The importance of the court in Elizabethan London is not easy to realize +to-day. It dominated the life of the small city. Its nobles and their +retainers, its courtiers and hangers-on, made up a considerable portion +of the population; its shows supplied the entertainment, its gossip the +politics of the hour. It was the seat of pageantry, the mirror of +manners, the patron or the oppressor of every one. No one could be so +humble as to escape coming somehow within its sway, and some of the +greatest wrecked their lives in efforts to secure its approval. It is no +wonder that the plays of Shakespeare deal so largely with kings, +queens, and their courts. Under the Tudors, and still more under the +Stuarts, the court aimed at increasing the central authority so as to +bring every affair of its subjects under its direct control. In London, +however, this effort at centralization met with strong opposition. The +government was in the hands of the guilds representative of the wealth +of the city, and was coming face to face with many of the problems of +modern municipalities. The corporation was in constant clash with the +court; and in the end the city, which had supported Henry VIII and +Elizabeth against powerful nobles, became the Puritan London that aided +in ousting the Stuarts. + +[Page Heading: The City and the Court] + +This conflict between city and court is illustrated in the regulation of +the theaters and companies of actors. The actors had a legal status only +as the license of some nobleman enrolled them as his servants, and they +relied on the protection of their patron and the court against the +opposition of the city authorities. The fact that they were employed to +give plays before the Queen was, indeed, about the only argument that +won any consideration from the corporation. This opposition was based in +part on moral or puritan grounds, but was determined still more by the +fear of three menaces, fire, sedition, and the plague. Wooden buildings +were already discouraged by statute, and the danger of fire from the +wooden theaters is shown by the burning of the Globe and the Fortune. +The gathering of crowds was feared by every property holder, and the +theaters were frequently the scenes of outbreaks of the apprentices. The +danger of the plague from the crowd at plays was the greatest of all. +London was hardly ever free from it, and suffered terrible devastation +in the years 1593 and 1603. For these reasons the theaters were +forbidden within the city's jurisdiction, and were driven into the +outskirts. The best companies appeared frequently at court, and on the +accession of James I they were licensed directly as servants of various +members of the royal family. The actors were thereafter under the +immediate control of the court, and certain "private" theaters were +established within the city. But this triumph of the court over the long +opposition of the city was not an unmixed blessing for the drama. + +The theaters in 1590 represented the public on which they depended for +support; by 1616 they were far less representative of the nation or +London, and more dependent on the court and its following. The +Blackfriars theater, before which gathered the crowd of coaches that +annoyed the puritans of the neighborhood, was a symptom of the growth of +wealth and luxury, and of the increased power of the monarchy; the +protests of the puritan neighborhood were an indication of the growth of +a large class hostile alike to an arbitrary court, luxury, and the +theater. + +Shakespeare's lifetime, however, saw little of this sharp division into +parties or of that narrow moral consistency which Puritanism came to +require. Looking back on his age in contrast with our own, we are +perhaps most impressed by its striking incongruities. This London of +dirt and disease was also the arena for extravagant fashion and princely +display. This populace that watched with joy the cruel torment of a bear +or the execution of a Catholic also delighted in the romantic comedies +of Shakespeare. This people, so appallingly credulous and ignorant, so +brutal, childish, so mercurial compared with Englishmen of to-day, yet +set the standard of national greatness. This absurdly decorated gallant +could stab a rival in the back or write a penitential lyric. Each man +presents strange, almost inexplicable, contrasts in character, as Bacon +or Raleigh, or Elizabeth herself. The drama mingles its sentiment and +fancy with horrors and bloodshed; and no wonder, for poetry was no +occupation of the cloister. Read the lives of the poets--Surrey, Wyatt, +Sidney, Spenser, Raleigh, Marlowe, Jonson--and of these, only Spenser +and Jonson died in their beds, and Ben had killed his man in a duel. The +student of Elizabethan history and biography will find stranger +contrasts than in the lives of these poets, for crime, meanness, and +sexual depravity often appear in the closest juxtaposition with +imaginative idealism, intellectual freedom, and moral grandeur. + +[Page Heading: Elizabethan Incongruities] + +The Italian Renaissance, with its mingled passions for beauty, art, +blood, lust, and intellect, seems for a time transferred to London and +dwelling alongside of commerce and Puritanism. Yet these incongruities +of character, manners, and motives that seem so striking to us to-day +may probably be explained by conditions already described. The +opportunities created by the changes in church and religion, the new +education and prosperity, the new America, and the revived classics, all +tended to create a new thirst for experience. This thirst for experience +led to excess and incongruity, but it also furnished an unparalleled +range of human motive for a poet's observation and imitation. + +In the wide range of our poet's survey, there is, however, one notable +omission. The reign of Elizabeth, like those of her three predecessors, +was one of religious controversy, change, and persecution. But all this +strife, all this debate, repression, persecution, and all of this great +turmoil working in the minds of Englishmen, find little reflection in +Shakespeare's plays, and little in the whole Elizabethan drama. +Religious controversy had played a part in the drama of the reign of +Edward and Mary, but it rarely enters the Elizabethan drama, and then +mainly in the form of ridicule for the puritan. Shakespeare's plays seem +almost to ignore the most momentous facts of his time. They treat pagan, +Catholic, and Protestant with cordiality and only smile at the puritan +or Brownist. His England of the merry wives or Falstaff's justices seems +strangely untroubled by questions of faith or ritual. There is, to be +sure, plenty of religion and controversy in the literature of the time, +but the drama as a whole is singularly non-religious. It reflects +rather that freedom from restraint, that buoyancy of spirit, that lively +interest in experience, which had their full course in the few years +when the old garment was off and the new not quite fitted. The immense +intellectual and imaginative activity of the period consists precisely +in this freedom from restrictions, partisanship, dogmas, or caste. +Things had lost their labels and some time and argument were required to +find new ones. Ideas were free and not bound to any school, party, or +cause. You grasped an idea without knowing whether it made you realist, +romanticist, or classicist; papist, puritan, or pagan. After centuries +of imprisonment, individuality had its full chance in the world of ideas +as elsewhere. + +[Page Heading: An Age of Freedom] + +In a few years this was all over, and your sphere of life and the ideas +proper to that sphere were prescribed for you. By another century, +England had fought out the issues of creed and government with expense +of blood and spirit, and had settled down to the compromise of 1688. In +Shakespeare's day there was also, of course, some movement toward fixity +of ideas, and there were great men who strove to convert others to their +ideas and to dictate belief and conduct. But there was a breathing spell +in which, comparatively speaking, men were not alike, but individual, +and in which their motives and ideas revelled in a freedom from ancient +precedent. In this era of flux the modern drama found its panorama of +novel and varied experience making and marring character. + +Shakespeare lived peaceably in the heyday of this change, nearly of an +age with Sidney, Raleigh, Spenser, Bacon, Marlowe. Like Marlowe in the +soliloquies of Barabbas and Faust, he recognized the new possibilities +that the age opened through money or ideas. He made much out of the +commercial prosperity of the day, gained such profits as were possible +from his profession, raised his estate, and acquired wealth. He gave his +mind not to any cause or party but to the study of men. The drunkards of +the London inn, the yokels of Warwickshire, and the finest gentlewomen +of the land alike came under the scrutiny of the creator of Falstaff, +Dogberry, and Rosalind. And like his great contemporaries, he triumphed +over incongruities, for he translated his studies of the human mind into +verse of immortal beauty that yet delighted the public stage which was +located halfway between the bear dens and the brothels. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +BIOGRAPHICAL FACTS AND TRADITIONS + + +In the time of Shakespeare, the fashion of writing lives of men of +letters had not yet arisen. The art of biography could hardly be said to +be even in its infancy, for the most notable early examples, such as the +lives of Wolsey by Cavendish and of Sir Thomas More by his son-in-law in +the sixteenth century, and Walton's handful in the seventeenth, are far +from what the present age regards as scientific biography. The +preservation of official records makes it possible for the modern +scholar to reconstruct with considerable fullness the careers of public +men; but in the case of Shakespeare, as of others of his profession, we +must needs be content with a few scrappy documents, supplemented by oral +traditions of varying degrees of authenticity. About Shakespeare himself +it must be allowed that we have been able to learn more than about most +of his fellow dramatists and actors. + +In a matter which has been the subject of so much controversy, it may +be an aid to clearness if the facts established by contemporary +documents be first related, and the less trustworthy reports added +later. The first indubitable item is trivial and unsavory enough. In +April, 1552, a certain John Shakespeare, residing in Henley Street, +Stratford-on-Avon, in the county of Warwick, was fined twelvepence for +failing to remove a heap of filth from before his door. This John, who +shared his surname with a multitude of other Shakespeares in the England +and especially in the Warwickshire of his time, appears, without +reasonable doubt, to have been the father of the poet. He is described +in later tradition as a glover and as a butcher; the truth seems to be +that he did a miscellaneous business in farm products. For twenty years +or more after this first record he prospered, rising through various +petty municipal offices to the position of bailiff, or mayor, of the +town in 1568. His fortunes must have been notably improved by his +marriage, for the Mary Arden whom he wedded in 1557 was the daughter of +a well-to-do farmer, Robert Arden, who bequeathed her L6 13_s._ 4_d._ in +money and a house with fifty acres of land. + +To John and Mary Shakespeare was born a son William, whose baptism was +registered in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Stratford on April 26, +1564. He was their eldest son, two daughters previously born being +already dead. Their other children were Gilbert, Joan, Anna, Richard, +and Edmund. The precise day of William's birth is unknown. The monument +over his grave states that at his death on April 23, 1616, he was +"AEtatis 53," which would seem to indicate that he must have been born at +least as early as April 22; and, since in those days baptism usually +took place within a very few days of birth, there is no reason for +pushing the date farther back. + +[Page Heading: Marriage] + +Of the education of the poet we have no record. Stratford had a free +grammar school, to which such a boy as the bailiff's son would be sure +to be sent; and the inference that William Shakespeare was a pupil there +and studied the usual Latin authors is entirely reasonable. About 1577 +his father began to get into financial difficulties, and it is reported +that about this time the boy was withdrawn from school to help in his +father's business. We know nothing certainly, however, until we learn +from the registry of the Bishop of Worcester that on November 28, 1582, +two husbandmen of Stratford gave bonds "to defend and save harmless" the +bishop and his officers for licensing the marriage of William +Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway. Of the actual marriage there is no +record. Anne is probably to be identified with Agnes or Anne, the +daughter of Richard Hathaway of the neighboring hamlet of Shottery, who +had died in the previous July, and had owned the house of which a part +still survives and is shown to visitors as "Anne Hathaway's cottage." +The date on Anne's tombstone indicates that she was eight years older +than the poet. + +A comparison of the bond just mentioned with other documents of the kind +indicates it to be exceptional in the absence of any mention of consent +by the bridegroom's parents, a circumstance rendered still more +remarkable by the fact that he was a minor. The bondsmen were from +Shottery, and this, along with the considerations already advanced, has +naturally led to the inference that the marriage was hurried by the +bride's friends, and to the finding of a motive for their haste in the +birth within six months of "Susanna, daughter to William Shakespere," +who was baptized on May 26, 1583. + +[Page Heading: "The only Shake-scene"] + +The record of the baptism of Shakespeare's only other children, the +twins Hamnet and Judith, in February, 1585, practically exhausts the +documentary evidence concerning the poet in Stratford until 1596. It is +conjectured, but not known, that about 1586 he found his way to London +and soon became connected with the theater, according to one tradition, +as call-boy, to another, as holder of the horses of theatergoers. But by +1592 we are assured that he had entered the ranks of the playwrights, +and had achieved enough success to rouse the jealous resentment of a +rival. Robert Greene, who died on the third of September in that year, +left unpublished a pamphlet, _Greenes Groatsworth of Witte: bought with +a Million of Repentaunce_, in which he warned three of his fellows +against certain plagiarists, "those puppits, I meane, that speake from +our mouths, those anticks garnisht in our colours." "Yes, trust them +not," he goes on; "for there is an upstart crow, beautified with our +feathers, that with his _Tygers heart wrapt in a Players hide_, supposes +he is as well able to bumbast out a blanke verse as the best of you; and +being an absolute _Johannes Factotum_, is in his owne conceit the only +Shake-scene in a countrie. O that I might intreate your rare wits to be +imployed in more profitable courses, and let those apes imitate your +past excellence, and never more acquaint them with your admired +inventions! I know the best husband of you all will never prove an +usurer, and the kindest of them all wil never proove a kinde nurse; yet, +whilst you may, seeke you better maisters, for it is pittie men of such +rare wits should be subject to the pleasures of such rude groomes." The +phrase about the "tyger's heart" is an obvious parody on the line, + + Oh Tiger's heart wrapt in a woman's hide! + +which occurs both in _The True Tragedie of Richard Duke of Yorke_, and +in the variant of that play which is included in the First Folio as the +third part of _Henry VI_. "The only Shake-scene" has naturally been +taken as an allusion to Shakespeare's name; and it is scarcely possible +to doubt the reference to him throughout the passage. This being so, we +may infer that by this date Shakespeare had written, with whatever else, +his share in the three parts of _Henry VI_, and was successful enough to +seem formidable to the dying Greene. It is noteworthy, too, that thus +early we have allusion to his double profession: as an actor in the +words "player's hide" and "Shake-scene," and as an author in the charge +of plagiarism. That the reference in "beautified with our feathers" is +to literary plagiarism is confirmed by the following lines from +_Greene's Funeralls_, by R. B., 1594, which seem to have been suggested +by Greene's phrase: + + Greene is the ground of everie painters die; + Greene gave the ground to all that wrote upon him. + Nay, more, the men that so eclipst his fame, + _Purloynde his plumes_: can they deny the same? + +Somewhat less certain is the allusion in a document closely connected +with the foregoing. _Greenes Groatsworth_ had been prepared for the +press by his friend Henry Chettle, and in the address "To the Gentlemen +Readers" prefixed to his _Kind-Harts Dreame_ (registered December 8, +1592), Chettle regrets that he has not struck out from Greene's book the +passages that have been "offensively by one or two of them taken." "With +neither of them that take offence was I acquainted, and with one of them +I care not if I never be. The other, whome at that time I did not so +much spare as since I wish I had, for that as I have moderated the heate +of living writers, and might have usde my owne discretion,--especially +in such a case, the Author beeing dead,--that I did not, I am as sory, +as if the originall fault had beene my fault, because myselfe have seene +his demeanor no lesse civill, than he exelent in the qualitie[1] he +professes: Besides, divers of worship have reported his uprightnes of +dealing, which argues his honesty, and his facetious grace in writing, +that aprooves his Art." This characterization so well fits in with the +tone of later contemporary allusions to Shakespeare that it is +regrettable that Chettle did not make its reference to him beyond a +doubt. + +[1] _I.e._, profession, used especially at that time of the profession +of acting. + +[Page Heading: First Publications] + +Within a few months after the disturbance caused by Greene's charges, +Shakespeare appeared in the field of authorship in quite unambiguous +fashion. On April 18, 1593, Richard Field, himself a Stratford man, +entered at Stationers' Hall a book entitled _Venus and Adonis_. The +dedication, which is to the Earl of Southampton, is signed by "William +Shakespeare," and the state of the text confirms the inference that the +poet himself oversaw the publication. The terms of the dedication, read +in the light of contemporary examples of this kind of writing, do not +imply any close relation between poet and patron; and the phrase "the +first heyre of my invention," applied to the poem, need not be taken as +placing its composition earlier than any of the plays, since writing for +the stage was then scarcely regarded as practising the art of letters. +_Lucrece_ was registered May 9, 1594, and appeared likewise without a +name on the title-page, but with Shakespeare's full signature attached +to a dedication, somewhat more warmly personal than before, to the same +nobleman. The frequency of complimentary references to these poems, and +the number of editions issued during the poet's lifetime (seven of +_Venus_, and five of _Lucrece_), indicate that it was through them that +he first obtained literary distinction. + +Meanwhile he was gaining a footing as an actor. The accounts of the +Treasurer of the Chamber for March 15, 1594-5, bear record of +Shakespeare's having been summoned, along with Kempe and Burbage, as a +member of the Lord Chamberlain's Company, to present two comedies before +the Queen at Greenwich Palace in the Christmas season of 1594. This is +the earliest mention of the poet as sharing with his company a kind of +recognition as honorable as it was profitable. + +The records now take us back to his family. On August 11, 1596, his only +son Hamnet was buried. In the same year John Shakespeare applied to the +College of Heralds for a grant of arms, basing the claim on services of +his ancestors to Henry VII, the continued good reputation of the family, +and John's marriage to "Mary, daughter and heiress of Robert Arden, of +Wilmcote, gent." Since there is evidence to show that the financial +difficulties that had beset John Shakespeare before his son went to +London had continued, and since the attempts of actors to obtain +gentility by grants of arms were not uncommon, it is likely that the +poet was the moving force in this matter. Though a draft granting this +request was drawn up, it was not executed; but in 1599 a renewed +application was successful, the heralds giving an exemplification of the +coat which the applicants claimed had been assigned them in 1568, "Gold, +on a bend sable, a spear of the first, and for his crest or cognizance a +falcon, his wings displayed argent, standing on a wreath of his +colours, supporting a spear gold steeled as aforesaid." The motto is +"Non Sans Droit." These arms appear on the monument over Shakespeare's +grave in Trinity Church in Stratford, and, impaled with the Hall arms, +on the tombstone of his daughter Susanna and her husband John Hall. + +[Page Heading: The Purchase of New Place] + +A more substantial step towards restoring the standing of the family was +taken when the poet bought on May 4, 1597, for sixty pounds, New Place, +the largest house in Stratford. This was only the beginning of a +considerable series of investments of the profits of his professional +life in landed and other property in his native district. On his +father's death in 1601 he inherited the two houses in Henley Street, the +only real property of which the elder Shakespeare had retained +possession; and in one of these the poet's mother lived until her death +in 1608. About a hundred and seven acres of arable land with common +pasture appertaining to it was conveyed to the poet on May 1, 1602, by +William and John Combe, of Warwick and Old Stratford respectively, in +consideration of L320; and twenty acres of pasture land were acquired +from the same owners in 1610. On September 28, 1602, the Court Rolls of +the Manor of Rowington record the transfer to Shakespeare from Walter +Getley of a cottage and garden in Chapel Lane, Stratford. In 1605 he +paid L440 for the thirty-one years remaining of a lease of the Stratford +tithes, a purchase which involved him in a considerable amount of +litigation. It was through this acquisition that he became involved in +the dispute over the attempted inclosure of certain common fields +belonging to the town of Stratford. John Combe, who died in July, 1614, +bequeathing Shakespeare L5, left as heir a son, William, who with Arthur +Mannering, sought to annex to their respective estates the aforesaid +common lands. After having secured a deed safeguarding himself as part +owner of the tithes from any loss that might result from the inclosure, +Shakespeare seems to have lent his influence to Combe, in spite of the +requests of the corporation for aid. The inclosure was not carried out. + +His investments were not confined to his native county. A deed of sale +has come down to us concerning the purchase of a house near the +Blackfriars Theater in London, in March, 1613. The price was L140; but +on the following day, March 11, Shakespeare gave the previous owner, +Henry Walker, a mortgage deed for L60, which he never seems to have paid +off. There is evidence of his ownership of other property in Blackfriars +in three documents, recently discovered by Professor C. W. Wallace, +dealing with a suit in Chancery, and dated April 26, May 15, and May 22, +1615, in which Shakespeare and others sought to obtain from one Matthew +Bacon possession of certain deeds pertaining to their property within +the precinct of Blackfriars. + +[Page Heading: Litigation] + +Other traces of Shakespeare's business transactions suggest that he was +by no means averse to going to law. After his resumption of relations +with Stratford in 1596, we find his parents engaged (November, 1597) in +a lawsuit, the outcome of which does not appear to recover the mortgaged +estate of Asbies, which had formed part of his mother's inheritance. The +years 1600, 1604, 1608, and 1609 all contain records of suits by the +poet to recover small sums of money; and, on the other hand, we find tax +collectors in London seeking payment of taxes incurred on his goods +while he lived in the parish of St. Helen's, Bishopgate, in 1593 or +1594. These claims Shakespeare satisfied some years later when he was +living across the river in Southwark. The documents of a law case of +1612, recently discovered by Professor C. W. Wallace in the Public +Record office, include Shakespeare's deposition as a witness and add +some interesting information. It appears that, possibly from 1598 to +1604, he lodged in the house of Christopher Mountjoy, a wigmaker, at the +corner of Muggle and Silver streets near Cripplegate. In 1604 he had +aided in arranging the marriage of Mary Mountjoy to her father's +apprentice, Stephen Bellott. The lawsuit was brought by Bellott against +his father-in-law to secure the dowry and promise of inheritance. +Shakespeare's negotiations in regard to the marriage play an important +part in the various depositions, as the question whether a dowry of L50 +had been promised was crucial to the case. Shakespeare himself was +examined on September 11, but the poet failed to remember that a +definite sum had been agreed upon for the dowry. + +Further evidence relating to Shakespeare as a man of substance is to be +found in letters in the Stratford archives, written by prominent +townsmen. One, from Abraham Sturley to a relative in London on the +business of the town of Stratford, dated January 24, 1597-8, contains a +reference to "Mr. Shaksper" as "willing to disburse some money upon some +odd yard-land or other at Shottery or near about us," and suggests +urging upon Shakespeare the purchase of the tithes. It seems fairly +certain from other letters of Sturley's that this one was addressed to +Richard Quiney, father of Shakespeare's future son-in-law, Thomas +Quiney. On October 25 of the same year, this Richard Quiney wrote from +the Bell in Carter Lane, London, "to my loving friend and countryman, +Mr. Wm. Shackespere," asking for his help with L30. From a letter from +Abraham Sturley to Richard Quiney on the following fourth of November it +appears that Quiney was seeking an enlargement of the charter of +Stratford, with a view to an increase of revenue. In Sturley's previous +letter reference had been made to an attempt to gain "an ease and +discharge of such taxes and subsidies wherewith our town is like to be +charged, and I assure you I am in great fear and doubt by no means able +to pay." In this extreme condition of affairs Sturley heard with +satisfaction "that our countryman Mr. Wm. Shak. would procure us money, +which I will like of as I shall here when, and where, and how; and I +pray let not go that occasion if it may sort to any indifferent +conditions." The poet is probably referred to in still another letter, +of about the same period, to Richard Quiney, this time from his father +Adrian: "If you bargain with Wm. Sha., or receive money therefor, bring +your money home that you may." All of these documents carry the +unmistakable implication that William Shakespeare in London was regarded +by his fellow-townsmen as a person of resources, likely to be of service +to his friends in financial stress. + +[Page Heading: Professional Progress] + +If we return now to the evidences of Shakespeare's professional +progress, we shall see whence these resources were derived. Confining +ourselves still to explicit and unambiguous records, we find the year +1598 marking Shakespeare's emergence as actor and dramatist into a +somewhat opener publicity. The quarto editions of _Richard II_ and +_Love's Labour's Lost_, issued that year, are the first plays to exhibit +his name on the title-page; and in the 1616 folio edition of Ben +Jonson's works, attached to _Every Man in His Humour_, is the statement: +"This Comedie was first Acted in the yeere 1598 by the then L. +Chamberleyne his servants. The principal Comedians were Will. +Shakespeare, Aug. Philips, Hen. Condel, Will. Slye, Will. Kempe, Ric. +Burbadge, Joh. Hemings, Tho. Pope, Chr. Beeston, Joh. Dyke." These +evidences of prominence are more than corroborated by the famous passage +in the _Palladis Tamia_ (1598) of Francis Meres, in which he not only +compares the "mellifluous and honey-tongued Shakespeare" with Ovid for +his _Venus and Adonis_, his _Lucrece_, "his sugred sonnets among his +private friends," but with Plautus and Seneca for his excellence "in +both kinds for the stage; for comedy, witness his Gentlemen of Verona, +his Errors, his Love Labors Lost, his Love Labours Wonne, his Midsummers +Night Dreame, and his Merchant of Venice; for tragedy, his Richard the +2, Richard the 3, Henry the 4, King John, Titus Andronicus, and his +Romeo and Juliet." Barnfield in the same year harps on the +"honey-flowing vein" of the author of _Venus_ and _Lucrece_, and +"honey-tongued" is again the opening epithet of John Weever's epigram +"Ad Gulielmum Shakespeare" (1599), in which "_Romeo_" and "_Richard_" +share the praises with the narrative poems. From this time on, +publishers of the plays recognize Shakespeare's reputation by generally +placing his name on the title-page: a form of compliment which the +author probably did not appreciate when it was extended, as in the case +of _The Passionate Pilgrim_ (1599), to pirated works, some of which were +meant to be private, and others were not by him at all. + +Reminiscences or references to his works are frequent in contemporary +literature. Among these are several passages in two plays, _The Return +from Parnassus_, acted in St. John's College, Cambridge, about 1601. In +one passage, Kempe, the famous actor, speaks slightingly of the acting +qualities of the plays by university pens and continues, "Why here's our +fellow Shakespeare puts them all down, ay, and Ben Jonson +too,"--another identification of the actor and the dramatist +Shakespeare. Another character in these plays prefers Shakespeare to +Chaucer, Gower, and Spenser. Less enthusiastic though sincerely +appreciative is John Webster, who, in the address to the Reader prefixed +to _The White Devil_, 1612, acknowledges his indebtedness to his +predecessors, Chapman, Jonson, Beaumont, and Fletcher and to "the right +happy and copious industry of Master Shakespeare, Master Dekker, and +Master Heywood." Though of widely varying significance and interest, the +numerous allusions to Shakespeare or to his plays give further testimony +to his growing reputation. + +[Page Heading: Contemporary Allusions] + +While it is probable that the sale of Shakespeare's poems brought him in +some financial return, he is not likely to have profited from the +publication of his plays. The playwright at that time sold his product +to the manager or company, and thereby gave up all rights. To the end of +the sixteenth century managers usually paid from L5 to L11 for a new +play, adding a bonus in the case of success, and sometimes a share of +the proceeds of the second performance. During the first decade of +Shakespeare's activity as a dramatist, then, we may calculate that he +obtained for about twenty-one plays an average of about L10 each, which, +making the usual allowance for the greater purchasing power of money, +would be equivalent to about $400, or an annual income of about $800. +During his second decade the prices for plays had so risen that he may +be estimated to have received about twice as much from this source as +in the early half of his career. + +More profitable than playwriting was acting. Lee estimates Shakespeare's +salary as an actor before 1599 at L100 a year at least, exclusive of +special rewards for court performances, and we know that by 1635 an +actor-shareholder, such as Shakespeare latterly was, had a salary of +L180. Besides this, he became about 1599 a sharer, with Heming, Condell, +Philips, and others, in the receipts of the Globe Theater, erected in +1597-8 by Richard and Cuthbert Burbage. The annual income from a single +share was over L200, and Shakespeare may have had more than one. In 1610 +he became a sharer also in the smaller Blackfriars Theater, after it had +been acquired by the Burbages. + +The evidence thus accumulated of Shakespeare's having acquired a +substantial fortune is corroborated by what we know of the earnings of +other members of his profession, and it leaves no mystery about the +source of the capital which he invested in real property in Stratford +and London. + +The death of Elizabeth and the accession of James I improved rather than +impaired Shakespeare's prospects. A patent, dated May 19, 1603, +authorizes the King's servants, "Lawrence Fletcher, William Shakespeare, +Richard Burbage ... and the rest of their associats freely to use and +exercise the arte and faculty of playing comedies, tragedies, histories, +interludes, moralls, pastorals, stage-plaies, and such other like as +they have already studied, or hereafter shall use or studie, as well +for the recreation of our lovinge subjects, as for our solace and +pleasure when we shall thinke good to see them, duringe our pleasure." +By this document the Lord Chamberlain's Company became the King's, and +so remained during the rest of Shakespeare's connection with the stage. +At least a dozen instances are recorded in the Revels Accounts of the +Company's having acted before his Majesty, and on the occasion of a +performance before the court at the Earl of Pembroke's mansion of Wilton +House, L30 was given them "by way of his majesty's reward." +Shakespeare's name stands first in a list of nine actors who walked in a +procession on the occasion of James's entry into London, March 15, 1604, +when each actor was granted four yards and a half of scarlet cloth for +cloaks for the occasion. + +[Page Heading: Growing Prosperity] + +This recognition by the court is the latest evidence we have of +Shakespeare's belonging to the profession of acting. He is mentioned in +the Jonson Folio of 1616 as playing a part in _Sejanus_ in 1603; but his +name is absent from the list of the King's servants, as his company had +now become, when they performed _Volpone_ in 1605, _The Alchemist_ in +1610, and _Catiline_ in 1611. It would thus seem that he gave up acting +shortly after the death of Elizabeth. + +The date of his withdrawal from London to Stratford is less precisely +indicated. The likelihood is that the transference was gradual; for +after 1611, the date usually conjectured for his retirement from the +metropolis, we have indications of at least occasional activities there, +as in the collaboration with Fletcher, now generally admitted, in _Henry +VIII_ and _The Two Noble Kinsmen_, and in the business dealings in +Blackfriars already described. On the other hand, he had disposed of his +shares in the theaters before his death; as we have seen, he appears +frequently in his last years in connection with municipal affairs in +Stratford; and later formal references are usually to "William +Shakespeare, gent., of Stratford-on-Avon." It was during this period +that we find record of the poet serving in a new capacity. There has +recently been discovered in the Household Book at Belvoir Castle the +following entry: "Item 31 Martij (1613) to Mr. Shakspeare in gold about +my Lordes Impreso xiiij s. To Richard Burbadge for paynting and making +yt in gold xliiij s. (Total) iiij^li viij^s." This means that the Earl +of Rutland, who took part in a tournament at Whitehall on March 24, +1613, had the heraldic device for his shield made by Shakespeare and +Burbage,--Burbage, whose skill as painter is well known, being probably +responsible for the design and Shakespeare for the motto. Rutland was a +friend and associate of that Earl of Southampton to whom Shakespeare had +dedicated his two narrative poems. + +The remaining documents are chiefly domestic. On June 5, 1607, his elder +daughter Susanna married John Hall, a physician of Stratford, who +succeeded the poet in the occupancy of New Place; and on September 9, +1608, the Stratford Register records the burial of his mother, "Mayry +Shaxspere, wydowe." His younger daughter, Judith, married Thomas Quiney +on February 10, 1616, with such haste and informality as led to the +imposition of a fine by the ecclesiastical court at Worcester. In the +previous month Shakespeare had a draft of his will drawn up by Francis +Collins, a solicitor of Warwick, and after certain changes this was +signed in March. On the twenty-fifth of April the Registers show the +burial of "Will. Shakespeare gent." The monument over his grave gives +the day of his death as April 23 (Old Style). He was buried in the +chancel of Stratford Church, and on the grave may still be read the much +discussed lines: + + Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbeare + To dig the dust enclosed heare; + Bleste be the man that spares these stones, + And curst be he that moves my bones. + +William Hall, who visited Stratford in 1694, records the tradition that +the poet himself composed the lines in a style calculated to impress +sextons and prevent them from digging up his bones and throwing them +into the adjacent charnel house. However this may be, the grave has +remained unopened. + +[Page Heading: Death and Burial] + +Seven years later, thirty-six of Shakespeare's plays were collected by +two of his former colleagues of the theater, Heming and Condell, whom he +had remembered in his will, and published in the famous First Folio. +The preliminary documents in this volume, printed in our appendix, close +significantly the contemporary records of the man, and bind together the +burgess of Stratford with the actor of London and the dramatist of the +world. + +Of Shakespeare's handwriting nothing that can be called his with +complete assurance has survived except six signatures; one to the +deposition in the matter of the Mountjoy marriage; one to the deed of +the house he bought in Blackfriars in 1613, one to the mortgage-deed on +the same house, executed on the day after the purchase, and one on each +of the three sheets of paper containing his will, the last of which has +in addition the words "By me." All six are somewhat crabbed specimens of +the old English style of handwriting, which is the character he would +naturally acquire in such a school as that at Stratford in the sixteenth +century, as we learn from surviving examples of the copy-books of the +period. The manuscripts of his plays have gone the way of all, or almost +all, the autographs of the men of letters of his time, nor is it likely +that future research will add materially to what we have. The exact +signatures, though it is difficult to be certain of all the letters, +seem to show a variation in spelling--Shakspere, Shakespere, or +Shakspeare. His father's name appears in the records of the town in +sixteen different forms, an illustration of the inconsistency in the +orthography of proper names, as of other words, which was common with +people of that time of greater worldly consequence and education than +the poet or his father. The form of the name used in the present edition +is that which generally appears on the title-pages of plays ascribed to +him; it is that which he himself used in signing the dedications of his +two poems to the Earl of Southampton; it is that which occurs in the +legal documents having to do with his property; and it is the common +spelling in the literary allusions of the seventeenth century. + +[Page Heading: Signatures and Portraits] + +[Illustration: THREE AUTOGRAPH SIGNATURES WRITTEN BY SHAKESPEARE ON +THREE SHEETS OF HIS WILL + +From the document now at Somerset House, London] + +Our knowledge of Shakespeare's personal appearance is also far from +being definite. The bust on the monument in the church at Stratford was +cut apparently before 1623 by a Dutch stone cutter called Gerard +Janssen. It was originally colored; probably the eyes light hazel, and +the hair auburn. Its crude workmanship renders it unreliable as a +likeness. The frontispiece to the First Folio was engraved for that work +by Martin Droeshout, who was only twenty-two years old at the time, so +that he is more likely to have made it from a portrait than from memory. +No portrait has been found that seems actually to have served this +purpose, though there are resemblances between the engraving and the +portrait, dated 1609, presented to the Memorial Picture Gallery at +Stratford by Mrs. Charles Flower. The numerous other portraits that have +been claimed as likenesses of the dramatist have varying degrees of +probability, but none has a pedigree without a flaw. Those with most +claim to interest are the Ely Palace portrait, the Chandos portrait, +the Garrick Club bust, and the Kesselstadt death-mask.[2] + +[2] See frontispieces in the Tudor Shakespeare to editions of _Henry V_ +(Droeshout original), _King Lear_ (Ely Palace), _Romeo and Juliet_ +(Chandos), _Pericles_ (Garrick Club bust), and _The Tempest_ +(Death-mask). The Stratford Monument and the Droeshout engraving are +reproduced in the present volume. + + * * * * * + +Such is the very considerable body of authenticated facts about the life +of Shakespeare. Lacking though they are in intimate and personal +touches, they can hardly be said to leave the main outlines of his +career shadowy or mysterious. But they do not by any means exhaust the +data at our disposal for forming an impression of the poet's +personality. A large mass of tradition, of less than legal validity but +much of it of a high degree of probability, has come down to us, the +sources of which may now be detailed. + +In the seventeenth century we have several biographical and critical +collections in which Shakespeare figures, the most important being +these: Fuller's _Worthies of England_ (1662), Aubrey's _Lives of Eminent +Men_ (compiled 1669-1696), Phillips's _Theatrum Poetarum_ (1675), and +Langbaine's _English Dramatic Poets_ (1691). The two last are for +strictly biographical purposes negligible, though interesting as early +criticism. Fuller began his work in 1643, so that he may be supposed to +have had access to oral tradition from men who actually knew +Shakespeare. He gives few facts, but some hints as to temperament. +"Though his genius generally was jocular and inclining him to +festivity, yet he could, when so disposed, be solemn and serious.... +Many were the wit-combats betwixt him and Ben Jonson; which two I beheld +like a Spanish great galleon and an English man-of-war; master Jonson +(like the former) was built far higher in learning; solid, but slow, in +his performances. Shakespeare, with the English man-of-war, lesser in +bulk, but lighter in sailing, could turn with all tides, tack about, and +take advantage of all winds, by the quickness of his wit and invention." + +[Page Heading: Sources of Traditions] + +Among the actors who, with Shakespeare, took part in the first +production of Jonson's _Every Man in His Humour_ was Christopher +Beeston, who when he died in 1637 was manager of the Cockpit Theater in +Drury Lane. He was succeeded in this office by his son William, who +became in his old age the revered transmitter to Restoration players and +playwrights of the traditions of the great age in which he had spent his +youth. From him, and from another actor of the same period, John Lacy, +as well as from other sources, the antiquary John Aubrey collected +fragments of gossip for his lives of the English poets. According to +Aubrey's notes, confused and unequal in value, Shakespeare "did act +exceeding well"; "understood Latin pretty well, for he had been in his +younger years a schoolmaster in the country"; "was a handsome, +well-shaped man, very good company, and of a very ready and pleasant +smooth wit." It is Aubrey, too, that reports that John Shakespeare was +a butcher, and he adds, "I have been told heretofore by some of the +neighbours that when he was a boy he exercised his father's trade.... +When he killed a calf, he would doe it in a high style and make a +speech. There was at that time another butcher's son in this towne, that +was held not at all inferior to him for a naturall wit, his +acquaintance, and coetanean, but dyed young." The same writer is +authority for the statement that it was at Grendon, near Oxford, on the +road from Stratford to London, that the dramatist "happened to take the +humour of the constable in Midsummer Night's Dream"--a remark that may +refer loosely either to Bottom and his friends, or to Dogberry and +Verges. He also ascribes to the poet an apocryphal epigram on a +Stratford usurer, John Combe. + +The Rev. John Ward, vicar of Stratford-on-Avon for 1662 to 1668, kept +about the time of his coming to this charge a diary in which he relates +certain echoes of the conversation of the town at a time when the poet's +nephews were still living there. From him we hear that in his elder days +Shakespeare retired to Stratford; that in his most active period he +wrote two plays a year; that he spent at the rate of L1000 a year; and +that his death was due to a fever following a "merry meeting" in +Stratford with Jonson and Drayton. + +An additional reference to the tradition of Shakespeare's convivial +tendencies is to be found in the legend of his visit to Bidford, six +miles from Stratford, with a group of cronies to compare capacities +with the Bidford Drinkers. According to the earliest version of this +somewhat widespread tale, that of a visitor to Stratford in 1762, "he +enquired of a shepherd for the Bidford Drinkers, who replied they were +absent but the Bidford sippers were at home, and, I suppose, continued +the sheepkeeper, they will be sufficient for you; and so, indeed, they +were; he was forced to take up his lodging under that tree [the +crab-tree, long pointed out] for some hours." + +[Page Heading: Traditions] + +The earliest description of Shakespeare as "a glover's son" is found in +the memoranda of Archdeacon Plume of Rochester, written about 1656. +Plume adds, "Sir John Mennes saw once his old father in his shop--a +merry cheeked old man that said, 'Will was a good honest fellow, but he +darest have crackt a jeast with him at any time.'" No Sir John Mennes +who could have seen John Shakespeare is known, but the saying may well +be the echo of contemporary gossip. + +A manuscript preserved at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, contains +certain notes made before 1688 by the Rev. William Fulman. Among them +are interpolated others (given here in italics) by the Rev. Richard +Davies previously to 1708. "William Shakespeare was born at +Stratford-on-Avon in Warwickshire about 1563-4. _Much given to all +unluckinesse in stealing venison and rabbits, particularly from Sr. ... +Lucy, who had him whipt and sometimes imprisoned, and at last made him +fly his native country to his great advancement; but his reveng was so +sweet that he is his Justice Clodpate, and calls him a great man, and +that in allusion to his name bore three lowses rampant for his arms._ +From an actor of playes he became a composer. He dyed Apr. 23, 1616, +aetat 53, probably at Stratford, for there he is buried, and hath a +monument (Dugd. p. 520), _on which he lays a heavy curse upon any one +who shall remove his bones. He dyed a papist."_ The inaccuracy of +Davies's version of facts otherwise known warns us against too great a +reliance on his individual contribution. + +A certain John Dowdall left a short account of places he visited in +Warwickshire in 1693. He describes the monument and tombstone, giving +inscriptions, and adds, "The clarke that shew'd me this church is above +80 years old; he says that this Shakespeare was formerly in this towne +bound apprentice to a butcher, but that he run from his master to +London, and there was received into the play-house as a serviture, and +by this means had an opportunity to be what he afterwards prov'd. He was +the best of his family, but the male line is extinguished. Not one for +feare of the curse abovesaid dare touch his gravestone, tho his wife and +daughters did earnestly desire to be leyd in the same grave with him." +The traditional explanation of the curse as reported by William Hall, +has already been given (p. 35). + +[Page Heading: Rowe's Biography] + +The first regular biography of Shakespeare is that by Nicholas Rowe, +written as a preface to his edition of the plays which, issued in 1709, +stands at the beginning of modern Shakespearean interpretation. Though +compiled nearly a century after the poet's death, Rowe's life has claims +upon our credit more substantial than might be expected. His chief +source of information was the great actor Betterton, a Shakespeare +enthusiast, who had himself taken pains to accumulate facts concerning +his hero. Much of Betterton's material came to him through John Lowin +and Joseph Taylor, two actors who had been colleagues of Shakespeare's +and who lived into the Restoration period. According to John Downes, a +theatrical prompter in the end of the seventeenth century, these +veterans brought to the new generation the actual instruction they had +received from the dramatist himself on the playing of the parts +respectively of Henry VIII and Hamlet. Theatrical and other traditions +reached Rowe also through Sir William D'Avenant, the leading figure in +the revival of the stage after 1660. D'Avenant's father was host of the +Crown Inn at Oxford, where, according to the statements of Aubrey and of +Anthony Wood in 1692, Shakespeare was accustomed to put up on his +journeys between London and Stratford. Wood reports that the elder +D'Avenant was a "man of grave and saturnine disposition, yet an admirer +of plays and play-makers, especially Shakespeare," and that Mrs. +D'Avenant was "a very beautiful woman, of a good wit and conversation." +William D'Avenant was generally reputed to be Shakespeare's godson, and +Aubrey, whose gossip must be accepted with great hesitation, says that +he was not averse to being taken as his son. In spite of the fact of +this scandal's appearance in various seventeenth century anecdotes, the +more careful account of the D'Avenants by Wood points to its rejection. +The story is usually linked with another recorded by the lawyer +Manningham in his Diary, March 13, 1602, that Burbage, who had been +playing Richard III, was overheard by Shakespeare making an appointment +with a lady in the audience. When the tragedian arrived at the +rendez-vous, he found Shakespeare in possession; and on knocking was +answered that "William the Conqueror was before Richard the Third." + +To return to the D'Avenants, the elder son, Robert, used to tell that +when he was a child Shakespeare had given him "a hundred kisses." Sir +William was Rowe's authority for the statement that the Earl of +Southampton once gave the poet L1000 "to enable him to go through with a +purchase which he heard he had a mind to"; but no purchase of this +magnitude by Shakespeare is recorded. D'Avenant himself was said to own +a complimentary letter written to Shakespeare by James I, and the +publisher Lintot says that the Duke of Buckinghamshire claimed to have +examined the document. The story about Shakespeare's first connection +with the theater consisting in his holding horses outside, told first in +a manuscript note preserved in the Library of the University of +Edinburgh, 1748, is also credited to D'Avenant. According to this +tradition, frequently repeated, the future dramatist organized a regular +corps of boys and monopolized the business, so that "as long as the +practice of riding to the play-house continued the waiters that held the +horses retained the appellation of Shakespeare's Boys." + +[Page Heading: Further Traditions] + +Many of the natural inferences to be drawn from the data in the first +part of the chapter are given by Rowe as facts. Thus he states +positively that Shakespeare attended a free school, from which he was +withdrawn owing to "the narrowness of his circumstances, and the want of +assistance at home." He repeats the deer-stealing anecdote, with further +detail. As to his acting, Rowe reports, "Tho' I have inquir'd, I could +never meet with any further account of him this way than that the top of +his performance was the ghost in his own Hamlet." He corroborates the +general contemporary opinion of Shakespeare's fluency and spontaneity in +composition. As to his personality, he says, "Besides the advantages of +his wit, he was in himself a good-natur'd man, of great sweetness in his +manners and a most agreeable companion." Rowe credits Shakespeare with +having prevented his company from rejecting one of Jonson's plays at a +time when Jonson was altogether unknown, and is inclined to consider the +latter ungenerous in his critical remarks on Shakespeare. + +William Oldys, in his manuscript _Adversaria_, now in the British +Museum, reports a few further fragments of gossip, the chief of which +is that Shakespeare's brother Gilbert was discovered still living about +1660 and was questioned by some actors as to his memory of William. All +he could give them was a vague recollection of his having played the +part of Adam in _As You Like It_. + +Such are the most significant details which tradition, unauthenticated +but often plausible, has added to our knowledge of the documents. There +exists also a very considerable amount of literary allusion to +Shakespeare's productions from 1594 onwards, which is easily accessible +in collected form. The most notable of these are the comments of his +friend and contemporary, Ben Jonson. Besides the splendid eulogy +prefixed to the First Folio, Jonson talked of Shakespeare's lack of art +to Drummond of Hawthornden, and expressed himself with affection and +discrimination in the famous passage in _Timber_. + +After all allowances have been made for the inaccuracies of oral +tradition, we may safely gather from those concerning Shakespeare some +inferences which help to clothe the naked skeleton of the documented +facts. It is clear that, within a generation after Shakespeare's death, +common opinion both in Stratford and London recognized that in the actor +and dramatist a great man had passed away, that he had been in a worldly +sense highly successful, though starting from unpropitious beginnings, +that he wrote with great swiftness and ease, and that in his personal +relations he was gentle, kindly, genial, and witty. That the bailiff's +son who returned to his native town as a prosperous gentleman, is to be +identified with the actor and shareholder of the London theaters, and +with the author of the plays and poems, it is difficult to see how there +can remain any reasonable doubt; and, though the facts which prove this +identity contain little to illuminate the vast intellect and soaring +imagination which created Hamlet and Lear, they contain nothing +irreconcilable with the personality, which these creations imply rather +than reveal. + +[Page Heading: Evidence of the Sonnets] + +One further source of information about Shakespeare's personality has +figured largely in some biographies. The _Sonnets_ were published in +1609, evidently without Shakespeare's cooeperation or consent, with a +dedication by the publisher, Thomas Thorpe, to a Mr. W. H., "the onlie +begetter of these insuing sonnets." All attempts to identify this Mr. W. +H. have failed. He may have been merely the person who procured the +manuscript for Thorpe, though the language of the dedication seems to +imply that he was the young gentleman who is the subject of a +considerable number of the poems. Of this young gentleman and of a dark +lady who seems to have been the occasion of other of the sonnets, much +has been written, but no facts of Shakespeare's life have been +established beyond those which are obvious to every reader: that +Shakespeare wrote admiring and flattering sonnets to a young man who is +urged to marry (and who may have been the Earl of Southampton, or an +unknown Mr. W. H., or another); and that he treats of an intrigue with +some unknown woman. The identification of the young man of the first +seventeen sonnets with other friends who are praised in later sonnets is +not certain, though in some cases probable; and much research and +conjecture have entirely failed to make clear the relations between the +poet, the rival poet, the lady, and the friend. The _Sonnets_ furnish us +with no knowledge of Shakespeare's personal affairs, and only a meager +basis even for gossip as to some of his experiences with men and women. + +Another kind of inquiry has sought to discover in the sonnets not facts +or incidents of Shakespeare's life, but indications of his emotional +experiences. The results of such inquiry are manifestly outside the +scope of this chapter. For their discussion, the reader must be referred +to Professor Alden's introduction to the Tudor edition of the _Sonnets_. +Shakespeare's personality as it is reflected from his works will also be +considered in the concluding chapter of this volume. So much stress, +however, has been placed on interpretations of the sonnets, and these +have so often occupied an exaggerated place in his biography, that it +may be worth while to remark that whether these lyrical poems are +genuine and personal or are conventional and literary, and whether they +make the poet more clearly discernible or not, they must certainly be +taken not alone by themselves, but in connection with the dramas as +affording us an impression of the man who wrote them. Of the sonnets, +it may be said in almost the same words just now used of the documents +and traditions, that whether they contain much or little to illuminate +the vast intellect and soaring imagination which created Hamlet and +Lear, they contain nothing irreconcilable with the personality which +these creations imply rather than reveal. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +SHAKESPEARE'S READING + + +We have called the present chapter "Shakespeare's Reading" rather than +"The Learning of Shakespeare," because, apart from the famous line in +which Ben Jonson stated that the poet had "small Latin and less Greek," +it is evident from the allusions throughout the plays that Shakespeare +was a reader rather than a scholar. In other words, he used books for +what interested him; he did not study them for complete mastery; and +many and varied as are the traces of his literary interests, they have +the air of being detached fragments that have stuck in a plastic and +retentive mind, not pieces of systematic erudition. It is true that many +books have been written to show that Shakespeare had the knowledge of a +professional in law, medicine, navigation, theology, conveyancing, +hunting and hawking, horsemanship, politics, and other fields; but such +works are usually the products of enthusiasts in single subjects, who +are apt to forget how much a man of acute mind and keen observation can +pick up of a technical matter that interests him for the time, and how +intelligently he can use it. The cross-examination of an expert witness +by an able lawyer is an everyday illustration; and in the literature of +our own day this kind of versatility is strikingly exemplified in the +work of such a writer as Mr. Kipling. + +[Page Heading: School-Books] + +How Shakespeare learned to read and write his own tongue we do not know; +that he did learn hardly needs to be argued. The free grammar school at +Stratford-on-Avon, like other schools of its type, was named from its +function of teaching Latin grammar; and we may make what is known of the +curricula of such schools in the sixteenth century the basis for our +inferences as to what Shakespeare learned there. + +The accidence, with which the course began, was studied in Lily's +Grammar, and clear echoes of this well-known work are heard in the +conversation between Sir Hugh Evans and William Page in _The Merry Wives +of Windsor_, IV. i, in _1 Henry IV_, II. i. 104, in _Much Ado_, IV. i. +22, in _Love's Labour's Lost_, IV. ii. 82 (and perhaps, V. i. 10 and +84), in _Twelfth Night_, II. iii. 2, in _The Taming of the Shrew_, I. i. +167,--a line of Terence altered by Lily,--and in _Titus Andronicus_, IV. +ii. 20-23, where Demetrius reads two lines from Horace, and Chiron says, + + O, 'tis a verse in Horace; I know it well. + I read it in the grammar long ago. + +Such fragments of Latin as we find in the dialogue between Holofernes +and Nathaniel in _Love's Labour's Lost_, IV. ii, and V. i, are probably +due to some elementary phrase-book no longer to be identified. It is to +be noted how prominently this early comedy figures in the list of +evidences of his school-day memories. + +Among the first pieces of connected Latin prose read in the Elizabethan +schools was _AEsop's Fables_, a collection which, after centuries of +rewriting and re-compiling for adults, had come in the sixteenth century +to be regarded chiefly as a school-book, but allusions to which are +everywhere to be found in the literature of the day. In _2 Henry VI_, +III. i. 343, and _Richard II_, III. ii. 129, we find references to the +fable of "The Countryman and a Snake"; in _2 Henry VI_, III. i. 69, and +_Timon of Athens_, II. i. 28, to "The Crow in Borrowed Feathers"; in _2 +Henry VI_, III. i. 77, to "The Wolf in the Sheep's Skin"; in _King +John_, II. i. 139, to "The Ass in the Lion's Skin"; in _Henry V_, IV. +iii. 91, to "The Hunter and the Bear"; in _As You Like It_, I. i. 87, to +"The Dog that Lost his Teeth"; in _All's Well_, II. i. 71, to "The Fox +and the Grapes"; besides a number of slighter and less definite +allusions. The most detailed fable in Shakespeare, that of "The Belly +and the Members," in _Coriolanus_, I. i. 99, is derived, not from +_AEsop_, but from Plutarch's _Life of Coriolanus_. + +The traces of the well-known collection of sayings from various writers +called _Sententiae Pueriles_, and of the so-called _Distichs of Cato_, +both of which were commonly read in the second and third years, are only +slight. Battista Spagnuoli Mantuanus, whose _Eclogues_, written about +1500, had become a text-book, is honored with explicit mention as well +as quotation in _Love's Labour's Lost_, IV. ii. 95. Cicero, who was read +from the fourth year, has left his mark on only a phrase or two, in +spite of his importance in Renaissance culture; but Ovid is much more +important. The motto on the title-page of _Venus and Adonis_ is from the +_Amores_, and the matter of the poem is from _Metamorphoses_, X. 519 +ff., with features from the stories of Hermaphroditus and Salmacis +(_Meta._ IV. 285 ff.), and the hunting in Calydon (_Meta._ VIII. 270 +ff.). Ovid is quoted in Latin in three early plays; and even where a +translation was available, the phrasing of Shakespeare's allusions +sometimes shows knowledge of the original. Most of Ovid had been +translated into English before Shakespeare began to write, and Golding's +version of the _Metamorphoses_ (1567) was used for the references to the +Actaeon myth in _A Midsummer-Night's Dream_, IV. i. 107 ff., and for a +famous passage in _The Tempest_, V. i. 33. Livy, who had been translated +in 1545 according to Malone, seems to have been the chief source of +_Lucrece_, with some aid from Ovid's _Fasti_, II. 721 ff. Among other +Ovidian allusions are those to the story of Philomela, so pervasive in +_Titus Andronicus_; to the Medea myth in four or five passages; to +Narcissus and Echo, Phaeton, Niobe, Hercules, and a score more of the +familiar names of classical mythology. Pyramus and Thisbe Shakespeare +may have read about in Chaucer as well as in Ovid, but Bottom's +treatment of this story in _A Midsummer-Night's Dream_ gives but a +slight basis for proving literary relations. + +[Page Heading: Ovid] + +Virgil followed Ovid in the fifth year, and with Virgil, Terence. Of +direct knowledge of the latter the plays bear no trace, but of the +former there seems to be an influence in the description of the painting +of Troy in _Lucrece_, 1366 ff., and in two short Latin sentences in _2 +Henry VI_, II. i. 24, and IV. i. 117. Horace, Plautus, Juvenal, Persius, +and Seneca were the new authors taken up in the last years in school. +All the Horace in the plays may have been taken from other works, like +the passage already quoted from Lily's Grammar. Juvenal and Persius have +left no mark. The _Menaechmi_ and _Amphitruo_ of Plautus furnish the +basis for _The Comedy of Errors_, and no English translation of either +of these is known before that of the _Menaechmi_ in 1595, which some +critics think Shakespeare may have seen in manuscript. But no verbal +similarities confirm this conjecture, and there is no reason why the +dramatist should not have known both plays at first hand. + +The influence of Seneca is dramatically the most important among the +classical authors. All the plays that go by his name had been translated +into English in the first part of Elizabeth's reign; he was the main +channel through which the forms of classical tragedy reached the +Renaissance; and when Shakespeare began to write he was the dominant +force in the field of tragedy. This makes it hard to say whether the +Senecan features in _Titus Andronicus_, _Richard III_, and even +_Hamlet_, are due to Seneca directly, or to the tradition already well +established among Shakespeare's earlier contemporaries. + +[Page Heading: Results of Schooling] + +The impression which the evidence from the textbooks as a whole leaves +on one is that Shakespeare took from school enough Latin to handle an +occasional quotation[3] and to extract the plot of a play, but that he +probably preferred to use a translation when one was to be had. The +slight acquaintance shown with authors not always read at school, +Caesar, Livy, Lucan, and Pliny, does not materially alter this +impression. Much more conclusive as to the effect of his Latin training +than the literary allusions are the numerous words of Latin origin +either coined by Shakespeare, or used in such a way as to imply a +knowledge of their derivation. The discovery of a lost translation may +modify our views as to whether a particular author was used by him in +the original, but the evidence from his use of Romance words gives clear +proof that his schooling was no unimportant element in his mastery of +speech. + +[3] See the list in the appendix to Schmidt's _Lexicon_. + +Greek was occasionally begun in the Elizabethan grammar school, but we +do not know whether this was the case in Stratford. Certainly we have no +reason to believe that Shakespeare could read Greek, as all his +knowledge of Greek authors could have been obtained from translations, +and only two Greek words, _misanthropos_ and _threnos_, occur in his +writings. Yet no single author was so important in providing material +for the plays as the Greek Plutarch. His _Lives of Julius Caesar, Marcus +Brutus, Marcus Antonius_, and _Caius Martius Coriolanus_, in Sir Thomas +North's translation, are the direct sources of the great Roman +tragedies, and in a less important way the _Lives of Antonius_ and +_Alcibiades_ were used in _Timon of Athens_. Homeric elements are +discoverable in _Troilus and Cressida_, which derives mainly from the +medieval tradition. As the Trojan story was already familiar on the +stage, these need not have come from Chapman's Homer. The knowledge of +Lucian which seems implied in _Timon_ was probably not gained from the +Greek original. The late Greek romances, which were popular in +translation, may have been read by Shakespeare, since the reference to +the "Egyptian thief" in _Twelfth Night_, V. i. 120, is from the +_AEthiopica_ of Heliodorus, translated in 1569. Attempts have been made +by the assembling of parallel passages to prove a knowledge of Greek +tragedy on the part of Shakespeare, but such parallelisms are more +naturally explained as coincidences arising from the treatment of +analogous themes and situations. + +Of modern languages, French was the easiest for an Elizabethan +Englishman to acquire, and the French passages and scenes in _Henry V_ +make it fairly certain that Shakespeare had a working knowledge of this +tongue. Yet, as in the case of Latin, he seems to have preferred a +translation to an original when he could find it. Montaigne, whose +influence some have found pervasive in Shakespeare, he certainly used in +Gonzalo's account of his ideal commonwealth in _The Tempest_, II. i. +143 ff., but it seems that he employed Florio's translation here. +Rabelais's Gargantua is explicitly mentioned in _As You Like It_, III, +ii. 238, and the great humorist is possibly the inspirer of some of Sir +Andrew's nonsense in _Twelfth Night_, II. iii. 23. Many of the Sonnets +contain reminiscences of the French sonneteers of the sixteenth century, +and it is thought that in some cases Shakespeare shows direct +acquaintance with Ronsard. He was thus acquainted with the three +greatest French writers of his century, and French may well have been +the medium through which he reached authors in other languages. + +[Page Heading: French and Italian] + +The class of Italian literature with which Shakespeare shows most +acquaintance is that of the _novelle_, though there is no proof that he +could read the language. The _Decameron_ of Boccaccio contains the +love-story of _Cymbeline_, though there may have been an intermediary; +the plot of _All's Well_ came from the same collection, but had been +translated by Painter in his _Palace of Pleasure_; and the story of the +caskets in _The Merchant of Venice_ is found in a form closer to +Shakespeare's in the English translation of the _Gesta Romanorum_ than +in the _Decameron_. Thus we cannot conclude that the poet knew this work +as a whole. Similarly with Bandello and Cinthio. The plot of _Much Ado_ +is found in the former, and is translated by Belleforest into French, +but at least one detail seems to come from Ariosto, and here again an +intermediary is commonly conjectured. The novel from Cinthio's +_Hecatommithi_ which formed the basis of _Othello_ existed in a French +translation; and his form of the plot of _Measure for Measure_ came to +Shakespeare through the English dramatic version of George Whetstone. +The version of the bond story in _The Merchant of Venice_ closest to the +play is in _Il Pecorone_ of Sir Giovanni Fiorentino, but the tale is +widespread. Incidents in _The Merry Wives_ have sources or parallels in +the same work, in Straparola's _Piacevoli Notti_, and in Bandello, but +in both cases English versions were available. A mass of Italian and +French prototypes lies behind the plot of _Twelfth Night_, but most of +the details are to be found in the English _Apolonius and Silla_ of +Barnabe Riche, and there is reason to conjecture a lost English play on +the subject. _The Taming of the Shrew_, based on an extant older play, +draws also on Gascoigne's version of Ariosto's _I Suppositi_; and the +echoes of Petrarch in the Sonnets may well have come through French and +English imitators. The introduction of stock types from the Italian +drama, such as the pedant and the braggart-soldier, can be accounted for +by the previous knowledge of these in England, and does not imply a +first-hand reading of Italian literature. The negative position is still +stronger in the case of Spanish, where the use of episodes from George +of Montemayor's _Diana_ in _The Two Gentlemen_, _Twelfth Night_, and _A +Midsummer-Night's Dream_, can be supposed to be due to the author's +having access to Yonge's translation in manuscript, especially since +there is no other trace of Spanish influence. + +[Page Heading: Early English] + +The conclusion with regard to Italian and Spanish, then, seems to be +that Shakespeare in his search for plots was aware of the riches of the +_novelle_, but that he found what he wanted as a rule in English or +French versions; and that we have no evidence of his knowledge of +anything but fiction from these literatures. + +Turning now to English, we find Shakespeare's knowledge of books in his +own tongue beginning after the Conquest. The romances of the Middle Ages +were in the Elizabethan time rapidly undergoing the process of +degradation that was soon to end in the chap-books, but the material was +still widely known. The particular versions read by the dramatist can +rarely be determined on account of the slight nature of most of the +references, but we find allusions to the Arthurian romances, to _Guy of +Warwick_, _Bevis of Hampton_, _The Squire of Low Degree_, Roland and +Oliver, and to _Huon of Bordeaux_, from which last came the name of +Oberon as king of the fairies. Among popular ballads, those of Robin +Hood are frequently alluded to; the story of _King Cophetua and the +Beggar Maid_ appears in no fewer than five plays; Hamlet knew a ballad +on Jephtha's daughter, and Sir Toby one on the chaste Susanna. A large +number of popular songs appear in fragments; and rimes and spells, +current jests and anecdotes, combine with the fairy-lore of _A +Midsummer-Night's Dream_, _Romeo and Juliet_, and _The Merry Wives_ to +assure us that Shakespeare was thoroughly versed in the literature and +traditions of the people. + +His acquaintance with more formal letters begins with Chaucer, whose +_Knight's Tale_ contributed some details to _A Midsummer-Night's Dream_, +and the main plot of _The Two Noble Kinsmen_, in which Shakespeare is +now usually supposed to have had a hand. This story had, however, been +already dramatized by Richard Edwardes. More certainly direct is his +knowledge of Chaucer's _Troilus_, which, with Caxton's _Recuyell of the +Historyes of Troye_, is the main source of _Troilus and Cressida_. The +references to the leprosy of Cressida are due to Henryson's _Testament +of Creseide_, a Scots sequel to Chaucer's poem, printed in the sixteenth +century editions of the older poet's works. In the _Legend of Good +Women_ he may have found the story of Pyramus, and a version of the +tragedy of Lucrece, to supplement his main sources in Livy and Ovid. +Chaucer's contemporary Gower contributed to his stock the story of +Florent (_Taming of the Shrew_, I. ii. 69) from the _Confessio Amantis_, +and from the same collection a version of the tale of _Apollonius of +Tyre_, dramatized by Shakespeare and another in _Pericles_. + +[Page Heading: Contemporary Literature] + +With the non-dramatic literature produced by Shakespeare's +contemporaries, we naturally find most evidence of his acquaintance in +the case of those books which provided material for his plays. Thus the +otherwise obscure Arthur Brooke, whose poem _Romeus and Juliet_ is the +chief source of the tragedy, is much more prominent in such an +enumeration as the present than he probably was in Shakespeare's view of +the literature of the day. Painter, whose version of the same story in +his _Palace of Pleasure_ cannot be shown to have been used much, if at +all, by the dramatist, seems nevertheless to have been known to him; and +we hardly need evidence that Shakespeare must have kept a watchful eye +on similar collections of stories, such as Whetstone's, Riche's, and +Pettie's. Of the greater writers of imaginative literature there is none +missing from the list of those he knew, though, as has been implied, the +evidence is not always proportionate to the greatness; and some +prominent figures in other fields, such as Hooker and Bacon, do not +appear. Spenser, who is supposed to have alluded to Shakespeare in +_Colin Clout's come home again_ and, less probably, in _The Teares of +the Muses_, is in turn alluded to in _A Midsummer-Night's Dream_, V. i. +52; and his version of the story of Lear in _The Faerie Queene_, II. x, +is believed to have given Shakespeare his form of the name Cordelia. +Evidence is more abundant in the case of Sir Philip Sidney. The +under-plot of _King Lear_ is based on the story of the blind king of +Paphlagonia in the _Arcadia_, and Sidney's sonnets, along with those of +Daniel, Drayton, Constable, Watson, and Barnes, formed the main channel +through which the French and Italian influences reached Shakespeare's. +However we may estimate the original element in his sonnets, and in our +opinion it is very great, there is no question of the author's having +had a thorough familiarity with contemporary sonnetteers. + +Similarly we can be certain that he had read many of the elaborate +narrative poems then in vogue, a class to which he contributed _Venus +and Adonis_, _Lucrece_, and _A Lover's Complaint_. Daniel's _Rosamond_ +and Marlowe's _Hero and Leander_ especially have left many traces, and +Daniel's _Barons' Wars_ is intimately related to _Richard II_ and _Henry +IV_. The longer prose fictions of the time he also watched, and Lyly's +_Euphues_ contributed the germ of a number of passages, as Lodge's +_Rosalynde_ and Greene's _Pandosto_ supplied the plots of _As You Like +It_ and _The Winter's Tale_ respectively. + +Reference has already been made to his knowledge of folk beliefs about +fairies. To this should be added other supernatural beliefs, especially +as to ghosts, devils, and witches, evidence of his familiarity with +which will occur to every one. Matters of this sort were much discussed +in his time, the frequency of ghosts in Senecan plays having made them +conspicuous in Elizabethan imitations, and religious controversy having +stimulated interest in demonology. Several important books appeared on +the subject, and one of these at least Shakespeare read, Harsnett's +_Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures_, for from it Edgar, as Poor +Tom in _King Lear_, derived many of the names and phrases which occur in +his pretended ravings. + +The most useful book in all his reading, if we judge by the amount of +his work that is based on it, was the second edition of the _Chronicles +of England, Scotland, and Ireland_, compiled by Raphael Holinshed. With +it he used the work by Hall on _The Union of Lancaster and York_, the +_Chronicles_ of Grafton and of Fabyan, and the _Annals_ of John Stowe. +On these were based the greater number of the historical plays, +_Macbeth_, and the political part of _Cymbeline_. In the case of _Henry +VIII_ there should be added the _Acts and Monuments_, better known as +the _Book of Martyrs_, of John Foxe. + +[Page Heading: Contemporary Drama] + +To deal adequately with Shakespeare's reading in the plays of his time +would be to write a history of the Elizabethan drama. Older dramatists, +like Preston, Gascoigne, and Whetstone, he knew, for he quotes +_Cambyses_, and from the two last he derives material for the plots of +_The Taming of the Shrew_ and _Measure for Measure_. Anonymous writers +supplied the older plays on which he based _King John, King Lear_, and +_Hamlet_, parts of _Henry V_ and _VI_, and of _Richard III_, and +probably others. Allusions prove a familiarity with all of Marlowe's +dramas; _Hamlet_ is indebted to the tradition of which Kyd was one of +the founders; Lyly taught him much in the handling of light comic +dialogue; and he quotes lines from Peele. Greene's contribution is less +specifically marked; but Shakespeare's profession of acting, as well as +that of play-writing, of necessity made him acquainted with the whole +dramatic production of the time. Thus, as has been stated in a previous +chapter, he acted in several of Jonson's plays, and a good case has been +made out for his modelling his last comedies on the new successes of +Beaumont and Fletcher. + +No Englishman of that day was insensible to what was going on in +exploration and conquest of the Western World; and in _The Tempest_, +_Othello_, and other plays we have clear ground for stating that +Shakespeare shared this interest, and read books like Eden's _History of +Travayle in the West and East Indies_, Raleigh's _Discoverie of Guiana_, +and such pamphlets as were used in the vast compilation of Richard +Hakluyt. The scientific knowledge implied in the plays reflects current +beliefs, and must have been derived from such works as Pliny, _Batman +uppon Bartholome his Booke De Proprietatibus Rerum_, and from +conversation. + +Finally, Shakespeare knew his Bible. Several volumes have been written +to exhibit the extent of this knowledge, and it has been shown by Anders +that he knew both the Genevan and the Great Bible, as well as the Prayer +Book. + +Taken all together, the amount of literature indicated by this summary +account of the evidences in the plays and poems abundantly proves the +statement that Shakespeare, if not a scholar, was a man of wide and +varied reading. When it is further considered that only a fraction of +what any author reads leaves a mark that can be identified on what he +writes, we shall readily allow that in the matter of study Shakespeare +showed an activity and receptivity of mind that harmonizes with the +impression received from his creative work. + +[Page Heading: His Reading Typical] + +It agrees with our impressions of him derived from other sources also, +that his reading reflects not so much idiosyncrasies of taste as the +prevalent literary interests of the day. Thus in Latin literature the +most conspicuous author among general readers, as distinguished from +scholars, was Ovid, whose romantic narratives appealed to a time which +reveled in tales gathered from all quarters; and this same prominence of +Ovid has been shown to exist among the classical authors known to the +dramatist. Similarly his use of chronicles like that of Holinshed merely +reflects a widespread interest in national history; and Shakespeare +shared the popular interest in the translations of _novelle_ and the +like that poured in from the Continent. The age of Elizabeth was an age +of great expansion in reading--especially in the literature of +entertainment. For the first time since the introduction of printing the +people were free to indulge in books as a recreation, and the enormous +growth of publishing in this era indicates the response to the new +demand. In all this Shakespeare took part, and the evidences appear in +his works so far as the nature of their themes permitted it. But the +drama gave no opportunity for anything but passing allusions to +scientific, philosophical, and religious matters, so that direct +evidence is lacking as to how far Shakespeare was acquainted with what +was being written in these fields. On the other hand, the profundity of +his insight into human motive and behavior, the evidences of prolonged +and severe meditation on human life and the ways of the world, and the +richness of the philosophical generalizations that lie just below the +surface of his greater plays, make it difficult to believe that in these +fields also he did not join in the intellectual activity of his day. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CHRONOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT + + +The value of a knowledge of the order in which an author's works were +composed no longer needs to be argued. The development of power and +skill which such knowledge reveals is an important part of biography, +and an individual work is more surely interpreted when we know the +period and the circumstances of the author's life in which it was +written, and what other works, by himself and his fellows, lie nearest +in point of time. Without a knowledge of chronology, the indebtedness of +contemporary authors to one another and the growth of literary forms +cannot be determined. + +The fact, so often to be insisted upon, that at the beginning of +Shakespeare's career stage plays were hardly regarded as literature at +all and were not published by their authors, deprives us of the evidence +usually afforded by date of publication. We are thus forced to have +recourse to a variety of more or less casually recorded data, and to +indications of differences of maturity in style and matter which are +often much less clear than could be wished. Before giving the results of +the research that has been pursued for a century and a half, it will be +worth while to enumerate the most fruitful methods which have been +employed, and the sorts of evidence available. + +Of purely external evidence, the chief kinds are these: records of the +performance of plays in letters, diaries, accounts, and the like; +quotation, allusion, imitation, or parody in other works; entries in the +books of the Master of the Revels at Court, and in the Register of the +Stationers' Company; dates on the title-pages of the plays themselves; +facts and traditions about the life of the author; dates in the lives of +actors and in the careers of companies known to have performed the +plays, and in the histories of theaters in which they were presented. +Instances of some of these are the manuscript which tells of a +performance of _The Comedy of Errors_ at Gray's Inn in 1594; the diary +of the quack, Dr. Simon Forman, who witnessed performances of _Macbeth, +Cymbeline_, and _The Winter's Tale_ at the Globe in 1610 and 1611; the +appreciation of Shakespeare, with a list of a dozen plays by him, in the +_Palladis Tamia_[4] of Francis Meres, 1598; and the pamphlets on +Somers's voyage to Virginia, which offered suggestions for _The +Tempest_. + +[4] See Appendix A, 13. + +Partly external and partly internal are the evidences derived from +allusions in the plays to current events, personal or political, such as +the reference in the Prologue to _Henry V_ to the expedition of Essex to +Ireland in 1599; references to other books, like the quotation from +Marlowe in _As You Like It_, III. v. 82; references from one play of +Shakespeare's to another, like the promise in the Epilogue to _2 Henry +IV_ to "continue the story, with Sir John in it, and make you merry with +fair Katherine of France." + +[Page Heading: Kinds of Evidence] + +The purely internal evidence is seldom as specific as the external, and +requires to be handled with much judgment and caution. Most difficult in +this class is the weighing of considerations of a moral or esthetic +nature; for, though these are often powerful in their effect on the +individual reader, they are usually incapable of proof to another person +with different tastes and a different point of view. Of such tests, +those afforded by a study of the methods used in the treatment of plot +and in the development of character are perhaps the least subjective. +Somewhat more palpable are the changing characteristics of style. The +number and nature of classical allusions and Latin words and quotations; +the kind and degree of elaboration of figures of speech, puns, conceits, +and the like; diffuseness or concentration in the expression of thought; +artificiality or lifelikeness in the treatment of dialogue; the use of +prose or verse; the employment of oaths, checked by statute shortly +after the accession of James I: these are the main aspects of style +which can be used in determining, not exact dates, but the period of +Shakespeare's activity within which a given work falls. More capable of +mechanical calculation than the tests of either matter or style are +those derived from changes in versification, though here too there is +often a subjective element in the reckoning. The more important metrical +tests include the following: the frequency of rhyme, whether in the +heroic couplet or, as not uncommonly occurs in early plays, in +alternates and even such elaborate arrangements as the sonnet; doggerel +lines; alexandrines, or lines of twelve syllables; the presence of an +extra syllable before a pause within the line; short lines, especially +at the end of speeches; the substitution of other feet for the regular +iambic movement of blank verse; weak and light endings; and, most +valuable, the position of the pause in the line ("end-stopped" or "run +on"), and feminine endings or hypermetrical lines, such as + + "These many summers in a sea of glor-y." + +Many of these variable features were not consciously manipulated by the +author; and, even when a general drift in a certain direction is clearly +observable in his practice with regard to them, it is not to be assumed +that his progress was perfectly regular, without leaps forward and +occasional returns to an earlier usage. It is to be noted also that the +subject and atmosphere of a particular play might induce a metrical +treatment of a special kind, in which case the verse tests would yield +evidence not primarily chronological at all. Nevertheless, when all +allowances have been made and all due caution exercised, it will be +found that the indications of the versification corroborate and +supplement the external evidences in a valuable way. + +[Page Heading: Metrical Tests] + + +TABLE I + +========================================================================= + | | | | | % | | % | + | | | | |BLANK | |SPEECHES|NO. OF + |TOTAL | | |PENTA-|VERSE | % |ENDING |LIGHT + |NO. OF| |BLANK |METER |W. FEM.|RUN-ON|WITHIN |AND WEAK + |LINES |PROSE |VERSE |RHYMES|ENDINGS|LINES |THE LINE|ENDINGS +------------+------+------+------+------+-------+------+--------+-------- +L. L. L. | 2789 | 1086 | 579 | 1028 | 7.7 | 18.4 | 10.0 | 3 +C. of E. | 1770 | 240 | 1150 | 380 | 16.6 | 12.9 | 0.6 | 0 +T. G. V. | 2060 | 409 | 1510 | 116 | 18.4 | 12.4 | 5.8 | 0 +R. III | 3599 | 55 | 3374 | 170 | 19.5 | 13.1 | 2.9 | 4 +K. J. | 2553 | 0 | 2403 | 150 | 6.3 | 17.7 | 12.7 | 7 +R. & J. | 3002 | 405 | 2111 | 486 | 8.2 | 14.2 | 14.9 | 7 +M. N. D. | 2251 | 441 | 878 | 731 | 7.3 | 13.2 | 17.3 | 1 +R. II | 2644 | 0 | 2107 | 537 | 11.0 | 19.9 | 7.3 | 4 +Merch. | 2705 | 673 | 1896 | 93 | 17.6 | 21.5 | 22.2 | 7 +1 Hy. IV | 3170 | 1464 | 1622 | 84 | 5.1 | 22.8 | 14.2 | 7 +2 Hy. IV | 3437 | 1860 | 1417 | 74 | 16.3 | 21.4 | 16.8 | 1 +M. W. W. | 3018 | 2703 | 227 | 69 | 27.2 | 20.1 | 20.5 | 1 +Hy. V | 3320 | 1531 | 1678 | 101 | 20.5 | 21.8 | 18.3 | 2 +M. Ado. | 2823 | 2106 | 643 | 40 | 22.9 | 19.3 | 20.7 | 2 +J. C. | 2440 | 165 | 2241 | 34 | 19.7 | 19.3 | 20.3 | 10 +A. Y. L. I. | 2904 | 1681 | 925 | 71 | 25.5 | 17.1 | 21.6 | 2 +T. N. | 2684 | 1741 | 763 | 120 | 25.6 | 14.7 | 36.3 | 4 +T. & C. | 3423 | 1186 | 2025 | 196 | 23.8 | 27.4 | 31.3 | 6 +A. W. W. | 2981 | 1453 | 1234 | 280 | 29.4 | 28.4 | 74.0 | 13 +Hml. | 3924 | 1208 | 2490 | 81 | 22.6 | 23.1 | 51.6 | 8 +Meas. | 2809 | 1134 | 1574 | 73 | 26.1 | 23.0 | 51.4 | 7 +Oth. | 3324 | 541 | 2672 | 86 | 28.1 | 19.5 | 41.4 | 2 +Lear. | 3298 | 903 | 2238 | 74 | 28.5 | 29.3 | 60.9 | 6 +Mcb. | 1993 | 158 | 1588 | 118 | 26.3 | 36.6 | 77.2 | 23 +A. & C. | 3064 | 255 | 2761 | 42 | 26.5 | 43.3 | 77.5 | 99 +Cor. | 3392 | 829 | 2521 | 42 | 28.4 | 45.9 | 79.0 | 104 +Cym. | 3448 | 638 | 2505 | 107 | 30.7 | 46.0 | 85.0 | 130 +W. T. | 2750 | 844 | 1825 | 0 | 32.9 | 37.5 | 87.6 | 100 +Tmp. | 2068 | 458 | 1458 | 2 | 35.4 | 41.5 | 84.5 | 67 +========================================================================= + + +TABLE II + +COLLABORATED PLAYS + +========================================================================= + | | | | | % | | % | + | | | | |BLANK | |SPEECHES|NO. OF + |TOTAL | | |PENTA-|VERSE | % |ENDING |LIGHT + |NO. OF| |BLANK |METER |W. FEM.|RUN-ON|WITHIN |AND WEAK + |LINES |PROSE |VERSE |RHYMES|ENDINGS|LINES |THE LINE|ENDINGS +------------+------+------+------+------+-------+------+--------+-------- +1 Hy. VI | 2693 | 0 | 2379 | 314 | 8.2 | 10.4 | 0.5 | 4 +2 Hy. VI | 3032 | 448 | 2562 | 122 | 13.7 | 11.4 | 1.1 | 3 +3 Hy. VI | 2904 | 0 | 2749 | 155 | 13.7 | 9.5 | 0.9 | 3 +T. And. | 2525 | 43 | 2338 | 144 | 8.6 | 12.0 | 2.5 | 5 +T. of S. | 2671 | 516 | 1971 | 169 | 17.7 | 8.1 | 3.6 | 14 +T. of A. | 2358 | 596 | 1560 | 184 | 24.7 | 32.5 | 62.8 | 30 (S) +Per. | 2386 | 418 | 1436 | 225 | 20.2 | 18.2 | 71.0 | 82 (S) +Hy. VIII | 2754 | 67 | 2613 | 16 | 47.3 | 46.3 | 72.4 | 84 (S) +T. N. K. | 2734 | 179 | 2468 | 54 | 43.7 | | | +========================================================================= + +The accompanying Tables[5] give the detailed results of investigations +along these lines, and a study of the data therein contained will reveal +both their possibilities and their limitations. In Tables I and II the +order of the plays is approximately that of the dates of their +composition (virtually the same as the dates of first performance). The +second and third columns cannot be regarded as giving any clue to +chronology, except that they show that in the dramas written under the +influence of Marlowe prose is comparatively rare. Elsewhere Shakespeare +employed prose for a variety of purposes: for low comedy, as in the +tavern scenes in _Henry IV_, and the scenes in which Sir Toby figures in +_Twelfth Night_; for repartee, as in the wit-combats of Beatrice and +Benedick; for purely intellectual and moralizing speeches, such as +Hamlet's over the skull of Yorick. On the other hand, highly emotional +scenes are usually in verse, as are romantic passages like the +conversation of Lorenzo and Jessica in the moonlight at Belmont, or the +dialogues of Fenton and Anne Page, which contrast with the realistic +prose of the rest of the _Merry Wives_ and also the artificial +pastoralism of Silvius and Ph[oe]be in _As You Like It_. Few absolute +rules can be laid down in the matter, but study of Shakespeare's +practice reveals an admirable tact in his choice of medium. + +[5] The figures here given are based in columns 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the +calculations of Fleay; in 5, 6, and 7 on those of Koenig; and in 8 on +those of Ingram. (S) = Shakespeare's scenes. + +[Page Heading: Metrical Tests] + +The frequency of rhyme, as shown in the fourth column, has more relation +to date. While there is no very steady gradation, it is clear that in +his earlier plays he used rhyme freely, while at the close of his career +he had practically abandoned it. The large number of rhymes in _A +Midsummer-Night's Dream_ and _Romeo and Juliet_ is accounted for mainly +by the prevailing lyrical tone of a great part of these plays, while, on +the other hand, in _All's Well_ it probably points to survivals of an +earlier first form of this comedy. It ought to be noted that, in the +figures given here, the rhyming lines in the play scene in _Hamlet_, the +vision in _Cymbeline_, the masque in _The Tempest_, and the Prologue +and Epilogue of _Henry VIII_ are not reckoned. + +More significant are the percentages in columns five, six, and seven. +Before 1598, feminine endings never reach twenty per cent of the total +number of pentameter lines; after that date they are practically always +above that number, and show a fairly steady increase to the thirty-five +per cent of _The Tempest_. The variations of run-on lines (which, of +course, carry with them the frequency of pauses within the line, and +inversely the growing rarity of end-stopped lines) are closely parallel +to those of the feminine endings; while the increase in the proportion +of speeches ending within the line is still more striking. In _The +Comedy of Errors_ this phenomenon hardly occurs at all; in _The Tempest_ +it happens in over eighty-four per cent of the speeches, the increase +being especially regular after 1598. Yet in some cases other causes are +operative. Thus cuts and revisions of plays were apt to leave broken +lines at the ends of speeches, and the comparatively high percentages in +_Love's Labour's Lost_, _Romeo and Juliet_, and _All's Well_ are +probably in part due to these causes. + +The phenomena recorded in the last column are peculiar. Previous to the +date of _Macbeth_ it appears that Shakespeare practically avoided ending +a line with light or weak words such as prepositions, conjunctions, and +auxiliary verbs, but that from about 1606 to the end he employed them in +proportions ranging from 3.53 per cent in _Antony and Cleopatra_ to +7.14 per cent in his part of _Henry VIII_. + +[Page Heading: Risks of Error] + +The figures for plays not wholly written by Shakespeare are naturally +less significant, and have therefore been given separately; yet, on the +whole, they show the same general tendencies in the use of meter. + +It will be observed that while the developments suggested by the +different columns are fairly consistent, they do not absolutely agree in +any two cases, and can obviously be used, as has been said, only to +corroborate other evidence in placing a play in a period, not to fix a +precise year. Further, in the calculations involved, there are many +doubtful cases calling for the exercise of individual judgment, +especially as to what constitutes a run-on line, or a light or weak +ending. Thus Professor Bradley differs from Koenig in several cases as to +the figures given in the seventh column, counting the percentage of +speeches ending within the line as 57 for _Hamlet_, 54 for _Othello_, 69 +for _King Lear_, and 75 for _Macbeth_. For Acts III, IV, and V of +_Pericles_, the 71 per cent is Bradley's, for which Koenig's 17.1 is +clearly a mistake. Serious as are such discrepancies, and suggestive of +a need for a general re-counting of all the more significant phenomena, +they are not so great as to shake the faith of any scholar who has +seriously studied the matter in the usefulness of metrical tests as an +aid in the settling of the chronology. + + +TABLE III + +========================================================================== + PERIODS | COMEDIES | HISTORIES | TRAGEDIES +---------+-----------------------+-----------------+---------------------- + | L. L. L. 1591 | 1 Hy. VI 1590-1 | + | C. of E. 1591 | 2 Hy. VI 1590-2 | + I | T. G. of V. 1591-2 | 3 Hy. VI 1590-2 | + | | R. III 1593 | + | | K. J. 1593 | T. And. 1593-4 +---------+-----------------------+-----------------+---------------------- + | M. N. D. 1594-5 | R. II 1595 | R. and J. 1594-5 + | M. of V. 1595-6 | | + | T. of S. 1596-7 | 1 Hy. IV 1597 | + II | M. W. of W. 1598 | 2 Hy. IV 1598 | + | M. Ado 1599 | Hy. V 1599 | J. Caes. 1599 + | A. Y. L. I. 1599-1600 | | + | Tw. N. 1601 | | +---------+-----------------------+-----------------+---------------------- + | T. & C. 1601-2 | | + | A. Well 1602 | | + | Meas. 1603 | | Ham. 1602, 1603 + | | | Oth. 1604 + III | | | Lear 1605-6 + | | | Mach. 1606 + | | | T. of Ath. 1607 + | Per. 1607-8 | | A. & Cl. 1607-8 + | | | Cor. 1609 +---------+-----------------------+-----------------+---------------------- + | Cymb. 1610 | | + | W. Tale 1611 | | + IV | Temp. 1611 | | + | T. N. K. 1612-13 | Hy. VIII 1612 | + | | | +========================================================================== + +[Page Heading: First Period] + +Table III gives a summary of the results of all the kinds of evidence +available as recorded in the introduction to individual plays in the +Tudor Shakespeare. The classification into Comedies, Histories, and +Tragedies draws attention at once to the changes in the type of drama on +which Shakespeare concentrated his main attention, and suggests the +usual division of his activity into four periods. In the first of these, +extending from the beginning of his writing (perhaps earlier than 1590) +to the end of 1593, he attempted practically all the forms of drama then +in vogue. Plays which were given him to revise, or in which he was +invited to collaborate, may naturally be supposed to have preceded +independent efforts, and his still undetermined share in _Henry VI_ is +usually regarded as his earliest dramatic production. What he learned in +this field of tragic history from his more experienced fellows may be +seen in _Richard III_, in which he can be observed following in the +footsteps of Marlowe in the treatment of meter, in the rhetorical and +lyrical nature of the dialogue, and in the conception of the central +character. Even less of his individual quality is to be discerned in the +field of tragedy, for the most that can be claimed for him in _Titus +Andronicus_ is the re-combination of the repellent episodes of that +crude specimen of the tragedy of blood, and the rewriting of the lines +which occasionally cloak the horrors with passages of poetry. If, as is +unlikely, the first form of _Romeo and Juliet_ was written in this +period, the extant form must show it so radically revised that it leaves +us little ground for generalization as to his power in tragedy in this +first period. + +It was in comedy that Shakespeare first showed originality. _Love's +Labour's Lost_ is one of the few plays whose plots seem to have been due +to his own invention; and full of sparkle and grace as it is, it bears +obvious marks of the _tour de force_, the young writer's conscious +testing of his powers in social satire, in comic situation, and most of +all in verbal mastery and the manipulation of dialogue. In _The Comedy +of Errors_ he had the advantage of a definite model in the well-defined +type of the Plautian comedy; but here again in the doubling of the twins +and the elaboration of the entanglements there are traces of the +beginner's delight in technic for its own sake. The clearly contrasted +types in the two pairs of heroes and heroines of _The Two Gentlemen of +Verona_ point to a conscious effort in characterization, as the author's +attention had been concentrated on dialogue and on situation in the +other two comedies of this group. Thus, regarding the variety of kind +and the nature of his achievement in these first eight or nine plays, we +can hardly fail to acquiesce in the general opinion that views the first +period as one of experiment. + +[Page Heading: Second Period] + +The chronicle history was the Elizabethan dramatic form whose +possibilities were first exhausted. _King John_ had been only a making +over of an earlier work, and perhaps the most significant single change +Shakespeare made was the excision of the anti-Romanist bias which in the +older play had made John a Protestant hero. Yet this history voices, +too, in the speeches of Faulconbridge, that patriotic enthusiasm which +finds fuller expression in the dying Gaunt's eulogy of England in +_Richard II_, and culminates in the triumphant heroics of _Henry V_. +This national enthusiasm, especially ebullient in the years following +the Great Armada, is justly to be regarded as an important condition of +the flourishing of these plays on English history; and it is natural to +suppose that the ebbing of this spirit in the closing years of +Elizabeth's reign is not unconnected with the decline of this dramatic +type. There are, however, other causes clearly perceptible. The material +was nearly exhausted. Almost every prominent national figure for the +three hundred years before the founding of the Tudor dynasty had been +put upon the stage; and to come down to more recent times was to meddle +with matters of controversy, the ashes of which were not yet cold. The +reign of Henry VIII was not touched till after the death of Elizabeth, +and the nature of the treatment given to the court of her father by +Shakespeare and Fletcher corroborates our view. Further, the growing +mastery of technic which is so clearly perceptible in the comedies of +the second period must have been accompanied by a restlessness under the +hampering conditions as to the manipulation of character and plot which +were imposed by the less plastic material of the chronicles. Some effort +towards greater freedom the dramatist made in the later histories. The +earlier plays of this class had been prevailingly tragic; but now he +supplemented and enlivened the political element with the comic scenes +which gave us Falstaff; yet these scenes, brilliant as they are in +dialogue and superb in characterization, are of necessity little more +than episodes. The form had served its purpose as an outlet for national +feeling, but it was now outgrown. So distinguished, however, is +Shakespeare's achievement in this kind that we might be almost justified +in calling this second period that of the culmination of the chronicle +history. + +The main objection to this title lies in his contemporary +accomplishment in comedy. _A Midsummer-Night's Dream_ and _The Merchant +of Venice_, the one in its graceful poetic fancy and dainty lyricism, +the other in its balanced treatment of all the elements of dramatic +effectiveness--action, character, and dialogue,--exhibit the dramatist +in complete control of his technical instruments, the creator of +masterpieces of romantic comedy. _The Taming of the Shrew_ is a more or +less perfunctory revision, probably in collaboration, of an older farce +comedy; _The Merry Wives of Windsor_ bears on its face corroboration of +the tradition that it was written to order in a fortnight. The power in +high comedy first fully shown in _The Merchant of Venice_ reaches its +supreme pitch in the three plays composed at the turn of the century, +_Much Ado about Nothing_, _As You Like It_, and _Twelfth Night_. In each +of these a romantic love-tale, laid in some remote holiday world, is +taken up, given a specific atmosphere, acted out by a group of +delightful creations who are endowed with intellect, wit, and natural +affection, bathed in poetic imagination, and yet handled with sufficient +naturalism to awaken and hold our human sympathies. No more purely +delightful form of dramatic art has ever been contrived; none has ever +been treated so as to yield more fully its appropriate charm; so that in +view of the completeness of the artist's success we are bound to call +the period which closed with the first year of the seventeenth century +the triumph of comedy. + +[Page Heading: Third Period] + +_Julius Caesar_, the first of the plays dealing with Roman history, may +have been written before 1600, but, whether it preceded _Hamlet_ by one +year or three, it forms a gradual introduction to the group of the great +tragedies. Masterly as it is in its delineation of types, rich in +political wisdom and the knowledge of human nature, splendid in +rhetoric, it still fails to rise to the intensity of passion that marks +the succeeding dramas. In _Hamlet_, _Othello_, _King Lear_, and +_Macbeth_, Shakespeare at length faced the great fundamental forces that +operate in individual, family, and social life, realized especially +those that make for moral and physical disaster, took account alike of +the deepest tendencies in character and of the mystery of external fate +or accident, exhibited these in action and reaction, in their simplicity +and their complexity, and wrought out a series of spectacles of the pity +and terror of human suffering and human sin without parallel in the +modern world. In these stupendous tragedies he availed himself of all +the powers with which he was endowed and all the skill which he had +acquired. His verse has liberated itself from the formalism and monotony +that had marked it in the earlier plays, and is now free, varied, +responsive to every mood and every type of passion; the language is +laden almost to the breaking point with the weight of thought; the +dialogue ranges from the lightest irony to heart-rending pathos and +intolerable denunciation; the characters lose all semblance of +artificial creations and challenge criticism and analysis like any +personage in history; the action is pregnant with the profoundest +significance. Hardly, if at all, less powerful are the later tragedies +of the Roman group. _Antony and Cleopatra_ is unsurpassed for the +intensity of its picture of passion, for its superb mastery of language, +for its relentless truth. The more somber scenes of _Coriolanus_ convey +a tragedy which either on its personal or its political side scarcely +yields to its predecessors in poignancy and gloom. Whatever else he may +have written in these years, here is surely the period of tragedy. + +Nor do the plays classed as comedies and falling in the first three +years of the new century seriously modify this impression of the +prevailing tone of the period. _Troilus and Cressida_, _All's Well that +Ends Well_, and _Measure for Measure_ present a marked contrast to the +romantic comedy of the preceding stage. The love-story of the first +deals with a coquette and ends sordidly; while in the political plot, +though it gives occasion for speeches full of weighty thinking, jealousy +and intrigue overwhelm the heroic element. The second, alone of +Shakespeare's comedies, has a hero who is a rake; and, skilful as is the +delineation of Helena, it needs all the dramatist's power to hold our +sympathy and to force us to an unwilling assent to the title. _Measure +for Measure_ has its scene laid in a city seething in moral corruption: +out of this rises the central situation of the play; and the presence of +the most idealistic of Shakespeare's heroines does not avail to +counterbalance the atmosphere of sin and death that mocks the +conventional happy ending, and makes this play, even more than the two +others, seem more in place among the tragedies than among the comedies. + +[Page Heading: Fourth Period] + +The plays of the last period are, in the Folio, classed with comedies, +and such no doubt they are if judged merely by the nature of their +denouements. But if we consider their characteristic note, and the fact +that through the greater part of each play the forces and passions +involved are rather those operative in tragedy than in comedy, we easily +perceive why they have been classed as tragi-comedies or dramatic +romances. _Pericles_ in many respects stands apart from the other three +in nature as well as in date, for it is a dramatization of an old Greek +romance, and in it the hand of another than Shakespeare is only too +evident. Yet it shares with the others certain common features: like +_The Tempest_ it has scenes at sea; all four deal with the separation +and reuniting of families; all show us sympathetic figures deeply +wronged and finally overcoming their injurers by forgiveness. The +abounding high spirits of the earlier comedies are here replaced by a +mood of calm assurance of the ultimate triumph of good and a placid +faith that survives a rude acquaintance with the evil that is in men's +hearts. No period has a more distinctive quality than this of the +dramatic romances, in which the dramatist, on the eve of his retirement +from London, gave his imagination free play, and in both character and +action stamped his last creations with the mark of a lofty idealism. + +[Page Heading: Interpretation of Periods] + +The obvious fitness of this fourfold division into periods inevitably +raises the question of its causes, and attempts at an answer have run +along two main lines. One of these has been followed out with much +eloquence and persuasiveness by Professor Dowden, whose phrases "In the +Workshop," "In the World," "In the Depths," "On the Heights," to +describe the four periods, point clearly enough to the kind of +significance which he finds in the changes in mood and type of play. +With the first of these phrases few will be disposed to quarrel. In his +period of experiment Shakespeare's style was as yet comparatively +unformed, and his attention was so much occupied with problems of +technic that even the most psychological of critics finds here little +revelation of personality, and must be content to describe the stage as +one of professional apprenticeship. In the terms used of the three later +periods, however, there is an implication that the tone and mood of the +plays in each are the direct reflection of the emotional experiences +through which the poet himself was passing at the period of their +composition. But this is to take for granted a theory of the relation +between artist and production which has against it the general testimony +of creator and critic alike. It is not at the pitch of an emotional +experience that an artist successfully transmutes his life into art, but +in retrospect, when his recollective imagination reproduces his mood in +a form capable of being expressed without being dissipated. Of course, +Shakespeare must have lived and enjoyed and suffered intensely; but this +does not commit us to a belief in an immediate turning to account of +personal experience in the writing of drama. His boy, Hamnet, died in +1596, about the time that he was writing _The Merchant of Venice_ and +the rollicking farce of _The Taming of the Shrew_, and just before he +conceived Falstaff; it was fourteen years later that he gave us the +pathetic figure of the young Mamillius in _The Winter's Tale_. From all +we know of his personal life, the years of _King Lear_ and _Othello_ +were years of abounding prosperity. The _lacrimae rerum_ that touch the +mind in these stupendous tragedies are the outcome of profound +meditation and vivid imagination, not the accompaniment of a cry of +instant pain. However we are to reconstruct the spiritual biography of +Shakespeare, it is clear that it is by no such simple reading of his +life in terms of his treatment of comic or tragic themes. + +The other line of explanation will suggest itself to any thoughtful +student who contemplates the facts summed up in Chapter V on the +Elizabethan drama. Whatever Shakespeare's preeminence in the quality of +his work, he was not singular for innovations in kind. Not only are the +plays of his experimental stage preceded by models easily discerned, but +throughout his career one can see him eagerly taking up and developing +varieties of drama on which less capable men had stumbled and for which +the public had shown relish. Chronicle history, romantic comedy, +tragedies of blood and revenge, dramatic romance, had all been invented +by others, and Shakespeare never hesitated to follow their trail when it +promised to lead to popular success. This does not mean that he did not +put conscience into his work, but only that the change in type of play +perceptible from period to period is more safely to be explained by +changes of theatrical fashion and public taste than by conjectures as to +the inner life of the dramatist. Nor are we prevented from finding here +too that great good fortune as to occasion and opportunity that is +needed, along with whatever natural endowment, to explain the +achievement of Shakespeare. The return of the vogue of tragedy after he +had attained maturity and seen life was indeed happy for him and for us; +as was the rise of the imaginative type of dramatic romance when the +storm and stress of his youth had gone by. Had the theatrical demand +called for tragedy when Shakespeare was in the early thirties and light +comedy when he was in the forties, it seems likely that he would have +responded to the demand, though we can hardly suppose that the result +would have been as fortunate as in the existing state of things it +proved to be. + +[Page Heading: Dates of the Poems] + +The foregoing discussion has been confined to Shakespeare's plays; the +poems present problems of their own. _Venus and Adonis_ (1593) and +_Lucrece_ (1594), indeed, resemble the plays of the first period, with +which they are contemporary, both in conforming to a familiar type then +much in vogue, the re-telling in ornate style of classical legends drawn +chiefly from Ovid, and in exhibiting marks of the conscious exercise of +technical dexterity. They show the Shakespeare of the dramas mainly in +their revelation of a remarkable power of detailed observation and their +richness of phrase and fluency of versification. Vivid and eloquent +though they are, they can hardly be regarded as affording a sure +prophecy of the passion and power of characterization that mark his +mature dramatic production. + +The case of the _Sonnets_ is very different. From Meres's mention of +them in 1598 we know that some had been written and were being +circulated in manuscript by that date, and certain critics have sought +to assign the main body of them to the first half of the last decade of +the sixteenth century. But they were not published till 1609, and many +of the greatest strike a note of emotion more profound than can be heard +before the date of _Hamlet_. In writing them, Shakespeare was, to be +sure, following a vogue, but as Professor Alden has pointed out in his +introduction to them in the Tudor Shakespeare, they stand apart in +important respects from the ordinary sonnet sequences of the time. All +our researches have failed to tell us to whom they were addressed, if, +indeed, they were addressed to any actual person at all; it is hardly +necessary to urge that Shakespeare was capable of profound and +passionate utterance under the impulse of imagination alone. The +probability is that they were produced at intervals over a period of +perhaps a dozen years, and that they represent a great variety of moods, +impulses, and suggestions. While some of them betray signs of youth and +remind us of the apprentice workman of _Loves Labour's Lost_, others +display in their depth of thought, intensity of feeling, and superb +power of incisive and concentrated expression, the full maturity of the +man and the artist. Hardly in the great tragedies themselves is there +clearer proof of Shakespeare's supremacy in thought and language. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA + + +Shakespeare's lifetime was coincident with a period of extraordinary +activity and achievement in the drama. By the date of his birth Europe +was witnessing the passing of the religious drama that had held its +course for some five centuries, and the creation of new and mixed forms +under the incentive of classical tragedy and comedy. These new forms +were at first mainly written by scholars and performed by amateurs, but +in England, as everywhere else in western Europe, the growth of a class +of professional actors was threatening to make the drama popular, +whether it should be new or old, classical or medieval, literary or +farcical. Court, school, organizations of amateurs, and the strolling +actors were all rivals in supplying a widespread desire for dramatic +entertainment; and no boy who went to a grammar school could be ignorant +that the drama was a form of literature which gave glory to Greece and +Rome and might yet bestow its laurels on England. + +When Shakespeare was twelve years old the first public playhouse was +built in London. For a time literature held aloof from this public +stage. Plays aiming at literary distinction were written for schools or +court, or for the choir boys of St. Paul's and the royal chapel, who, +however, gave plays in public as well as at court. But the professional +companies prospered in their permanent theaters, and university men with +literary ambitions were quick to turn to these theaters as offering a +means of livelihood. By the time that Shakespeare was twenty-five, Lyly, +Peele, and Greene had made comedies that were at once popular and +literary; Kyd had written a tragedy that crowded the pit; and Marlowe +had brought poetry and genius to triumph on the common stage--where they +had played no part since the death of Euripides. A native literary drama +had been created, its alliance with the public playhouses established, +and at least some of its great traditions had been begun. + +The development of the Elizabethan drama for the next twenty-five years +is of exceptional interest to students of literary history, for in this +brief period, in connection with the half-dozen theaters of a growing +city and the demands of its varied population, we may trace the +beginning, growth, florescence, and decay of many kinds of plays, and of +many great careers. Actors, audiences, and dramatists all contributed to +changes in taste and practice and to a development of unexampled +rapidity and variety. In every detail of dramatic art there was change +and improvement, a constant addition of new subject-matter, a mastery of +new methods of technic, and an invention of new kinds of plays. The +popular successes of Marlowe and Kyd and the early plays of Shakespeare +himself seemed old-fashioned and crude to the taste of twenty years +after, yet the triumphs of Shakespeare's maturity failed to exhaust the +opportunities for innovation and advance. We are amazed to-day at the +mere number of plays produced, as well as by the number of dramatists +writing at the same time for this London of two hundred thousand +inhabitants. To realize how great was the dramatic activity, we must +remember further that hosts of plays have been lost, and that probably +there is no author of note whose entire work has survived. By the time, +however, that Shakespeare withdrew from London to Stratford the drama +had reached its height. The dozen years from 1600 to 1612 included not +only Shakespeare's great tragedies, but the best plays of Jonson, +Chapman, and Webster, and the entire collaboration of Beaumont and +Fletcher. The only other decades comparable with this in the history of +the drama are that which heard plays by Sophocles, Euripides, and +Aristophanes and that other which saw the masterpieces of Racine and +Moliere. + +[Page Heading: Elizabethan Drama] + +The greatness of the drama, however, by no means ended with the +retirement and death of Shakespeare. Some of those who had been his +early associates continued to write for the stage, and younger men, as +Fletcher, Massinger, Ford, and Shirley, carried on the traditions of +their predecessors. If, as in other forms of literature, there was +decline and decadence during the next twenty-five years, the drama also +retained initiative, poetry, and intellectual force until the end. It +was not dead or dying when the outbreak of the Civil War cut short its +course; in fact, its plays, its traditions, even some of its theaters, +actors, and dramatists survived the suppression of twenty years and +helped to start the drama of the Restoration. Had Shakespeare lived to +the age of seventy-eight he would have seen the closing of the theaters, +and his lifetime would have covered the crowded history of the drama's +development from such semi-moralities as _Cambises_ and _The Nice +Wanton_ to the last plays of Massinger and Shirley. + +For nearly a quarter of a century he was a sharer in this dramatic +movement, working in London as actor, manager, and playwright. While no +playwright was more desirous than he to find in the stage full +opportunity for his genius, he was as keen as any in gauging the +immediate theatrical demand and in meeting the varying conditions of a +highly competitive profession. As we have already noted, he began by +imitating those who had won success, and to the end he was adroit in +taking advantage of a new dramatic fashion or discovery. Like his +fellows, he often took his plots from novels, histories, or other +narratives; but his very choice of stories might be determined by the +theatrical taste of the moment, and in his treatment of those stories he +shows in person, situation, or scene, a consideration of current +practices, traditions, and conventions. In every field of literature, a +writer is conditioned by the work of his predecessors and +contemporaries, and this dependence on current taste is especially +important in the drama, where practice tends to fix itself in +convention, and where innovation to be successful requires cooeperation +from the actors and approval from the audience as well as genius from +the author. Though Shakespeare is for all time, he is part and parcel of +the Elizabethan drama. If his plays are Elizabethan in their defects and +limitations, such as their trivial puns and word-play, their overcrowded +imagery, their loose and broken structure, their paucity of female +roles, their mixture of comic and tragic, their reliance on disguise and +mistaken identity as motives, their use of improbable or absurd stories; +they are Elizabethan also in the qualities of their greatness, their +variety of subject, their intense interest in the portrayal of +character, the flexibility and audacity of their language, their noble +and opulent verse, the exquisite idealism of their romantic love, and +their profound analysis of the sources of human tragedy. + +[Page Heading: Beginnings of the Drama] + +The Elizabethan drama was a continuation of the medieval drama +transformed by the influence of classical models, especially the +comedies of Terence and Plautus and the tragedies of Seneca. In England, +by the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Miracle and Mystery plays +were declining and were soon to disappear. The most common type of drama +for the next sixty years was the Morality, which symbolized life as a +conflict of vices and virtues or of the body and the soul. The drama was +rapidly changing from long out-door performances to brief plays that +could be given almost anywhere by a few actors. The term Interludes +became common for all such entertainments, and allegorical frameworks +served to contain a wide variety of matter, farce, pedagogy, politics, +religion, history, or pageant. Close imitations of the classical forms +were soon attempted by scholars and men of letters; but as the +professional actors grew in importance the development of a national +comedy and tragedy went on without much direction from critics or +theorists, but rather in response to the demands of actors and audiences +and to the initiative of authors. + +The developments of comedy were numerous. Allegory gradually +disappeared, and the Morality ceased to exist as a definite type, though +its symbolization of life and its concern with conduct were handed along +to the later drama. The plays of Robert Wilson, about 1580, show an +interesting use of allegory for the purposes of social satire, and +realism and satire long continued to characterize Elizabethan comedy, +though for a time confined mostly to incidental scenes. Common and +incidental also was farce, which is found in most plays of the century +whether tragic, comic, or moral in their main purpose. Further, it was +soon discovered that the Plautian scheme of comedy was well suited to +farcical incident, as in _Gammer Gurton's Needle_ (1552).[6] The +classical models or their Italian imitations also produced other and +less domestic imitations, as in Gascoigne's translation of Ariosto's _I +Suppositi_ (pr. 1566) and Udall's _Ralph Roister Doister_ (1540); a +little later, Lyly's _Mother Bombie_, Munday's _Two Italian Gentlemen_, +and Shakespeare's _Comedy of Errors_. Indeed such adaptations continued +much later and resulted in some of the best farces, or realistic +comedies of intrigue, as Shakespeare's _Merry Wives of Windsor_ (1598), +Heywood's _Wise Woman of Hogsdon_ (1604), Jonson's _Epicene_ (1609) and +_Alchemist_ (1610). + +[6] In this chapter the dates appended to the plays indicate the +conjectured year of presentation. Dates of publication are prefixed by +_pr_. + +[Page Heading: Influence of Plautus] + +The Plautian model, however, was far more influential than can be +indicated by these close adaptations or by any list of direct imitations +or borrowings. For the Elizabethan it offered a standard of comedy, and +its plots, persons, and devices were freely used in all kinds of plays, +romantic as well as realistic, sentimental as well as satirical or +farcical. The plots of Plautus and Terence offer a series of tricks in +which the complications are often increased by having the trickster +tricked. Certain fixed types of character play the parts of gulls or +gullers, as the old parents, the young lovers, the parasite, the +braggart soldier, and the clever slave. The intrigue is forwarded by the +use of disguise, mistaken identity, and most surprising coincidences; +and it is accomplished by dialogue, often gross and abusive, but usually +lively. This model served every nation of western Europe, reappearing +with prolonged vitality in the inventions of Lope de Vega, the "commedia +del arte" of Italy, and in the masterpieces of Moliere. Much in its +scheme that seems artificial and theatrical to-day was, we must +remember, accepted without question by Europe of the sixteenth century +as essential and desirable in comedy, especially in realistic comedy of +intrigue or manners. + +The plots of Terence, notably that of the _Andria_, also gave some +encouragement to the modern fondness for adventure and sentimental love, +and some classical sanction to the abundant romantic material that was +knocking at the doors of comedy. If by romantic we mean what is strange +and removed from ordinary experience and what has the attractions of +wonder, thrill, and idealization, then for the Elizabethan the world of +romance was a wide one. It included the medieval stories of knights and +their gests, and also the fresher tales of classical mythology; the +Americas and Indies of contemporary adventure and the artificial +Arcadias of humanist imitators of Virgil and Theocritus. Ovid and +Malory, Homer and Boccaccio, Drake and Sanazzaro, were all contributors. +The union of this romance with comedy on the stage began in two ways, +and principally under the innovation of two writers, Lyly and Greene. + +The taste for pageants, processions, and tableaux grew and flourished +under the patronage of the court; and music, dancing, and spectacle were +combined with dialogue in various court exhibitions and plays given by +the child actors. John Lyly, writing for these choir boys, developed +this type of entertainment into a distinct species of comedy. Of his +eight plays, written at intervals from 1580 to 1593, all but one were in +prose, and all except the Plautian _Mother Bombie_ adhere loosely to a +common formula. Classical myth or story, with pastoral elements, and +occasionally an allegory of contemporary politics, furnish the basis of +plots with similar love complications. Gods, goddesses, nymphs, fairies, +and many others add to the spectacle and mingle in the love intrigue, +and all rise to a graceful dialogue, which quickens to brisk repartee +when the pages or servants appear. The witty page supersedes the rude +buffoon of earlier plays, and everything is graceful and ingenious, +slight in serious interest, but relieved by movement and song. + +[Page Heading: Lyly and Greene] + +This is the form of comedy which Shakespeare adopted for _Love's +Labour's Lost_ and perfected in _A Midsummer-Night's Dream_. But Lyly's +contribution should not be defined merely by this type of drama, +original as it is in its departure from medieval or classical +precedents. He showed how comedy might be a courtly and literary +entertainment and also the playground of fancy and wit. + +The second development of romantic comedy came through the dramatization +of stories of love, adventure, and marvels. To such stories Robert +Greene gave a heightened charm through the idealization of his heroines. +His _Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay_ (1590) is a magic play with an +historical setting; but the interest gathers and centers on the love +story of Margaret, the Keeper's daughter. In _James IV_ (_c._ 1591) the +pseudo-historical setting frames the stories of the noble Ida and the +wronged but faithful Dorothea. In the incidents of the plot, with its +woman disguised as a page, the faithless lover, and the final +reconciliation, and also in the sweetness, modesty, and loyalty of the +heroine, the play reminds us of Shakespeare's comedies and is indeed +very close to _The Two Gentlemen of Verona_, in which he was clearly +adopting Greene's formula. + +Tragedy naturally lagged somewhat behind comedy as a form of popular +entertainment. So far as we can judge from the extant plays, there was +until the appearance of Kyd and Marlowe no real union between Senecan +imitations like _Gorboduc_ (1562), _Jocasta_ (1566), and _The +Misfortunes of Arthur_ (1588), on the one hand, and popular medleys of +morality, tragedy, and farce like _Cambises_ (1565), _Horestes_ (_pr._ +1567), and _Appius and Virginia_ (1563), on the other. Marlowe's +_Tamburlaine_ (1587) was an epoch-making play because it brought to the +popular drama true poetry and genuine passion; but it and its successors +also established a new type of tragedy. Marlowe made no effort to retain +the structure or themes of classical tragedy; on the contrary, he made +his plays loosely connected series of scenes dealing with the life and +death of the hero, crowded with persons and with startling action. In +this he was conforming to the method of the dramatic narratives that +pleased the theaters. But each play centers its dramatic interest on a +mighty protagonist battling with his overweening desires and their +inevitable disappointment. With the spectacle and sensation, the rant +and absurdity, there is also dramatic structure and tragic significance +in the revelation of these protagonists, their volitional struggles, and +their direful catastrophes. These plays set the key for all Elizabethan +tragedy, including Shakespeare's _Lear_, _Othello_, and _Macbeth_. They +were immediately followed by dozens of imitators. All blank verse echoed +Marlowe's mighty line, and tragedy was filled with ranting conquerors +like Tamburlaine, monstrous villains like Barabbas, and murders like +that of Edward II. Shakespeare was his pupil in the _2_ and _3 Henry +VI_, mastered his methods in _Richard III_, and still wrote in +emulation, though no longer in imitation, in _Richard II_ and _The +Merchant of Venice_. + +[Page Heading: Marlowe and Kyd] + +Within a few months of _Tamburlaine_, appeared a play of almost equal +influence on subsequent drama, Kyd's _Spanish Tragedy_. Kyd was a +student of Seneca, a translator of Garnier's _Cornelia_, a Senecan +imitation; and he adapted some elements of classical tragedy to the +English stage. The ten plays ascribed to Seneca were the accepted models +of tragedy in the Renaissance. Their presentation of the more horrible +stories of Greek tragedy, their rhetorical and aphoristic style, their +moralizing and their psychology, were all greatly admired. They were +believed by the Elizabethans to have been acted, and their murders and +violence seemed to warrant such action on the modern stage; though the +Elizabethans found less adaptable their use of the chorus, the +restriction of the number of persons speaking, their long monologues, +and the limitation of the action to the last phase of a story. Kyd +modeled his rhetoric on Seneca and retained a vestige of the chorus, +long soliloquies, and some other traits of Senecan structure; but his +main borrowing was the essential story of a crime and its punishment. He +thus brought to the Elizabethan stage the classical theme of +retribution. In his _Spanish Tragedy_, a murder is avenged under the +direction of a ghost, by a hesitating and soliloquizing protagonist, who +is driven through doubt and speculation almost to madness, and then to +craft, with which he outwits the wily villain and brings all the leading +_dramatis personae_ to a final slaughter. + +Blood revenge was established as the favorite motive of tragedy; the +conflict of craft between protagonist and villain made up the action, +and the speculations of the avenger gave a chance for wisdom and +eloquence. One other play, probably by Kyd, the lost _Hamlet_, also +presented these features and later formed the basis for Shakespeare's +tragedy. Other plays, as _Soliman and Perseda_, _The True Tragedy of +Richard III_, and _Locrine_ immediately adopted Kyd's theme and technic; +indeed the stage for half a dozen years abounded in avenging heroes, +diabolical villains, shrieking ghosts, and long soliloquies on fate, +death, retribution, and kindred themes. _Titus Andronicus_ is quite in +the Kydian vein. Many plays combined the salient traits of Marlowe and +Kyd, and henceforth no one wrote tragedy without paying homage to their +inventions. + +[Page Heading: English History Plays] + +We have now noticed the most important developments in comedy and +tragedy made by the time that Shakespeare began writing for the +theaters; and he made quick use of the progress accomplished by Plautian +and Lylyan comedy, by Greene's romances, and by the tragedies of Kyd and +Marlowe. There were other plays not easily classified under these names +and of less service to Shakespeare. But to the critical playgoer of 1590 +few plays would have seemed either 'right comedies' or 'right +tragedies.' The majority were mere dramatizations of story without close +construction or selection of material, seeking merely varied and +abundant action. They drew their material from all kinds of narrative +sources, Italian _novelle_, current pamphlets, Latin historians, or +English chronicles; and, whether historical or fictitious, were usually +known as Histories, _i.e._, stories. + +The patriotic interest in English history fostered the presentation of +its scenes upon the stage. The chronicles of Halle and Holinshed +furnished abundant material; and embassies, processions, and pitched +battles filled the stage with movement. Historical plays might, indeed, +draw from classical history or from current foreign history, but from +1590 to 1603 a very large number of plays give scenic representation to +the reigns of English kings. + +Some of these form a distinct class, since, however mixed with comic +matter, they imitate Kyd or Marlowe and recast the chronicle of a reign +to fit the accepted subjects of tragedy, the downfall of a prince, the +revenge for a crime, the overthrow of a tyrant, or the retribution +brought upon a conspirator or usurper. Conceived under Marlowe's +influence, and perhaps owing something to his hand, is the tetralogy +that includes the three parts of _Henry VI_ and _Richard III_. + +Those history plays, however, that do not follow the formulas for +tragedy, are a heterogeneous group not easily classified. They usually +keep to the loose chronicle method that presented a series of scenes +without much regard to unity or coherence. Farce, comedy, magic, +spectacle, heroics, and everything that might have happened was +permissible in these plays, and perhaps the only thing indispensable was +a pitched field with opposing armies. Biographical, comic, popular, +patriotic, or what not, these plays brought a variety of scenes to the +theaters, but offered only a loose and flexible form rather than any +dramatic direction or model to the creator of Falstaff. + +The early deaths of Greene and Marlowe and the retirement of Lyly left +Shakespeare the heir of their inventions. Though his plays were at first +imitative, he soon surpassed his predecessors in gift of expression, in +depiction of character, and in deftness of dramatic technic. The years +from 1593 to near the turn of the century are particularly lacking in +records of plays or theaters; but it seems clear that the main +developments of the drama were in romantic comedy and chronicle history; +and it is also clear that Shakespeare was the unquestioned leader in +both of these forms. + +[Page Heading: Shakespeare's Leadership] + +In comparison with his associates, he was now the master, relying on his +own experience rather than on their innovations. Neither the crude but +popular _Mucedorus_ (1595) nor Dekker's poetical extravagance, _Old +Fortunatus_ (1596), could contribute to his development of romantic +comedy; and domestic comedy could not instruct the inventor of Launce +and Launcelot. Incidental relationships may indeed be noted. _As You +Like It_, for example, dramatizes a pastoral novel with the addition of +scenes that recall Robin Hood's forest life, and may owe something to +the suggestion of two Robin Hood plays by Chettle and Munday, _The +Downfall and Death of Robert Earl of Huntingdon_ (1598). But, on the +whole, the indebtedness was on the other side, and imitations indicate +that men of Shakespeare's day realized that romantic comedy and history +could not be carried farther. + +In fact, a certain reaction set in against these forms of drama. Near +the close of the century new tendencies became manifest. Comedy tended +to become more realistic and satiric. Chapman, Marston, Middleton, and +Jonson, all began writing romantic comedy, but changed shortly to +realistic. Jonson, in his _Every Man in His Humour_ (1598), announced +his opposition to the lawless drama which had preceded--whether +romantic comedy or chronicle history--and proposed the creation of a new +satirical comedy of manners. He was moved partly by a desire to break +from past methods in order to bring comedy closer to classical example, +and partly by a desire for realism, a faithful presentation, analysis, +and criticism of current manners. The growth of London and the increase +in luxury and immorality seem to have encouraged such a movement, and +for the decade after 1598 there were many comedies of London life, +mostly satiric, and nearly all realistic. Many varieties are to be +found, from gross representation of the seamy side of city life to +serious discussion of social questions, and from sympathetic picturing +of certain trades to satiric exposure of the evils of society. + +Jonson's emulation of Aristophanes led him into arrogant personal satire +in the _Poetaster_ (1601), and there ensued the so-called war of the +theaters, in which Marston, Dekker, and, according to report, +Shakespeare were Jonson's opponents. If Shakespeare, indeed, had a share +in this war, he showed only slight interest in the prevailing comedy. +_Measure for Measure_ uses the device of a spying duke employed in +Marston's _Malcontent_, and discusses sexual relationships somewhat in +the tone of the time, while the scenes dealing with houses of ill fame +are not unlike similar scenes in the contemporary plays of Middleton, +Webster, and others. _Troilus and Cressida_, also, show more of a +satiric temper than is usual in Shakespeare. But neither of these plays +partakes to any extent of the prevailing satire on contemporary London. +Wide as was the range of Shakespeare's genius, it seems to have avoided +the field of satire. + +[Page Heading: Realistic Comedy] + +A review of the drama must, however, at least remark the importance of +this development of realistic comedy which flourished in the decade +after 1598 and continued to the end. Jonson's comedy of 'humors' +includes _Volpone_ (1605), which overstepped the bounds of comedy in its +denunciation of evil, the _Alchemist_ (1611), perhaps the best English +play on the Latin model, and _Bartholomew Fair_ (1614), most original +and English of them all. Dekker's fine drama of middle class life, _The +Honest Whore_ (1604), and Heywood's masterpiece, _A Woman Killed with +Kindness_ (1603), a play suggesting both the sentimental comedy of the +eighteenth century and the problem play of to-day, also belong to this +very remarkable era of domestic themes and serious realism. + +If Shakespeare did not turn to satire or realism or current social +problems, he did turn away from chronicle history plays and romantic +comedies. As we saw in the last chapter, for a period of eight or nine +years, from _Julius Caesar_ to _Antony and Cleopatra_, he gave his best +efforts of his maturity to tragedy. The day for mere imitation of +Seneca, Kyd, or Marlowe, was past; and scholars like Jonson and Chapman +as well as Shakespeare sought in the tragedy of the public theater, an +opportunity for wisdom and poetry and a criticism of life. + +For models, Shakespeare did not need to go back farther than his own +_Romeo and Juliet_ and _Richard II_, nor to imitate any other than +himself. Yet his great plays may have seemed to his contemporaries to +adopt rather than to depart from current dramatic practices. They belong +to the Elizabethan 'tragedy of blood'; against a background of courts +and battles they present the downfall of princes; they rest on +improbable stories that end in fearful slaughter; they invariably set +forth great crimes, compact of murder, lust, villainous intrigue, and +ferocious cruelty. Some of them follow Kyd in recounting a story of +blood vengeance presided over by ghosts, or discover the retribution due +for crime in physical torments. Nearly all follow Marlowe in centering +the tragic interest in the fate of a supernormal protagonist who is +swayed by an overpowering emotion, and in elevating these human desires +and passions into tremendous forces that work their waste of devastation +and ruin on character and life. + +[Page Heading: Tragedy] + +The contemporary tragedy is brought closest to Shakespeare in the +relations of the revenge plays to _Hamlet_. The type, introduced by Kyd +in _The Spanish Tragedy_ and the original _Hamlet_, underwent a special +development in Marston's _Antonio's Revenge_ (1598) and several other +plays appearing from 1598 to 1603, that dealt with the blood vengeance +of a son for a father. At the same time Shakespeare turned to the +remaking of the old _Hamlet_ and to a new treatment of the old theme, +yet retained many of the old accessories. Marston reproduces the +essential story of blood vengeance, presided over by a ghost, crossed by +both lust and sentimental love, commented on by long soliloquies, and +accompanied by pretended madness. Chettle, in _Hoffman_, amplifies the +horrors and villainy and brings the story of the mad girl into closer +juncture with the main plot than is the case in _Hamlet_. Tourneur, +writing independently of Shakespeare, introduces, among all sorts of +horrors, a Christian ghost who forbids blood vengeance and commands +submission to Providence. Ben Jonson, in his additions to the old +_Spanish Tragedy_, gives fine imaginative interpretation of the wavering +moods of meditation, irony, and frenzy with which Kyd had dealt only +crudely. The later development of this type proceeded without much +regard to Shakespeare's _Hamlet_, but rather in the direction started by +Marston's tragedies and his influential tragi-comedy, _The Malcontent_. +While _Hamlet_ may be described as centering attention on a meditative +and high-minded avenger, Tourneur, Webster, Middleton, and later +dramatists found greater interest in the study of villainy and intrigue. +Revenge is born of depravity rather than duty, and given a setting of +physical horrors and unnatural lust. Tourneur's _Revenger's Tragedy_ +(1606) and Webster's _White Devil_ (1610) and _Duchess of Malfi_ (1611) +represent the culmination of this play of revenge, lust, and horror, and +supply a sort of standard for tragedy until the Civil War. Webster, it +must be added, was hardly less interested than Shakespeare in character +and motive, though he chose to study these in a chamber of horrors. + +Shakespeare's Roman tragedies also suggest comparison with contemporary +plays, those either on Roman or on contemporary foreign history. +Tragedies dealing with Roman history had preceded _Julius Caesar_, but +that play doubtless stimulated Jonson's _Sejanus_ (1603) and _Catiline_ +(1611). Both these plays attempted an approach to classical structure +and a thorough study and digest of classical history. This effort to +make tragedy a serious and authoritative interpretation of history was +also shared by Chapman in his plays dealing with contemporary French +history, _1_ and _2 Bussy D'Ambois_ (1601-1607) and _1_ and _2 Biron_ +(1608). While Jonson strove to free his style from the abundance of +conceits, figures, and passages of description that had characterized +earlier drama, Chapman used every chance to crowd his verse with +far-stretched figure and weighty apothegm. At its worst it is peculiarly +representative of Elizabethan confusion and bombast; at its best it is +closest of all in its resemblance to Shakespeare's. Like Jonson and +Chapman, Shakespeare sought historical backgrounds for his characters +and found a fascination in the interpretation of the motives of the +great protagonists of the world of antiquity. It is worthy of note, +however, that he seems to have taken no interest in another class of +subjects much favored by his contemporaries. Contemporary crimes +treated with an excess of realism and didactic conclusions are common in +drama from _Arden of Feversham_ (1590) on, and engaged the services of +Jonson, Webster, Ford, Dekker, and others. + +[Page Heading: Beaumont and Fletcher] + +About 1607 a new departure appeared in the work of the dramatic +collaborators, Beaumont and Fletcher. After some experiments, they won, +in their tragi-comedies, _Philaster_ (1608) and _A King and No King_ +(1610), and their tragedy, _The Maid's Tragedy_ (1609), great theatrical +successes, and in these and similar plays established a new kind of +dramatic romance. The realistic comedies of Jonson and Middleton, which, +along with the great tragedies of Shakespeare, crowd the stage history +of the preceding ten years, had offered nothing similar to these +romances which joined tragic and idyllic material in scenes of brilliant +theatrical effectiveness, abounding in transitions from suspense to +surprise, and culminating in telling denouements. This new realm of +romance is an artificial one, contrasting pure love with horrid +entanglements of lust, and ever bringing love in conflict with duty, +friendship, or the code of honor. In its intriguing courts, or in nearby +forests where the idyls are placed, love of one kind or another is the +ruling and vehement passion, riding high-handed over tottering thrones, +rebellious subjects, usurping tyrants, and checked, if checked at all, +only by the unexampled force of honor. Romance, in short, depends on +situation, on the artificial but skilful juxtaposition of emotions and +persons, and on the new technic that sacrifices consistency of +characterization for surprise. Characterization tends to become typical, +and motives tend to be based on fixed conventions, such as the code of +honor might dictate to a seventeenth-century gentleman; but the lack of +individuality in character is counterbalanced by the vividness with +which the lovers, tyrants, faithful friends, evil women, and sentimental +heroines are presented, and by the fluent and lucid style which varies +to any emotional requirement and rises to the demands of the most +sensational situations. + +_Cymbeline_ in its plot bears some close resemblances to _Philaster_, +and it seems likely that Shakespeare was adopting the methods and +materials of the new romance. At all events, he turned from tragedy to +romance, and in _Cymbeline_ and the far more original and successful +_Winter's Tale_ and _Tempest_ produced tragi-comedies that, like +Beaumont and Fletcher's, rely on a contrast of tragic and idyllic and on +surprising plots and idealized heroines. After Beaumont's retirement in +1611 or 1612, it seems probable that Fletcher and Shakespeare +collaborated together on _Henry VIII_ and _The Two Noble Kinsmen_. + +There is ample evidence that the plays of Beaumont and Fletcher won a +great popular renown, surpassing for a time those of Shakespeare and all +others. Beaumont did not live long after he ceased to write for the +stage, dying at thirty, in the same year as Shakespeare. Jonson had +given up dramatic writing for the time, and Fletcher was left the chief +writer for Shakespeare's old company and the undoubted leader of the +theater. Including the plays written in collaboration with Beaumont, +Shakespeare, and later with Massinger, he left some sixty dramas of many +kinds, varying from farcical comedy of manners to the most extreme +tragedy. The comedies of manners present the affairs of women, and spice +their lively conversation and surprising situations with a wit that +often reminds one of the Restoration; indeed they carry the development +of comedy nearly to the point where Wycherley and Congreve began. The +tragi-comedies, which display the qualities already noted as belonging +to the romances, have the technical advantage that the disentanglement +of their rapid plots and sub-plots is left hanging in the balance until +the very end. The happy ending to tragic entanglements won a favor it +has never lost on the English stage, and tragi-comedy of the Fletcherian +type continued the most popular form of the drama until Dryden. + +[Page Heading: Tragi-Comedy] + +It is unnecessary here to dwell long over the drama after Shakespeare's +death. Jonson, Dekker, Heywood, and Webster wrote from time to time, and +Middleton devoted his versatile talent to whatever kind of play was in +vogue, now rather to Websterian tragedy and Fletcherian tragi-comedy +than to realistic comedy. Yet, in collaboration with Rowley, he produced +the powerful tragedy, _The Changeling_, and the much-admired +tragi-comedy, _A Fair Quarrel_. After Fletcher's death in 1625, +Massinger took his place as leader of the stage, and his work, with that +of Ford and Shirley, carry on the great traditions of the drama to the +very end. A host of minor writers, as Brome, D'Avenant, Suckling, +Cartwright, offer little that is new; but no survey of the drama, +however brief, can neglect to mention the skilful exposition, admirable +psychology, and sound structural principles that characterized the best +of Massinger's many plays, the unique and amazing dramatic genius shown +in Ford's masterpieces, _The Broken Heart_ and _'Tis Pity She's a +Whore_, and the ingenuity in plot, adroitness in characterization, and +genuine poetic gifts of Shirley. + +Comedies from 1616 to 1642 reveal two chief influences; they are +realistic and satiric, following Jonson, or they are light-hearted, +lively combinations of manners and intrigue, after Fletcher. In the +former class are Massinger's two great comedies, _The City Madam_ and _A +New Way to Pay Old Debts_. To the latter class belong most of the +comedies of Shirley. Tragi-comedies follow Fletcher with the variations +due to the authors' ingenuity, and include perhaps the most attractive +plays of Massinger and Shirley. Tragedies usually mingle lust, devilish +intrigue, physical horror, after the fashion of Webster and Tourneur, +but now often with romantic variation on the theme of love, and a +technic of suspense and surprise similar to Beaumont and Fletcher. These +are the main tendencies in the last twenty years of the drama, and +characterize in the large the work of the greater men as well as of the +less. Shakespeare's influence is widespread, but appears incidentally in +particular scene, situation, character, or phrase, rather than as +affecting the main course and fashions of the drama. After the +publication of his plays in 1623, this incidental influence increased, +and is distinctly noticeable in the plays of Ford and Shirley. + +[Page Heading: Pastoral and Masque] + +A glance must suffice for two dramatic forms that had only slight +connection with the public theaters, the Pastoral Play and the Court +Masque. Pastoral elements are found in many early entertainments and in +the plays of Lyly and Peele. Later, in imitation of Guarini's _Il Pastor +Fido_, attempts were made to inaugurate a pastoral drama, presenting a +full-fledged dramatic exposition of the golden age. Daniel's _Queen's +Arcadia_ (1605) and Fletcher's _Faithful Shepherdess_ (1609) had many +later followers, but the form won no permanent hold on the popular +taste. Traces of its influence, however, may often be seen, as in +Shakespeare's _As You Like It_, or Beaumont and Fletcher's _Philaster_. +The masque, originally only a masquerade, soon acquired some dramatic +accompaniment, and in the court of James I developed into an elaborate +form of entertainment. The masked dance of the ladies and gentlemen of +the court was merely the focus for dialogue, elaborate setting, +spectacle, music, and grotesque dances by professionals. These shows, +costing vast sums for staging, costumes, and music, depended for their +success mainly on the architect Inigo Jones, but in some degree also on +Ben Jonson, who was the creator of the Court Masque as a literary form. +Such expensive spectacles were far beyond the reach of the public +theater, but provoked considerable imitation, as in Shakespeare's +_Tempest_, or several of Beaumont and Fletcher's plays. Later Milton +immortalized the form in _Comus_. + +The most hasty review of the Elizabethan drama must suggest how +constantly Shakespeare responded to its prevailing conditions. There +are, of course, great variations in the signs which different plays +offer of contemporary influence and peculiarity. So it is with most of +his fellow dramatists. _Lear_ and _Othello_ were perhaps written within +the same year, yet _Othello_, in its unity, its technical excellence, +and its depiction of character, is the most modern of the tragedies, +while _Lear_, with its impossible story, its horrors, its treatment of +madness, its likeness to the chronicle plays, its prolonged passage from +crisis to catastrophe, in its very conception, is the most Elizabethan, +though perhaps the most impressive of the tragedies. _Twelfth Night_ is +suited to any stage, but _Troilus and Cressida_ and _Pericles_ are +hardly conceivable except on the Elizabethan. Despite such variations, +however, Shakespeare's relations to the contemporary drama were +manifestly constant and immediate. If it was rarely a question with him +what the ancients had written, it was always a question what was being +acted and what was successful at the moment. His own growth in dramatic +power goes step by step with the rapid and varied development of the +drama, and the measure for comparison must be, not by decades, but by +years or months. + +[Page Heading: Shakespeare and His Contemporaries] + +A study of the Elizabethan drama may help to excuse some of the faults +and limitations of Shakespeare, but it also enforces his merits. Both +faults and merits are often to be understood in the efforts of lesser +men to do what he did. We admire his triumphs the more as we consider +their failures. Yet they often had admirable success, and their triumphs +as well as his are due in part to the dramatic conditions which gave the +freest opportunity for individual initiative in language, verse, story, +and construction. Noble bursts of poetry, richness and variety of life, +an intense interest in human nature, comic or tragic--these are the +great merits of that drama. That in a superlative degree they are also +the characteristics of Shakespeare is not due solely to his exceptional +genius, but to the fact that his genius worked in a favorable +environment. + +[Illustration: A TYPICAL SHAKESPEREAN STAGE + +From Albright's _Shaksperian Stage_] + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE ELIZABETHAN THEATER + + +In 1576, James Burbage, father of the great actor, Richard Burbage, and +himself a member of the Earl of Leicester's company, built the first +London playhouse, the Theater in Shoreditch. In the next year a second +playhouse, the Curtain, was erected nearby, and these seem to have +remained the only theaters until 1587-1588, when probably the Rose, on +the Bankside, was built by Henslowe. In 1599 Richard and Cuthbert +Burbage, after some difficulty over their lease, demolished the old +Theater and used the timber for the Globe, near the Rose, on the +Bankside. The Swan, another theater, had been built there in 1594, +somewhat to the west; and in 1614 the Hope was erected hard by the old +Rose and the new Globe, which in 1613 had replaced the old Globe. +Meantime the Fortune had been built by Henslowe and Alleyn in 1600 in +Golden Lane to the north of Cripplegate, on the model of the Globe, and +the Red Bull was erected in the upper end of St. John's Street about +1603-1607. These were all public theaters, open to the air, built of +wood, outside the city limits and the jurisdiction of the city +corporation. + +Before the Theater, plays had been acted in various places about the +city, and especially in inn-yards, some of which long continued to be +used for dramatic performances. At an early date also, the companies of +children actors connected with the choirs of St. Paul's and the Queen's +Chapel had given public performances, probably indoors, at places near +St. Paul's and in Blackfriars. When the Burbages were in difficulties +about the Theater, they had leased certain rooms in the dismantled +monastery of Blackfriars, but had then released these to a company of +children which acted there for some years. In 1608 the Burbages regained +possession of this property, and Shakespeare's company began acting +there. This Blackfriars theater was known as a private theater in order +to avoid the application of certain statutes directed against the public +theaters, but it differed from them merely in being indoors, with +artificial lights, and higher prices. It was used by Shakespeare's +company as a winter theater, while the Globe served for summer +performances, and it was the model for various other private theaters, +two of which survived the Protectorate and became in turn the models for +the Restoration Theater. Drury Lane and Covent Garden, indeed, trace +their ancestry back directly to the Blackfriars through the Cockpit and +the Salisbury Court playhouses. + +The companies of actors which occupied these theaters were cooeperative +organizations. Eight or ten actors formed a company, leased a theater, +hired supernumeraries, bought plays, and shared in the profits. In +Elizabeth's reign they secured a legal position by obtaining a license +from some nobleman, and so were known as the Earl of Leicester's men, +Lord Admiral's men, and so on. On the accession of James I, the leading +London companies were taken directly under patronage of members of the +royal family. During Shakespeare's time there were innumerable +companies, but the tendency was for the best actors to become associated +in a few companies, and for each company to keep to a particular +theater; so that at the accession of James I, there were only five adult +companies in London with permanent theaters. The best companies were +frequently employed to act at court, and during the summer or when the +plague was raging in London, they often toured the country. The +children's companies flourished from time to time, and especially from +1599-1607 they were, as we learn from _Hamlet_, formidable rivals of the +men. + +[Page Heading: Companies of Actors] + +The history of the adult companies shows the growth of two distinct +interests, that of Henslowe and Alleyn, and that of the Burbages. +Henslowe, whose diary is one of the chief documents for the history of +the theater, built the Rose, and in partnership with his son-in-law, the +famous actor Alleyn, controlled the Fortune and the Hope, and the +companies known as the Admiral's and the Earl of Worcester's men, and +later on the Queen's and the Prince's men. The Burbages owned the +Theater, the Globe, and the Blackfriars, and were in control of +Shakespeare's company. This company, at first the Earl of Leicester's +men, was known by the names of its various patrons, Strange's, Derby's, +Hunsdon's, and the Lord Chamberlain's, until in 1603 it became the +King's men. For a short time, as Lord Strange's men, it acted at the +Rose, and apparently later at the playhouse in Newington Butts, but its +regular theaters were the Theater, the Globe, and Blackfriars. With this +company Shakespeare was connected from the beginning, and he aided in +making it the chief London company. For a time, Alleyn and the Admiral's +men were its close rivals, but even before the accession of James I, +Shakespeare and Burbage had given it a supremacy that it maintained to +the closing of the theaters. + +There are various pictures of the exterior of Elizabethan theaters in +the contemporary maps or views of London, the best representation of the +four Bankside theaters being the engraving of Hollar printed in the +Tudor edition of _Twelfth Night_. This was first published in +_Londinopolis_, 1657, but represents the Bankside as it was about 1620. +Four pictures of interiors have been preserved, that from Kirkman's +_Drolls_, those from the title-pages of _Roxana_ and _Messalina_, and +the DeWitt drawing of the Swan, reproduced in the Tudor Shakespeare, _1 +Henry VI_. The drawing from Kirkman's _Drolls_ is usually known as the +Red Bull stage, but it was not issued until 1679, and does not seem to +have anything to do with the Red Bull or with any other regular +theater. The _Messalina_ and _Roxana_ pictures are small, and both show +a rear curtain and a projecting stage. The DeWitt drawing was done from +hearsay evidence, is inaccurate in details, and represents a theater +with a movable stage, probably not long regularly used for plays; it +gives little idea of the stage, but does afford a good general notion of +the interior of a public theater. The contract for the Fortune theater, +built on the model of the Globe, except that it was square instead of +octagonal, has been preserved and enables us to complete this view of +the interior in detail. + +[Page Heading: Public Theaters] + +The public theaters were usually round, or nearly round, wooden +buildings of three stories. These stories were occupied by tiers of +galleries encircling the pit, which was open to the air. The stage +projected halfway into the pit, and was provided with dressing rooms in +the rear, and a protecting roof overhead, supported in some cases by +pillars. At the top was the 'hut', a room used to provide apparatus for +raising and lowering persons or properties from the stage, Light when +needed was provided by torches. Admission to standing room in the pit +was usually only a penny, but seats in the gallery or boxes or on the +stage cost much more, rising as high as half a crown. Performances were +given on every fair day except Sunday, and a flag flying from the hut +indicated that a play was to be performed. Some of the public playhouses +were used for acrobats, fencing, or even bear-baiting as well as for +plays; but the better theaters, as the Globe and Fortune, seem to have +been limited to dramatic performances. + +The size and arrangement of the stage doubtless varied somewhat with the +different theaters, and considerable changes seem to have been +introduced by the indoor private theaters. But the Curtain was used from +1577 to 1642, some new theaters were modeled closely on the old, and the +same plays were acted on different stages, so it is apparent that in all +the stage was the same in its main features. For clearness these may be +again enumerated. The stage was a platform projecting into the pit, open +on three sides, and without any front curtain. In the rear were two +doors, and between them, an alcove, or inner stage, separated from the +front stage by curtains. Above the inner stage was a gallery, also +provided with curtains, and over the doors were windows or balconies. +The arrangement of doors, inner stage, gallery, and curtain may have +varied somewhat, but the essential elements are a curtained space at the +rear, and a gallery above. Trap-doors were also provided, and the hut +overhead supplied the machinery for ascents and descents of gods and +goddesses. + +[Page Heading: The Fortune Theater] + +Our diagram for the ground floor of the Fortune shows a square-cornered +stage with doors flat on the rear, while the perspective drawing from +Dr. Albright's _Shaksperian Stage_ shows a tapering stage, as in the +_Messalina_ picture, with doors on the bias. Some stages may have had +rounded corners with doors in the side. The pillars were not necessary +in the private theaters; or in some public houses where other means were +found for supporting the roof. + +[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF THE FORTUNE THEATER + +Dimensions: 80 ft. square on the outside; 55 ft. square on the inside, +the stage 43 ft. wide and extending to the middle of the pit.] + +The performance of a play differed in many ways from one to-day. There +was no scenery and there were no women actors. Though scenes were used +in court performances as early as 1604, they do not seem to have been +employed by the professional companies to any extent until after the +Restoration. Female parts were taken by boys, and, except in plays acted +by the children's companies, there were rarely more than two important +female characters in a play. Though without scenery, the Elizabethan +stage was by no means devoid of spectacle. Processions, battles, all +kinds of mythological beings, ascents to heaven, descents to hell, +fire-works, and elaborate properties, were employed. Numerous +contemporary plays indicate that neither the fairyland of _A +Midsummer-Night's Dream_, nor the magnificent court of _Henry VIII_, was +devised without an eye to the resources of the stage. Large sums of +money were lavished on costumes, the cost of a coat often exceeding the +price paid an author for a play. Costume was anachronistic; Cleopatra +was impersonated by a boy in stays and farthingale; and Caesar, probably +by Burbage, in a costume much like that worn by the Earl of Essex. Some +attention, however, was paid to appropriateness. Shepherds were clothed +in white, hunters in green; and doubtless mermaids, fairies, Venuses, +and satyrs were given as appropriate a dress as fancy could devise. The +action of a play seems usually to have been completed in two hours. +There was sometimes music between the acts, but there were no long +waits, and little stage business. + +[Page Heading: Stage Presentation] + +The peculiarities in the presentation of a play due to the arrangement +of the stage were considerable, and have been the subject of much +discussion and misunderstanding among investigators. There is, however, +no doubt that the action was largely on the front stage, and that most +of the scenes, at least in Shakespeare's lifetime, were designed for +presentation on this projecting platform. Since there was no +drop-curtain, actors had some distance to traverse, on entrances and +exits, between the doors and the front. At the end of a scene or a play, +all must retire, and the bodies of the dead must be carried out. Hence a +tragedy often ends with a funeral procession, a comedy with a dance. The +indications of scene supplied by modern editors for Shakespeare's plays +help to visualize a modern presentation, but are misleading as to +Shakespeare's intentions or an Elizabethan performance. The majority of +scenes in his plays differ strikingly from those in a modern play in +that they offer no hints as to the exact locality. Often it is not clear +from the text whether the scene is conceived as indoors or outdoors, in +the palace, or the courtyard, or before the entrance. Even when the +scene is presumably within a room, there is often no indication of the +nature of the furnishings, never any of the elaborate attention to +details of setting, such as we find in a play by Pinero or Shaw. +Sometimes placards were hung up indicating the scene of a play, but +apparently these merely gave the general scene, as "Venice" or "Verona," +and did not often designate localities more closely. In fact the +majority of the scenes were probably written with no precise conception +of their setting. They were written to be acted on a front stage, bare +of scenery, projecting out into the audience. This did not represent a +particular locality, but rather any locality whatever. + +The inner stage and the gallery above, and to some extent the doors and +the windows, were used to indicate specific localities when these were +necessary. The gallery represented the wall of a town, an upper story of +a house, or any elevated locality. The doors represented doors to houses +or gates to a city, and the windows or balconies over them were often +used for the windows of the houses. The inner stage was used in various +ways to indicate a specific locality requiring properties, and this use +apparently increased as time went on, and especially in the indoor, +artificially lighted private theaters. In any case, however, when the +curtains were opened, the inner stage became a part of the main stage, +and while action might take place there, it might also serve as a +background for action proceeding in the front. Properties could be +brought on and off the inner stage, behind the closed curtains, hence +large properties were confined to its precincts. Furniture, as chairs, +tables, or even beds, could, however, be pushed or carried out from the +inner to the outer stage. A play might be given on the front stage +without using the curtained recess at all, but numerous references to +curtains make it clear that the inner stage was used from the early days +of the theater. + +[Page Heading: Inner Stage] + +The uses of the inner stage have been much discussed and are still in +dispute, but they may be summarized briefly. _First_, the inner stage +was used for a specific, restricted, and usually propertied locality--a +cave, a study, a shop, a prison. _Second_, the inner stage was used for +scenes requiring discovery or tableaux. Numerous stage directions +indicate the drawing of the curtains to present a scene set on the inner +stage, as Bethsabe at her bath, Friar Bungay in bed with his magical +apparatus about him, Ferdinand and Miranda playing chess. _Third_, the +use of the inner stage was extended so that it represented any +propertied background, especially for scenes in a forest, church, or +temple. In _As You Like It_, for example, the last four acts are located +in the Forest of Arden. "This is the Forest of Arden," says Rosalind as +soon as she arrives there; and even before this, Duke senior alludes to +"these woods," and later we learn that there are practicable trees on +which Orlando hangs his verses. The forest setting, consisting of trees +and rocks, was placed on the inner stage and served to give a scenic +background. Of course, different places in the forest are to be +presumed, but one forest background would be sufficient for all. In the +course of the four acts, however, there are three scenes (II. ii; II. +iii; III. i) that are not in the forest, but at unspecified and +unpropertied places about the palace and Oliver's house. For these +scenes the curtain would be closed, shutting off the forest background +and transferring the spectators to the unspecified localities of Act I, +_i.e._, to the bare front stage. _Fourth._ An extension of this last use +made it possible to employ the curtain to indicate change of scene. +Several scenes, where no heavy properties were required, might succeed +one another on the front stage with the curtains closed; but the opening +of the curtains would reveal a special background and a manifest change +of scene. One instance of this use of the inner stage is seen in the +immediate change from an outdoor to an indoor scene, or _vice versa_. +The scene is in the street, _i.e._, on the front stage; the person +knocks at one of the doors and is admitted to a house; when he +reappears, it is through the inner stage, the curtains of which have +been drawn, disclosing the setting of a room. Or this process is +reversed. In _A Yorkshire Tragedy_, there is an interesting case of such +an alternation from indoors to outdoors, with one character remaining on +the stage all of the time. A more extensive use of this "alternation" +could be employed to indicate marked changes of place. As long as the +action remains in Venice, the bare front stage will do, but a transfer +to Portia's house at Belmont can be made by means of the curtains and +the inner stage. In the later plays at the private theaters this use of +the inner stage, then better lighted, seems to have increased, +especially in the change from a street or general hall to special +apartments. + +[Page Heading: Evolution of the Theater] + +These uses of the inner stage, together with that of the upper stage or +gallery, gave a chance for considerable variety in the action, and +rendered the rapid succession of scenes less bewildering than one would +at first suppose. Shakespeare's stage was the outcome of the peculiar +conditions of acting by professionals in the sixteenth century, but it +was also a natural step in the evolution from the medieval to the modern +stage. On the medieval stage there was a neutral place or _platea_ and +special localized and propertied places called _sedes_, _domus_, _loca_. +On the Elizabethan stage the front stage is the _platea_, the inner and +upper stages the _domus_ or _loca_. In the Restoration theater the +scenery was placed on the inner stage and shut off from the outer stage +by a curtain. With the use of scenery, the inner stage became more +important, and the projecting apron of the front stage was gradually cut +down. The proscenium doors in front of the curtain long survived their +original use as entrances, but, as a rule, they have now finally +disappeared with the front stage. The modern picture-frame stage of +to-day is the evolution of the inner stage of the Elizabethans. +Similarly the method of stage presentation has changed only gradually +from Shakespeare's day to ours. The alternation from outer to inner +stage was very common in the Restoration theaters, where flat scenes +were used instead of a curtain, and it may still be seen in the +production of melodrama or of Shakespeare's plays. A painted drop shuts +off a few feet of the stage, which becomes a street or a hall, while +properties and scenery are being arranged in the rear. When the drop +goes up, we pass from the street or the court of the wicked Duke to the +Forest of Arden, just as the Elizabethans did. + +The Elizabethan stage affected Shakespeare's dramatic art in many ways. +The absence of scenery, of women actors, and of a front curtain, the use +of a bare stage that served for neutral or unspecified localities, +naturally influenced the composition of every play. But the theatrical +presentation was by no means as crude or as medieval as these +differences from modern practice seem to indicate. The intimacy +established between actors and audience by the projecting stage, the +rapidity of action hastened by the lack of scenery or furniture, the +possibilities of rapid changes of scene rendered intelligible by the use +of the inner stage, were all manifest advantages in encouraging dramatic +invention. The traditions formed in this theater for the presentation of +_Hamlet_, _Romeo and Juliet_, and the other plays, were handed on from +Shakespeare and Burbage to Lowin and Taylor, to Betterton, Cibber, and +Garrick, down to the present day; and have perhaps been less +revolutionized by scenery and electric lights than we might imagine. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE TEXT OF SHAKESPEARE + + +The main difficulties that stand in the way of determining the actual +form in which Shakespeare left his plays are due, first, to the total +absence of manuscripts, and, secondly, to the fact that he, like his +contemporaries, regarded dramatic literature as material for performance +on the stage, not as something to be read in the library. The most +obvious evidence of this lies in his having himself issued with every +appearance of personal attention his poems of _Venus and Adonis_ and +_Lucrece_, while he permitted his plays to find their way into print +without any trace of supervision and, in some cases, apparently without +his consent. When the author sold a play to the theatrical company which +was to perform it, he appears to have regarded himself as having no +longer any rights in it; and when a play was published, we are in +general justified in supposing either that it had been obtained +surreptitiously, or that it had been disposed of by the company. +Exceptions to this begin to appear in the first half of the seventeenth +century, notably in the case of Heywood, who defended his action on the +plea of protecting the text from mutilation, and in that of Ben Jonson, +who issued in 1616, in the face of ridicule for his presumption, a +folio volume of his "Works." But, though Shakespeare is reported to have +felt annoyance at the pirating of his productions, there is no evidence +of his having been led to protect himself or the integrity of his +writings by departing from the usual practice in his profession. + +Among the various documents which make us aware of this situation, so +general then, but so strongly in contrast with modern methods, three +explicit statements by Heywood are so illuminating that they deserve +quotation. One occurs in the preface to his _Rape of Lucrece_, 1630: + + To the Reader.--It hath beene no custome in mee of all other men + (courteous Reader) to commit my plaies to the presse: the reason + though some may attribute to my owne insufficiencie, I had rather + subscribe in that to their seuare censure then by seeking to auoide + the imputation of weaknes to incurre greater suspition of honestie: + for though some haue vsed a double sale of their labours, first to + the Stage, and after to the presse, For my owne part I heere + proclaime my selfe euer faithfull in the first, and neuer guiltie of + the last: yet since some of my plaies haue (vnknowne to me, and + without any of my direction) accidentally come into the Printers + hands, and therefore so corrupt and mangled, (coppied only by the + eare) that I have bin as vnable to know them, as ashamed to chalenge + them, This therefore, I was the willinger to furnish out in his + natiue habit: first being by consent, next because the rest haue + beene so wronged in being publisht in such sauadge and ragged + ornaments: accept it courteous Gentlemen, and prooue as fauorable + Readers as we haue found you gratious Auditors. Yours T. H. + +[Page Heading: The Right to Print] + +The second is in Heywood's _Pleasant Dialogues and Dramas_, 1637, the +prologue to _If you know not me, you know no bodie; Or, The troubles of +Queen Elizabeth_. It is as follows: + + A Prologve to the Play of Queene Elizabeth as it was last revived at + the Cock-pit, in which the Author taxeth the most corrupted copy now + imprinted, which was published without his consent. + + PROLOGUE + + Playes have a fate in their conception lent, + Some so short liv'd, no sooner shew'd than spent; + But borne to-day, to morrow buried, and + Though taught to speake, neither to goe nor stand. + This: (by what fate I know not) sure no merit, + That it disclaimes, may for the age inherit. + Writing 'bove one and twenty: but ill nurst, + And yet receiv'd as well performed at first, + Grac't and frequented, for the cradle age, + Did throng the Seates, the Boxes, and the Stage + So much: that some by Stenography drew + The plot: put it in print: (scarce one word trew:) + And in that lamenesse it hath limp't so long, + The Author now to vindicate that wrong + Hath tooke the paines, upright upon its feete + To teache it walke, so please you sit, and see't. + +The third passage occurs in the address to the reader prefixed to _The +English Traveller_, 1633: + + True it is that my plays are not exposed to the world in volumes, to + bear the titles of Works (as others). One reason is that many of + them by shifting and changing of companies have been negligently + lost; others of them are still retained in the hands of some actors + who think it against their peculiar profit to have them come in + print; and a third that it was never any great ambition in me in + this kind to be voluminously read. + +From these passages we gather that Heywood considered it dishonest to +sell the same play to the stage and to the press; that some of his plays +were stolen through stenographic reports taken in the theater and were +printed in corrupt forms; that, in order to counteract this, he obtained +the consent of the theatrical owners to his publication of a correct +edition; that some actors considered the printing of plays against their +interest (presumably because they thought that if a man could read a +play, he would not care to see it acted); and that many plays were lost +through negligence and the changes in the theatrical companies. That we +are here dealing with the conditions of Shakespeare's time is clear +enough, since the edition of _If you know not me_ on which Heywood casts +reflections was published in 1605, and in 1604 Marston supplies +corroboration in the preface to his _Malcontent_: + + I would fain leave the paper; only one thing afflicts me, to think + that scenes, invented merely to be spoken, should be enforcively + published to be read, and that the least hurt I can receive is to do + myself the wrong. But since others otherwise would do me more, the + least inconvenience is to be accepted. I have myself, therefore, set + forth this comedy; but so, that my enforced absence must much rely + upon the printer's discretion: but I shall entreat slight errors in + orthography may be as slightly overpassed, and that the unhandsome + shape which this trifle in reading presents, may be pardoned for + the pleasure it once afforded you when it was presented with the + soul of lively action. + +[Page Heading: Pirated Editions] + +The only form in which any of Shakespeare's plays found their way into +print during his lifetime was that of small pamphlets, called Quartos, +which were sold at sixpence each.[7] In the case of five of these there +is general agreement that they came to the press by the surreptitious +method of reporting described by Heywood: the first Quarto versions of +_Romeo and Juliet_, _Henry V_, _The Merry Wives_, _Hamlet_, and +_Pericles_. All of these bear clear traces of the effects of such +mutilation as would naturally result from the attempt to write down the +dialogue during the performance, and patch up the gaps later. The first +Quartos of _Richard III_ and _King Lear_, though much superior to the +five mentioned, yet contain so many variants from the text of the Folio +which seem to be due to mistakes of the ear and to slips of memory on +the part of the actors, that probably they should also be included in +the list of those surreptitiously obtained. + +[7] For facsimile reproductions see Bibliography, Appendix D. + +Redress for such pirating as is implied in these publications was +difficult on account of the absence of a law of copyright. The chief +pieces of legislation affecting the book trade were the law of licensing +and the charter of the Stationers' Company. According to the first, all +books, with a few exceptions, such as academic publications, had to be +licensed before publication by the Bishop of London or the Archbishop +of Canterbury. This was an unworkable provision, and in fact the +responsibility for all books not likely to raise political or +theological controversy was left to the Stationers' Company. This close +corporation of printers and publishers exercised its powers for the +protection of its members rather than of authors. A publisher wishing to +establish a monopoly in a book he had acquired entered it on the +Stationers' Register, paying a fee of sixpence, and was thereby +protected against piracy. When the copy so registered was improperly +acquired, the state of the case is not so clear. At times the officials +showed hesitation about registering a book until the applicant "hath +gotten sufficient authoritye for yt," and _As You Like It_, for example, +appears in the Register only "to be staied," which it was until the +publication of the first Folio. Further, the pirated _Romeo and Juliet_ +and _Henry V_ were never entered at all; the pirated _Hamlet_ and +_Pericles_ were entered, but to other publishers, who in the case of +_Hamlet_ brought out a more correct text in the following year; the +pirated _Merry Wives_ was transferred from one publisher to another on +the day of entry, and actually issued by the second. Thus this group of +plays does not support the view that the Stationers' Company stood ready +to give perpetual copyright to their members even for obviously stolen +goods. It is to be noted, too, that the previous publication of these +surreptitious copies formed no hindrance to the later issue of an +authentic copy. The second Quarto of _Hamlet_, printed from a complete +manuscript, followed, as has been said, the first the next year, and the +same thing happened in the case of _Romeo and Juliet_. + +[Page Heading: Publisher's Copyright] + +On the other hand, the great majority of the Quartos printed from +playhouse copies of the plays were regularly entered, and the rights of +the original publisher preserved to him. The appearance of groups of +plays in the market following interference with theatrical activity such +as came from the plague in 1594, from the breaking up of companies, or +from Puritan attempts at restriction, confirm the belief that these +better Quartos were honorably acquired by the publishers from the +companies owning them, when the actors thought that there was more to +gain than to lose by giving them to the press. + +[Page Heading: Table of Quarto Editions] + +The accompanying "Table of Quarto Editions" gives the names of all the +Shakespearean plays issued in this form before the publication of the +collected edition in 1623, known as the First Folio. In the cases of +_Romeo and Juliet_, _1 Henry IV_, _Love's Labour's Lost_, _Merchant of +Venice_, _Much Ado_, _A Midsummer-Night's Dream_, and _Richard II_, a +Quarto, usually the most recent, provided the text from which the +version in the Folio was printed. Hence, though in several cases the +copy of the Quarto thus employed seems to have been one used by the +actors and containing corrections of some value, the extant Quarto +rather than the Folio is the prime authority for the text to-day. The +same is true of _Titus Andronicus_, except that in this case the Folio +restores from some manuscript source a scene which had been dropped from +the Quarto. If, as some hold, the Folio texts of _Richard III_ and _King +Lear_ were printed from Quartos, there must have been available also a +manuscript version, which is so heavily drawn upon that the Folio text +virtually represents an independent source, as it does in the case of +four of the five plays acknowledged to be due to surreptitious +reporting. _Pericles_, the fifth of these, was first admitted to the +collected works in the third Folio, and is the only "reported" text +forming our sole authority.[8] + + +TABLE OF QUARTO EDITIONS BEFORE 1623 + +Transcriber's Note: + The following abbreviations are used in the "SOURCE OF Q TEXT" column: + D--Disputed; + P--Playhouse; + R--Reported. + +========================================================================== + | | DATES OF | | + | ENTRIES IN |--------------------------------|SOURCE| + | STATIONERS' | | | | | | | OF Q | SOURCE OF + | REGISTER |Q1 | Q2 |Q3 |Q4 |Q5 |Q6 | TEXT | F1 TEXT + | | | | | | | | | +------+--------------+----+------+-----+----+----+----+------+------------ +T.A. |Feb. 6, 1594 |1594| 1600| 1611| | | |P |Q3 completed + | | | | | | | | | & corrected + | | | | | | | | | +R. II |Aug. 29, 1597 |1597| 1598| 1608|1615| | |P |Q4 corrected + | | | | | | | | | +R. III|Oct. 19, 1597 |1597| 1598| 1602|1605|1612|1622|D |Disputed + | | | | | | | | | +R.J. |No entry |1597| 1599| 1609|n.d.| | |{Q1 R |Q3 from Q2 + | | | | | | | |{Q2 P | + | | | | | | | | | +1 H.IV|Feb. 25, 1598 |1598| 1599| 1604|1608|1613|1622|P |Q5 corrected + | | | | | | | | | +L.L.L.|No entry |1598| | | | | |P |Q1 + | | | | | | | | | +Merch.|July 22, 1598 | | | | | | | | + |(conditional) | | | | | | | | + | | | | | | | | | + | | | {1600| | | | | | + |Oct. 28, 1600 |1600| { or | | | | |P |Q1 (Heyes) + | | | {1619| | | | | | + | | | | | | | | | + | | | |{1608| | | | | +H.V. |[Aug. 4, 1600]|1600| 1602|{ or | | | |R |Independent + |"to be stayed"| | |{1619| | | | | + | | | | | | | | | +M.Ado |[Aug. 4, 1600]| | | | | | | | + |"to be stayed"| | | | | | | | + |Aug. 23, 1600 |1600| | | | | |P |Q1 corrected + | | | | | | | | | +2 H.IV|Aug. 23, 1600 |1600| | | | | |P |Independent + | | | | | | | | | + | | | {1600| | | | | | +M.N.D.|Oct. 8, 1600 |1600| {or | | | | |P |Q2 corrected + | | | {1619| | | | | | + | | | | | | | | | +M.W. |Jan. 18, 1602 |1602| 1619| | | | |R |Independent + | | | | | | | | | +Hml. |July 26, 1602 |1603|1604,5| 1611| | | |{Q1 R |Independent + | | | | | | | |{Q2 P | + | | | | | | | | | + | | | {1608| | | | | |Disputed (Q1 +Lear |Nov. 26, 1607 |1608| { or | | | | |D | in several + | | | {1619| | | | | | states) + | | | | | | | | | +T.C. |Feb. 7, 1603 }| | | | | | | |Independent + |(conditional)}|1609| | | | | |P | (Q1 in two + |Jan. 28, 1609}| | | | | | | | issues) + | | | | | | | | | +Per. |May 20, 1608 |1609| 1609| 1611|1619| | |R |Not in F1 + | | | | | | | | |F3 from Q4 + | | | | | | | | | +Oth. |Oct. 6, 1621 |1622| | | | | |P |Independent +========================================================================== + +[8] In the table of Quarto editions may be noted four entries with the +words "or 1619" added to the date which appears on the title-page. These +four plays, the Roberts Quartos of _The Merchant of Venice_ and _A +Midsummer-Night's Dream_ of 1600, the third Quarto of _Henry V_, 1608, +the second Quarto of _King Lear_, 1608, along with the 1619 Quartos of +_The Merry Wives_ and _Pericles_, an undated Quarto of _The Whole +Contention_ (the earlier form of _2_ and _3 Henry VI_), the Quarto of +_Sir John Oldcastle_, dated 1600, and the Quarto of _A Yorkshire +Tragedie_, dated 1619, have been shown by Mr. A. W. Pollard, with the +cooeperation of Mr. W. W. Greg, to have been put on the market at the +same time, and Mr. W. J. Neidig has proved from typographical evidence +that the title-pages of all nine were set up in succession in 1619. A +very curious problem is thus presented, and the motives for the +deception practised, apparently by the printers Pavier and Jaggard, have +not been satisfactorily cleared up; but at present it appears likely +that in the case of these nine Quartos the correct date of publication +should be 1619, and that, in the case of the first two mentioned, the +question of the comparative authority of the Heyes and Fisher Quartos +respectively as against that of the Roberts Quartos should be settled +against the latter. This last point is the only part of this remarkable +discovery which is of importance in determining the text, as the Quartos +dated 1608 and 1619 were already known to be mere reprints of earlier +ones. + +[Page Heading: The First Folio] + +We come now to the publication of the First Folio, the most important +single volume in the history of the text of Shakespeare. On November 8, +1623, the following entry occurs in the Stationers' Register: + + Mr. Blount: Isaak Jaggard. Entred for their copie under the hands of + M^r Doctor Worrall and M^r Cole, Warden, M^r William Shakspeers + Comedyes, Histories and Tragedyes, soe manie of the said copyes as + are not formerly entred to other men viz^t, Comedyes. The Tempest. + The two gentlemen of Verona. Measure for Measure. The Comedy of + Errors. As you like it. All's well that ends well. Twelft Night. The + winters tale. Histories. The thirde part of Henry the sixt. Henry + the eight. Tragedies. Coriolanus. Timon of Athens. Julius Caesar. + Mackbeth. Anthonie and Cleopatra. Cymbeline. + +One notes here the omission of _1_ and _2 Henry VI_, _King John_, and +_The Taming of the Shrew_, which had neither been previously entered nor +issued in Quarto. This is probably due to the fact that three of these +are based on older plays of which Quartos exist, which may have seemed +to the publishers reason enough to save their sixpences. If we assume +that "The thirde part of Henry the sixt" is a misprint for "The first +part," the explanation covers the whole case. The registration of +_Antony and Cleopatra_ was superfluous, as it had been entered, though +not printed, so far as we know, on May 20, 1608. + +There are thus in the First Folio, the publication of which immediately +followed this entry in 1623, twenty plays not before issued, for which +the text of this volume is our sole authority. The emphasis so commonly +placed on the supreme value of the text of the First Folio is justified +with regard to these twenty plays; as for the remaining seventeen, its +importance is shared, in proportions varying from play to play, with the +texts of the Quartos. The sources from which the compilers of the Folio +obtained their new material were in all probability playhouse copies, as +in the case of the better Quartos. Heminge and Condell, Shakespeare's +actor colleagues and friends, who sign the Address to the Readers,[9] +would obviously be the instruments for obtaining such copies. As for the +so-called "private transcripts" which some have postulated as a source +of material, there is no evidence that at this date any such existed. +Whether any of the playhouse manuscripts provided by Heminge and Condell +were in Shakespeare's autograph we can neither affirm nor deny, but it +is well to be cautious in accepting at its face value the implication +contained in their words that they had "scarce received from him a blot +in his papers." + +[9] For this and other prefatory matter from the First Folio, see +Appendix A. + +[Illustration: THE TITLE PAGE OF THE FIRST FOLIO + +(_From the copy in the New York Public Library._)] + +[Page Heading: The First Folio] + +The First Folio is a large volume of 908 pages, measuring in the tallest +extant copy 13-3/8 x 8-1/2 inches. A reduced facsimile of the title page +with the familiar wood-cut portrait appears on the opposite page. The +text is printed in two columns with sixty-six lines to a column. The +typography is only fairly good, and many mistakes occur in the +pagination. Extant copies, of which there are at least 156, vary in some +respects, on account of the practice of making corrections while the +sheets were being printed. The printer was William Jaggard, and his +associates in the publishing enterprise were his son Isaac and the +booksellers, William Aspley, John Smethwick, and Edward Blount. +Estimates of the size of the edition vary from five to six hundred. + +Many of the causes which made the text of these early editions +inaccurate are common to all the plays, while some are peculiar to those +obtained by reporters in the theater. Of the first, the most fundamental +is, of course, the illegibility or ambiguity of the author's original +manuscript. Such flaws were perpetuated and multiplied with each +successive transcript, and when the manuscript copy came into the +printer's hands, the errors of the compositor--confusion of words +sounding alike, of words looking alike, unconscious substitution of +synonyms, mere manual slips, and the like--were added to those already +existing. The absence of any uniform spelling, and carelessness in +punctuation, which led to these being freely modified by the printer, +increased the risk of corruption. The punctuation of both Quartos and +Folio, though by no means without weight, cannot be regarded as having +the author's sanction, and all modernized editions re-punctuate with +greater or less freedom. Most nineteenth-century editors carry on with +minor modifications the punctuation of Pope, so that their texts show a +composite of sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth century +methods; the text used in the Tudor edition is frankly punctuated, as +far as the syntax permits, according to modern methods, with, it is +believed, no loss in authority. There is no clear evidence that, in such +productions as plays, proof was read outside of the printing-office. The +theory, insisted on by Dr. Furness in successive volumes of the _New +Variorum Shakespeare_, that the Elizabethan compositor set type to +dictation is without foundation, the phenomena which he seeks to explain +by it occurring commonly to-day when there is no question of such a +practice. + +Another class of variation in text arose from the treatment of the +manuscript in the playhouse. Cuts, additions, and alterations were made +for acting purposes, stage directions were added with or without the +assistance of the author, revivals of the play called for revision by +the original writer or another. The majority of stage directions in +modern editions, except exits and entrances, are due to editors from +Rowe onwards, and these unauthorized additions are distinguished in the +Tudor edition by brackets. Almost all notes of place at the beginnings +of scenes belong to this class. + +[Page Heading: Corruptions of Text] + +The defects to which the texts of the surreptitiously obtained Quartos +are particularly subject include omissions and alterations due to lapse +of memory on the part of the actors, additions due to the tendency to +improvise which Shakespeare censures in _Hamlet_, omissions due to the +reporter's failure to hear or to write quickly enough, garbled +paraphrases made up to supply such omissions, and the writing of prose +as verse and verse as prose. + +Such are the most important of the causes of the corruptions which the +long series of editors of Shakespeare have devoted their study and their +ingenuity to remedying. The series really begins with the second Folio +of 1632 and is continued with but slight improvements in the third Folio +of 1663, reprinted with the addition of _Pericles_ and six spurious +plays in 1664, and in the fourth Folio of 1685. The emendations made in +the seventeenth-century editions are mainly modernizations in spelling +and such minor changes as occurred to members of the printing staff. In +no case do they have any authority except such as may be supposed to +belong to a man not far removed from Shakespeare in date; and they add +about as many mistakes as they remove. + +The difficulty of the task of the modern editor varies greatly from play +to play. It is least in the twenty plays for which the First Folio is +the sole authority, greater in the eight in which the Folio reprints a +Quarto with some variations, greatest in the nine in which Folio and +Quarto represent rival versions. In these last cases, it is the duty of +the editor to decide from all the accessible data which version has the +best claim to represent the author's intention, and to make that a basis +to be departed from only in clear cases of corruption. The temptation, +which no editor has completely resisted, is naturally towards an +eclecticism which adopts the reading that seems most plausible in +itself, without giving due weight to the general authority of the text +chosen as a basis. If carried far, such eclecticism results in a +patchwork quite distinct from any version that Shakespeare can have +known. + +The first editor of Shakespeare, in the modern sense, was Nicholas Rowe, +poet laureate under Queen Anne. He published in 1709 an edition of the +plays in six octavo volumes, preceded by the first formal memoir of the +dramatist, and furnished with notes. The poems were issued in the +following year in similar form, with essays by Gildon. Rowe based his +text upon that of the fourth Folio, with hardly any collation of +previous editions. He corrected a large number of the more obvious +corruptions, the most notable of his emendations being perhaps the +phrase in _Twelfth Night_, "Some are become great," which he changed to +"Some are born great." On the external aspect of the plays Rowe has left +a deeper mark than any subsequent editor. In the Folios only eight of +the plays had lists of _dramatis personae_; Rowe supplied them for the +rest. In the Folios the division into acts and scenes is carried out +completely in only seventeen cases, it is partially done in thirteen, +and in six it is not attempted at all. Rowe again completed the work, +and though some of his divisions have been modified and others should +be, he performed this task with care and intelligence. He modernized the +spelling and the punctuation, completed the exits and entrances, +corrected many corrupt speech-tags, and arranged many passages where the +verse was disordered. In virtue of these services, he must, in spite of +his leaving much undone, be regarded as one of the most important agents +in the formation of our modern text. + +[Page Heading: Rowe and Pope] + +A second edition of Rowe's Shakespeare was published in 1714, and in +1725 appeared a splendid quarto edition in six volumes, edited by +Alexander Pope. In his preface Pope made strong professions of his good +faith in dealing with the text. "I have discharged," he said, "the dull +duty of an editor to my best judgment, with more labor than I expect +thanks, with a religious abhorrence of all innovation, and without any +indulgence to my private sense or conjecture.... The various readings +are fairly put in the margin, so that anyone may compare 'em; and those +I have preferred into the text are constantly _ex fide codicum_, upon +authority.... The more obsolete or unusual words are explained." Hardly +one of these statements is entirely true. Pope possessed copies of the +first and second Folios, and at least one Quarto of each play that had +been printed before 1623, except _Much Ado_, but these he consulted only +occasionally, and seldom registered the variants as he said he had done. +When he did, he gave no clue to their source. He constantly inserted his +private conjectures without notice, and his explanations of difficult +expressions are few and frequently wrong. Passages considered by him +inferior or spurious he relegated to the foot of the pages; others he +merely omitted without notice. His ear was often jarred by the freedom +of Shakespeare's verse, and he did his best to make it "regular" by +eighteenth-century standards. Yet Pope spent much ingenuity in striving +to better the text, and no small number of restorations and emendations +are to be credited to him, especially in connection with the arrangement +of the verse. He is to be credited also with discernment in rejecting +the seven plays added to the Shakespearean canon in the third Folio, of +which only _Pericles_ has since been restored. + +The weaknesses of Pope's edition did not long remain hidden. In the +spring of 1726 appeared "Shakespeare Restored: or, a Specimen of the +many Errors, as well committed, as unamended, by Mr. Pope in his late +edition of this Poet. Designed not only to correct the said edition, but +to restore the True Reading of Shakespeare in all the Editions ever yet +publish'd." Lewis Theobald, the author, was a translator and scholar, +much better equipped than Pope for the work of editing, and his +merciless exposure of Pope's defects gave a foretaste of the critical +ability later displayed in the edition of Shakespeare which he published +in 1734. Lovers of Shakespeare discerned at the time the service +performed by Theobald in this attack on Pope, but the publication in +1728 of the first edition of the _Dunciad_, with Theobald as hero, gave +Pope his revenge, and cast over the reputation of his critic a cloud +which is only now dispersing. Modern scholarship, however, has come to +recognize the primacy of Theobald among emendators of Shakespeare's +text, and the most famous of his contributions, his correction of "a +table of green fields" to "'a babled of green fields," in Quickly's +account of the death of Falstaff in _Henry V_, II. iii. 17, is only a +specially brilliant example of the combination of acuteness, learning, +and sympathy which made his edition a landmark in the history of the +text. For many of his troubles, however, Theobald was himself to blame; +he attacked his opponents with unnecessary vehemence, as he expressed +his appreciation of his own work with unnecessary emphasis; he was not +always candid as to what he owed to others, even to the despised edition +of Pope, from which he printed; and he indulged his appetite for +conjecture at times beyond reasonable bounds. + +[Page Heading: Theobald and Hanmer] + +Theobald's edition was followed in 1744 by that of Sir Thomas Hanmer in +six beautifully printed volumes. This edition is based on that of Pope, +and even goes farther than Pope's in relegating to the foot of the page +passages supposed unworthy. Hanmer performed no collating worth +mentioning, but made some acute conjectures. + +The student is apt to be prejudiced against the work of William +Warburton on account of the extravagance of his claims and his +ungenerous treatment of predecessors to whom he was greatly indebted. +"The Genuine Text," he announced, "(collated with all former editions +and then corrected and emended) is here settled: Being restored from the +Blunders of the first editors and the Interpolations of the two Last"; +yet he based his text on Theobald's and joined Pope's name with his own +on the title-page. Whatever value belongs to Warburton's edition (1747) +lies in a number of probable conjectural emendations, some of which he +had previously allowed Theobald to use, and in the amusing bombast and +arrogance of many of his notes. The feeble support that lay behind the +pretensions of this editor was exposed by a number of critics such as +John Upton, Zachary Grey, Benjamin Heath, and Thomas Edwards, who did +not issue new editions, but contributed a considerable number of +corrections and interpretations. + +The value of Dr. Johnson's edition (1765) does not lie in his +emendations, which are usually, though not always, poor, or in his +collation of older editions, for which he was too indolent, but in the +sturdy common-sense of his interpretations and the consummate skill +frequently shown in paraphrases of obscure passages. His Preface to the +edition was the most weighty general estimate of Shakespeare so far +produced, and remains a valuable piece of criticism. In scientific +treatment of the text, involving full use of all the Quartos and Folios +then accessible, Johnson and his predecessors were far surpassed by +Edward Capell, who issued his edition in ten volumes in 1768. +Unfortunately, the enormous labor Capell underwent did not bear its full +fruit, for he suppressed much of his textual material in the interests +of a well-printed page, and his preface and notes are written in a +crabbed style that obscures the acuteness of his editorial intelligence. +He elaborated stage directions, and carried farther the correction of +disarranged meter; but, like most of his fellow-editors in that century, +he did less than justice to his predecessors and was too indulgent to +his own conjectures. This edition was supplemented by volumes of notes +published in 1775 (1 vol.) and 1779-1783 (3 vols.). + +[Page Heading: Johnson and Capell] + +Before the publication of Capell's text, the antiquary George Steevens +had issued in 1766 reprints of twenty of the early Quartos; and in 1773 +he produced, in association with Johnson, an edition with a good text in +which he benefited from Capell's labors (though he denies this). Through +his knowledge of Elizabethan literature he made substantial +contributions to the interpretation of difficult passages. He restored +_Pericles_ to a place in the canon, but excluded the _Poems_, because +"the strongest Act of Parliament that could be framed would fail to +compel readers into their service." To the second edition of Johnson and +Steevens's text (1778) Edmund Malone contributed his famous "Essay on +the Chronology of Shakespeare's Plays," which began modern investigation +of this subject. The third edition was revised in 1785 by Isaac Reed; +and this was succeeded by the edition of Malone in 1790, in which the +vast learning and conscientious care of that scholar combined to produce +the most trustworthy text so far published. Malone was not brilliant, +but he was extremely erudite and candid, and his so-called "Third +Variorum" edition in twenty-one volumes, brought out after his death by +James Boswell in 1821, is a mine of information on theatrical history +and cognate matters, which will probably always be of value to students +of the period. The name of "First Variorum Edition" is given to the +fifth edition of Johnson and Steevens, revised by Reed in 1803, and +"Second Variorum" to the sixth edition of the same, 1813. Meantime +occasional critiques of complete editions contributed something to the +text. Johnson's edition called forth comment by Kendrick in 1765 and +Tyrwhitt in 1766, and the Johnson and Steevens text was criticized by +Joseph Ritson in 1783 and 1788, and by J. Monck Mason in 1785. The first +American edition was published in Philadelphia in 1795-1796 from +Johnson's text; the first continental edition at Brunswick in 1797-1801 +by C. Wagner. + +[Page Heading: Nineteenth-Century Editors] + +The editions of the nineteenth century are too numerous for detailed +mention here. Passing by the "family" Shakespeare of T. Bowdler, 1807 +and 1820, and the editions of Harness, 1825, and Singer, 1826, we note +the editions of 1838-1842, and 1842-1844 in which Charles Knight +resorted to the text of the First Folio as an exclusive authority. J. P. +Collier in his edition of 1844 leaned, on the other hand, to the side of +the Quartos, but later became a clever if somewhat rash emendator, who +spoiled his reputation by seeking to obtain authority for his guesses by +forging them in a seventeenth-century hand in a copy of the second +Folio. The colossal volumes of J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps's edition, +1853-1865, contain stores of antiquarian illustration; and in the +edition of Delius, 1854-1861, we have the chief contribution of Germany +to the text of Shakespeare. Delius, like Knight, though not to the same +extreme, exaggerated the authority of the First Folio; but for the plays +for which that is the sole source, his text has earned high respect. +Alexander Dyce, wisest of Elizabethan scholars, produced in 1857 a +characteristically sane text, on the whole the best to this date; while +in America in 1857-1860 and 1859-1865 the brilliant but erratic Richard +Grant White produced editions which show a commendable if puzzling +openness to conviction in successive changes of opinion. + +From 1863 to 1866 appeared the first issue of the Cambridge Shakespeare, +edited originally by W. G. Clark, J. Glover, and W. A. Wright. The +responsibility for the later revised edition of 1891-3 is Dr. Wright's. +The exceedingly careful and exhaustive collation of all previous textual +readings in the notes of this edition make it indispensable for the +serious student, and its text, substantially reprinted in the Globe +edition, is the most widely accepted form of the works of Shakespeare +which has ever been circulated. The over-emphasis on the First Folio +which has been noted in Knight and Delius is no longer found here, and +in general the comparative value of Quarto and Folio is weighed in the +case of each play. Occasionally, in cases like that of _Richard III_, +where both Quarto and Folio are good but vary widely, the Cambridge +editors seem more eclectic than their general theory warrants, and the +punctuation is still archaic, clinging to the eighteenth-century +tradition. But the acceptance of this careful and conservative text has +been a wholesome influence in Shakespearean study. + +The only completely reedited texts which have been issued since the +revised Cambridge edition are that of the Oxford Shakespeare, by W. J. +Craig, on principles very similar to the Cambridge, and the Neilson +text, originally published in one volume in 1906 and revised and +reprinted in the Tudor Shakespeare. The massive volumes of Dr. H. H. +Furness's _New Variorum Shakespeare_, begun in 1871 (17 volumes issued), +now reprint the text of the First Folio, and show marked traces of the +tendency to follow this authority without due discrimination. This +monumental abstract of all previous criticism is of great value to the +professional student of Shakespeare, and its textual apparatus has the +advantage over the Cambridge edition of recording not only the first +occurrence of a reading, but the names of the chief editors who have +adopted it. It thus gives a compendious history of editorial judgment on +all disputed points. + +[Page Heading: Recent Editors] + +The conjectural emendation of Shakespeare still goes on, but since Dyce, +comparatively few suggestions find general acceptance. More progress has +been made in interpretation through the greater accessibility of +contemporary documents and the advance in recent years in our knowledge +of Elizabethan theatrical conditions. But, in view of the circumstances +under which the original editions were printed, there will always be +room for variations of individual opinion in many cases, both as to what +Shakespeare wrote and as to what he meant. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +QUESTIONS OF AUTHENTICITY + + +Owing to the conditions of publication described in Chapter VII there +are questions as to the authenticity of a number of the poems and plays +ascribed to Shakespeare. Of the poems, "The Ph[oe]nix and the Turtle" +and "A Lover's Complaint" have been sometimes rejected as unworthy, but +there is no other evidence against the ascription to him by the original +publishers. The case of _The Passionate Pilgrim_ is different and is +interesting as illustrating the methods of piracy practised by +booksellers and as affording the only record of a protest by Shakespeare +against the free use which they made of his name. This anthology was +published by W. Jaggard in 1599 as "by W. Shakespeare." The third +edition in 1612 added two pieces by Thomas Heywood. Heywood immediately +protested and in the postscript to his _Apologie for Actors_, 1612, +declared that Shakespeare was "much offended with M. Jaggard that +(altogether unknown to him) presumed to make so bold with his name." Of +the twenty poems that made up the volume, only five are certainly by +Shakespeare, two appearing also in _The Sonnets_ and three in _Love's +Labour's Lost_. Six others can be assigned to contemporary poets. The +authorship of the remaining nine is unknown, but probably only one or +two are by Shakespeare. + +[Page Heading: The Shakespeare Apocrypha] + +In addition to the thirty-seven plays now included in all editions of +Shakespeare, some forty others have been, for one reason or another, +attributed to him. The First Folio contained thirty-six plays; and it is +a strong evidence of the honesty and information of its editors, Heming +and Condell, that subsequent criticism has been satisfied to retain the +plays of their choice and to make but one addition, _Pericles_. Of these +plays, however, it is now generally agreed that a number are not +entirely the work of Shakespeare, but were written by him in part in +collaboration with other writers, _e.g._, _Titus Andronicus_, _1_, _2_, +and, _3 Henry VI_, _Timon of Athens_, _Pericles_, and _Henry VIII_. Of two +of these, _Titus Andronicus_ and _1 Henry VI_, some students refuse to +give Shakespeare any share. Of the forty doubtful plays, there is not +one which in its entirety is now credited to Shakespeare; and only three +or four in which any number of competent critics see traces of his hand. +Only in the case of _The Two Noble Kinsmen_ is there any weight of +evidence or opinion that he had a considerable share. + +The second Folio kept to the thirty-six plays of the First Folio; but +the second printing of the third Folio (1664) added seven plays: +_Pericles Prince of Tyre_, _The London Prodigal_, _The History of Thomas +Lord Cromwell_, _Sir John Oldcastle_, _Lord Cobham_, _The Puritan +Widow_, _A Yorkshire Tragedy_, _The Tragedy of Locrine_. These seven +plays were also included in the fourth Folio, and as supplementary +volumes to Rowe's, Pope's, and some later editions. They were all +originally published in quarto as by W. S., or William Shakespeare, but +except in the case of _Pericles_, this has been regarded as a +bookseller's mistake or deception without warrant. _Locrine_, "newly set +forth, overseen, and corrected by W. S., 1595," is a play of about the +date of _Titus Andronicus_, and is probably by Greene, Peele, or some +imitator of Marlowe and Kyd. _Sir John Oldcastle_ appeared in 1600 in +two quartos, one of which ascribed it to William Shakespeare, but it was +clearly composed for the Admiral's men as a rival to the Falstaff plays +which the Chamberlain's men had been acting. _Thomas Lord Cromwell_ +(1602) and _The Puritan_ (1607) were ascribed to W. S., on their +title-pages, but offer no possible resemblances to Shakespeare. _The +London Prodigal_ (1605) and _A Yorkshire Tragedy_ (1608) were both acted +by Shakespeare's company, and bore his name on their first editions, and +the latter also on a second edition, 1619. The external evidence for his +authorship is virtually the same as in the case of _Pericles_, which +also was acted by his company, appeared under his name during his +lifetime, but was rejected by the editors of the First Folio. No one, +however, can discover any suggestion of Shakespeare in _The London +Prodigal_. _A Yorkshire Tragedy_ is a domestic tragedy in one act, +dealing with a contemporary murder. It gives the conclusion of a story +also treated in a play, _The Miseries of Enforced Marriage_ (1607) by +George Wilkins, the author of a novel _The Painful Adventures of +Pericles_, and sometimes suggested as a collaborator on the play +_Pericles_. _A Yorkshire Tragedy_ is very unlike Shakespeare, but it has +a few passages of extraordinarily vivid prose, which might conceivably +owe something to him. + +[Page Heading: The Two Noble Kinsmen] + +_The Two Noble Kinsmen_ was registered April 8, 1634, and appeared in +the same year with the following title-page "The Two Noble Kinsmen: +Presented at the Blackfriars by the Kings Maiesties servants, with great +applause: Written by the memorable Worthies of their time; + + Mr. John Fletcher, and } + } Gent. + Mr. William Shakespeare} + +Printed at London by the Tho. Cotes for Iohn Waterson; and are to be +sold at the signe of the Crowne in Paul's Church-yard. 1634." The +exclusion of the play from the First Folio may be explained on the same +basis as the exclusion of _Pericles_; for in each play Shakespeare wrote +the minor part. There is now general agreement that _The Two Noble +Kinsmen_ was written by two authors with distinct styles, and that the +author of the larger portion is Fletcher. The attribution of the +non-Fletcherian part to Shakespeare has been upheld by Lamb, Coleridge, +De Quincey, Spalding (in a notable Letter on Shakespeare's Authorship of +_The Two Noble Kinsmen_, 1833), Furness, and Littledale (who edited the +play for _The New Shakespeare Society_, Series II, 1, 8, 15, London, +1876-1885); but there are still many critics who do not believe that +Shakespeare had any part in the play. This question will probably always +remain a matter of opinion; but the evidence of various verse tests +confirms esthetic judgment in assigning about two fifths of the verse to +Shakespeare. The Shakespearean portion, here and there possibly touched +by Fletcher, includes, I. i; I. ii; I. iii; I. iv. 1-28; III. i; III. +ii; V. i. 17-73; V. iii. 1-104; V. iv, and perhaps the prose II. i and +IV. iii. + +The dance in the play is borrowed from an anti-masque in Beaumont's +_Masque of the Inner Temple and Gray's Inn_, presented at court, +February 20, 1613. This fixes the date of composition for the play in +1613, the same year as _Henry VIII_, on which it is now generally agreed +that Shakespeare and Fletcher collaborated. On both of the plays the +collaboration seems to have been direct; _i.e._, after making a fairly +detailed outline, each writer took certain scenes, and, to all intents, +completed these scenes after his own fashion. + +One other play must be mentioned in connection with _The Two Noble +Kinsmen_. _Cardenio_, entered on the Stationers' Register, 1653, was +described as "by Fletcher and Shakespeare." It seems probably identical +with a _Cardenno_ acted at court by the King's men in May, 1613, and a +_Cardenna_ in June, 1613. Attempts have been made to connect it with +_Double Falsehood_, assigned to Shakespeare by Theobald on its +publication in 1728. + +[Page Heading: Last Ascriptions] + +Other non-extant plays ascribed to Shakespeare after 1642 require no +attention, nor do a number of Elizabethan plays assigned to him in +certain of their later quartos. Among these are _The Troublesome Reign +of King John_, on which Shakespeare's _King John_ was based; _The First +Part of The Contention_, and (the Second Part) _The True Tragedy of +Richard Duke of York_ (versions of _2 Henry VI_ and _3 Henry VI_); and +_The Taming of a Shrew_, the basis of Shakespeare's play. The relation +of Shakespeare's plays to these earlier versions is discussed in the +introductions to the respective volumes of the Tudor Shakespeare. Other +plays assigned, without grounds, to Shakespeare by late +seventeenth-century booksellers are _The Merry Devil of Edmonton, The +Arraignment of Paris, Fair Em, Mucedorus_, and _The Birth of Merlin_. + +A few other anonymous plays have been ascribed to Shakespeare by modern +critics. Of chief note are _Arden of Feversham_, 1592, first attributed +to Shakespeare by Edward Jacob in 1770; _Edward III_, 1596, included +with other false attributions to Shakespeare in a bookseller's list of +1659, and edited and assigned to Shakespeare by Capell in 1760; _Sir +Thomas More_, an old play of about 1587, preserved in manuscript until +edited by Dyce in 1844 and assigned to Shakespeare by Richard Simpson in +1871. There is no evidence for the ascription of various portions of +these plays to Shakespeare, except that certain passages seem to some +critics characteristic of him. But at the date when the three plays +were written his style had not attained its characteristic +individuality; and the assignment of these anonymous plays to any +particular author neglects the obvious fact that many writers of that +period present similar traits of versification and imagery. The +attribution to Shakespeare of the Countess of Salisbury episode in +_Edward III_, parts of the insurrection scenes in _Sir Thomas More_, and +a few passages in _Arden of Feversham_ has scarcely any warrant beyond +the enthusiastic admiration of certain critics for these passages. + +Thus only one play of the Shakespeare Apocrypha has any considerable +claim to admission into the canon. The evidence for his participation in +_The Two Noble Kinsmen_ is about as strong as in _Pericles_, and the +part assigned to him is fairly comparable with his contribution to +_Henry VIII_. + +An account of the Shakespeare Apocrypha is, however, incomplete without +reference to the forgeries of documents or plays. Theobald published +_Double Falsehood_ in 1728, as based on a seventeenth-century manuscript +which he conjectured to be by Shakespeare. John Jordan, a resident of +Stratford, forged the will of Shakespeare's father, and probably some +other papers in his _Collections_, 1780; William Henry Ireland, with the +aid of his father, produced in 1796 a volume of forged papers purporting +to relate to Shakespeare's career, and on April 2, 1796, Sheridan and +Kemble presented at Drury Lane the tragedy of _Vortigern_, really by +Ireland, but said by him to have been found among Shakespeare's +manuscripts. Ireland was exposed by Malone, and he published a +confession of his forgeries in 1805. More skilful and far more +disturbing to Shakespearean scholarship are the forgeries of John Payne +Collier, extending over a period from 1835 to 1849. These included +manuscript corrections in a copy of the second Folio, and many documents +concerning the biography of Shakespeare and the history of the +Elizabethan theater. These forgeries have vitiated many of Collier's +most important publications, as his _Memoirs of Edward Alleyn_, and +_History of English Dramatic Poetry_. + +[Page Heading: Forgeries] + +We turn now from attempts to increase Shakespeare's writings to an +extraordinary effort to deny him the authorship of all his plays. Doubts +on this score seem to have been raised by Joseph C. Hart in his _Romance +of Yachting_, 1848, and by an article in _Chambers' Journal_, August 7, +1852. In 1856, Mr. W. H. Smith first proposed Bacon's authorship in a +letter to Lord Ellesmere, "Was Lord Bacon the author of Shakespeare's +plays?" These were followed by an article by Miss Delia Bacon in +_Putnam's Monthly_, 1856, and a volume, _The Philosophy of the Plays of +Shakespeare unfolded by Delia Bacon_. Since Miss Bacon's book, her +hypothesis has resulted in the publication of hundreds of volumes and +pamphlets supporting many variations of the theory. Some are content to +view the authorship as a mystery, assigning the plays to an unknown +author. Others attribute the authorship to a club of distinguished men, +or to Sir Anthony Shirley, or the Earl of Rutland, or another. Others +give Bacon only a portion of the plays, as those containing many legal +terms. The majority, however, are thoroughgoing "Baconians," and the +most prodigious cases of misapplied ingenuity have been the efforts to +find in the First Folio a cipher, by which certain letters are selected +which proclaim Bacon's authorship; as _The Great Cryptogram_, 1887, by +Ignatius Donnelly, and _The Bi-Literal Cypher of Francis Bacon_, 1900, +by Mrs. Gallup. Such cyphers are mutually destructive, and their +absurdity has been repeatedly demonstrated. Either they will not work +without much arbitrary manipulation, or they work too well and are found +to indicate Bacon's authorship of literature written before his birth +and after his death. Yet similar 'discoveries' continue to be announced. + +The evidences supporting Shakespeare's authorship have been set forth +sufficiently in this volume and offer no basis for an attitude of +skepticism. A few considerations may be recalled as correctives for a +partial or mistaken reading of the evidence. (1) Though the records of +Shakespeare's life are meager, they are fuller than for any other +Elizabethan dramatist. Indeed we know little of the biography of any men +of the sixteenth century unless their lives affected church or politics +and hence found preservation in the records. There is no 'mystery' about +Shakespeare. (2) Records amply establish the identity between +Shakespeare the actor and the writer. Moreover, the plays contain many +words and phrases natural to an actor, many references to the actor's +art, and show a wide and detailed knowledge of the ways and +peculiarities of the theater. (3) The extent of observation and +knowledge in the plays is, indeed, remarkable, but it is not accompanied +by any indication of thorough scholarship, or a detailed connection with +any profession outside of the theater, or a profound knowledge of the +science or philosophy of the time. (4) The law terms are numerous, and +usually correct, but do not establish any great knowledge of the law. +Elizabethan London was full of law students who were among frequent +patrons of the theater. Through acquaintance with these gentlemen +Shakespeare might have readily acquired all the law that he displays. +Moreover Shakespeare had an opportunity to gain a considerable +familiarity with the law through the frequent litigations in which he +and his father were concerned. (5) The dedication, commendatory poems, +and address to the readers prefixed to the First Folio ought in +themselves to be sufficient to remove the skepticism as to Shakespeare's +authorship. + +[Page Heading: The "Baconian" Question] + +The following considerations apply to the attribution to Bacon, so far +as that rests on any tangible basis: (1) Sir Tobie Matthews writes in a +letter to Bacon, written some time later than January, 1621, "The most +prodigious wit that ever I knew of my nation and of this side of the sea +is of your Lordship's name, though he be known by another." The +sentence probably refers to Father Thomas Southwell, a Jesuit, whose +real surname was Bacon. There is nothing to connect it with Shakespeare. +(2) The parallelisms between passages in Shakespeare and Bacon deal with +phrases in common use and fail to establish any connection between the +two men. (3) The few surviving examples of Bacon's verse suggest no +ability as a poet. (4) Bacon's life is well known, and it offers no hint +of connection with the theaters and no space in its crowded annals for +the production of Shakespeare's plays. In fact, if we had to find an +author for Shakespeare's plays among writers of the sixteenth and +seventeenth centuries, Bacon would be about the last person +conceivable. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +SHAKESPEARE SINCE 1616 + + +During Shakespeare's lifetime, his plays were mentioned and imitated as +often as those of any of his contemporaries. The more important +documents bearing on his growing reputation have already been noted in +this volume. This popularity, however, was confined to theater-goers and +the readers of the sixteen plays that had appeared before 1616. There +was no opportunity for a full estimate of his plays as literature until +their publication in the Folio of 1623. This is given full and worthy +expression in the fine verses which Ben Jonson contributed as a preface +to the Folio. He had girded at several of Shakespeare's plays, and his +own views of the principles and practices of the dramatic art were +largely opposed to Shakespeare's, but he took this opportunity to +express unstinted appreciation of Shakespeare's greatness. He notes with +discrimination that Shakespeare learned his art in an earlier day, but +far outshone Kyd, Lyly, and Marlowe. + + Soul of the Age + The applause! delight! the wonder of our Stage! + +He may challenge comparison with the great Greek tragedians, or in +comedies + + Of all that insolent Greece or haughty Rome + Sent forth, or since did from their ashes come. + + He was not of an age but for all time! + +The magnitude of Shakespeare's achievement was thus enthusiastically +proclaimed by the literary dictator of the time. + +From 1623, until the closing of the theaters, the plays continued +favorites on the stage, though they yielded somewhat in the current +taste to the theatrical successes of Fletcher and Massinger. After 1623, +they continued to be read and admired, as is shown by the publication of +the second and third folios in 1632 and 1663-1664, and by many +appreciations, including those of D'Avenant, Suckling, the Duchess of +Newcastle, and Milton. At the Restoration many of the plays were at once +revived on the stage, and Dryden's essay _Of Dramatick Poesie_ (1668) +summed up in a masterly fashion contemporary opinion on Shakespeare. He +is compared with other great dramatists, and is declared less correct +than Jonson and less popular and modern than Beaumont and Fletcher, yet +is "the man who of all Moderns, and perhaps Ancient Poets, had the +largest and most comprehensive soul." + +[Page Heading: The Seventeenth Century] + +The Restoration was in some doubt about Shakespeare, for while it found +in him much to admire, it also found much to condemn. His plays now had +the advantage of women actors for the female parts, but they +encountered changed fashions in the theater. The romantic comedies were +not to the taste of the time, and disappeared from the stage until +toward the middle of the eighteenth century. Meanwhile, _The Merry Wives +of Windsor_ was the most popular and most highly esteemed of his +comedies. The tragedies attracted the genius of Betterton and were +constantly acted, but these were subject to revision of various kinds. +_Hamlet_ and _Othello_ held their places without alterations, but Nahum +Tate's tame version of _King Lear_ and Cibber's version of _Richard III_ +superseded the originals for many years. _Romeo and Juliet_, too, gave +way to Otway's _Caius Marius_, 1692, which kept large portions of +Shakespeare's play; and _Antony and Cleopatra_ yielded place on the +stage to Dryden's fine _All for Love_ (1678), in the style of which he +professes to imitate the "divine Shakespeare." By 1692, adaptations had +also been made of _Troilus and Cressida_, _The Tempest_, _Macbeth_, _The +Two Noble Kinsmen_, _Timon_, _Richard II_, _Coriolanus_, _Henry VI_, +_Cymbeline_, _Titus Andronicus_, _Julius Caesar_. A great deal of +contempt has been visited upon these revisions of Shakespeare, and their +attempts to improve on him are usually feeble enough; but sufficient +recognition has not been given to the testimony that these revisors bear +to a great appreciation and admiration of Shakespeare. They tried to +adapt him to current metrical conventions, to current literary fashions, +to an idea of art quite foreign to his, but they made these efforts +because they admired his genius. If they did not admire everything in +his thirty-seven plays, they admired a great deal. + +Further, these revisions are the outcome of critical strictures on the +plays which were then common and, in essence, have been frequently +repeated. Critics objected to the irregularity and confusion of their +structure, to their disregard of the unities of action, their mixture of +tragic and comic, their obscurity and archaism of diction, their mixed +and confused figures, their occasional puns and bombast. These are +substantially the criticisms that Dryden offers when under the influence +of Rymer. Rymer himself (_A Short View of Tragedy_, 1693) goes much +farther. He desires tragedy to give a rationalized view of life, dealing +poetic justice to various typical persons, and consequently condemns +Shakespeare's persons as too individual, his plots as too irregular, and +the total effect of his plays as insufficiently didactic and moral. This +view of tragedy was mainly due to the rationalistic and classical ideas +which continued for a century to dominate European criticism. But before +the seventeenth century was over, Shakespeare's growing reputation had +proved itself a rock against which the tendencies in criticism had +broken like unavailing waves. However much they might insist on rules in +art, critics were generally willing to hail Shakespeare as the great +exception. Champions were ready to answer Rymer and to defend +Shakespeare. _Othello_, selected by Rymer for special analysis and +condemnation, continued to hold its place on the stage and to incite +dramatists to emulation. The plays continued to be read, and new +editions were demanded. In the forty years from 1660 to 1700, in spite +of great changes in theatrical conditions, in spite of changes of taste +in readers that relegated most of Elizabethan drama to neglect, and in +spite of the formation of a criticism doubtful or neglectful of the very +qualities in literature that his plays present, Shakespeare continued to +win admirers. By 1700 he was recognized as a dramatist and poet who was +one of the great possessions of the English race. + +[Page Heading: Widening Influence] + +In the two centuries since, Shakespeare's fame and influence have spread +and multiplied to an extent difficult to characterize justly in a brief +summary. Some important evidences of this growth may indeed be collected +and analyzed. The position and importance of his plays on the stage, the +ever increasing number of editions, the changing attitudes of critics +and men of letters--on these matters it is not difficult to draw +conclusions as to Shakespeare's influence at home and abroad. But it is +not so easy to say what his influence was on the literature of any +generation, and still less easy to summarize with certainty the effects +on thought and feeling and conduct which made up his continuing power +over generation after generation of readers. This much is clear, that a +study of Shakespeare's influence is in part a study of changing ideas +and ideals in literature--that as he survived the Restoration taste, so +he survived the new classicism of the eighteenth and the romanticism of +the early nineteenth century. It is also clear that a full record of the +influence of Shakespeare on English-speaking readers would touch on +almost all the varied changes of thought and conduct that have entered +into the history of two centuries. + +The most important of the successive editions of Shakespeare from that +of Nicholas Rowe, 1709, to the present time, have been noted in the +history of the text in Chapter VII. It must be observed that these +various publications indicate not only progress toward establishing a +sound text, but also a constantly increasing number of readers. The +multiplication of editions kept pace with the vast extension of the +middle-class interest in literature. By the end of the eighteenth +century, the works of Shakespeare were in the possession of everyone who +had a library, and with a text and notes that left few difficulties for +a person of any education. + +The nineteenth century well maintained the tradition of earlier +scholarship. Malone's extensive antiquarian knowledge of Elizabethan +drama and theater served as the basis for further research in these +fields by Dyce, Ward, Fleay, and others. The chronological order of the +plays, which Malone was the first to investigate, was determined with +considerable certainty and gave a new significance to the study of +Shakespeare's work as a whole. Dyce, Sidney Walker, and Wright, Delius +of the Germans, Richard Grant White of the Americans, are a few among +the long list of scholars who have added notable emendations and +illustrative notes. Editions of the collected works indeed soon became +almost too numerous for record, and the number of readings, notes, and +illustrations too great for collection even in the largest variorum. +To-day the task of scholarship may lie in the restriction, +simplification, and final determination of certain varying editorial +practices rather than in the accumulation of further illustrative and +appreciative comment. But to the work of adding new editions there can +be no end so long as the number of readers increases. Volumes of all +sizes, for many classes, following various editorial methods, are likely +to continue to meet the changing but ever increasing demands of +English-speaking readers. At the end of the nineteenth century +Shakespeare's works were not merely a household possession, they were to +be had in every possible form to suit every possible taste or +convenience. + +[Page Heading: On the Stage] + +The extension of Shakespeare's popularity on the stage was concurrent +with this widening range of readers. In the first thirty years of the +eighteenth century, which marked a revolution in the nature of the drama +and the taste of the audiences, Shakespeare's tragedies continued to be +among the most frequently acted stock plays at the two patented +theaters. The middle of the century saw the revival of most of the +romantic comedies and the appearance of David Garrick. Some of the +adaptations continued, but others were displaced by genuine +Shakespeare, as in _Macbeth_, _The Merchant of Venice_, and _Romeo and +Juliet_. _All's Well That Ends Well_, _As You Like It_, _Cymbeline_, +_Much Ado_, _Twelfth Night_, _The Winter's Tale_, were all revived. In +fact, if we include adaptations, every play of Shakespeare was seen on +the stage during the eighteenth century, with the exceptions of _2_ and +_3 Henry VI_, only parts of these appearing, and of _Love's Labour's +Lost_, of which a version prepared for acting was published in 1762 but +not produced. + +The traditions of Betterton had been carried on by Wilks (1670-1732), +Barton Booth (1681-1733), Colley Cibber (1671-1757), and others. But the +prevailing manner was condemned as stiff and lifeless in comparison with +the energy of Garrick's presentation. From his first triumph in Richard +III in 1741, to his farewell performance of Lear in 1776, he won a +series of signal successes in both tragedy and comedy, in Hamlet, Lear, +Macbeth, Richard III, Falconbridge, Romeo, Hotspur, Iago, Leontes, +Posthumus, Benedick, and Antony. Garrick's services to Shakespeare +extended beyond the parts which he impersonated. He revived many plays, +and though he garbled the texts freely, yet in comparison with earlier +practice he really had some right to boast that he had restored the text +of Shakespeare to the stage. Further, his example led to an increased +popularity of Shakespeare in the theater and afforded new incentives for +other actors. Mrs. Clive, Mrs. Cibber, and Mrs. Pritchard were among +the women who acted with Garrick. Macklin, by his revival of Shylock as +a tragic character, Henderson by his impersonation of Falstaff, and John +Palmer in secondary characters, as Iago, Mercutio, Touchstone, and Sir +Toby, were his contemporaries most famous in their day. + +[Page Heading: Kemble and Kean] + +Garrick's place at the head of the English stage was taken by John +Philip Kemble (1757-1823), an actor of great dignity of presence and +manner, who won general admiration in the great tragic parts, especially +those offering opportunities for declamation. His sister, Mrs. Sarah +Siddons, was doubtless the greatest of English actresses; her Lady +Macbeth, Queen Katherine, and Constance overwhelmed her audiences by +their majesty and passion. Kemble's reputation was surpassed by Edmund +Kean, whose appearance as Shylock in 1819, at Drury Lane, was the first +of a series of great successes in most of the tragic parts, including +Hamlet, Lear, Othello, and Richard III. In contrast to Kemble's +declamation, Kean's acting was vehement and passionate. Coleridge +declared that to see him was "reading Shakespeare by flashes of +lightning." Readers of the dramatic criticism of Hazlitt and Lamb will +recall tributes to Kean and to other favorite actors, especially perhaps +their praise of Mrs. Jordan's Viola and Rosalind. Macready for forty +years maintained the great traditions of English acting, and during his +managements of Drury Lane sought to retain for Shakespeare's plays their +preeminence on the stage. Associated with his many impersonations were +those of Mrs. Warner and Helen Faucit (Lady Martin). From Garrick's +debut to the retirement of Macready (1851) is a century of great actors +and actresses who brought to the interpretation of the many characters +of the plays a skill and intelligence that satisfied the most critical +theater-goers and extended vastly the appreciation and knowledge of +Shakespeare's men and women. + +Shakespeare's position on the stage was, however, maintained only with +difficulty against the melodramas, musical farces, and spectacles that +absorbed the theaters. Yet from 1844 to 1862, Samuel Phelps, at Sadler's +Wells, presented thirty-one of the plays. Since then the stage has +hardly seen an equally important revival; but the great traditions of +acting have been carried on by many eminent actors: Sir Henry Irving, +Ellen Terry, Forbes Robertson, in England; Edwin Forrest, Edwin Booth, +Junius Brutus Booth, Charlotte Cushman, Ada Rehan, Julia Marlowe, and +Edward Sothern in America. Lately, successful attempts have been made to +perform plays in the Elizabethan manner, and perhaps there is a tendency +to pay less attention to elaborate scenic presentation than was the +habit during the last of the nineteenth century. In one respect, at +least, the present offers a decided improvement on the past, for there +is now a strong sentiment in favor of as close an adherence as possible +to an authorized text of the plays. + +[Page Heading: The Eighteenth Century] + +Shakespeare has held his place on the stage in spite of many and great +changes in theatrical conditions and dramatic taste. He will probably +survive changes greater than those which separate the picture stage with +its electric lights from the projecting open-air platform of his own +day, or than those which separate the dramas of Ibsen, Shaw, and Barrie +from those of Marlowe and Fletcher, or the cinematograph and comic opera +from the bear-baiting and jugglery which rivaled the Globe. The visitor +who scans, in the Stratford Museum, the curious collection of portraits +of actors and actresses in Shakespearean parts may wonder what +peculiarities of costume, manner, and expression will be devised for the +admired interpretations of the centuries to come. But it hardly seems +possible that any actor of the future will influence as greatly the +appreciation of Shakespeare's characters and speeches as did Garrick and +Mrs. Siddons in England or Edwin Booth in America. + +Shakespearean criticism in the eighteenth century was, as has been +noted, largely textual, but there was also a considerable discussion of +Shakespeare's learning, his art, and its violations of neo-classical +theory. John Dennis, in his _Letters_, 1711, proved a sturdy admirer, +and the consensus of opinion of following writers was that of Sedley's +couplet which described Shakespeare as + + The pride of Nature, and the shame of Schools, + Born to Create, and not to Learn from Rules. + +Voltaire's attacks brought rejoinders from Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu in +1769 and from Dr. Johnson in the preface to his edition, 1765. In fact, +admiration for Shakespeare was a powerful factor in forcing the +rejection of rules and standards of French criticism. Johnson's Preface +finds fault with Shakespeare's neglect of poetic justice and dwells at +length on the faults in plots and diction, but Johnson defends the +violation of the unities, and his praise is a discriminating summary of +the merits that the eighteenth century had found in Shakespeare. It is +praise that is likely to endure. + +Within another generation, however, reverence for Shakespeare had +increased to an intensity that made Johnson's admiration seem feeble and +niggardly. This transformation was due to many causes, but in the main +it was a part of the vast changes in European literature known as the +Romantic movement. This resulted in a rejection of the rules and models +of neo-classicism, a new interest in the literature and manners of the +Middle Ages, a conception of poetry as the expression of individuality, +attention to the individual man in all orders of society, a fresh +concern for external nature, an emphasis on the emotions rather than +mere reason, a desire for wonder and mystery, and an exaltation of +natural instincts and intuitions as opposed to general truths or social +conventions. In each of these particulars, Shakespeare seemed the +complete fulfilment of the new tendencies--which indeed his growing +influence had undoubtedly encouraged. More than Spenser or Milton or +the old ballads, he was the inspiration and guide for new endeavors in +literature. It seemed to the new age of critics and poets that they had +rediscovered him, and they hastened to raise him from neglect to the +throne of omniscience. He was no longer a wayward genius, he was the +model from whom art and wisdom were to be learned. + +[Page Heading: Appreciative Criticism] + +This new criticism was esthetic and appreciative. It did not try to +balance Shakespeare's merits and faults, or to test him by codes of arts +or morals. It recognized him as supreme, and its discipleship was +devoted to reverent interpretation and enthusiastic admiration. +Believing in the importance of the poetic imagination in the affairs of +men, it found in him a gospel and an example for its creed. Its +delightful task was to find new beauties and to search out the +hiding-places that revealed the god of its idolatry. If the genius of +the master-poet was the source of art and wisdom, the personality of the +critic gained a new refulgence through its service of reflecting the +rays of glory. The interest in the study of individual characters had +resulted, even in Johnson's day, in some notable interpretive essays, as +Maurice Morgann's on Falstaff (1777). In the next generation, Coleridge, +Lamb, and Hazlitt in England, and Schlegel and Goethe in Germany, +brought the keenest intelligence and most sympathetic taste to a +criticism that aspired to reveal the full range and height of +Shakespeare's creative faculty. + +The results of this criticism may be more specifically summarized. (1) +It viewed the individual characters of the plays as if they were real +persons, analyzing their motives and elaborating or repainting their +portraits, as in the analyses of Hamlet by Goethe and Coleridge, or in +the brilliant sketches of Hazlitt. The few hundred lines spoken by a +leading character have thus been expanded by the impressions made on +successive critics into volumes of biography. (2) Shakespeare's works +were studied as a whole in an effort to study the development of his art +and mind. Schlegel and Coleridge gave a unity to the phenomena of the +thirty-seven plays that had not been recognized hitherto; but they and +their followers naturally tended to make of their author a sort of +nineteenth-century romanticist. (3) Exalting the services of poetry and +the creative imagination, they viewed Shakespeare's exhibition of human +nature and his incidental wisdom as profound, consistent, and immensely +valuable for the human race. Hence they were ever seeking in his work +for a philosophy, a synthetic ethics, and making the widest applications +of his words to conduct. Believing that he could do no wrong, they +inevitably came to attribute to him ideas and morals that were of their +own creation. + +The defects of this criticism are most apparent in critics like Ulrici +and Gervinus who carry its methods to extremes. Personal, fanciful, +unhistorical, idolatrous, it is yet a tremendous tribute and an amazing +record of the sway that Shakespeare has exerted on the human mind. The +writings of no other man have been studied so intimately by so many +sympathetic readers, or have excited such different impressions. +Throughout the nineteenth century this appreciative criticism has +continued, and Shakespeare has been interpreted through the personality +of many critics, German and American, as well as British, more recently +through the delicate sensibility of Professor Dowden, and the +penetrating reflection of Professor A. C. Bradley. + +[Page Heading: The Nineteenth Century] + +At the end of the nineteenth century, Shakespearean criticism has become +too varied for a brief survey. Textual and esthetic criticism both +continue. The biography has been established on a sound basis of fact by +Halliwell-Phillipps and Sidney Lee; and still new facts reward patient +investigators of the legal and court documents, almost the only records +preserved that can possibly bear on Shakespeare's life. Special studies +of all sorts have been numerous, as to his reading, religion, folk-lore, +and so on. More significant in its effect on our general view have been +the efforts of historical criticism. As our knowledge of Elizabethan +literature, drama, theater, have increased, it has been possible to see +Shakespeare in relation to his time and environment. The study of +Shakespeare as a sixteenth-century dramatist aims not merely at a better +appreciation of his work, but also to explain his development and to +account for some of the qualities of his achievement. Its attitude is +that of the scientific historian examining the records of any great +human activity, and trying to understand its causes, results, and +meaning. Somewhat allied to this has been technical dramatic criticism, +which is uniting knowledge of the Elizabethan theater with interest in +drama as a peculiar form, and thereby studying Shakespeare as a +dramatist rather than as a poet or philosopher. In fact, Shakespeare is +no longer merely man, poet, dramatist, philosopher, or genius. Jonson's +tribute, Dryden's summary, Johnson's judicial essay, or Coleridge's +admiring studies, all seem hopelessly inadequate to express the range of +his dominion. He has become the source of the most various and extensive +interests, a continent that ever expands its fields for exploration, an +epoch that ever extends the years of its duration, a race that never +dies, though its progeny ever multiplies. + +[Page Heading: In Germany] + +It is in the nineteenth century that Shakespeare's dominance becomes +international. Four of his plays were acted at Dresden and elsewhere +early in the seventeenth century, but there seems to have been no +literary acquaintance with the plays in Germany until about the middle +of the eighteenth century, when two poor translations of _Julius Caesar_ +and _Romeo and Juliet_ appeared, and J. C. Gottsched severely criticized +Shakespeare's art. In 1759, in a journal, "Litteraturbriefe," Lessing +began a warm defense of Shakespeare and declared his superiority to +Racine and Corneille. His _Hamburgische Dramaturgie_ (1767) went far in +directing the change of taste from French classicism and in +establishing Shakespeare in German thought as the greatest of poets, +whether ancient or modern. A prose translation was begun by Wieland in +1762 and completed by Eschenburg in 1789. What is perhaps the best +translation of Shakespeare into any foreign tongue was begun in 1797 by +A. W. von Schlegel and Ludwig Tieck, two leaders of German romanticism, +and finally completed in 1853. Schlegel's lectures on _Shakespeare and +the Drama_ were delivered in Vienna in 1808, and present both the +romanticist's idolizing of Shakespeare and a new kind of esthetic +criticism destined to exercise great influence on Coleridge and the +English critics. Meanwhile Goethe was adapting _Romeo and Juliet_ for +the Weimar theater (1801) and Schiller was arranging _Macbeth_ for +presentation at Stuttgart (1801). Goethe indeed was, throughout his +life, an enthusiastic admirer of Shakespeare, and his works are full of +discriminating criticism, of which perhaps the most famous passage is +the analysis of Hamlet in _Wilhelm Meister_. Since Lessing and Herder, +German poetry and drama have felt Shakespeare's influence, and in both +textual and esthetic criticism, Germany has rivaled England and the +United States. Delius and Schmidt, whose _Shakespeare-Lexicon_ (1874) is +one of the great monuments of Shakespeare scholarship, are perhaps first +among textual students; since 1865 the German Shakespeare Society has +published yearly contributions of all kinds to Shakespeare criticism, +and especially an excellent bibliography. On the stage Shakespeare has +been constantly acted since the beginning of the century, and has +engaged the services of some of the greatest actors, as Schroeder, the +two Devrients, and Barnay. At present a large number of his plays are +performed annually, in the smaller as well as the larger cities, and +more frequently than in Britain or America. Twenty-six of the plays were +acted in 1911, _Othello_ leading with 158 performances. For the years +1909, 1910, 1911, _Hamlet_, _Othello_, _The Merchant of Venice_ have +been the favorites, with _The Taming of the Shrew_ and _A +Midsummer-Night's Dream_ the most popular of the comedies. For over a +century Shakespeare has profoundly influenced German life and letters. +Rarely, if ever, has a great people been so powerfully affected by a +writer in a foreign tongue. + +In France, during the eighteenth century, Shakespeare's reputation was +both aided and hindered by Voltaire. Though there are a few earlier +notices of the English dramatist, Voltaire, after his visit to England, +1720-1729, was virtually the first to win attention for Shakespeare. He +admired Shakespeare, acknowledged his influence, but deplored his +deficiencies in taste and art, "le Corneille de Londres, grand fou +d'ailleurs, mais il a des morceaux admirables." Voltaire's criticism +provoked replies in England and a defense from Diderot, who shared with +Lessing the effort to emancipate the drama from some of its +neo-classical restriction. Translations of twelve plays by La Place +(1745-1748) and all of the plays by Le Tourneur (1776-1782) gave an +opportunity for greater acquaintance with his work. A version of +_Hamlet_ by Ducis was acted at Paris in 1769. But even at the end of the +century, French literary opinion, though partly won by Le Tourneur's +praise of Shakespeare, still sympathized with Voltaire, now engaged in +an attack on Englishmen and their favorite. His last opinion (1778) +declares, "Shakespeare est un sauvage avec des etincelles de genie qui +brillent dans une nuit horrible." + +[Page Heading: In France] + +The nineteenth century saw a reaction from this criticism, indicated by +the praise of Madame de Stael (_De la Litterature_, 1804), by Guizot's +essay accompanying a revision of Le Tourneur's translation (1821), and +later in the appreciation of Mezieres's _Shakespeare ses [OE]uvres et +ses Critiques_ (1860), in several translations, and in Victor Hugo's +eulogy (1869). The best of the translations is by the poet's son, +Francois Victor Hugo in prose (1859-1866). On the Paris stage, the +leading English actors have appeared from time to time, and French +versions of _Hamlet_, _Macbeth_, and _Othello_ have made a permanent +place. M. Jusserand is the chief authority for the history of +Shakespeare in France and an ambassador of peace between the conflicting +literary tastes of the two nations. + +In Italy, Holland, Russia, Poland, and Hungary, during the nineteenth +century, many of the plays have been regularly acted, and from Italy +have come great actors and actresses, as Ristori, Salvini, and Rossi. +Complete translations have been published in these countries and in +Bohemian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, and Spanish; and separate plays have +been translated and acted in many other languages including those of +India, Japan, and China. + +In music and painting Shakespeare's influence has also been +international. Books have been devoted to the history of Shakespeare's +music, and such surveys include nearly every English composer of note, +and also Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Ambroise Thomas, +Saint Saens, Rossini, and Verdi. In painting as well, the persons and +scenes of the play have excited the efforts of English, German, and +American artists. + +In America, as has already been indicated, the interest in Shakespeare +is hardly separable from that in Great Britain. Editors, critics, +scholars, have been numerous and their contributions important, and the +plays have been acted constantly and widely through the country. +Probably there is no part of the world to-day where the study of +Shakespeare is so active and where the interest in his work is so +widespread. In one respect, at least, the United States in recent years +has carried this study and interest beyond England, in the fields of +education. As the study of the mother tongue has become the basis of +American education, so Shakespeare has come to play a more and more +important part in the training of youth. The universities offer training +in the various departments of Shakespearean scholarship, every college +offers courses on his plays, a number of them are prescribed for reading +and study in the high schools; a few of them are read and extracts +memorized in the primary schools. The child begins his education with +Ariel and the fairies, and until his schooling is completed is kept in +almost daily intercourse with the poetry and persons of the dramas. +Homer was not better known in Athens. In a democracy still young and +widely separated from older nations and cultures, Shakespeare has become +one of the links that bind the American public not only to the common +inheritances of the English-speaking races, but to the traditional +culture of Europe. + +[Page Heading: In the United States] + +Known in the literature and theater of every civilized nation, the +subject of a vast and increasing amount of discussion and criticism, the +source of a scholarship rivaling that devoted to the writers of +antiquity, the familiar theme for music and painting, the household +possession of Great Britain, Germany, and America, influencing thought +and conduct as few books have ever influenced them, and now an important +element in the education of a great democracy,--the plays of Shakespeare +occupy a position whence imagination "can not pierce a wink beyond, but +doubt discovery there." His reputation and influence must change greatly +in the years to come; but this at least is secure--three hundred years +of an ever increasing sway over the human mind. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +CONCLUSION + + +The purpose of this volume has been to summarize what we know about +Shakespeare. The documentary records and early traditions of his life +have been supplemented by information in regard to the times and places +in which he lived, the literature which he read, and the theaters for +which he worked. The evolution of the drama that grew up in those +theaters has been reviewed, and its manifest connections with +Shakespeare's own development have been indicated. That development has +been traced by means of a careful determination of the chronology of the +plays; and the recognition of this growth of his powers has been shown +to be a necessary basis for a just estimate of their achievement. + +If, now, in conclusion, we attempt to define our general impression of +the man and his work, this must inevitably take into account +considerations of environment and development. The man belonged to his +era, his city, and his profession. The documents make it plain that he +did not live apart, but in close contact with the affairs of his day and +generation. The plays make it clear that few men ever became so +intimately familiar with the manners, morals, and ideas of their own +time. There is no doubt that he drank deeply of the experience that +Elizabethan London offered him. Still more, the plays make it clear that +his life was one of constant and extraordinary intellectual and +spiritual growth. Though, from the objective nature of the dramas, it is +impossible to translate them into terms of personal experience or into +exact stages of mental growth, yet it is none the less evident that the +progress from the author of _Love's Labour's Lost_ to the author of _The +Tempest_, from the creator of Richard III and Valentine to the creator +of Iago and Antony, was marked, not only by a widening experience, but +also by a development of personal character. + +[Page Heading: The Sonnets] + +To understand a man's surroundings does not, however, reveal the man; +and to measure the growth of genius does not interpret its quality. +Lovers of the plays are likely always to query: What manner of man was +this? Taken out of his London, at any time in his career, how would he +seem if we could know him as a man? Of what nature is this companion and +friend whose presence we have felt through all his verses and in all of +his characters? The few clues offered by records or tradition, and the +difficulties in separating the creator from the thousand men and women +of his creation, have driven many to seek answers to these questions in +the sonnets. There he speaks in the first person, and there are revealed +not merely some dubious hints of actual incidents, but the surer +indications of emotional conflicts that went to the heart of the man's +nature. At their worst, the sonnets may have been only literary +exercises on conventional themes, but at their best they are surely both +superb poetry and the result of genuine emotion. Can we doubt that the +poet knew the pitfalls that beset the course of human passion or that he +had faith in the triumphant beauty of love and friendship? Yet the most +splendid of these lyrical declarations of faith add little to what we +knew of the creator of the lovers and friends of the dramas. The +trivialities and the sublimities, the sin and the idealism of the +sonnets coalesce with the emotional effects of the comedies and +tragedies. In forming our impression of the man, whatever we may derive +from the sonnets does not contradict and does not largely affect the +impressions made by the poetry and humanity of the plays. For the +conception which each one forms of Shakespeare the man must be derived +in the main from the impressions of personality implied by the plays. +Such a conception is bound to be individual and without validity that +can rest on proofs, but in the main it has not varied greatly from +individual to individual or from generation to generation. From Jonson +and Dryden to Goethe and Tennyson, there has been no great difference in +the essentials of this estimate of the man. + +[Page Heading: Personality of Shakespeare] + +If the plays do not throw a clear light on matters of conduct and +exercise of the will, they certainly tell of no lack of self-control +and no weakness or feverishness of action. The traditions of +conviviality and the records of a life of constant industry that secured +wealth and social position are both in accord with the impressions +derived from the plays of an eagerness for experience controlled by a +self-mastery and a serenity of purpose. If one were to search for a +modern writer most like Shakespeare, one would select Scott, rather than +Shelley, or Byron, or Wordsworth. As to the intellectual quality of the +author of the plays, it is clear that he was not a Galileo or a Bacon. +If we judge intellectual power by its creation of system or synthesis, +we shall probably estimate Shakespeare less highly than if we remember +that intellect of the highest order is often displayed by maintaining +openness and largeness of view in face of the solicitations of theory or +prejudice. No one can read the plays in connection with the literature +of the time, or of any time, without marveling at their freedom from +vulgarity, pettiness, or narrowness of mental attitude. If they do not +afford evidences of a profound culture in philosophy, letters, or +science, they offer no trace of intellectual blindness or conceit, and +they leave no doubt that their author had thought greatly and freely. +Even more certain is their assurance of the range and intensity of his +emotional life. In these respects again, no one can compare his work +with that of other writers without feeling the effect of his +personality. Fletcher, perhaps next to him among the Elizabethans in a +versatile expression of a wide range of emotions, gives no sign of the +sincere, profound, and searching interest in humankind which we are sure +was Shakespeare's. Bacon, surpassing him perhaps in intellectual +curiosity and thoroughness, manifestly gives no evidence in his writings +of the warmth of sympathy, the quickness of emotional response, the fire +of passion which we find in the author of Shakespeare's plays. It is +difficult to disbelieve that their imaginative participation in the +height and breadth of human feeling was the creation of a man who united +intellectual greatness with an emotional susceptibility of extraordinary +range and delicacy, and with a sympathy, genial, wide, tolerant, but +also heartfelt, deep, and passionate. Such is the ineffaceable +impression of the man which has been shared by many generations of +readers, and which found expression two hundred and fifty years ago in +Dryden's carefully considered estimate, "The man who of all Moderns, and +perhaps Ancient Poets, had the largest and most comprehensive soul." + +What of the plays themselves? Is there any fixed and universal estimate +of their quality and significance as literature? In this volume we have +been concerned in reviewing our knowledge about them rather than in +their interpretation or evaluation. We have noted the sources from which +their plots were drawn, the conditions under which they were produced in +the playhouses, the influences at work in the contemporary drama which +determined in some measure their subjects and treatment. Starting with +the probable dates of their composition, we have traced them from the +theater to the printer, through the hands of many editors, and through +the long history of their effects on theatergoers and readers. In their +history they have played a part in the changes of taste and opinion of +three centuries, and if they have grown greatly in men's estimation, +this has not been without much variability of appreciation and +uncertainty as to their value. What, then, are the qualities of the +plays that raised them at once above the measure of contemporary +influence and rivalry? Are these the qualities that have continued to +win the most general appreciation? Despite all the stress we are to-day +taught to place on change, growth, evolution, are there qualities in +these plays which insure them a continued preeminence in literature? + +[Page Heading: Qualities of the Plays] + +Differences of opinion testify, indeed, to the comprehensive appeal of +the plays to different minds, nations, or epochs, but they have not +greatly affected the essential elements in men's admiration. If some +critic brings into new prominence a quality that has partly escaped +attention, his discovery is not likely to affect the more permanent +elements of their reputation. If for a time attention is turned to the +plays as plays rather than as poems and to the merits of Shakespeare as +a dramatist, this criticism does not lead to any lasting disregard of +their poetic quality or to the permanent acceptance of skill in dramatic +structure as a chief element in their literary preeminence. Nor is such +an element discoverable in their philosophical synthesis or their +incidental wisdom, although some of the most brilliant criticism has +exalted that wisdom or sought to formulate and expound their view of +life. Concerning the essential elements of their greatness no real +difference of opinion has arisen from the time they were written down to +the present day. They were lifted at once above the level of +contemporary endeavor, and they have continued to grow in reputation +chiefly because of their poetry and their characterization. + +Concerning the nature and quality of these there is little difference of +opinion, though critics may vary in estimating their beauty or value. +One may prefer the verse of Homer or of Milton, but he will not deny the +traits that distinguish Shakespeare's. Another may prefer the +well-ordered study of human motives in Sophocles, or the realistic +analysis of a modern realist like Turgenieff, but he will recognize the +qualities in Shakespeare's characterization that are the basis of +general admiration. Still another may condemn that admiration, but he +will not differ from us as to the chief sources of its existence. + +These two sources are hardly to be separated, for the persons are +revealed through the beauty of the verse, and the poetry is ever adapted +to the speakers. In the early plays the poet's fancy often refuses to be +bound by the requirements of his characters and escapes in lyric or +descriptive excursions; but as his art becomes more masterly, the +poetry adapts itself with increasing devotion to the dramatic task, +discarding the limitations of the verse form and even at times +sacrificing clarity and harmony of expression in its effort to make a +few lines significant of the thought and emotion of some individual. An +enormous vocabulary is treated with daring freedom; words are coined, +changed, or restamped in order to let nothing of significance escape. +The effect is not primarily that of finished workmanship or elaborate +harmony, though these may be found in many passages and notably in the +greatest of the sonnets. Broken rather than completed images, richness +of suggestion rather than unity of impressiveness, surprise and novelty +in words rather than their delicate adjustment, make up an effect of +bewildering enchantment rather than of perfected form. This is true even +in an early play like _Romeo and Juliet_, where the verse becomes +undramatic in order to make the most of every opportunity for fancy or +melody, and it is true also in _Othello_, where poetry and +characterization are wedded with consummate art. The reader's pleasure +is not in finding each idea finally developed or each motive given full +elaboration. It is rather in the flow of words which endow each person +and moment with their wealth of color and suggestion, and somehow carry +on to the reader both their impression of life and the transforming +power of their dignity and splendor. + +[Page Heading: Poetry of the Plays] + +In a last analysis the quality of the poetry is less dependent on the +music of line or passage than on the imagery of the words themselves. It +seems as if the imagination had hurried on Ariel's wing around the +universe in order to freight each phrase with a fresh trope and an +unexpected meaning. Sometimes, to be sure, there results an excess or +mixture of figures; but restrained to character and situation, bound by +the measure of the pentameter, the carnival of words becomes a gorgeous +yet ordered pageant, the very spectacle of beauty. + +Let us take but one passage, not from the great crises of passion, nor +from those unsurpassable revelations of the tortured spirit, but from +the opening of a play where the purpose is chiefly expository, and where +indeed the language is not free from that mixture of figures which some +condemn. The wonderful first scene of _Antony and Cleopatra_, which +within the compass of its sixty-two lines presents the two protagonists +and their background of empire and war, opens thus in the speech of a +subordinate. + + Nay, but this dotage of our general's + O'erflows the measure. Those his goodly eyes, + That o'er the files and musters of the war + Have glow'd like plated Mars, now bend, now turn + The office and devotion of their view + Upon a tawny front; his captain's heart, + Which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst + The buckles on his breast, reneges all temper, + And is become the bellows and the fan + To cool a gipsy's lust. + +[Page Heading: Characterization] + +A few lines further on Antony speaks thus, as he embraces Cleopatra. + + Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch + Of the rang'd Empire fall! Here is my space. + Kingdoms are clay; our dungy earth alike + Feeds beast as man; the nobleness of life + Is to do thus, when such a mutual pair + And such a twain can do't, in which I bind, + On pain of punishment, the world to wit + We stand up peerless. + +No other man ever wrote verse like this; and it is hard to believe that +words will ever again respond to such a magician. + +This poetry is the fitting accompaniment of a characterization, the +range and vitality of which, the world to wit, stand up peerless. While +these are in general qualities of the Elizabethan drama, it is +noteworthy that almost from the beginning Shakespeare outstripped his +rivals. Launce, Richard III, Shylock, Juliet, were enough to establish a +supremacy. The years that followed with their maturing thought and +experience gave an amazing development to what was manifestly the native +bent of his genius. Whatever else one may find in the plays, indeed +whatever one finds there of wisdom or beauty, truth or art, it cannot be +separated from their revelation of human nature. + +It is this primarily that makes the dramas great and lasting. The +histories, with all their pomp and movement and patriotism, reveal kings +and lords and peasants as alike the subjects of changing fortune, alike +human beings for our pity, admiration, or laughter. The comedies with +their fancy and sentiment and fun, and their perennial sunshine on the +self-deceived and selfish, are ruled by the most charming and refined of +womankind. The tragedies with their presentation of the waste and +suffering of life, though here depravity may seem to fill the scene and +innocence share in the punishment and ruin, yet redeem us from the +terror of their devastation by their assurances of both the majesty and +the loveliness of men and women. + +Shakespeare's methods in characterization have seemed to some haphazard +and bewildering. He does not fit his men and women into an analysis of +the constitution of society or into an obvious view of man's relations +in the universe. Nor does he use his characters to illustrate fixed +conceptions or processes of cause and effect. He usually started with an +old story, with certain types of character, and he was not forgetful of +theatrical necessities or dramatic construction. But as he went on he +brought all his astounding interest in human nature to focus on the old +plot and the stock type. Hamlet, the hesitating avenger, becomes the +sentimentalist, the idealist, the thinker at war with himself, the +embodiment of that conflict between circumstance and a nature unfitted +to its task, which in some measure we have all encountered in life. An +arrogant and doting old man, by the force of creative imagination, +transcends the nursery tale from which he came, and carries to us all +the implications of suffering and love that surround the aging of +parents and the growth of children. Cleopatra is a wanton, but no +analysis can explain the subtleties with which the idealism and +animalism, the sacrifice and frivolity--and how much else--of human +passion are bound together in the few hundred lines which she speaks. It +is impossible to affirm that each of the great characters is thoroughly +consistent or offers a strictly accurate motivation. Rather, they are +magnificent portraits--like the Mona Lisa--crowded with a penetrating +but question-provoking psychology. Into such parts and situations as the +drama could afford are impressed every possible revelation of our +motives; but his model was always reality and he never yielded truth to +whim or prepossession. + +[Page Heading: Human Nature] + +Human nature, at its best or worst, droll or tragic, is thus given +magnitude and potency. This idealization, rendered still more effective +by the verse, persuades us as we read that here are our own attributes +and conflicts exalted, now into serene beauty, again into torment and +horror, and again into the Olympic warfare of unknown supermen. No doubt +there is confusion because of the complexity of motives depicted and the +multiplicity of impressions created, but there is also a final message +of the greatness and comprehensiveness of human souls. In this world of +sin and weakness and death, it is human beings, however mocked or +maltreated by circumstance or by themselves, that are still triumphant +and interesting. Out of his strifes and failures, the individual man yet +emerges, the object of our contemplation and the assurance of our faith. + +In periods or persons when interest in the individual gives way to +thought about class or system or some form of organization, it is likely +that admiration for Shakespeare's plays will suffer a decline. In +periods or persons when the individual assumes a larger place in thought +and his power to affect and dominate the world is emphasized, the plays +are likely to acquire a new regard. As long, however, as the study of +human nature is a chief occupation of mankind and as long as we believe +that a great purpose of imaginative literature is to enlarge our +knowledge and sympathy for our fellows, so long, we may be sure, these +dramas will not lose their preeminence in literature. + + + + +APPENDICES + + + + +Appendix A + +BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTS AND AUTHORITIES + + +I. REPOSITORIES OF DOCUMENTS + +L. refers to Lambert's _Shakespeare Documents_ and H.-P. to +Halliwell-Phillipps's _Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare_. 7th ed. + + +1 + +THE PARISH REGISTERS OF STRATFORD-ON-AVON are the authority for the +baptisms of John Shakespeare's seven children (L. 1-7); for the burials +of Anne and Edmund (L. 10); for the baptisms of William Shakespeare's +daughter Susanna (L. 13) and the twins, Hamnet and Judith (L. 14); for +the burials of Hamnet (L. 28), of the poet's father, John (L. 75), of +his mother, Mary (L. 110), of the poet himself (L. 146), and of his +widow (L. 159). These Registers have been edited for the Parish +Registers Society, by R. Savage, 1898-9. + + +2 + +THE CORPORATION RECORDS OF STRATFORD-ON-AVON contain the Quiney-Sturley +correspondence (L. 39, 43, 44; H.-P. II. 57-60); a return of the +quantities of corn and malt held by the inhabitants of the ward in which +New Place was situated, "Wm. Shackespere" being down for ten quarters +(L. 53); a Bill of Complaint presented by R. Lane, T. Green, and William +Shakespeare respecting the tithes of Stratford-upon-Avon (L. 125); the +answer of William Combe to the foregoing Bill (L. 126). + +[Page Heading: Biographical Documents] + + +3 + +THE PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE IN LONDON preserves the following: record of +the purchase by John Shakespeare of two houses on Henley Street, +Stratford-on-Avon (L. 8); record of a mortgage on an estate at "Awston +Cawntlett" given to Edmund Lambert by John and Mary Shakespeare (L. 9); +Bill of Complaint brought by John Shakespeare against John, son of +Edmund Lambert, respecting an estate at Wilmecote, near Stratford (L. +15); Ms. accounts of the Treasurer of the Chamber, "To Willm. Kempe, +Willm. Shakespeare & Richarde Burbage, servaunts to the Lord +Chamberleyne, upon the Councelles warrant dated at Whitehall xv^to +Marcij 1594 for twoe severall Comedies or enterludes shewed by them +before her Majestic in Christmas tyme laste paste, viz: upon St. +Stephens daye and Innocentes daye xiij.li. vj.s. viijd., and by waye of +her Majesties rewarde vj.li. xiii.s. iiijd. in all xx.li." (L. 25); +record of the purchase of New Place by Shakespeare (L. 32); papers in a +Chancery suit relating to the estate at Wilmecote mortgaged to Edmund +Lambert, and consisting of a Bill of Complaint by John and Mary +Shakespeare against John Lambert for his refusal to accept L40 and +reconvey the property to the complainants, John Lambert's answer, and +the replication of John and Mary Shakespeare to the answer (L. 35); a +subsidy roll showing William Shakespeare as a defaulter in respect of a +tax of five shillings, October, 1596, and of thirteen shillings and four +pence, October, 1598, based on an assessment made about 1598 or 1594, +when the poet was living in St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, and paid after he +had moved to Southwark (_Athenaeum_, March 16, 1906, and L. 42); Royal +Warrant for a Patent and the Patent itself (May 19, 1603) licensing the +company of actors, "Laurence Fletcher, William Shakespeare, Richard +Burbage, Augustine Phillippes, John Hemmings, Henrie Condell, William +Sly, Robert Armyn, Richard Cowly and the rest of their associates" as +the King's Servants (L. 87, 88); the Accounts of the Revels at Court in +the reigns of Elizabeth and James, containing entries showing +performances at Court of "The Moor of Venis," "The Merry Wives of +Winsor," "Mesur for Mesur" by "Shaxberd," "the plaie of Errors" by +"Shaxberd," "Loves Labours lost," "Henry the fift," and "the Martchant +of Venis" by "Shaxberd" (twice, being "againe commanded by the Kings +Ma^tie"), all in 1604 (O.S.), of "the Tempest" and "y^e winters nightes +Tayle" in 1611, all by the King's men, and of the performance before the +Court at Wilton, Dec. 2, 1603 (L. 96, 133, _Notes in the History of the +Revels Office under the Tudors_, ed. by E. K. Chambers, and _Supposed +Shakespeare Forgeries_, by Ernest Law); record of the purchase in 1610 +of an estate in Old Stratford and Stratford-on-Avon by Shakespeare from +William and John Combe (L. 127); three documents in a Chancery suit +relating to the ownership of property in Blackfriars, April 26, May 15, +May 22, 1615 (C. W. Wallace in _Englische Studien_, April, 1906, and +Preface to New Edition of Lee's _Life_, xxii ff.); the grant for cloaks +for the King's entry into London, March 15, 1604 (Ld. Chamberlain's +Papers, No. 600); the documents in the law suit among the heirs of +Richard Burbage (1635), relating to the ownership of the Globe and the +Blackfriars theaters, and giving much information on the value of +theatrical shares, actors' salaries, etc. (H.-P. i. 312-319); and the +documents in the lawsuit of Bellots _vs._ Mountjoy (1612), including +Shakespeare's deposition (_New Shakespeare Discoveries_, C. W. Wallace, +_Harper's Magazine_, March, 1910). + + +4 + +THE SHAKESPEARE'S BIRTHPLACE MUSEUM IN STRATFORD-ON-AVON contains +several documents of importance: record of the conveyance in 1602 of an +estate in Old Stratford from William and John Combe to William +Shakespeare (L. 79, H.-P. II, 17-19); extract from the Court Rolls of +the Manor of Rowington, transferring from Walter Getley to William +Shakespeare certain premises in Chapel Lane, Stratford-on-Avon (L. 81); +the conveyance to Shakespeare from Ralph Hubande of the residue of a +lease of a moiety of the tithes of Stratford-on-Avon, Old Stratford, +Welcombe, and Bishopton (L. 99); the diary of one Thomas Greene, +containing a reference to the dispute as to the inclosing of common +lands (reproduced in facsimile in C. M. Ingleby's _Shakespeare and the +Enclosure of Common Fields at Welcombe_, 1885). + + +5 + +THE BRITISH MUSEUM possesses the Ms. diary of John Manningham of the +Middle Temple, which, under the date of Feb. 2, 1601, records a +performance of _Twelfth Night_, and the anecdote recorded above, p. 44 +(L. 77; Ms. Harl. 5353, ed. Camden Soc., p. 39); also the Mortgage Deed +from Shakespeare to Henry Walker on the property in Blackfriars conveyed +to Shakespeare and others on the day previous, March 10, 1612/13. + + +6 + +THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY AT OXFORD has the Ms. diary of Dr. Simon Forman +describing performances of _Winter's Tale, Cymbeline_, and _Macbeth_ in +1610 and 1611 (L. 128; Ms. Ashmol. 208, fol. 201_b_); and the Accounts +of Lord Stanhope of Harrington, Treasurer of the Chamber to James I, +containing the following entry: "1613, May 20. Item paid to John +Heminges uppon the cowncells warrant dated att Whitehall xx^o die Maii +1613 for presentinge before the Princes highnes the La: Elizabeth and +the Prince Pallatyne Elector fowerteene severall playes viz ... Much +adoe abowte nothinge ... The Tempest ... The Winters Tale, S^r John +Falstafe, The Moore of Venice ... Caesars Tragedye ... All w^ch Playes +weare played within the tyme of this Accompte, viz p^d the some of iiij. +(xx.) xiij.li. vj.s. viij.d. + +[Page Heading: Biographical Documents] + +"Item paid to the said John Heminges uppon the lyke warrant dated att +Whitehall xx^o die Maij 1613 for presenting sixe severall playes viz. +one playe called ... And one other called Benidicte and Betteris all +played within the tyme of this Accompte viz p^d ffortie powndes And by +waye of his Ma^tis rewarde twentie powndes In all ... lx li." (L. 138; +Ms. Rawl. A. 239). + + +7 + +THE EPISCOPAL REGISTER OF THE DIOCESE OF WORCESTER contains the bond +given by Sandells and others for the marriage of Shakespeare and Anne +Hathaway (L. 12). + + +8 + +THE LIBRARY OF THE GUILDHALL IN LONDON has the indenture prepared for +the purchaser in the sale of the house in Blackfriars on March 10, 1613, +by Henry Walker to William Shakespeare and others (L. 136). The +indenture held by the seller is in the library of Mr. Marsden J. Perry, +Providence, R. I. + + +9 + +THE PRINCIPAL PROBATE REGISTRY, Somerset House, London, contains +Shakespeare's Will, which runs as follows: + +[Page Heading: Shakespeare's Will] + + [10]VICESIMO quinto die [Januarii] _Martii_, anno regni domini + nostri Jacobi, nunc regis Angliae, &c., decimo quarto, et Scotiae + xlix^o, annoque Domini 1616. + + --T. WMI. SHACKSPEARE + + In the name of God, Amen! I William Shackspeare, of Stratford upon + Avon in the countie of Warr., gent., in perfect health and memorie, + God be praysed, doe make and ordayne this my last will and testament + in manner and forme followeing, that ys to saye, ffirst, I comend my + soule into the handes of God my Creator, hoping and assuredlie + beleeving, through thonelie merittes, of Jesus Christe my Saviour, + to be made partaker of lyfe everlastinge, and my bodye to the earth + whereof yt ys made. Item, I gyve and bequeath unto my [sonne + and][11] daughter Judyth one hundred and fyftie poundes of lawfull + English money, to be paied unto her in the manner and forme + foloweng, that ys to saye, one hundred poundes _in discharge of her + marriage porcion_ within one yeare after my deceas, with + consideracion after the rate of twoe shillinges in the pound for soe + long tyme as the same shalbe unpaied unto her after my deceas, and + the fyftie poundes residwe thereof upon her surrendring _of_, or + gyving of such sufficient securitie as the overseers of this my will + shall like of, to surrender or graunte all her estate and right that + shall discend or come unto her after my deceas, or _that shee_ nowe + hath, of, in, or to, one copiehold tenemente, with thappurtenaunces, + lyeing and being in Stratford upon Avon aforesaied in the saied + countye of Warr., being parcell or holden of the mannour of + Rowington, unto my daughter Susanna Hall and her heires for ever. + Item, I gyveand bequeath unto my saied daughter Judith one hundred + and fyftie poundes more, if shee or anie issue of her bodie be + lyvinge att thend of three yeares next ensueing the daie of the date + of this my will, during which tyme my executours are to paie her + consideracion from my deceas according to the rate aforesaied; and + if she dye within the saied tearme without issue of her bodye, then + my will ys, and I doe gyve and bequeath one hundred poundes thereof + to my neece Elizabeth Hall, and the fiftie poundes to be sett fourth + by my executours during the lief of my sister Johane Harte, and the + use and proffitt thereof cominge shalbe payed to my saied sister + Jone, and after her deceas the saied l.^_li._ shall remaine amongst + the children of my saied sister, equallie to be divided amongst + them; but if my saied daughter Judith be lyving att thend of the + saied three yeares, or anie yssue of her bodye, then my will ys, and + soe I devise and bequeath the saied hundred and fyftie poundes to be + sett out _by my executours and overseers_ for the best benefitt of + her and her issue, and _the stock_ not _to be_ paied unto her soe + long as she shalbe marryed and covert baron [by my executours and + overseers]; but my will ys, that she shall have the consideracion + yearelie paied unto her during her lief, and, after her deceas, the + saied stock and consideracion to bee paied to her children, if she + have anie, and if not, to her executours or assignes, she lyving the + saied terme after my deceas. Provided that yf suche husbond as she + shall att thend of the saied three years be marryed unto, or att + anie after (_sic_), doe sufficientlie assure unto her and thissue of + her bodie landes awnswereable to the porcion by this my will gyven + unto her, and to be adjudged soe by my executours and overseers, + then my will ys, that the said cl.^_li._ shalbe paied to such + husbond as shall make such assurance, to his owne use. Item, I gyve + and bequeath unto my saied sister Jone xx.^_li_ and all my wearing + apparrell, to be paied and delivered within one yeare after my + deceas; and I doe will and devise unto her _the house_ with + thappurtenaunces in Stratford, wherein she dwelleth, for her + naturall lief, under the yearlie rent of xij.^_d._ Item, I gyve and + bequeath unto her three sonnes, William Harte, ... Hart, and + Michaell Harte, fyve pounds a peece, to be paied within one yeare + after my deceas [to be sett out for her within one yeare after my + deceas by my executours, with thadvise and direccions of my + overseers, for her best profitt, untill her mariage, and then the + same with the increase thereof to be paied unto her]. Item, I gyve + and bequeath unto [her] _the saied Elizabeth Hall_, all my plate, + _except my brod silver and gilt bole_, that I now have att the date + of this my will. Item, I gyve and bequeath unto the poore of + Stratford aforesaied tenn poundes; to Mr. Thomas Combe my sword; to + Thomas Russell esquier fyve poundes; and to Frauncis Collins, of the + borough of Warr. in the countie of Warr. gentleman, thirteene + poundes, sixe shillinges, and eight pence, to be paied within one + yeare after my deceas. Item, I gyve and bequeath to [Mr. Richard + Tyler thelder] _Hamlett Sadler_ xxvj.^_s._ viij.^_d._ to buy him a + ringe; to _William Raynoldes gent., xxvj.^s. viij.^d. to buy him a + ringe_; to my godson William Walker xx^_s._ in gold; to Anthonye + Nashe gent., xxvj.^_s._ viij.^_d._; and to Mr. John Nashe xxvj.^_s._ + _viij.^d._ [in gold]; _and to my fellowes John Hemynges, Richard + Burbage, and Henry Cundell, xxvj.^s. viij.^d. a peece to buy them + ringes_. Item, I gyve, will, bequeath, and devise, unto my daughter + Susanna Hall, _for better enabling of her to performe this my will, + and towards the performans thereof_, all that capitall messuage or + tenemente with thappurtenaunces, _in Stratford aforesaid_, called + the New Place, wherein I nowe dwell, and two messuages or tenementes + with thappurtenaunces, scituat, lyeing, and being in Henley + streete, within the borough of Stratford aforesaied; and all my + barnes, stables, orchardes, gardens, landes, tenementes, and + hereditamentes, whatsoever, scituat, lyeing, and being, or to be + had, receyved, perceyved, or taken, within the townes, hamletes, + villages, fieldes, and groundes, of Stratford upon Avon, + Oldstratford, Bushopton, and Welcombe, or in anie of them in the + saied countie of Warr. And alsoe all that messuage or tenemente with + thappurtenaunces, wherein one John Robinson dwelleth, scituat, + lyeing and being, in the Blackfriers in London, nere the Wardrobe; + and all my other landes, tenementes, and hereditamentes whatsoever, + To have and to hold all and singuler the saied premisses, with + theire appurtenaunces, unto the saied Susanna Hall, for and during + the terme of her naturall lief, and after her deceas, to the first + sonne of her bodie lawfullie yssueing, and to the heires males of + the bodie of the saied first sonne lawfullie yssueinge; and for + defalt of such issue, to the second sonne of her bodie, lawfullie + issueinge, and [of] to the heires males of the bodie of the saied + second sonne lawfullie yssueinge; and for defalt of such heires, to + the third sonne of the bodie of the saied Susanna lawfullie + yssueing, and of the heires males of the bodie of the saied third + sonne lawfullie yssueing; and for defalt of such issue, the same soe + to be and remaine to the ffourth [sonne], ffyfth, sixte, and + seaventh sonnes of her bodie lawfullie issueing, one after another, + and to the heires males of the bodies of the saied fourth, fifth, + sixte, and seaventh sonnes lawfullie yssueing, in such manner as yt + ys before lymitted to be and remaine to the first, second, and third + sonns of her bodie, and to theire heires males; and for defalt of + such issue, the said premisses to be and remaine to my sayed neece + Hall, and the heires males of her bodie lawfullie yssueinge; and for + defalt of such issue, to my daughter Judith, and the heires males + of her bodie lawfullie issueinge; and for defalt of such issue, to + the right heires of me the saied William Shakspeare for ever. _Item, + I gyve unto my wief my second best bed with the furniture._ Item, I + gyve and bequeath to my saied daughter Judith my broad silver gilt + bole. All the rest of my goodes, chattels, leases, plate, jewels, + and household stuffe whatsoever, after my dettes and legasies paied, + and my funerall expenses dischardged, I give, devise, and bequeath + to my sonne in lawe, John Hall gent., and my daughter Susanna, his + wief, whom I ordaine and make executours of this my last will and + testament. And I doe intreat and appoint _the saied_ Thomas Russell + esquier and Frauncis Collins gent, to be overseers hereof, and doe + revoke all former wills, and publishe this to be my last will and + testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto put my [seale] _hand_, + the daie and yeare first abovewritten. + + By me WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE. + + Witnes to the publyshing hereof, + FRA: COLLYNS,[12] + JULYUS SHAWE, + JOHN ROBINSON, + HAMNET SADLER, + ROBERT WHATTCOTT. + + Probatum coram magistro Willielmo Byrde, legum doctore comiss. &c. + xxij^do. die mensis Junii anno Domini 1616, juramento Johannis Hall, + unius executorum, &c. cui &c. de bene &c. jurat. reservat. potestate + &c. Susannae Hall, alteri executorum &c. cum venerit petitur, &c. + (Inv. ex.) + +[10] The words which have been erased are put between brackets; those +which have been interlined are printed in italics. + +[11] So Lambert, Halliwell-Phillipps reads "sonne in L." + +[12] Francis Collyns was the lawyer at Warwick who prepared the will, of +which the draft only was executed, no time being possible for an +engrossed copy.--Note by Lambert. + +[Page Heading: Biographical Documents] + + +10 + +THE HERALDS' COLLEGE has the two drafts of a grant of arms to John +Shakespeare in 1596 (Ms. Vincent. Coll. Arm. 157, arts. 23, 24); and the +confirmation of the grant in 1599 (L. 30, 55). For further details on +the matter of the coat of arms, see _Herald and Genealogist_, i. 510, +and for facsimiles, _Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica_, 2d ser. +1886, i. 109. On the criticism of the herald's complaisance in the +matter of the Shakespeare and similar grants, see Preface to New Edition +(1909) of Lee's _Life_, pp. xi-xv. + + +11 + +THE STATIONERS' REGISTER, accessible in the _Transcript_ edited by E. +Arber, 5 vols. 1875-94, contains the records of the entries of those of +Shakespeare's works which were registered either with or without his +name. The Shakespearean entries are gathered out of the great mass +contained in these volumes by Lambert, Fleay, Stokes, H. P., +_Chronological Order of Shakespeare's Plays_, 1878, Appendix V, and +others. + + +12. MISCELLANEOUS + +The literary allusions to Shakespeare in the sixteenth and earlier +seventeenth centuries have been collected in _Shakespeare's Century of +Praise_, revised and reedited by J. Munro as _The Shakespeare Allusion +Books_, London, 1909. + +Greene's attack in _Greenes Groatsworth_ will be found in its context in +his works, ed. A. B. Grosart, 1881-1886, and Chettle's Apology in his +_Kind Hartes Dreame_, Percy Society, 1874. + +_The Historical MSS. Commission's Report on the Historical MSS. of +Belvoir Castle_, IV. 494, contains the entry from the Belvoir Household +Book as to Rutland's "impresa." See also _Times_, December 27, 1905, +and Preface to New Edition of Lee's _Life_, pp. xvi-xxii. + + +13. EXTRACTS FROM MERES'S _PALLADIS TAMIA_, 1598 + +As the Greeke tongue is made famous and eloquent by _Homer_, _Hesiod_, +_Euripedes_, _AEschilus_, _Sophocles_, _Pindarus_, _Phocylides_ and +_Aristophanes_; and the Latine tongue by _Virgill_, _Ovid_, _Horace_, +_Silius Italicus_, _Lucanus_, _Lucretius_, _Ausonius_ and _Claudianus_: +so the English tongue is mightily enriched, and gorgeouslie invested in +rare ornaments and resplendent abiliments by sir _Philip Sidney_, +_Spencer_, _Daniel_, _Drayton_, _Warner_, _Shakespeare_, _Marlow_ and +_Chapman_. + + * * * * * + +As the soule of _Euphorbus_ was thought to live in _Pythagoras_: so the +sweete wittie soule of _Ovid_ lives in mellifluous & hony-tongued +Shakespeare, witnes his _Venus_ and _Adonis_, his _Lucrece_, his sugred +Sonnets among his private friends, &c. + +As _Plautus_ and _Seneca_ are accounted the best for Comedy and Tragedy +among the Latines, so _Shakespeare_ among y^e English is the most +excellent in both kinds for the stage; for Comedy, witnes his +_G[~e]tlem[~e] of Verona_, his _Errors_, his _Love labors lost_, his +_Love labours wonne_, his _Midsummers night dreame_, & his _Merchant of +Venice_: for Tragedy, his _Richard the 2, Richard the 3, Henry the 4, +King Iohn, Titus Andronicus_, and his _Romeo_ and _Iuliet_. + +As _Epius Stolo_ said, that the Muses would speake with _Plautus_ +tongue, if they would speak Latin: so I say that the Muses would speak +with _Shakespeares_ fine filed phrase, if they would speake English. + +As _Ovid_ saith of his worke: + + Iamque opus exegi, quod nec Iovis ira, nec ignis, + Nec poterit ferrum, nec edax abolere vetustas. + +[Page Heading: Extracts from Meres] + +And as _Horace_ saith of his; _Exegi monumentum aere perennius; +Regalique; situ pyramidum altius; Quod non imber edax; Non Aquilo +impotens possit diruere; aut innumerabilis annorum feries &c fuga +temporum_: so say I severally of sir _Philip Sidneys_, _Spencers_, +_Daniels_, _Draytons_, _Shakespeares_, and _Warners workes_; + +As _Pindarus_, _Anacreon_ and _Callimachus_ among the Greekes; and +_Horace_ and _Catullus_ among the Latines are the best Lyrick Poets: so +in this faculty the best among our Poets are _Spencer_ (who excelleth in +all kinds) _Daniel_, _Drayton_, _Shakespeare_, _Bretton_. + +As ... so these are our best for Tragedie, the Lorde _Buckhurst_, Doctor +_Leg_ of Cambridge, Doctor _Edes_ of Oxforde, maister _Edward Ferris_, +the Authour of the _Mirrour for Magistrates_, _Marlow_, _Peele_, +_Watson_, _Kid_, _Shakespeare_, _Drayton_, _Chapman_, _Decker_, and +_Benjamin Johnson_. + +... so the best for Comedy amongst us bee, _Edward_ Earle of Oxforde, +Doctor _Gager_ of Oxforde, Maister _Rowley_ once a rare Scholler of +learned Pembroke Hall in Cambridge, Maister _Edwardes_ one of her +Maiesties Chappell, eloquent and wittie _John Lilly_, _Lodge_, +_Gascoyne_, _Greene_, _Shakespeare_, _Thomas Nash_, _Thomas Heywood_, +_Anthony Mundye_ our best plotter, _Chapman_, _Porter_, _Wilson_, +_Hathway_, and _Henry Chettle._ + +... so these are the most passionate among us to bewaile and bemoane the +perplexities of Love, _Henrie Howard_ Earle of Surrey, sir _Thomas Wyat_ +the elder, sir _Francis Brian_, sir _Philip Sidney_, sir _Walter +Rawley_, sir _Edward Dyer_, _Spencer_, _Daniel_, _Drayton_, +_Shakespeare_, _Whetstone_, _Gascoyne_, _Samuell Page_ sometimes fellowe +of _Corpus Christi_ Colledge in Oxford, _Churchyard, Bretton_. + + +14. THE INSCRIPTION ON SHAKESPEARE'S MONUMENT IN THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY +TRINITY, STRATFORD-ON-AVON + + Judicio Pylium, genio Socratem, arte Maronem + Terra tegit, populus maeret, Olympus habet. + + Stay, passenger, why goest thou by so fast? + Read, if thou canst, whom envious death hath plast + Within this monument: Shakespeare with whome + Quick nature dide; whose name doth deck ys tombe + Far more than cost; sith all yt he hath writt + Leaves living art but page to serve his witt. + + Obiit ano. doi 1616. AEtatis 53. Die 23 Ap. + +[Page Heading: The First Folio] + + +15. THE INTRODUCTORY MATTER IN THE FIRST FOLIO + + TO THE MOST NOBLE + AND + INCOMPARABLE PAIRE OF BRETHREN. + WILLIAM + Earle of Pembroke, &c. Lord Chamberlaine to the + _Kings most Excellent Maiesty_. + AND + PHILIP +Earle of Montgomery, &c. Gentleman of his Maiesties Bed-Chamber. + Both Knights of the most Noble Order of the Garter, + and our singular good LORDS. + + Right Honourable, + +Whilst we studie to be thankful in our particular, for the many fauors +we haue receiued from your L. L. we are falne vpon the ill fortune, to +mingle two the most diuerse things that can bee, feare, and rashnesse; +rashnesse in the enterprize, and feare of the successe. For, when we +valew the places your H. H. sustaine, we cannot but know their dignity +greater, then to descend to the reading of these trifles: and, while we +name them trifles, we haue depriu'd our selues of the defence of our +Dedication. But since your L. L. haue beene pleas'd to thinke these +trifles some-thing, heeretofore; and haue prosequuted both them, and +their Authour liuing, with so much fauour: we hope, that (they +out-liuing him, and he not hauing the fate, common with some, to be +exequutor to his owne writings) you will vse the like indulgence toward +them, you haue done vnto their parent. There is a great difference, +whether any Booke choose his Patrones, or finde them: This hath done +both. For, so much were your L. L. likings of the seuerall parts, when +they were acted, as before they were published, the Volume ask'd to be +yours. We haue but collected them, and done an office to the dead, to +procure his Orphanes, Guardians: without ambition either of +selfe-profit, or fame: onely to keepe the memory of so worthy a Friend, +& Fellow aliue, as was our SHAKESPEARE, by humble offer of his playes, +to your most noble patronage. Wherein, as we haue iustly obserued, no +man to come neere your L. L. but with a kind of religious addresse; it +hath bin the height of our care, who are the Presenters, to make the +present worthy of your H. H. by the perfection. But, there we must also +craue our abilities to be considerd, my Lords. We cannot go beyond our +owne powers. Country hands reach foorth milke, creame, fruites, or what +they haue: and many Nations (we haue heard) that had not gummes & +incense, obtained their requests with a leauened Cake. It was no fault +to approch their Gods, by what meanes they could: And the most, though +meanest, of things are made more precious, when they are dedicated to +Temples. In that name therefore, we most humbly consecrate to your H. H. +these remaines of your seruant SHAKESPEARE; that what delight is in +them, may be euer your L. L. the reputation his, & the faults ours, if +any be committed, by a payre so carefull to shew their gratitude both to +the liuing, and the dead, as is + + Your Lordshippes most bounden, + IOHN HEMINGE. + HENRY CONDELL. + + +_To the Great Variety of Readers._--From the most able to him that can +but spell;--there you are number'd. We had rather you were weighd, +especially when the fate of all bookes depends upon your capacities, and +not of your heads alone, but of your purses. Well! It is now publique, +and you will stand for your privileges wee know; to read and censure. Do +so, but buy it first. That doth best commend a booke, the stationer +saies. Then, how odde soever your braines be, or your wisedomes, make +your licence the same and spare not. Judge your sixe-pen'orth, your +shillings worth, your five shillings worth at a time, or higher, so you +rise to the just rates, and welcome. But, whatever you do, buy. Censure +will not drive a trade or make the jacke go. And though you be a +magistrate of wit, and sit on the stage at Black-Friers or the Cock-pit +to arraigne playes dailie, know, these playes have had their triall +alreadie, and stood out all appeales, and do now come forth quitted +rather by a Decree of Court than any purchas'd letters of commendation. + +It had bene a thing, we confesse, worthie to have bene wished, that the +author himselfe had liv'd to have set forth and overseen his owne +writings; but since it hath bin ordain'd otherwise, and he by death +departed from that right, we pray you do not envie his friends the +office of their care and paine to have collected and publish'd them; and +so to have publish'd them, as where (before) you were abus'd with +diverse stolne and surreptitious copies, maimed and deformed by the +frauds and stealthes of injurious impostors that expos'd them; even +those are now offer'd to your view cur'd and perfect of their limbes, +and all the rest absolute in their numbers as he conceived them; who, as +he was a happie imitator of Nature, was a most gentle expresser of it. +His mind and hand went together; and what he thought, he uttered with +that easinesse that wee have scarse received from him a blot in his +papers. But it is not our province, who onely gather his works and give +them you, to praise him. It is yours that reade him. And there we hope, +to your divers capacities, you will finde enough both to draw and hold +you; for his wit can no more lie hid then it could be lost. Reade him, +therefore; and againe and againe; and if then you doe not like him, +surely you are in some manifest danger not to understand him. And so we +leave you to other of his friends, whom, if you need, can bee your +guides. If you neede them not, you can leade yourselves and others; and +such readers we wish him.--_Iohn Heminge._--_Henrie Condell._ + + +[Page Heading: Ben Jonson's Eulogy] + + TO THE MEMORY OF MY BELOUED, + + THE AVTHOR + + MR. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: + AND + what he hath left vs. + + To draw no enuy (_Shakespeare_) on thy name, + Am I thus ample to thy Booke, and Fame: + While I confesse thy writings to be such, + As neither _Man_, nor _Muse_, can praise too much. + 'Tis true, and all mens suffrage. But these wayes + Were not the paths I meant vnto thy praise: + For seeliest Ignorance on these may light, + Which, when it sounds at best, but eccho's right; + Or blinde Affection, which doth ne're aduance + The truth, but gropes, and vrgeth all by chance; + Or crafty Malice, might pretend this praise, + And thinke to ruine, where it seem'd to raise. + These are, as some infamous Baud, or Whore, + Should praise a Matron. What could hurt her more? + But thou art proofe against them, and indeed + Aboue th' ill fortune of them, or the need. + I, therefore will begin. Soule of the Age! + The applause! delight! the wonder of our Stage! + My _Shakespeare_, rise; I will not lodge thee by + _Chaucer_, or _Spenser_, or bid _Beaumont_ lye + A little further, to make thee a roome: + Thou art a Moniment, without a tombe, + And art aliue still, while thy Booke doth liue, + And we haue wits to read, and praise to giue. + That I not mixe thee so, my braine excuses; + I meane with great, but disproportion'd _Muses_: + For, if I thought my iudgement were of yeeres, + I should commit thee surely with thy peeres, + And tell, how farre thou didstst our _Lily_ out-shine, + Or sporting _Kid_, or _Marlowes_ mighty line. + And though thou hadst small _Latine_, and lesse _Greeke_, + From thence to honour thee, I would not seeke + For names; but call forth thund'ring _AEschilus_, + _Euripides_, and _Sophocles_ to vs, + _Paccuuius_, _Accius_, him of _Cordoua_ dead, + To life againe, to heare thy Buskin tread, + And shake a Stage: Or, when thy Sockes were on, + Leaue thee alone, for the comparison + Of all, that insolent _Greece_, or haughtie _Rome_ + Sent forth, or since did from their ashes come. + Triumph, my _Britaine_, thou hast one to showe, + To whom all Scenes of _Europe_ homage owe. + He was not of an age, but for all time! + And all the _Muses_ still were in their prime, + When like _Apollo_ he came forth to warme + Our eares, or like a _Mercury_ to charme! + Nature her selfe was proud of his designes, + And ioy'd to weare the dressing of his lines! + Which were so richly spun, and wouen so fit, + As, since, she will vouchsafe no other Wit. + The merry _Greeke_, tart _Aristophanes_, + Neat _Terence_, witty _Plautus_, now not please; + But antiquated, and deserted lye + As they were not of Natures family. + Yet must I not giue Nature all: Thy Art, + My gentle _Shakespeare_, must enioy a part. + For though the _Poets_ matter, Nature be, + His Art doth giue the fashion. And, that he, + Who casts to write a liuing line, must sweat, + (Such as thine are) and strike the second heat + Vpon the _Muses_ anuile: turne the same, + (And himselfe with it) that he thinkes to frame; + Or for the lawrell, he may gaine a scorne, + For a good _Poet's_ made, as well as borne. + And such wert thou. Looke how the fathers face + Liues in his issue, euen so, the race + Of _Shakespeares_ minde, and manners brightly shines + In his well torned, and true-filed lines: + In each of which, he seemes to shake a Lance, + As brandish't at the eyes of Ignorance. + Sweet Swan of _Auon_! what a sight it were + To see thee in our waters yet appeare, + And make those flights vpon the bankes of _Thames_, + That so did take _Eliza_, and our _Iames_! + But stay, I see thee in the _Hemisphere_ + Aduanc'd, and made a Constellation there! + Shine forth, thou Starre of _Poets_, and with rage, + Or influence, chide, or cheere the drooping Stage; + Which, since thy flight fro hence, hath mourn'd like night, + And despaires day, but for thy Volumes light. + + BEN: IONSON. + + +VPON THE LINES AND LIFE OF THE FAMOUS + +Scenicke Poet, Master WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE + + Those hands, which you so clapt, go now, and wring + You _Britaines_ braue; for done are _Shakespeares_ dayes: + His dayes are done, that made the dainty Playes, + Which made the Globe of heau'n and earth to ring. + Dry'de is that veine, dry'd is the _Thespian_ Spring, + Turn'd all to teares, and _Ph[oe]bus_ clouds his rayes: + That corp's, that coffin now besticke those bayes, + Which crown'd him _Poet_ first, then _Poets_ King. + If _Tragedies_ might any _Prologue_ haue, + All those he made, would scarse make one to this: + Where _Fame_, now that he gone is to the graue + (Deaths publique tyring-house) the _Nuncius_ is. + For though his line of life went soone about, + The life yet of his lines shall neuer out. + + HVGH HOLLAND. + + +[Page Heading: The First Folio] + + TO THE MEMORIE + + of the deceased Authour Maister + + W. SHAKESPEARE + + _Shake-speare_, at length thy pious fellowes giue + The world thy Workes: thy Workes, by which, out-liue + Thy Tombe, thy name must: when that stone is rent, + And Time dissolues thy _Stratford_ Moniment, + Here we aliue shall view thee still. This Booke, + When Brasse and Marble fade, shall make thee looke + Fresh to all Ages: when Posteritie + Shall loath what's new, thinke all is prodegie + That is not _Shake-speares_ eu'ry Line, each Verse + Here shall reuiue, redeeme thee from thy Herse. + Nor Fire, nor cankring Age, as _Naso_ said, + Of his, thy wit-fraught Booke shall once inuade. + Nor shall I e're beleeue, or thinke thee dead + (Though mist) vntill our bankrout Stage be sped + (Jmpossible) with some new straine t'out-do + Passions of _Iuliet_, and her _Romeo_; + Or till J heare a Scene more nobly take, + Then when thy half-Sword parlying _Romans_ spake. + Till these, till any of thy Volumes rest + Shall with more fire, more feeling be exprest, + Be sure, our _Shake-speare_, thou canst neuer dye, + But crown'd with Lawrell, liue eternally. + + L. DIGGES. + + +To the memorie of M. _W. Shake-speare_. + + WEE wondred (_Shake-speare_) that thou went'st so soone + From the Worlds-Stage, to the Graues-Tyring-roome. + Wee thought thee dead, but this thy printed worth, + Tels thy Spectators, that thou went'st but forth + To enter with applause. An Actors Art, + Can dye, and liue, to acte a second part. + That's but an _Exit_ of Mortalitie; + This, a Re-entrance to a Plaudite. + + I. M. + + +_The Workes of William Shakespeare, containing all his Comedies, +Histories, and Tragedies; truely set forth according to their first +Originall._--_The names of the Principall Actors in all these +playes._--William Shakespeare; Richard Burbadge; John Hemmings; +Augustine Phillips; William Kempt; Thomas Poope; George Bryan; Henry +Condell; William Slye; Richard Cowly; John Lowine; Samuell Crosse; +Alexander Cooke; Samuel Gilburne; Robert Armin; William Ostler; Nathan +Field; John Underwood; Nicholas Tooley; William Ecclestone; Joseph +Taylor; Robert Benfeld; Robert Goughe; Richard Robinson; John Shancke; +John Rice. + +_A Catalogue of the severall Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies +contained in this Volume._--COMEDIES. The Tempest, folio 1; The Two +Gentlemen of Verona, 20; The Merry Wives of Windsor, 38; Measure for +Measure, 61; The Comedy of Errours, 85; Much adoo about Nothing, 101; +Loves Labour lost, 122; Midsommer Nights Dreame, 145; The Merchant of +Venice, 163; As You Like it, 185; The Taming of the Shrew, 208; All is +well that Ends well, 230; Twelfe-Night, or what you will, 255; The +Winters Tale, 304.--HISTORIES. The Life and Death of King John, fol. 1; +The Life and Death of Richard the Second, 23; The First Part of King +Henry the Fourth, 46; The Second Part of K. Henry the fourth, 74; The +Life of King Henry the Fift, 69; The First part of King Henry the Sixt, +96; The Second part of King Hen. the Sixt, 120; The Third part of King +Henry the Sixt, 147; The Life and Death of Richard the Third, 173; The +Life of King Henry the Eight, 205.--TRAGEDIES. The Tragedy of +Coriolanus, fol. 1; Titus Andronicus, 31; Romeo and Juliet, 53; Timon of +Athens, 80; The Life and death of Julius Caesar, 109; The Tragedy of +Macbeth, 131; The Tragedy of Hamlet, 152; King Lear, 283; Othello, the +Moore of Venice, 310; Anthony and Cleopater, 346; Cymbeline King of +Britaine, 369. + + +[Page Heading: Traditional Material] + +II. SOURCES OF TRADITIONAL MATERIAL + +Fuller's Worthies of England. 1662. + +Aubrey's Lives of Eminent Men, 2 vols. Ed. A. Clark. Oxford, 1895. + +Diary of Rev. John Ward (1661-1663). Ed. C. A. Severn, 1839. + +Rev. William Fulman's and Rev. Richard Davies's Mss. Corpus Christi +College, Oxford. + +John Dowdall's Travels in Warwickshire (1693). London, 1838. + +William Hall (1694), Letter in Bodleian Mss. London, 1884. + +William Oldys, Ms. Adversaria in British Museum, printed in Appendix to +Yeowell's Memoir of Oldys, 1862. + +Archdeacon Plume's Ms. memoranda at Maldon, Essex. See Lee, _Nineteenth +Century_, May, 1906, and Preface to New Edition (1909) of _Life_. + +For the anecdote of the Bidford Drinkers, see H.-P. and Greene's Legend +of the Crab Tree, 1857. + +Antony Wood. Athenae Oxonienses, 1692. + + + + +Appendix B + +INDEX TO THE CHARACTERS IN SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS + + +[Page Heading: Index to Characters] + +This Index records the act and scene in which each character first +speaks, not necessarily the same as that in which he first appears. Only +persons who speak are included, except a few marked with asterisk. + + +Aaron. TA. II. i. + +Abbess, Lady. CofE. V. i. + +Abergavenny, Lord. H8. I. i. + +Abhorson. Meas. IV. ii. + +Abraham. R&J. I. i. + +Achilles. T&C. II. i. + +Adam. AYLI. I. i. + +Adrian. Tmp. II. i. + +Adriana. CofE. II. i. + +AEdile, an. Cor. III. i. + +AEgeon. CofE. I. i. + +AEmilia. CofE. V. i. + +AEmilius. TA. IV. iv. + +AEneas. T&C. I. i. + +Agamemnon. T&C. I. iii. + +Agrippa. A&C. II. ii. + +Aguecheek, Sir Andrew. TwN. I. iii. + +Ajax. T&C. II. i. + +Alarbus. TA.* + +Albany, Duke of. Lear I. i. + +Alcibiades. Tim. I. i. + +Alencon, Duke of. 1H6. I. ii. + +Alexander. T&C. I. ii. + +Alexas. A&C. I. ii. + +Alice. H5. III. iv. + +Alonso. Tmp. I. i. + +Ambassadors: + Hml. V. ii; + H5. I. ii; + 1H6. V. i. + +Amiens. AYLI. II. i. v. + +Andromache. T&C. V. iii. + +Andronicus. _See_ Titus, Marcus. + +Angelo. CofE. III. i. + +Angelo. Meas. I. i. + +Angus. Mcb. I. ii. + +Anne Bullen, Queen. H8. I. iv. + +Anne, Lady. R3. I. ii. + +Anne Page. MWW. I. i. + +Antigonus. WT. II. i. + +Antiochus, King of Antioch. Per. I. i. + +Antipholus of Ephesus. CofE. III. i. + +Antipholus of Syracuse. CofE. I. ii. + +Antonio. Merch. I. i. + +Antonio. MAdo. I. ii. + +Antonio. Tmp. I. i. + +Antonio. TGV. I. iii. + +Antonio. TwN. II. i. + +Antony. + JC. I. ii; + A&C. I. i. + +Apemantus. Tim. I. i. + +Apothecary. R&J. V. i. + +Apparitions. Mcb. IV. i. + +Archbishop. _See_ York, Canterbury. + +Archidamus. WT. I. i. + +Ariel. Tmp. I. ii. + +Armado, Don. LLL. I. ii. + +Arragon, Prince of. Merch. II. ix. + +Artemidorus. JC. II. iii. + +Arthur, Duke of Bretagne. John II. i. + +Arviragus. Cym. III. iii. + +Astringer, Gentle. AWEW. V. i. + +Attendants. + A&C. I. ii; + Hml. IV. vi. _See_ Servants. + +Audrey. AYLI. III. iii. + +Aufidius, Tullus. Cor. I. ii. + +Aumerle, Duke of. R2. I. iii. + +Austria, Archduke of. + John II. i. + _See_ Lymoges. + +Autolycus. WT. IV. iii. + +Auvergne, Countess of. 1H6. II. iii. + + +Bagot. R2. II. ii. + +Balthasar. MAdo. II. iii. + +Balthazar. CofE. III. i. + +Balthazar. Merch. III. iv. + +Balthazar. R&J. I. i. + +Banditti. Tim. IV. iii. + +Banquo. Mcb. I. iii. + +Baptista. TofS. I. i. + +Bardolph. + 1H4. II. ii; + 2H4. II. i; + H5. II. i; + MWW. I. i. + +Bardolph, Lord. 2H4. I. i. + +Barnardine. Meas. IV. iii. + +Bassanio. Merch. I. i. + +Bassanius. TA. I. i. + +Basset. 1H6. III. iv. + +Bastard of Orleans. 1H6. I. ii. + +Bastard. _See_ Edmund, Faulconbridge, and Margarelon. + +Bates. H5. IV. i. + +Bawd. + Per. IV. ii. + _See_ Overdone. + +Beadles. + 2H4. V. iv; + 2H6. II. i. + +Beatrice. MAdo. I. i. + +Beaufort, Henry, Bishop of Winchester, and Cardinal. + 1H6. I. i; + 2H6. I. i. + +Beaufort, John, Duke of Somerset. + 1H6. II. iv; + 2H6. I. i. + +Beaufort, Thomas, Duke of Exeter. + H5. I. ii; + 1H6. I. i. + +Bedford, Duke of. H5. II. ii. + +Bedford, Duke of. 1H6. I. i. + +Belarius. Cym. III. iii. + +Belch, Sir Toby. TwN. I. iii. + +Benedick. MAdo. I. i. + +Benvolio. R&J. I. i. + +Berkeley. R3. I. iii.* + +Berkeley, Lord. R2. II. iii. + +Bernardo. Hml. I i.* + +Bertram, Count of Rousillon. AWEW. I. i. + +Bevis, George. 2H6. IV. ii. + +Bianca. Oth. III. iv. + +Bianca. TofS. I. i. + +Bigot, Lord. John IV. iii. + +Biondello. TofS. I. i. + +Biron. LLL. I. i. + +Blanche of Spain. John II. i. + +Blunt, Sir James. R3. V. ii. + +Blunt, Sir Walter. 1H4. I. iii. + +Boatswain. Tmp. I. i. + +Bolingbroke, Roger. 2H6. I. iv. + +Bolingbroke, afterwards King Henry IV. R2. I. i. + +Bona. 3H6. III. iii. + +Borachio. MAdo. I. iii. + +Bottom. MND. I. ii. + +Boult. Per. IV. ii. + +Bourbon, Duke of. H5. III. v. + +Bourchier, Cardinal. R3. III. i. + +Boyet. LLL. II. i. + +Boys: + H5. II. i; + 1H6. I. iv; + H8. V. i; + Mcb. IV. ii; + Meas. IV. i; + MAdo. II. iii; + R3. II. ii; + T&C. I. ii. + _See_ Pages. + +Brabantio. Oth. I. i. + +Brakenbury, Sir Robert. R3. I. i. + +Brandon. H8. I. i. + +Brothers, to Posthumus, ghosts. Cym. V. iv. + +Brutus, Decius. JC. II. i. + +Brutus, Junius. Cor. I. i. + +Brutus, Marcus. JC. I. ii. + +Buckingham, Duke of. + 2H6. I. i; + R3. I. iii. + +Buckingham, Duke of. H8. I. i. + +Bullcalf. 2H4. III. ii. + +Bullen, Anne. H8. I. iv. + +Burgundy, Duke of. H5. V. ii. + +Burgundy, Duke of. 1H6. II. i. + +Burgundy, Duke of. Lear I. i. + +Bushy. R2. I. iv. + +Butts, Doctor. H8. V. ii. + + +Cade, John. 2H6. IV. ii. + +Caesar. _See_ Julius _and_ Octavius. + +Caithness. Mcb. V. ii. + +Caius. TA.* + +Caius, Doctor. MWW. I. iv. + +Caius Ligarius. JC. II. i. + +Caius Lucius. Cym. III. i. + +Caius Marcius (Coriolanus). Cor. I. i. + +Calchas. T&C. III. iii. + +Caliban. Tmp. I. ii. + +Calpurnia. JC. I. ii. + +Cambridge, Earl of. H5. II. ii. + +Camillo. WT. I. i. + +Campeius, Cardinal. H8. II. ii. + +Canidius. A&C. III. x. + +Canterbury, Archbishop of. + H5. I. i. + _See_ Bourchier, Cranmer. + +Caphis. Tim. II. i. + +Captains: + A&C. IV. iv; + Cym. IV. ii, V. iii; + Hml. IV. iv; + 1H6. II. ii; + Lear V. iii; + Mcb. I. ii; + R2. II. iv; + TA. I. i. + _See_ Sea Captain. + +Capucius. H8. IV. ii. + +Capulet. R&J. I. i. + +Capulet, Lady. R&J. I. i. + +Capulet, second. R&J. I. v. + +Cardinal. _See_ Bourchier, Winchester. + +Carlisle, Bishop of. R2. III. ii. + +Carpenter. JC. I. i. + +Carriers. 1H4. II. i. + +Casca. JC. I. ii. + +Cassandra. T&C. II. ii. + +Cassio. Oth. I. ii. + +Cassius. JC. I. ii. + +Catesby, Sir William. R3. I. iii. + +Cato, young. JC. V. iii. + +Celia. AYLI. I. ii. + +Ceres. Tmp. IV. i. + +Cerimon. Per. III. ii. + +Chamberlain. 1H4. II. i. + +Chamberlain, Lord. H8. I. iii. + +Chancellor, Lord. H8. V. iii. + +Charles, a wrestler. AYLI. I. i. + +Charles, the dauphin, later King of France. 1H6. I. ii. + +Charles VI, King of France. H5. II. iv. + +Charmian. A&C. I. ii. + +Chatillon, ambassador. John I. i. + +Chief Justice. 2H4. I. ii. + +Chiron. TA. I. i. + +Chorus. + H5; + Per; + R&J; + WT. + +Cicero. JC. I. iii. + +Cimber, Metellus. JC. II. i. + +Cinna, a conspirator. JC. I. iii. + +Cinna, a poet. JC. III. iii. + +Citizens. + Cor. I. i; + 2H6. IV. v; + John II. i; + R3. II. iii; + R&J. III. i. + +Clarence, George, Duke of. + 3H6. II. ii; + R3. I. i. + +Clarence, Thomas, Duke of. 2H4. IV. iv. + +Clarence, son and daughter of. R3. II. ii. + +Claudio. Meas. I. ii. + +Claudio. MAdo. I. i. + +Claudius, King of Denmark. Hml. I. ii. + +Claudius. JC. IV. iii. + +Cleomenes. WT. III. i. + +Cleon. Per. I. iv. + +Cleopatra. A&C. I. i. + +Clerk. 2H6. IV. ii. + +Clifford, Lord. + 2H6. IV. viii; + 3H6. I. i. + +Clifford, young, son of preceding. 2H6. V. i. + +Clitus. JC. V. v. + +Cloten. Cym. I. ii. + +Clowns: + A&C. V. ii; + AWEW. I. iii; + Hml. V. ii; + LLL. I. ii; + Oth. III. i; + TA. IV. iii; + WT. IV. iii. + _See_ Feste, Peter, Pompey, etc. + +Cobbler. JC. I. i. + +Cobweb. MND. III. i. + +Colville, Sir John. 2H4. IV. iii. + +Cominius. Cor. I. i. + +Commons. 2H6. III. ii. + +Conrade. MAdo. I. iii. + +Conspirators. Cor. V. vi. + +Constable (Dull). LLL. I. i. + +Constable of France. H5. II. iv. + +Constance. John II. i. + +Cordelia. Lear I. i. + +Corin. AYLI. II. iv. + +Coriolanus. Cor. I. i. + +Cornelius, a physician. Cym. I. v. + +Cornelius. Hml. I. ii. + +Cornwall, Duke of. Lear I. i. + +Costard. LLL. I. i. + +Court. H5. IV. i. + +Courtesan. CofE. IV. iii. + +Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. H8. V. i. + +Cressida. T&C. I. ii. + +Crier. H8. II. iv. + +Cromwell. H8. III. ii. + +Cupid. Tim. I. ii. + +Curan. Lear II. i. + +Curio. TwN. I. i. + +Curtis. TofS. IV. i. + +Cymbeline, King. Cym. I. i. + + +Dancer, A. 2H4. Epi. + +Dardanius. JC. V. v. + +Daughter of Antiochus. Per. I. iv. + +Dauphin. H5. II. iv. + +Davy. 2H4. V. i. + +Deiphobus. T&C. IV. i. + +Demetrius. A&C. I. i. + +Demetrius. MND. I. i. + +Demetrius. TA. I. i. + +Dennis. AYLI. I. i. + +Denny, Sir Anthony. H8. V. i. + +Derby, Earl of. R3. I. iii. + +Dercetas. A&C. IV. xiv. + +Desdemona. Oth. I. iii. + +Diana. Per.* + +Diana. AWEW. III. v. + +Dick, butcher. 2H6. IV. ii. + +Diomedes. T&C. II. iii. + +Diomedes. A&C. IV. xiv. + +Dion. WT. III. i. + +Dionyza. Per. I. iv. + +Doctor. Lear IV. iv. + +Doctor, English Mcb. IV. iii. + +Doctor, Scotch. Mcb. V. i. + +Dogberry. MAdo. III. iii. + +Dolabella. A&C. III. xii. + +Doll Tearsheet. 2H4. II. iv. + +Don Adriano de Armado. LLL. I. ii. + +Donalbain. Mcb. II. iii. + +Don John. MAdo. I. i. + +Don Pedro. MAdo. I. i. + +Dorcas. WT. IV. iv. + +Dorset, Marquis of. R3. I. iii. + +Douglas Archibald, Earl of. 1H4. IV. i. + +Drawers. 2H4. II. iv. + +Dromio of Ephesus. CofE. I. ii. + +Dromio of Syracuse. CofE. I. ii. + +Duke, in banishment. AYLI. II. i. + +Duke Frederick. AYLI. I. ii. + +Duke of Milan. TGV. II. iv. + +Dull. LLL. I. i. + +Dumain. LLL. I. i. + +Duncan, King. Mcb. I. ii. + + +Edgar. Lear I. ii. + +Edmund. Lear I. i. + +Edmund, Earl of Rutland. 3H6. I. iii. + +Edward, Earl of March, later Edward IV. + 3H6. I. i; + R3. II. i. + +Edward IV, King. + 3H6. I. i; + R3. II. i. + +Edward V, King. R3. III. i. + +Edward, Prince of Wales, afterwards Edward V. R3. III. i. + +Edward Plantagenet, Prince of Wales. 3H6. I. i. + +Egeus. MND. I. i. + +Eglamour. TGV. IV. iii. + +Egyptian. A&C. V. i. + +Elbow. Meas. II. i. + +Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester. 2H6. I. ii. + +Eleanor, Queen. John I. i. + +Elizabeth, Queen (as L. Grey). + 3H6. III. ii; + R3. I. iii. + +Ely, Bishop of. H5. I. i. + +Ely, Bishop of. R3. III. iv. + +Emilia. Oth. II. ii. + +Emilia. WT. II. ii. + +Enobarbus. A&C. I. ii. + +Eros. A&C. III. v. + +Erpingham, Sir Thomas. H5. IV. i. + +Escalus, Prince. R&J. I. i. + +Escalus. Meas. I. i. + +Escanes. Per. II. iv. + +Essex, Earl of. John I. i. + +Euphronius. A&C. III. xii. + +Evans, Sir Hugh. MWW. I. i + +Executioners. John IV. i. + +Exeter (Beaufort), Duke of. + H5. I. ii; + 1H6. I. i. + +Exeter, Duke of. 3H6. I. i. + +Exton, Sir Pierce of. R2. V. iv. + + +Fabian. TwN. II. v. + +Fairies. + MND. II. i; + MWW. V. iv. + +Falstaff, Sir John. + 1H4. I. ii; + 2H4. I. ii; + MWW. I. i. + +Fang. 2H4. II. i. + +Fastolfe, Sir John. 1H6. III. ii. + +Father that hath killed his son. 3H6. II. v. + +Faulconbridge, Lady. John I. i. + +Faulconbridge, Philip the Bastard. John I. i. + +Faulconbridge, Robert. John I. i. + +Feeble. 2H4. III. ii. + +Fenton. MWW. I. iv. + +Ferdinand. Tmp. I. ii. + +Ferdinand, King of Navarre. LLL. I. i. + +Feste. TwN. I. v. + +Fisherman. Per. II. i. + +Fitzwater, Lord. R2. IV. i. + +Flaminius. Tim. III. i. + +Flavius. JC. I. i. + +Flavius. Tim. I. ii. + +Fleance. Mcb. II. i. + +Florence, Duke of. AWEW. III. i. + +Florizel. WT. IV. iv. + +Fluellen. H5. III. ii. + +Flute. MND. I. ii. + +Fool. + Lear I. iv; + Tim. II. ii. + +Ford. MWW. II. i. + +Ford, Mistress. MWW. II. i. + +Forester. + AYLI. IV. ii; + LLL. IV. i. + +Fortinbras. Hml. IV. iv. + +France, King of. AWEW. I. ii. + +France, King of. Lear I. i. + +France, Princess of. LLL. II. i. + +Francis. 1H4. II. iv. + +Francisca. Meas. I. iv. + +Francisco. Hml. I. i. + +Francisco. Tmp. II. i. + +Frederick, Duke. AYLI. I. ii. + +Frenchman, A. Cym. I. iv. + +Friar Francis. MAdo. IV. i. + +Friar John. R&J. V. 2. + +Friar Lawrence. R&J. II. 3. + +Friar Peter. Meas. IV. vi. + +Friar Thomas. Meas. I. iii. + +Froth. Meas. II. i. + + +Gadshill. 1H4. II. i. + +Gaolers: + CofE. I. i; + Cym. V. iv; + 1H6. II. v; + Merch. III. iii; + WT. II. ii. + +Gallus. A&C. V. i. + +Gardener. R2. III. iv. + +Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester. H8. V. i. + +Gargrave, Sir Thomas. 1H6. I. iv. + +Gaunt, John, Duke of Lancaster. R2. I. i. + +Gentleman Usher. H8. II. iv. + +Gentlemen: + AWEW. V. iii; + Cym. I. i; + Hml. IV. v; + 2H6. IV. i; + H8. II. i; + Lear I. v; + Meas. I. ii; + Per. III. ii; + Oth. II. i; + WT. V. ii. + +Gentlewomen. + Cor. I. iii; + Mcb. V. i. + +George, Duke of Clarence. + 3H6. II. ii; + R3. I. i. + +Gertrude, Queen of Denmark. Hml. I. ii. + +Ghosts of: + Caesar, JC. IV. iii; + of Hamlet's father, Hml. I. v; + Sicilius Leonatus, wife, two sons, Cym. V. iv; + Banquo,* Mcb. III. iv; + Prince Edward, Henry VI, Clarence, Rivers, Grey, Vaughan, Hastings, + two young princes, Lady Anne, and Buckingham, R3. V. iii. + +Glansdale, Sir William. 1H6. I. iv. + +Glendower, Owen. 1H4. III. + +Gloucester, Humphrey, Duke of. + 2H4. IV. iv; + H5. III. vii; + 1H6. I. i; + 2H6. I. i. + +Gloucester, Richard, Duke of. + 3H6. I. i; + R3. I. i. + +Gloucester, Duchess of. 2H6. I. ii. + +Gloucester, Duchess of. R2. I. ii. + +Gloucester, Earl of. Lear I. i. + +Gobbo, Launcelot. Merch. II. ii. + +Gobbo, Old, father of Launcelot. Merch. II. ii. + +Goffe, Matthew. 2H6.* + +Goneril. Lear I. i. + +Gonzalo. Tmp. I. i. + +Goths. TA. V. i. + +Governor of Harfleur. H5. III. iii. + +Governor of Paris. 1H6. IV. i. + +Gower. + 2H4. II. i; + H5. III. ii. + +Gower, chorus. Per. + +Grandpre. H5. IV. ii. + +Gratiano. Merch. I. i. + +Gratiano. Oth. V. ii. + +Gravediggers. Hml. V. i. + +Green. R2. I. iv. + +Gregory. R&J. I. i. + +Gremio. TofS. I. i. + +Grey, Lady, later Queen Elizabeth. + 3H6. III. ii; + R3. I. iii. + +Grey, Lord. R3. I. iii. + +Grey, Sir Thomas. H5. II. ii. + +Griffith. H8. IV. ii. + +Grooms. + 2H4. V. v; + R2. V. v. + +Grumio. TofS. I. i. + +Guard. A&C. IV. xiv. + +Guiderius. Cym. III. iii. + +Guildenstern. Hml. II. ii. + +Guildford, Sir Henry. H8. I. iv. + +Gurney, James. John I. i. + + +Haberdasher. TofS. IV. iii. + +Hamlet. Hml. I. ii. + +Harcourt. 2H4. IV. iv. + +Hastings, Lord. 2H4. I. iii. + +Hastings, Lord. + 3H6. IV. i; + R3. I. i. + +Hecate. Mcb. III. v. + +Hector. T&C. II. ii. + +Helen, an attendant. Cym. II. ii. + +Helen. T&C. III. i. + +Helena. AWEW. I. i. + +Helena. MND. I. i. + +Helenus. T&C. II. ii. + +Helicanus. Per. I. ii. + +Henry IV, King (Bolingbroke). + 1H4. I. i; + 2H4. III. i; + R2. I. i. + +Henry V, King (first, Henry, Prince of Wales). + 1H4. I. ii; + 2H4. II. ii; + H5. I. ii. + +Henry, Prince. + 1H4. I. ii; + 2H4. II. ii. + +Henry, Prince, son of King John. John V. vii. + +Henry VI, King. + 1H6. III. i; + 2H6. I. i; + 3H6. I. i. + +Henry VII, King, first Earl of Richmond. + 3H6.* + R3. V. iii. + +Henry VIII, King. H8. I. ii. + +Heralds. + Cor. II. i; + H5. III. vi, IV. viii; + 2H6. II. iv; + John II. i; + Lear V. iii; + Oth. II. ii; + R2. I. iii. + +Herbert, Sir Walter. R3. V. ii. + +Hereford, Duke of. + _See_ Henry IV. + R2. I. i. + +Hermia. MND. I. i. + +Hermione. WT. I. ii. + +Hero. MAdo. I. i. + +Hippolyta. MND. I. i. + +Holland, John. 2H6. IV. ii. + +Holofernes. LLL. IV. ii. + +Horatio. Hml. I. i. + +Horner, Roger. 2H6. I. iii. + +Hortensio. TofS. I. i. + +Hortensius. Tim. III. iv. + +Host. TGV. IV. ii. + +Host of the Garter Inn. MWW. I. iii. + +Hostess. + H5. II. i. + _See_ Quickly. + +Hostess. TofS. Ind. + +Hotspur. + 1H4. I. iii. + _See_ Percy. + +Hubert de Burgh. John III. iii. + +Hume, John. 2H6. I. ii. + +Humphrey of Gloucester. + 2H4. IV. iv; + H5. III. vii; + 1H6. I. i; + 2H6. I. i. + +Huntsmen. + 3H6. IV. v; + TofS. Ind. + +Hymen. AYLI. V. iv. + + +Iachimo. Cym. I. iv. + +Iago. Oth. I. i. + +Iden, Alexander. 2H6. IV. x. + +Imogen. Cym. I. i. + +Interpreter. AWEW. IV. iii. + +Iras. A&C. I. ii. + +Iris. Tmp. IV. i. + +Isabel, Queen of France. H5. V. ii. + +Isabella. Meas. I. iv. + +Isadore, servant. Tim. II. ii. + + +Jamy. H5. III. ii. + +Jaquenetta. LLL. I. ii. + +Jaques. AYLI. II. v. + +Jaques, son of Sir Roland de Boys. AYLI.* + +Jessica. Merch. II. iii. + +Jeweller. Tim. I. i. + +Joan la Pucelle (Joan of Arc). 1H6. I. ii. + +John, King. John I. i. + +John of Lancaster. + 1H4. V. iv; + 2H4. IV. ii. + +Jordan, Margery. 2H6. I. iv. + +Julia. TGV. I. ii. + +Juliet. Meas. I. ii. + +Juliet. R&J. I. iii. + +Julius Caesar. JC. I. ii. + +Juno. Tmp. IV. i. + +Jupiter. Cym. V. iv. + + +Katherina. TofS. I. i. + +Katherine. LLL. II. i. + +Katherine, Princess of France. H5. III. iv. + +Katherine, Queen. H8. I. ii. + +Keepers: + 3H6. III. i; + H8. V. ii; R2. V. v; + R3. I. iv. + _See_ Gaolers. + +Kent, Earl of. Lear I. i. + +Knights: + Lear I. iv; + Per. II. iii. + + +Ladies: + Cor. II. i; + Cym. I. v; + R2. III. iv; + Tim. I. ii; + WT. II. i. + +Laertes. Hml. I. ii. + +Lafeu, Lord. AWEW. I. i. + +Lamprius. A&C. I. ii. + +Launce. TGV. II. iii. + +Launcelot Gobbo. Merch. II. ii. + +Lavache, a clown. AWEW. I. iii. + +Lavinia. TA. I. i. + +Lawyer, a. 1H6. II. iv. + +Lear, King. Lear I. i. + +Le Beau. AYLI. I. ii. + +Legate. 1H6. V. i. + +Lennox. Mcb. I. ii. + +Leonardo. Merch. II. ii. + +Leonato. MAdo. I. i. + +Leonatus, Posthumus. Cym. I. i. + +Leonine. Per. IV. i. + +Leontes. WT. I. ii. + +Lepidus. + JC. IV. i; + A&C. I. iv. + +Lewis, the Dauphin. H5. II. iv. + +Lewis, the Dauphin. John II. i. + +Lewis XI, King of France. 3H6. III. iii. + +Lieutenant: + Cor. IV. vii; + 2H6. IV. i; + 3H6. IV. vi. + +Ligarius. JC. II. i. + +Lincoln, Bishop of. H8. II. iv. + +Lion. MND. V. i. + +Longaville. LLL. I. i. + +Lords: + AWEW. I. ii, III. i; + AYLI. II. i; + Cor. V. vi; + Cym. I. ii; + Hml. V. ii; + LLL. II. i; + Mcb. III. iv; + Per. I. ii; + R3. V. iii; + TofS. Ind.; + Tim. I. i; + WT. II. ii. + +Lorenzo. Merch. I. i. + +Lovel, Lord. R3. III. iv. + +Lovell, Sir Thomas. H8. I. iii. + +Luce. CofE. III. i. + +Lucentio. TofS. I. i. + +Lucetta. TGV. I. ii. + +Luciana. CofE. II. i. + +Lucianus. Hml. III. ii. + +Lucilius. JC. IV. ii. + +Lucilius. Tim. I. i. + +Lucio. Meas. I. ii. + +Lucius, Caius. Cym. III. i. + +Lucius. JC. II. i. + +Lucius. TA. I. i. + +Lucius, young. TA. III. ii. + +Lucius. Tim. III. ii; + servant. Tim. III. iv. + +Lucullus. Tim. III. i. + +Lucy, Sir William. 1H6. IV. iii. + +Ludovico. Oth. IV. i. + +Lychorida. Per. III. i. + +Lymoges, Duke of Austria. John II. i. + +Lysander. MND. I. i. + +Lysimachus. Per. IV. vi. + + +Macbeth. Mcb. I. iii. + +Macbeth, Lady. Mcb. I. v. + +Macduff. Mcb. II. iii. + +Macduff, Lady. Mcb. IV. ii. + +Macduff's son. Mcb. IV. ii. + +Macmorris. H5. III. ii. + +Maecenas. A&C. II. ii. + +Malcolm. Mcb. I. ii. + +Malvolio. TwN. I. v. + +Mamillius. WT. I. ii. + +Marcellus. Hml. I. i. + +Marcus Andronicus. TA. I. i. + +Marcus Antonius (Antony). + JC. I. ii; + A&C. I. i. + +Mardian. A&C. I. v. + +Margarelon. T&C. V. vi. + +Margaret. MAdo. II. i. + +Margaret, Queen. + 1H6. V. iii; + 2H6. I. i; + 3H6. I. i; + R3. I. iii. + +Margaret Plantagenet, daughter of Clarence. R3. II. ii. + +Maria. LLL. II. i. + +Maria. TwN. I. iii. + +Mariana. AWEW. III. v. + +Mariana. Meas. IV. i. + +Marina. Per. IV. i. + +Mariner. + WT. III. iii; + Tmp. I. i. + +Marshal. Per. II. iii. + +Marshal, Lord. R2. I. iii. + +Martext, Sir Oliver. AYLI. III. iii. + +Martius. TA. I. i. + +Marullus. JC. I. i. + +Master. 2H6. IV. i. + +Master gunner. 1H6. I. iv. + +Master, of a ship. + Tmp. I. i; + 2H6. IV. i. + +Master's Mate. 2H6. IV. i. + +Mayor of London. + 1H6. III. i; + R3. III. i. + +Mayor of St. Albans. 2H6. II. i. + +Mayor of York. 3H6. IV. vii. + +Melun. John V. iv. + +Menas. A&C. II. i. + +Menecrates. A&C. II. i. + +Menelaus. T&C. I. iii. + +Menenius Agrippa. Cor. I. i. + +Menteith. Mcb. V. ii. + +Mercade. LLL. V. ii. + +Merchants: + CofE. I. ii; + Tim. I. i. + +Mercutio. R&J. I. iv. + +Messala. JC. IV. iii. + +Messengers: + A&C. I. i; + AWEW. IV. iii; + CofE. V. i; + Cor. I. i; + Cym. V. iv; + Hml. IV. v; + 1H4. IV. i; + 2H4. IV. i; + H5. II. v; + 1H6. I. i; + 2H6. I. ii; + 3H6. I. ii; + H8. IV. ii; + John IV. ii; + JC. IV. iii; + Lear IV. ii; + LLL. V. ii; + Mcb. I. v; + Meas. IV. ii; + Merch. II. ix; + MAdo. I. i; + Oth. I. iii; + Per. I. i; + R3. III. ii; + TofS. III. i; + Tim. I. i; + TA. III. i. + +Metellus Cimber. JC. II. i. + +Michael. 2H6. IV. ii. + +Michael, Sir. 1H4. IV. iv. + +Milan, Duke of. TGV. II. iv. + +Miranda. Tmp. I. ii. + +Montague. R&J. I. i. + +Montague, Lady. R&J. I. i. + +Montague, Marquess of. 3H6. I. i. + +Montano. Oth. II. i. + +Montgomery, Sir John. 3H6. IV. vii. + +Montjoy. H5. III. vi. + +Moonshine. MND. V. i. + +Mopsa. WT. IV. iv. + +Morocco, Prince of. Merch. II. i. + +Mortimer, Edmund, Earl of March. 1H4. III. i. + +Mortimer, Edmund, Earl of March. 1H6. II. v. + +Mortimer, Lady. 1H4. III. i. + +Mortimer, Sir Hugh.* 3H6. I. ii. + +Mortimer, Sir John. 3H6. I. ii. + +Morton. 2H4. I. i. + +Morton, John, Bishop of Ely. R3. III. iv. + +Moth. LLL. I. ii. + +Moth. MND. III. i. + +Mother to Posthumus, a ghost. Cym. V. iv. + +Mouldy. 2H4. III. ii. + +Mowbray, Lord. 2H4. I. iii. + +Mowbray, Thomas, Duke of Norfolk. R2. I. i. + +Murderers: + 2H6. III. ii; + Mcb. III. i; + R3. I. iii. + +Musicians: + Merch. V. i; + Oth. III. i; + R&J. IV. v; + TGV. IV. ii. + +Mustardseed. MND. III. i. + +Mutius. TA. I. i. + + +Nathaniel, Sir. LLL. IV. ii. + +Neighbors. 2H6. II. iii. + +Nerissa. Merch. I. ii. + +Nestor. T&C. I. iii. + +Noble, a. Cor. III. ii. + +Nobleman, a. 3H6. III. ii. + +Norfolk, Duke of. + 3H6. I. i; + R3. V. iii. + +Norfolk, Duke of, Thomas Mowbray. R2. I. i. + +Norfolk, Duke of. H8. I. i. + +Northumberland. _See_ Percy. + +Northumberland, Earl of. 3H6. I. i. + +Northumberland, Lady. 2H4. II. iii. + +Nurse. R&J. I. 3. + +Nurse. TA. IV. ii. + +Nym. + H5. II. i; + MWW. I. i. + + +Oberon. MND. II. i. + +Octavia. A&C. III. ii. + +Octavius Caesar (Augustus). + JC. IV. i; + A&C. I. iv. + +Officers: + CofE. IV. i; + Cor. II. ii; + Oth. I. iii; + R&J. I. i; + TwN. III. iv; + WT. III. ii. + +Old Athenian. Tim. I. i. + +Old Lady. H8. II. iii. + +Old Man. + Lear IV. i; + Mcb. II. iv. + +Oliver. AYLI. I. i. + +Oliver Martext, Sir. AYLI. III. iii. + +Olivia. TwN. I. v. + +Ophelia. Hml. I. iii. + +Orlando. AYLI. I. i. + +Orleans, bastard of. 1H6. I. ii. + +Orleans, Duke of. H5. III. vii. + +Orsino, Duke of Illyria. TwN. I. i. + +Osric. Hml. V. ii. + +Ostler. 1H4. II. i. + +Oswald. Lear I. iii. + +Othello. Oth. I. ii. + +Outlaws. TGV. IV. i. + +Overdone, Mrs. Meas. I. ii. + +Oxford, Earl of. 3H6. III. iii. + +Oxford, Earl of. R3. V. ii. + + +Page. MWW. I. i. + +Page, Mistress. MWW. II. i. + +Page, Mistress Anne, a daughter. MWW. I. i. + +Page, William, a son. MWW. IV. i. + +Pages: + AWEW. I. i; + AYLI. V. iii; + 2H4. I. ii; + H8. V. i; + R3. IV. ii; + R&J. V. ii; + Tim. II. ii. + _See_ Boys. + +Painter. Tim. I. i. + +Pandar. Per. IV. ii. + +Pandarus. T&C. I. i. + +Pandulph, Cardinal. John III. i. + +Panthino. TGV. I. iii. + +Paris. R&J. I. ii. + +Paris. T&C. II. ii. + +Parolles. AWEW. I. i. + +Patience. H8. IV. ii. + +Patrician. Cor. III. i. + +Patroclus. T&C. II. i. + +Paulina. WT. II. ii. + +Peaseblossom. MND. III. i. + +Pedant. TofS. IV. ii. + +Pedro, Don. MAdo. I. i. + +Pembroke, Earl of. 3H6. IV. i. + +Pembroke, Earl of. John IV. ii. + +Percy, Henry, Earl of Northumberland. + 1H4. I. iii; + 2H4. I. i; + R2. III. i. + +Percy, Henry (Hotspur). + 1H4. I. iii; + R2. II. iii. + +Percy, Lady (wife of Hotspur). + 1H4. II. iii; + 2H4. II. iii. + +Percy, Thomas, Earl of Worcester. 1H4. I. iii. + +Perdita. WT. IV. iv. + +Pericles. Per. I. i. + +Peter. 2H6. I. iii. + +Peter. R&J. II. iv. + +Peter of Pomfret. John IV. ii. + +Petitioners. 2H6. I. iii. + +Peto. + 1H4. II. ii; + 2H4. II. iv. + +Petruchio. TofS. I. i. + +Phebe. AYLI. III. v. + +Philario. Cym. I. iv. + +Philemon. Per. III. ii. + +Philip, King of France. John II. i. + +Philo. A&C. I. i. + +Philostrate. MND. V. i. + +Philotus. Tim. III. iv. + +Phrynia. Tim. IV. iii. + +Physicians: + Cym. I. v; + Lear IV. iv; + Mcb. IV. iii. + +Pierce, Sir, of Exton. R2. V. iv. + +Pinch. CofE. IV. iv. + +Pindarus. JC. IV. ii. + +Pirates. Per. IV. i. + +Pisanio. Cym. I. i. + +Pistol. + 2H4. II. iv; + H5. II. i; + MWW. I. i. + +Plantagenet. _See_ Richard. + +Player King. Hml. III. ii. + +Player Queen. Hml. III. ii. + +Players. + Hml. II. ii; + TofS. Ind. + +Plebeians. + JC. III. ii. + _See_ Citizens. + +Poet. Tim. I. i. + +Poet. JC. IV. iii. + +Poins. + 1H4. I. ii; + 2H4. II. ii. + +Polixenes. WT. I. ii. + +Polonius. Hml. I. ii. + +Pompeius, Sextus. A&C. II. i. + +Pompey. Meas. I. ii. + +Popilius. JC. III. i. + +Porters: + 2H4. I. i; + 1H6. II. iii; + H8. V. iv; + Mcb. II. iii. + +Porter's Man. H8. V. iv. + +Portia. JC. II. i. + +Portia. Merch. I. ii. + +Post. + 2H6. III. i; + 3H6. III. iii. + +Posthumus Leonatus. Cym. I. i. + +Prentices. 2H6. II. iii. + +Priam, King of Troy. T&C. II. ii. + +Priests: + Hml. V. i; + R3. III. ii; + TwN. V. i. + +Princess of France. LLL. II. i. + +Proculeius. A&C. V. i. + +Prologue. + R&J; + H5; + MND; + Hml. III, ii; + H8; + T&C. + +Prospero. Tmp. I. ii. + +Proteus. TGV. I. i. + +Provost. Meas. I. ii. + +Publius. JC. II. ii. + +Publius. TA. IV. iii. + +Puck, Robin Goodfellow. MND. II. i. + +Pursuivant. R3. III. ii. + +Pyramus. MND. V. i. + + +Queen, wife of Cymbeline. Cym. I. i. + +Queen, wife of Richard II. R2. II. i. + +Quickly, Mrs. + 1H4. II. iv; + 2H4. II. i; + H5. II. i; + MWW. I. iv. + +Quince. MND. I. ii. + +Quintus. TA. I. i. + + +Rambures. H5. III. vii. + +Ratcliff, Sir Richard. R3. III. iii. + +Regan. Lear I. i. + +Reignier, Duke of Anjou. 1H6. I. ii. + +Reynaldo. Hml. II. i. + +Richard II, King. R2. I. i. + +Richard II, Queen to. R2. II. i. + +Richard III, King (at first Gloucester). + 3H6. I. i; + R3. I. i. + +Richard, Duke of York, son of Edward IV. R3. II. iv. + +Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York. + 1H6. II. iv; + 2H6. I. i; + 3H6. I. i. + +Richard Plantagenet, son of preceding. + 2H6*; + 3H6. I. i. + +Richmond, Earl of, later Henry VII. + 3H6*; + R3. V. iii. + +Rivers, Lord. + 3H6. IV. iv; + R3. I. iii. + +Robin. MWW. I. iii. + +Robin Goodfellow. MND. II. i. + +Roderigo. Oth. I. i. + +Roman, a. + Cor. IV. iii. + _See_ Citizens. + +Romeo. R&J. I. i. + +Rosalind. AYLI. I. ii. + +Rosaline. LLL. II. i. + +Rosencrantz. Hml. II. ii. + +Ross. Mcb. I. ii. + +Ross, Lord. R2. II. i. + +Rotherham, Thomas. Archbishop of York. R3. II. iv. + +Rousillon, Count. _See_ Bertram. + +Rousillon, Countess. AWEW. I. i. + +Rugby, John. MWW. I. iv. + +Rumour. 2H4. Ind. + +Rutland, Edmund, Earl of. 3H6. I. iii. + + +Sailors: + Hml. IV. vi; + Oth. I. iii; + Per. III. i. + +Salanio. Merch. I. i. + +Salarino. Merch. I. i. + +Salerio. Merch. III. ii. + +Salisbury, Earl of. + H5. IV. iii; + 1H6. I. iv. + +Salisbury, Earl of. 2H6. I. i. + +Salisbury, Earl of. John III. i. + +Salisbury, Earl of. R2. II. iv. + +Sampson. R&J. I. i. + +Sandys, William (Lord). H8. I. iii. + +Saturninus. TA. I. i. + +Say, Lord. 2H6. IV. iv. + +Scales, Lord. 2H6. IV. v. + +Scarus. A&C. III. x. + +Scout. 1H6. V. ii. + +Scribe. H8. II. iv. + +Scrivener. R3. III. vi. + +Scroop, Lord. H5. II. ii. + +Scroop, Richard, Archbishop of York. + 1H4. IV. iv; + 2H4. I. iii. + +Scroop, Sir Stephen. R2. III. ii. + +Sea-Captain (Lieut.). + 2H6. IV. i; + TwN. I. ii. + +Sebastian. Tmp. I. i. + +Sebastian. TwN. II. i. + +Secretary. H8. I i. + +Seleucus. A&C. V. ii. + +Sempronius. TA.* + +Sempronius. Tim. III. iii. + +Senators, + Roman. + Cor. I. i; + Cym. III. vii; + Venetian. Oth. I. iii; + Athenian. Tim. II. i; + Coriolanian. Cor. I. ii. + +Sentinels. 1H6. II. i. + +Sentry. A&C. IV. ix. + +Sergeant. 1H6. II. i; + (at arms) H8. I. i. + +Servants: + A&C. II. vii; + Hml. IV. vi; + 1H4. II. iii; + 2H4. I. ii; + H8. I. iv; + JC. II. ii; + Lear III. vii; + Mcb. III. i; + Meas. II. ii; + Merch. III. i; + Per. III. ii; + R2. II. ii; + TofS. IV. i; + Tim. I. ii; + T&C. III. i; + TwN. III. iv; + WT. II. iii. + +Servilius. Tim. III. ii. + +Servingmen: + Cor. IV. v; + 1H6. I. iii; + 2H6. II. iv; + Merch. I. ii; + TofS. Ind. + +Seyton. Mcb. V. iii. + +Sexton. MAdo. I. i. + +Sextus Pompeius. A&C. II. i. + +Shadow. 2H4. III. ii. + +Shallow, Justice. + 2H4. III. ii; + MWW. I. i. + +Shepherd. 1H6. V. iv. + +Shepherd, Old. WT. III. iii. + +Sheriff. + 1H4. II. iv; + 2H6. II. iv; + R3. V. i. + +Shrewsbury, Talbot, Earl of. 1H6. I. iv. + +Shylock. Merch. I. iii. + +Sicilius Leonatus, a ghost. Cym. V. iv. + +Sicinius Velutus. Cor. I. i. + +Silence. 2H4. III. ii. + +Silius. A&C. III. i. + +Silvia. TGV. II. i. + +Silvius. AYLI. II. iv. + +Simonides, King of Pentapolis. Per. II. ii. + +Simpcox. 2H6. II. i. + +Simpcox's wife. 2H6. II. i. + +Simple, Peter. MWW. I. i. + +Siward. Mcb. V. iv. + +Siward, young. Mcb. V. vii. + +Slender, Abraham. MWW. I. i. + +Sly, Christopher. TofS. Ind. + +Smith. 2H6. IV. ii. + +Snare. 2H4. II. i. + +Snout. MND. I. ii. + +Snug. MND. I. ii. + +Soldiers: + A&C. III. vii; + AWEW. IV. i; + Cor. I. iv; + H5. IV. iv; + 1H6. II. i; + 2H6. IV. vi; + 3H6. IV. viii; + JC. IV. ii; + Mcb. V. iv; + Tim. V. iv; + T&C. V. ix. + +Solinus, Duke of Ephesus. CofE. I. i. + +Somerset, Duke of. + 1H6. II. iv; + 2H6. I. i. + +Somerset, Duke of. 3H6. IV. i. + +Somerville, Sir John. 3H6. V. i. + +Son that hath killed his father. 3H6. II. v. + +Soothsayers. + A&C. I. ii; + Cym. IV. ii; + JC. I. ii. + +Southwell, John. 2H6. I. iv. + +Speed. TGV. I. i. + +Spirits. 2H6. I. iv. + +Spring (Ver). LLL. V. ii. + +Stafford, Lord. 3H6.* + +Stafford, Sir Humphrey. 2H6. IV. ii. + +Stafford, William. 2H6. IV. ii. + +Stanley, Lord, Earl of Derby. R3. I. iii. + +Stanley, Sir John. 2H6. II. iv. + +Stanley, Sir William. 3H6. IV. v.* + +Starveling. MND. I. ii. + +Stephano. Merch.* + +Stephano. Tmp. II. ii. + +Steward. AWEW. I. iii. + +Strangers. Tim. III. ii. + +Strato. JC. V. v. + +Suffolk, Earl and Duke of. + 1H6. II. iv; + 2H6. I. i. + +Suffolk, Duke of. H8. II. ii. + +Surrey, Earl of. 2H4.* + +Surrey, Earl of. R2. IV. i. + +Surrey, Earl of. R3. V. iii. + +Surrey, Lord. H8. III. ii. + +Surveyor. H8. I. ii. + + +Tailor. TofS. IV. ii. + +Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury. 1H6. I. iv. + +Talbot, John. 1H6. I. iv. + +Tamora, Queen of Goths. TA. I. i. + +Taurus. A&C. III. viii. + +Thaisa. Per. II. ii. + +Thaliard. Per. I. i. + +Thersites. T&C. II. i. + +Theseus. MND. I. i. + +Thieves. 1H4. II. ii. + +Thisbe. MND. V. i. + +Thomas, Friar. Meas. I. iii. + +Thurio. TGV. II. iv. + +Thyreus (Thidias). A&C. III. xii. + +Timandra. Tim. IV. iii. + +Time (chorus). WT. IV. i. + +Timon. Tim. I. i. + +Titania. MND. II. i. + +Titinius. JC. IV. iii. + +Titus. Tim. III. iv. + +Titus Andronicus. TA. I. i. + +Titus Lartius. Cor. I. i. + +Touchstone. AYLI. I. ii. + +Townsmen of St. Albans. 2H6. II. i. + +Tranio. TofS. I. i. + +Travellers. 1H4. II. ii. + +Travers. 2H4. I. i. + +Trebonius. JC. II. i. + +Tressel. R3. I. iii.* + +Tribunes, Roman: + Cym. III. vii; + TA. I. i. + +Trinculo. Tmp. II. ii. + +Troilus. T&C. I. i. + +Tubal. Merch. III. i. + +Tullus Aufidius. Cor. I. ii. + +Tutor. 3H6. I. iii. + +Tybalt. R&J. I. i. + +Tyrrel, Sir James. R3. IV. ii. + + +Ulysses. T&C. I. iii. + +Ursula. MAdo. II. i. + +Urswick, Christopher. R3. IV. v. + + +Valentine. TwN. I. iv. + +Valentine. TGV. I. i. + +Valentine. TA.* + +Valeria. Cor. I. iii. + +Varrius. A&C. II. i. + +Varro, servant. Tim. II. ii. + +Varro. JC. IV. iii. + +Vaughan, Sir Thomas. R3. III. iii. + +Vaux. 2H6. III. ii. + +Vaux, Sir Nicholas. H8. II. i. + +Venice, Duke of. Merch. IV. i. + +Venice, Duke of. Oth. I. iii. + +Ventidius. A&C. III. i. + +Ventidius. Tim. I. ii. + +Verges. MAdo. III. iii. + +Vernon. 1H6. II. iv. + +Vernon, Sir Richard. 1H4. IV. i. + +Vincentio. TofS. IV. v. + +Vincentio, Duke. Meas. I. i. + +Vintner. 1H4. II. iv. + +Viola. TwN. I. ii. + +Violenta. AWEW. III. v. + +Virgilia. Cor. I. iii. + +Volsce, a. Cor. IV. iii. + +Voltimand. Hml. I. ii. + +Volumnia. Cor. I. iii. + +Volumnius. JC. V. v. + + +Wall, MND. V. i. + +Warders. 1H6. I. iii. + +Wart. 2H4. III. ii. + +Warwick (Beauchamp), Earl of. + 2H4. III. i; + H5. IV. viii; + 1H6. II. iv. + +Warwick (Nevil), Earl of. + 2H6. I. i; + 3H6. I. i. + +Watchmen: + Cor. V. ii; + 3H6. IV. iii; + MAdo. III. iii; + R&J. V. iii. + +Westminster, Abbot of. R2. IV. i. + +Westmoreland, Earl of. + 1H4. I. i; + 2H4. IV. i; + H5. I. ii. + +Westmoreland, Earl of. 3H6. I. i. + +Whitmore, Walter. 2H6. IV. i. + +Widow. TofS. V. ii. + +Widow, of Florence. AWEW. III. v. + +William. AYLI. V. i. + +Williams. H5. IV. i. + +Willoughby, Lord. R2. II. i. + +Winchester, Bishop of. + 1H6. I. i; + 2H6. I. i. + +Winchester (Gardiner), Bishop of. H8. V. i. + +Witches. Mcb. I. i. + +Wolsey, Cardinal. H8. I. i. + +Woodville. 1H6. I. iii. + +Worcester, Earl of. 1H4. I. iii. + + +York, Archbishop of. _See_ Rotherham and Scroop. + +York, Duchess of. R2. V. ii. + +York, Duchess of. R3. II. ii. + +York, Duke of. H5. IV. iii. + +York, Duke of. _See_ Richard. + +York, Duke of. _See_ Richard, son of Edward IV. + +York, Edmund Langley, Duke of. R2. II. i. + +Young Marcius. Cor. V. iii. + + + + +Appendix C + +INDEX OF THE SONGS IN SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS + + +[Page Heading: Index of Songs] + +The first lines are given. In a few cases it is doubtful whether the +verses were sung or spoken. + + +A cup of wine that's brisk and fine, 2H4. V. iii. + +And let me the canakin clink, clink; Oth. II. iii. + +And will he not come again? Hml. IV. v. + +An old hare hoar, R&J. II. iv. + + +Be merry, be merry, my wife has all; 2H4. V. iii. + +Blow, blow, thou winter wind. AYLI. II. vii. + +By gis, and by Saint Charity, Hml. IV. v. + + +Come away, come away, Mcb. III. v. + +Come away, come away, death, TN. II. iv. + +Come, thou monarch of the vine, A&C. II. vii. + +Come unto these yellow sands, Tmp. I. ii. + + +Do me right, 2H4. V. iii. + +Do nothing but eat, and make good cheer, 2H4. V. iii. + + +Farewell, master; farewell, farewell! Tmp. II. iii. + +Fear no more the heat o' the sun, Cym. IV. ii. + +Fie on sinful fantasy! MWW. V. v. + +Fill the cup, and let it come; 2H4. V. iii. + +Flout 'em and scout 'em. Tmp. III. ii. + +Fools had ne'er less grace in a year; Lear I. iv. + +For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy. Hml. IV. v. + +Full fathom five thy father lies; Tmp. I. ii. + + +Get you hence, for I must go. WT. IV. iv. + + +Hark, hark! the lark at heaven's gate sings, Cym. II. iii. + +He that has and a little tiny wit,-- Lear. III. ii. + +Honour, riches, marriage-blessing, Tmp. IV. i. + +How should I your true love know. Hml. IV. v. + + +I am gone, sir, TN. IV. ii. + +If it do come to pass, AYLI. II. vi. + +In youth, when I did love, did love, Hml. V. i. + +I shall no more to sea, to sea, Tmp. II. ii. + +It was a lover and his lass, AYLI. V. iii. + + +Jog, jog on, the foot-path way, WT. IV. iii. + + +King Stephen was and a worthy peer, Oth. II. iii. + + +Lawn as white as driven snow; WT. IV. iv. + +Love, love, nothing but love, still more! T&C. III. i. + + +No more dams I'll make for fish; Tmp, II. ii. + +No more, thou thunder-master, show. Cym. V. iv. + + +Oh mistress mine, where are you roaming? TN. II. iii. + +On the ground, MND. IV. i. + +Orpheus with his lute made trees. (Fletcher?) H8. III. i. + +Over hill, over dale, MND. II. i. + + +Pardon, goddess of the night, MAdo. V. iv. + + +Round about the cauldron go; Mcb. IV. i. + + +Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more, MAdo. II. iii. + + +Take, O, take those lips away, Meas. IV. i. + +Tell me where is fancy bred, Merch. III. ii. + +The god of love, MAdo. V. ii. + +The master, the swabber, the boatswain, and I, Tmp. II. ii. + +The ousel cock so black of hue, MND. III. ii. + +The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree, Oth. IV. iii. + +They bore him barefac'd on the bier; Hml. IV. v. + +To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day, Hml. IV. v. + +To shallow rivers, to whose falls. MWW. III. i. + + +Under the greenwood tree, AYLI. II. vi. + + +Was this fair face the cause, quoth she, AWEW. I. iii. + +Wedding is great Juno's crown. AYLI. V. iv. + +What shall he have that killed the deer? AYLI. IV. ii. + +When daffodils begin to peer, WT. IV. i. + +When daisies pied and violets blue. LLL. V. ii. + +When that I was and a little tiny boy, TN. V. i. + +Where the bee sucks, there suck I. Tmp. V. i. + +While you here do snoring lie, Tmp. II. i. + +Who doth ambition shun, AYLI. II. vi. + +Who is Silvia? What is she, TGV. IV. iii. + +Will you buy any tape, WT. IV. iv. + + +You spotted snakes with double tongue, MND. II. ii. + + + + +Appendix D + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + + +[Page Heading: Bibliography] + +This Bibliography is arranged in divisions corresponding to the chapters +of this volume. It aims to include those books most important for the +student, and to furnish guidance for those interested in more +specialized fields of study. + +The following are the chief general bibliographies: + +Shakespeare Bibliography, by William Jaggard, Stratford-on-Avon, 1911. +This is the most important and useful attempt that has yet been made +toward a complete bibliography of works in the English language; but it +is far from being exhaustive or accurate. + +Catalogue of the Barton Collection of the Boston Public Library, part i, +Shakespeare's Works and Shakesperiana, 1878-1888. Probably the best +bibliography up to the date of its publication. + +Jahrbuch der deutschen Shakespeare-Gesellschaft. Weimar, 1865-. The +bibliographies, with indexes, issued in this annual provide the best +bibliography of all recent Shakespearean literature in all languages. +They include references to periodicals and to book reviews. + +The Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. v, chaps. viii-xii. +Cambridge, 1910. The best recent short selected bibliography. + +Other useful bibliographical aids are: the article on Shakespeare +Encycl. Brit., Eleventh ed., 1911; the British Museum Catalogue of +Printed Books, 1897; the Catalogue of the Lenox Library, New York, 1880; +and the Index to the Shakespeare Memorial Library, Birmingham, 1900. + + +CHAPTER I + +SHAKESPEARE'S ENGLAND AND LONDON + +See bibliographies in the Cambridge Modern History, vol. iii, chap. x, +and the Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. v, chap. xiv. The +two most accessible and important works on the subject are: William +Harrison's _Description of Britaine and England_, in Holinshed's +Chronicle, 1577, reprinted in the Shaks. Soc. Publ. 1877-1888, in the +Scott Library, 1899, and in Everyman's Library; and John Stow's _Survey +of London_, 1st ed., 1598, reprinted in Everyman's Library. J. D. +Wilson's _Life in Shakespeare's England_ (Cambridge, 1911) is an +excellent anthology drawn from Elizabethan publications. + +The following list includes only more important and more recent books. + +Aiken, L. Memoirs of the Court of James I. 2d ed., 1822. + +Ashton, J. Humour, Wit, and Society in the Seventeenth Century. 1883. + +Besant, Sir W. London. 1892. + +---- London in the Times of the Tudors. 1908. + +Creighton, M. The Age of Elizabeth. 1892. + +Creizenach, W. Geschichte des neueren Dramas, Halle, 1893. See vol. iv, +part i, book iii, Religios-sittliche und politisch-soziale Anschauungen +der Theaterdichter. + +Douce, F. Illustrations of Shakespeare and of Ancient Manners. 1839. + +An English Garner. New ed., 1903. See vols.: Social England Illustrated; +Tudor Tracts, 1532-1582; Stuart Tracts, 1603-1693. + +Froude, J. A. History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat +of the Armada. 1856-1870. Reprinted in Everyman's Library. + +Gildersleeve, V. Government Regulation of the Elizabethan Drama. New +York, 1908. + +Hall, H. Society in the Elizabethan Age. 4th ed., 1901. + +Jusserand, J. J. Histoire litteraire du peuple Anglais. Paris, 1904. +English trans., 1909. See especially vol. ii, book v, chap. i. + +Lee, S. Stratford-on-Avon from the Earliest Times to the Death of +Shakespeare. 1907. + +---- An Account of Shakespeare's England, a survey of social life and +conditions in the Elizabethan age (in preparation). + +Nicholls, J. The Progresses and Processions of Queen Elizabeth. New ed., +3 vols., 1823. + +---- The Progresses, Processions, and Festivities of King James I. 4 +vols., 1828. + +Stephenson, H. T. Shakespeare's London. New York, 1905. + +---- The Elizabethan People. New York, 1910. + +Strutt, J. Sports and Pastimes of the People of England. 1801. New ed., +1903. + +Thompson, E. N. S. The Controversy between the Puritans and the Stage. +Yale Studies in English, vol. xx. New York, 1903. + +Traill, H. D. Social England. 3d ed., 1904. See vols. iii and iv. + +Wakeman, H. O. The Church and the Puritans, 1570-1660. New ed., 1902. + +Wheatley, H. B. London Past and Present. 3 vols. 1891. + + +CHAPTER II + +BIOGRAPHICAL FACTS AND TRADITIONS + +Halliwell-Phillipps, J. O. Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare. 2 vols. +7th ed., 1887. Later eds. are reprints. With illustrations, facsimiles, +and a full collection of documents. + +Lambert, D. H. Shakespeare Documents. (Published originally as Cartae +Shakespeareanae, 1904.) A chronological catalogue of extant evidence. + +Lee, Sidney. A Life of William Shakespeare, London and New York, 1898. +New and revised ed., 1909. + +---- Shakespeare in Oral Tradition, Chap. III in Shakespeare and the +Modern Stage, 1906. + +The preceding are the most important books, but the following are useful +in various ways: William Shakespeare. K. Elze. Halle, 1876. Eng. trans, +by L. D. Schmitz, 1888. A Chronicle History of the Life and Works of +Shakspere. F. G. Fleay. London, 1886. Shakespeare's Marriage. J. W. +Gray. 1905. Shakespeare's Family. C. C. Stopes. 1901. Shakespeare's +Warwickshire Contemporaries. C. C. Stopes. 1907. New Shakespeare +Discoveries. C. W. Wallace. Harper's Magazine, March, 1910. Catalogues +of the books, manuscripts, works of art, antiquities, and relics at +present exhibited in Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford-on-Avon, 1910. +For discussion of portraits of Shakespeare, see Portraits of +Shakespeare, J. P. Norris, Philadelphia, 1885; M. R. Spielmann in +Stratford-Town Shakespeare, vol. x; and in Encycl. Brit., 11th ed., +article on Shakespeare. On a Portrait of Shakespeare in the Shakespeare +Memorial at Stratford-on-Avon, L. Cust, Proc. Soc. Antiq., 1895. + +See also Sources of Traditional Material, Appendix A, p. 225. + + +CHAPTER III + +SHAKESPEARE'S READING + +Shakespeare's Books: A dissertation on Shakespeare's reading and the +immediate sources of his works. By H. R. D. Anders. Berlin, 1904. The +best book on the subject. + +Shakespeare's Studies, T. S. Baynes, 1893. + +Shakespeare's Holinshed. Ed. W. G. Boswell-Stone. 1896. New ed., 1907. A +reprint of the passages in Holinshed's Chronicles which Shakespeare +used. + +Shakespeare's Plutarch. Ed. W. W. Skeat. 1875. + +The English Novel in the Time of Shakespeare. J. J. Jusserand, trans. E. +Lee. 1890. + +The Shakespeare Classics, gen. ed. L. Gollancz (in progress, 1907-), +reprints the chief sources of the plays: Lodge's Rosalynde, Greene's +Pandosto, Brooke's Romeo and Juliet, the Chronicle History of King Leir, +The Taming of a Shrew, The Sources and Analogues of A Mid-summer-Night's +Dream, Shakespeare's Plutarch. Most of these, with other valuable +material, are found also in W. C. Hazlitt's revision of Collier's +Shakespeare Library. 6 vols. 1875 (out of print). + +Many translations which Shakespeare may have known are included in the +long series of the Tudor Translations, ed. W. E. Henley and Charles +Whibley (mostly out of print). + +For drama see Bibliography, chap. vi; for contemporary literature see +bibliography in Cambridge History of English Literature; or any short +manual, as Saintsbury's Elizabethan Literature, or Seccombe and Allen's +Age of Shakespeare. 2 vols. + + +CHAPTER IV + +CHRONOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT + +The first thorough attempt to determine the chronology of Shakespeare's +plays was made in Malone's "Attempt to ascertain the order in which the +plays attributed to Shakespeare were written," published in Steevens's +edition of 1778. His final conclusions on the subject are to be found in +the preliminary volumes of the 1821 Variorum. Since then, discussions of +chronology and development have appeared in almost every edition of +Shakespeare's Works and in many volumes discussing his life and art. +(See Bibliography for Chaps. II and VIII.) The following are the most +important contributions to the general question of the chronology. + +Hertzberg, W. G. Preface to Cymbeline in Ulrici's ed. of Schlegel and +Tieck's trans. of Shakespeare, 1871. + +---- Metrisches, grammatisches, chronologisches zu Shakespeares Dramen. +Jahrbuch, xiii, 1878. + +Fleay, F. G. Shakspere Manual, 1878. + +New Shakspere Society. Publications for 1874 contain Fleay's tests as +originally proposed with discussions by Furnivall, Ingram, et al. +Publications for 1877-9 contain F. S. Pulling's essay on The +Speech-ending test, p. 457. + +Ingram, J. K. On the weak endings of Shakspere with some account of the +verse-tests in general. N. S. S. Publ. 1874. + +Koenig, G. Der Vers in Shaksperes Dramen. Quellen und Forschungen vol. +61, 1888. The fullest presentation of numerical results for various +verse tests. + +Furnivall, F. J. Preface to the Leopold Shakespeare, 1876. + +Hales, J. W. The Succession of Shakespeare's plays. 1874. + +Stokes, H. P. Attempt to determine the chronological order of +Shakespeare's plays, 1878. + + +CHAPTER V + +THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA + +Full bibliographies of both plays and critical works are to be found in +Schelling's Elizabethan Drama and in the Cambridge History of English +Literature, vols. v and vi. + + +1. EDITIONS OF PLAYS + +Convenient collections, often with valuable introductions and notes, +are: Dodsley's Old English Plays, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 15 vols., +1874-1876; Manly's Pre-Shaksperean Drama, 2 vols., Boston; Neilson's +Chief Elizabethan Dramatists, Boston, 1911 (30 plays in one volume); the +Mermaid Series of the Old Dramatists (4 or 5 plays by one author in each +vol.); the Belles Lettres Edition (with excellent bibliographies), +Boston; Masterpieces of the English Drama, New York; Temple Dramatists. +Valuable reprints of old plays and documents are found in the following +series now in progress: The Tudor Facsimile Texts, ed. J. S. Farmer, 43 +vols., 1907; Materialien zur Kunde des aelteren englischen Dramas, ed. W. +Bang, Louvain, 1902; Publications of the Malone Society, 1906. + +Collected editions of the chief dramatists include those of Greene, +Peele, Webster, Ford, Beaumont and Fletcher, and Shirley, ed. by +Alexander Dyce; of Middleton, Marston, Marlowe, and Webster, by A. H. +Bullen, and the more recent editions from the Clarendon Press,--Greene, +ed. J. Churton Collins; Kyd, by F. S. Boas; Lyly, by W. Bond; Nash, by +McKerrow; Marlowe, by Tucker Brooke. Massinger and Jonson exist only in +the early nineteenth-century editions of Gifford. There are also recent +editions of Beaumont and Fletcher by A. R. Waller, Cambridge, and by A. +H. Bullen _et al._ (in progress), and an edition of Chapman by T. +Parrott. + + +2. CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL + +Die Geschichte des neueren Dramas. W. Creizenach (in progress). Halle, +1893-. This is the standard history of the modern drama, vol. iv dealing +in a masterly fashion with the Shakespearean period. There is no English +translation. + +History of English Dramatic Literature to the Death of Queen Anne. A. W. +Ward. 2d ed. 3 vols. 1899. + +Elizabethan Drama. F. E. Schelling. 2 vols. Boston, 1902. This contains +valuable bibliographies and a finding list for the plays. + +The Mediaeval Stage. E. K. Chambers. 2 vols. Oxford, 1903. Authoritative +for the pre-Elizabethan drama, with valuable bibliography and +appendices. + +A Bibliographical Chronicle of the English Drama. F. G. Fleay. +1559-1642. A work of great value to scholars, but not of much service to +the general reader. + +Other works less comprehensive in scope, but dealing with special +aspects or divisions of the drama, are: Tragedy, A. H. Thorndike, +Boston, 1908; Shakespeare and his Predecessors, F. S. Boas, 1896; Tudor +Drama, C. F. Tucker Brooke, Boston, 1912. + +Special treatises which have also been drawn upon for this chapter are: +F. E. Schelling's English Chronicle Play, New York, 1902; A. H. +Thorndike's Influence of Beaumont and Fletcher on Shakspere, Lemcke and +Buechner, N. Y., 1901; and Hamlet and the Revenge Plays, Publ. Mod. +Lang. Assn., 1902; E. E. Stoll's John Webster, 1905; F. H. Ristine's +English Tragi-Comedy, 1910; Reyher's Les Masques Anglais, Paris, 1909; +W. W. Greg's Pastoral Poetry and Pastoral Drama, 1906. + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE ELIZABETHAN THEATER + +None of the books here listed gives a comprehensive account of the +theater. Greg's admirable edition of Henslowe's Diary, Fleay's +researches, and Murray's supplements to them are all valuable for +students. The account of the stage and the method of performance given +in this chapter are based in part on Albright. During the last ten years +there has been much controversy on this subject; and those interested +should consult the bibliographies in the Shakespeare Jahrbuch under +Albright, Brodmeier, Archer, Chambers, Corbin, Lawrence, Reynolds, +Wegener. For contemporary documents, see the Bibliography to chap, x, +vol. vi, of the Cambridge History of English Literature. + +Albright, V. E. The Shakespearian Stage. New York, 1909. + +Archer, W. The Elizabethan Stage. Quarterly Review, April, 1908. + +Brodmeier, C. Die Shakespeare-Buehne nach der alten Buehnenanweisungen. +Weimar, 1904. + +Chambers, E. K. The Stage of the Globe. Stratford Ed. Shakespeare's +Works, vol. x. + +Collier, J. P. Memoirs of the Principal Actors in the Plays of +Shakespeare. Shaks. Soc., 1846. + +Feuillerat, A. Documents relating to the Office of the Revels in the +time of Queen Elizabeth. Louvain, 1908. + +Fleay, F. G. A Chronicle History of the London Stage. 1890. + +---- A Biographical Chronicle of the English Drama, 1559-1642. 2 vols., +1891. + +Gildersleeve, V. Government Regulation of the Elizabethan Theater. New +York, 1908. + +Greg, W. W., ed. Henslowe's Diary, 2 parts. London, 1907-1908. + +---- Henslowe Papers. 1907. + +Lawrence, W. J. The Elizabethan Playhouse and other studies. Stratford. +1912. + +Mantzius, R. A History of Theatrical Art in Ancient and Modern Times. +1904. Cf. vol. iii. + +Murray, J. T. English Dramatic Companies, 1558-1642. 1910. + +Ordish, T. F. Early London Theaters. 1894. + +Rendle, W. Old Southwark and its People. 1878. + +Reynolds, G. F. Some Principles of Elizabethan Staging. Reprinted from +Modern Philology. Chicago, 1905. + +---- What we know of the Elizabethan Stage, Modern Philology, July, +1911. With bibliography of recent discussions. + +Wallace, C. W. The Children of the Chapel at Blackfriars, 1597-1603. +Univ. of Nebraska, 1908. + +---- Evolution of the English drama up to Shakespeare: with a history of +the first Blackfriars theatre. Stechert. 1912. + +These two volumes contain some newly discovered material, but their +discussions of theatrical history are not valuable. + +Wegener, R. Die Buehneneinrichtung des Shakespeareschen Theaters nach der +zeitgenoessischen Dramen. Halle, 1907. + + +CHAPTER VII + +HISTORY OF THE TEXT + + +1. COMPLETE EDITIONS + + +_In one volume._ + +The Globe Edition, ed. W. G. Clark and W. Aldis Wright 1864. + +The 'Oxford' Edition, ed. W. J. Craig. Oxford, 1904. + +The 'Cambridge Poets' Edition, ed. with introductions to each play, ed. +W. A. Neilson. Boston, 1906 (the text used in the Tudor Shakespeare). + + +_Annotated Library Editions._ + +The Cambridge Shakespeare, ed. W. Aldis Wright. 9 vols. 1863-1866. 2d +ed., 1891-1893. The text known as the Cambridge text is very near to +that of the Globe ed., and these have been generally used in recent +editions. + +A new Variorum Edition, ed. H. Howard Furness and H. H. Furness, Jr. (in +progress). Philadelphia, 1871. This ed. prints (latterly) the First +Folio text with exhaustive variants and annotations. The appendices +supply much illustrative matter. The following plays have appeared: +Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth (2d ed.), Hamlet (2 vols.), Lear, Othello, +Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, The Tempest, A Midsummer-Night's +Dream, A Winter's Tale, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, Love's +Labour's Lost, Antony and Cleopatra, Richard III, Julius Caesar. + +The Arden Shakespeare, general ed. W. J. Craig, in progress, 1899. Publ. +in the U. S. without special title by Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis. + +The Eversley Edition, ed. by C. H. Herford. 10 vols., 1901-1907. + +Among other recent editions are the Rolfe ed., 40 vols., 1871, revised +1896; Temple, ed. I. Gollancz, 40 vols., 1894, 1895; First Folio, ed. C. +Porter and H. Clarke (following and defending the text of the First +Folio). New York, 1903; Caxton, general ed. S. Lee, 1910. + + +_Historical Editions._ + +The most valuable is the Third Variorum, Boswell and Malone, 21 vols., +1821. The other principal editions are discussed in this volume, and +include: Rowe, 1709, 1714; Pope, 1723-1725; Theobald, 1733; Hanmer, +1744; Warburton, 1747; Johnson, 1765; Steevens (20 plays), 1766; Capell, +1768; Steevens (and Johnson), 1773; Malone, 1790; Reed (Steevens and +Johnson), 1st Variorum, 1803; 2d Variorum, 1813; Knight, 1838-1842, +second ed., 1842-1844; Hudson, 1851-1856; Delius, 1854-1861; Dyce, 1857, +second ed., 1864-1867; White, 1857-1860, second ed., 1859-1865. + + +2. FACSIMILE REPRINTS + +For a discussion of conditions of publication of early editions, see A. +W. Pollard's Shakespeare's Folios and Quartos. 1909. + +The First Folio, With introd. by Sidney Lee. Oxford, 1902. + +The First, Second, Third, and Fourth Folios. Methuen, 1904-1910. + +The First Folio, reprint, L. Booth, 1869. + +The First Folio, in reduced facsimile, J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps, 1876. +Very small type. + +Quarto Facsimiles. E. W. Ashbee. 48 vols. 1862-1871. + +Quarto Facsimiles reproduced by photographic process, J. W. Griggs, +under the superintendence of F. J. Furnivall. 43 vols. 1883-1889. + +Shakespeare's Poems and Pericles, with introduction by Sidney Lee. 5 +vols. Oxford, 1905. + + +3. GLOSSARIES, GRAMMARS, ETC. + +The standard concordance is Bartlett's _New and Complete Concordance_, +1894. The standard dictionary and one of the great monuments of +Shakespeare scholarship is Alexander Schmidt's _Shakespeare-Lexikon_. 2 +vols. Berlin, 1894, 1895. 3d ed., 1902. This contains valuable +appendices on syntax. The most recent brief glossary is C. T. Onion's +_Shakespeare Glossary_. Oxford, 1911. It makes partial use of the +valuable material in the New English Dictionary. The best grammar in +English, though now somewhat out of date, is F. A. Abbott's +_Shakespearian Grammar_, 1869, often reprinted. + +The following are also of value: + +Cunliffe, R. J. A New Shakespearean Dictionary. 1910. + +Dyce, A. A Glossary to the Works of Shakespeare. 1867. Revised by H. +Littledale, 1902. + +Ellis, A. J. On Early English Pronunciation, with especial reference to +Shakspere and Chaucer. 5 parts. E. E. T. S., 1869-1889. + +Franz, W. Shakespeare-Grammatik. 2 parts. Halle, 1898-1900. 2d ed., +Heidelberg, 1905. No English translation. + +Vietor, W. A Shakespeare Phonology, Marburg and London, 1906. + + +CHAPTER VIII + +QUESTIONS OF AUTHENTICITY + + +1. THE DOUBTFUL PLAYS + +The Shakespeare Apocrypha. Ed. C. F. T. Brooke. Oxford, 1908. This +contains texts of fourteen of the plays discussed in this chapter. + +Pseudo-Shakespearean Plays. Ed. K. Warnke and L. Proescholdt. 5 vols. +Halle, 1883, 1888. Contains only 5 plays. + +The Two Noble Kinsmen. Ed. H. Littledale. New Shaks. Soc. Publ., 1876. + +Doubtful Plays of William Shakespeare. Ed. M. Moltke. Leipsig, 1869. +Contains 6 plays. + +A good bibliography for the critical matter on these plays is to be +found in the Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. v, pp. +442-444. As to Cardenio, connected with Double Falsehood, see Bradford, +G., Jr., Mod. Lang. Notes, February, 1910. + + +2. FORGERIES + +Ingleby, C. M. The Shakespeare Fabrications. 1859. A complete review of +the Collier forgeries, with bibliography. + +Ireland, W. H. Confessions containing the particulars of his fabrication +of the Shakespeare manuscripts. 1808. + +Malone, E. Inquiry into the Authenticity (of the Ireland Ms.). 1796. + +Law, E. Some Supposed Shakespeare Forgeries. 1911. + +Wheatley, H. B. Notes on the life of John Payne Collier. 1884. Gives a +list and account of the spurious documents. + + +3. THE BACON CONTROVERSY + +Allen, C. Notes on the Bacon-Shakespeare question. Boston, 1900. An +account of Shakespeare's legal phrases. + +Bacon, Delia. The Philosophy of the Plays of Shakespeare Unfolded. 1857. + +Bacon, Francis. Life and Letters. Ed. J. Spedding. 7 vols. 1861-1872. + +Beeching, H. C. William Shakespeare: Player, Play maker and Poet. A +reply to Mr. George Greenwood. 1908. + +Bompas, G. C. The Problem of Shakespeare's Plays. 1902. + +Booth, W. S. Some Acrostic Signatures of Francis Bacon. Boston, 1909. + +Donnelly, I. The Great Cryptogram. 2 vols. Chicago, 1887. + +Fiske, John. Forty Years of Bacon-Shakespeare Folly. Atlantic Monthly, +1897; reprinted in Century of Science, 1899. + +Gallup, E. W. The Bi-literal Cypher of Francis Bacon. + +Greenwood, G. G. The Shakespeare Problem restated. Lane, 1908. + +---- In re Shakespeare Beeching _v._ Greenwood. Lane, 1909. + +Lang, A. Shakespeare, Bacon, and the Great Unknown. 1912. + +Pott, Mrs. H. Did Francis Bacon write Shakespeare? Chicago, 1891. + +Robertson, J. M. The Baconian heresy, 1913. + +Wyman, W. H. Bibliography of the Shakespeare-Baconian controversy. +Cincinnati, 1884. Continued in Shakespeariana. Philadelphia. + + +CHAPTER IX + +SHAKESPEARE SINCE 1616 + + +1. THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES + +The Shakespeare Allusion Books. Ed. J. Munro. 2 vols. This reprints +references to Shakespeare before 1700. + +Eighteenth Century Essays on Shakespeare. Ed. D. Nichol Smith. Glasgow. +Contains Rowe's, Pope's, Theobald's, Johnson's prefaces, Farmer's essay +on Shakespeare's learning, Morgann's essay on Falstaff, etc. + +Shakespearian Wars. T. R. Lounsbury. i. Shakespeare as a Dramatic +Artist, ii. Shakespeare and Voltaire. 2 vols. Yale Univ., 1901. + +First Editors of Shakespeare or The Text of Shakespeare (Pope and +Theobald). T. R. Lounsbury. 1906. + +Shakespeare en France sous l'ancien regime. J. J. Jusserand. Paris. +1898. Eng. trans. London, 1899. + +Considerable matter in the following volumes from the Clarendon Press +bears on the early criticism of Shakespeare: Elizabethan Critical +Essays, ed. Gregory Smith, 2 vols.; Seventeenth Century Critical Essays, +ed. J. E. Spingarn, 3 vols.; Dryden's Essays, ed. W. P. Ker, 2 vols. + + +2. THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES + +Baker, G. P. The Development of Shakespeare as a Dramatist. Macmillan, +1907. + +Boas, F. S. Shakespeare and his Predecessors. 1895. + +Bradley, A. C. Shakespearean Tragedy. Macmillan, 1904. + +---- Oxford Lectures on Poetry. Macmillan, 1909. + +Brandes, G. William Shakespeare. Copenhagen, 1896. Eng. trans. 2 vols., +1898. + +Coleridge, S. T. Notes and Lectures on Shakespeare, etc. 2 vols. 1849. +Reprinted in Everyman's Library, the New Universal Library, and Bohn's +Library. + +Collins, J. C. Studies in Shakespeare. 1904. + +Dowden, E. Shakspeare: His Mind and Art. 1874. + +---- A Shakspere Primer. 1877. + +---- Introduction to Shakespeare. 1893. + +Elze, K. William Shakespeare. Halle, 1876. Eng. trans., 1888. + +Goethe. Wilhelm Meister, book IV, chaps. 13-16, contains an analysis of +Hamlet. + +---- Wahrheit und Dichtung, and Eckermann's Reports of Goethe's +conversations contain references. An essay "Shakespeare und kein Ende" +appears in his collected works. + +Hazlitt, W. Characters of Shakespeare's plays, 1817. Reprinted in +Everyman's Library, New Universal Library, Bohn's Library. + +Heine, Heinrich. Shakespeare's Maidens and Women, in Works. Eng. trans. +Heinemann, 1851. + +Jameson, Mrs. Shakespeare's Heroines. Temple Classics. + +Kreyssig, F. S. T. Vorlesungen ueber Shakespeare. 2 vols. 3d ed. Berlin, +1876. + +Lamb, Charles. On Some of the Old Actors (Essays of Elia). Reprinted in +Everyman's Library. + +---- On the Tragedies of Shakespeare (Misc. essays). Reprinted in Temple +Classics. + +Lee, Sidney. Shakespeare and the Modern Stage. 1906. + +Lessing, G. E. Laokooen, and Dramatic Notes. Eng. trans., Bohn's +Library. + +MacCallum, M. W. Shakespeare's Roman Plays and their Background. 1910. + +Martin, Lady (Helen Faucit). On Some of Shakespeare's Female Characters. +1885. + +Matthews, Brander. Shakespeare as a Playwright. In preparation. + +Moulton, R. G. Shakespeare as a Dramatic Artist. Oxford, 1885. + +---- The Moral System of Shakespeare. 1903. + +Raleigh, W. Shakespeare (English Men of Letters). 1907. + +Schlegel, A. W. von. Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature. Reprinted +in Bohn's Library. + +Swinburne, A. C. A Study of Shakespeare. 1880. + +Thorndike, A. H. The Influence of Beaumont and Fletcher on Shakespeare. +Lemcke and Buechner, N. Y., 1901. + +Wendell, B. William Shakspere. 1894. + +White, R. G. Studies in Shakespeare. 9th ed. 1896. + +---- Shakespeare's Scholar. 1854. + +Important critical and interpretative aids will also be found in the +bibliographies for earlier chapters, as in the complete editions of +Shakespeare's works, in histories of literature and the drama, or in +special studies, as Anders's Shakespeare's Books, and Madden's Diary of +Master William Silence. + +For a handy bibliography of studies of botany, folk-lore, law, medicine, +the supernatural in Shakespeare, etc., see the Cambridge History of +English Literature, vol. v, pp. 450, 451, to which may be added Freytag, +G., Technique of the Drama, Eng. trans. 1891; Matthew, B., A Study of +the Drama, 1910; Arnold, M. E., Soliloquies of Shakespeare, New York, +1911; Fansler, H. E., Evolution of Technic in Elizabethan Tragedy, 1914; +Archer, W., Play Making, 1912. + +In the New Variorum Furness gives a summary of the interpretation and +criticism for each play; but he is often quite neglectful of recent +tendencies in criticism. + + +3. STAGE HISTORY + +The standard work for the English stage is _Some Account of the English +Stage, from the Restoration in 1660 to 1830_, by J. Genest, 10 vols., +Bath, 1832. There is no authoritative history of the stage since 1832. +Information in regard to the Shakespearean plays may be had in the lives +of the actors, as Colley Cibber's Apology; Davies's Memoirs of Garrick, +1790; Murphy's Life of Garrick, 1801; Boaden's Memoirs of Mrs. Siddons, +1827, and Memoirs of Kemble, 1825; Cumberland's Memoir, 1806; Boaden's +Memoirs of Mrs. Inchbald; Private Correspondence of David Garrick, +1831-1832; Cooke's Memoirs of Charles Macklin, 1808; Macready's +Reminiscences, 1878; Archer's Life of Macready, 1890; Molloy's Life of +Edmund Kean, 1888; Winter's Life and Art of Edwin Booth, 1893; +Brereton's Life of Sir Henry Irving, London, 1908. + +Baker, H. B. The London Stage, 1576-1903. 1904. + +Brown, J. S. A History of the New York Stage, 1732-1901. 3 vols. New +York, 1903. + +Doran, J. Their Majesties' Servants. 1888. Ed. R. W. Lowe. + +Dunlap, W. A History of the American Theater. 1832. + +Fitzgerald, P. A New History of the English Stage. 2 vols. London, 1882. + +Hazlitt, W. A View of the English Stage. 1818. + +Home, R. H. New Spirit of the Age. 1884. + +Lowe, R. W. Thomas Betterton, New York, 1891. + +Lowe, R. W. Bibliographical Account of English Dramatic Literature. +1888. + +Phelps, W. M., and Forbes Robertson, J. Life and Works of Samuel Phelps. +London, 1886. + +Seilhamer, G. O. A History of the American Theater, 3 vols. +Philadelphia, 1891. + + +4. SHAKESPEARE ON THE CONTINENT + +A good selected bibliography is to be found in the Cambridge History of +English Literature, vol. v, pp. 456-472, and a full bibliography +annually in the Shakespeare Jahrbuch. Only a few of the most important +titles are given here, including some already noted. + +Boehtling, A. R. A. Goethe und Shakespeare. Leipzig, 1909. + +Burckhardt, C. A. H. Das Repertoire des Weimarischen Theaters unter +Goethes Leitung. Hamburg, 1901. + +Chateaubriand, F. R. de. Shakespeare. 1801. + +Cohn, A. Shakespeare in Germany in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth +Centuries. Berlin, 1865. + +Creizenach, W. Die Schauspiele der englischen Komoedianten. Stuttgart, +1889. + +Delius, N. Saemmtliche Werke, Kritische Ausgabe. 1854-1861. 5th ed., +1882. + +Elze, K. William Shakespeare. Halle, 1876. + +Genee, R. Geschichte der Shakespeareschen Dramen in Deutschland. +Leipzig, 1870. + +Guizot, F. De Shakespeare et de la Poesie dramatique. Paris, 1822. + +Heine, H. Shakespeares Maedchen und Frauen, in saemmtliche Werke. vol. v, +1839. Eng. trans., 1895. + +Hugo, F. V. [OE]uvres completes de Shakespeare, traduites. 18 vols. +Paris, 1856-1867. + +Hugo, Victor. Cromwell, Preface. Paris, 1827. + +---- William Shakespeare. Paris, 1864. + +Jusserand, J. J. Shakespeare en France sous l'ancien regime. Paris, +1898. Eng. trans. London, 1899. + +Koeppel, E. Studien ueber Shakespeare's Wirkung auf zeitgenoessische +Dramatiker. Louvain, 1905. + +Kreyssig, F. Vorlesungen ueber Shakespeare und seine Werke. 1858. 3d ed., +1877. + +Lee, Sidney. Shakespeare in France. In Shakespeare and the Modern Stage. + +Lessing, G. E. Hamburgische Dramaturgie. Nos. 12, 15, 73. 1767, 1768. + +Lounsbury, T. R. Shakespeare and Voltaire. 1902. + +Mezieres, A. Shakespeare, ses [oe]uvres et ses critiques. Paris, 1860. + +Renan, E. Caliban, Suite de la Tempete. Paris, 1878. + +Schlegel, A. W. Ueber dramatische Kunst und Literatur. Heidelberg, +1809-1811. + +---- Shakespeare's Dramatische Werke, uebersetzt. 1797-1810. Neue +Ausgabe, ergaenzt und erlaeutert von L. Tieck. 9 vols. 1825, 1880-1883. +Revised by Ulrici, 1867-1871, by Grandl, 1897-1899, by H. Conrad, 1905. + +Stendhal (Henri Bergh) Racine et Shakespeare. Paris, 1823. + +Taine, H. Histoire de la litterature anglaise. Paris, 1844. Eng. trans., +rev. ed., 1873. + +Ten Brink, B. Shakespeare. Strassburg, 1893. + +Tolstoi, L. N. Shakespeare. 1906. + +Ward, A. W. History of English Dramatic Literature. vol. i, pp. 534 +ff. + + + + +Index + + +[Page Heading: Index] + +_Adversaria_, 45. + +_AEsop's Fables_, 52. + +_AEthiopica_ of Heliodorus, 56. + +Albright, V. E., 116, 122. + +_Alchemist_, 33, 95, 105. + +Alden, R. M., 48, 88. + +Alleyn, Edward, 117, 119, 120. + +_All for Love_, 169. + +_All's Well that Ends Well_, 52, 57, 73, 74, 82, 174. + +_Amores_, 53. + +_Amphitruo_, 54. + +_Andria_, 96. + +_Antonio's Revenge_, 106. + +_Antony and Cleopatra_, 75, 82, 105, 142, 169, 196, 197. + +_Apollonius of Tyre_, 60. + +_Apologie for Actors_, 156. + +_Apolonius and Silla_, 58. + +_Appius and Virginia_, 98. + +_Arcadia_, 61. + +Archbishop of Canterbury, 136. + +_Arden of Feversham_, 109, 161, 162. + +Ariosto, 57, 58, 95. + +Aristophanes, 91, 104. + +_Arraignment of Paris_, 161. + +Aspley, William, 143. + +_As You Like It_, 46, 52, 57, 62, 68, 73, 80, 113, 127, 136, 174. + +Aubrey, John, 38, 39, 43, 44. + +Autographs, facsimiles of, 36. + + +Bacon, Delia, 163. + +Bacon, Francis, 2, 13, 16, 61, 163-166, 191, 192. + +Bacon, Matthew, 26. + +"Baconians," 163-166. + +Bandello, 57, 58. + +Bankside, 7, 117, 120. + +Barnay, L., 184. + +Barnes, Barnabe, 61. + +_Barons' Wars_, 62. + +Barrie, J. M., 177. + +_Bartholomew Fair_, 105. + +_Batman upon Bartholome_, 64. + +Beaumont and Fletcher, 64, 91, 109, 110, 112, 113, 168. + +Beaumont, Francis, 31, 110. + _See_ Beaumont and Fletcher. + +Belleforest, 57. + +Beeston, Christopher, 29, 39. + +Betterton, Thomas, 43, 130, 169, 174. + +_Bevis of Hampton_, 59. + +Bible, the, 1, 64. + +Bidford, 40, 41. + +_Bi-Literal Cypher of Francis Bacon_, 164. + +_Biron_, 108. + +_Birth of Merlin_, 161. + +Blackfriars, + property in, 26; + theater, 12, 26, 32, 118, 120, 159. + +Blount, Edward, 143. + +Boccaccio, 57, 96. + +Booth, Barton, 174. + +Booth, Edwin, 176, 177. + +Booth, Junius Brutus, 176. + +Boswell, J., 152. + +Bowdler, T., 153. + +Bradley, A. C., 5, 181. + +_Broken Heart_, 112. + +Brome, R., 112. + +Brooke, Arthur, 60. + +Buckinghamshire, Duke of, 44. + +Burbage, Cuthbert, 32, 117, 118, 119. + +Burbage, James, 117. + +Burbage, Richard, 24, 29, 32, 34, 44, 117, 118, 119, 124, 130. + +_Bussy d'Ambois_, 108. + +Byron, Lord, 191. + + +Caesar, Julius 55, 124. + +_Cambridge Shakespeare_, 153, 154, 155. + +_Cambyses_, 63, 92, 98. + +Capell, Edward, 151, 161. + +_Cardenio_, 160. + +Cartwright, W., 112. + +_Catiline_, 33, 108. + +Caxton, 60. + +_Chambers' Journal_, 163. + +Chandos portrait, 38. + +_Changeling_, 111. + +Chapman, George, 31, 56, 91, 103, 105, 108. + +Chaucer, 31, 53, 60. + +Chettle, Henry, 22, 23, 103, 107. + +Cibber, Colley, 130, 169, 174. + +Cibber, Mrs., 174. + +Cicero, 52. + +Cinthio, Giraldi, 57, 58. + +_City Madam_, 112. + +Clark, W. G., 154. + +Clive, Mrs., 174. + +Cockpit theater, 39, 118. + +Coleridge, S. T., 159, 175, 179, 180, 182. + +_Colin Clout_, 61. + +Collier, J. P., 153, 163. + +Collins, Francis, 35. + +Combe, John, 25, 26, 40. + +Combe, William, 25. + +_Comedy of Errors_, 54, 68, 74, 78, 95. + +Condell Henry, 29, 32, 35, 142, 157. + +_Confessio Amantis_, 60. + +Congreve, William, 111. + +Constable, Henry, 61. + +_Contention of York and Lancaster_, 161. + +_Coriolanus_, 52, 82, 169. + +Corneille, 182. + +_Cornelia_, 99. + +Covent Garden theater, 118. + +Craig, W. J., 154. + +Curtain theater, 117, 122. + +Cushman, Charlotte, 176. + +_Cymbeline_, 57, 63, 68, 73, 110, 169, 174. + + +Daniel, Samuel, 61, 62, 113. + +D'Avenant, Sir William, 43, 44, 45, 112, 168. + +Davies, Rev. R., 41. + +_Decameron_, 57. + +Dekker, T., 31, 103, 104, 105, 109, 111. + +_De la Litterature_, 185. + +Delius, N., 153, 154, 172. + +Dennis, John, 177. + +_De proprietatibus rerum_, 64. + +De Quincey, T., 159. + +Derby's men, 120. + +Devrients, the, 184. + +De Witt drawing of Swan theater, 120, 121. + +_Diana_ of Montemayor, 58. + +Diderot, D., 184. + +_Discovery of Guiana_, 64. + +_Distichs of Cato_, 52. + +Donnelly, I., 164. + +_Double Falsehood_, 160, 162. + +Dowdall, John, 42. + +Dowden, E., 84, 181. + +Downes, John, 43. + +_Downfall and Death of Huntington_, 103. + +Drake, Sir F., 96. + +Drayton, Michael, 40, 61. + +Droeshout, Martin, 37, 38 n. + +Drummond, W., 46. + +Drury Lane theater, 118, 175. + +Dryden, John, 111, 168, 169, 170, 182, 190, 192. + +Ducis, J. F., 185. + +_Dunciad_, 149. + +Dyce, A., 153, 155, 161, 172. + +Dyke, John, 29. + + +Earl of Leicester's men, 119, 120. + +Earl of Worcester's men, 119. + +Eden's _History of Travayle_, 64. + +_Edward III_, 161, 162. + +Edwards, Richard, 60. + +Edwards, T., 150. + +Elizabeth, Queen, 1, 2, 9, 10, 11, 32, 79, 119, 133. + +Ellesmere, Lord, 163. + +Ely Palace portrait, 37, 38 n. + +_English Dramatic Poets_, 38. + +_English Traveller_, quoted, 133. + +_Epicene_, 95. + +_Essay of Dramatic Poesie_, 168. + +Essex, Earl of, 68, 124. + +_Euphues_, 62. + +Euripides, 90, 91. + +Evans, Sir Hugh, 51. + +_Everyman in His Humour_, 39, 103. + + +Fables in Shakespeare, 52. + +Fabyan's _Chronicles_, 63. + +_Faerie Queen_, 61. + +_Fair Em_, 161. + +_Fair Quarrel_, 111. + +_Faithful Shepherdess_, 113. + +_Fasti_, 53. + +Faucit, Helen, 176. + +Field, Richard, 23. + +First Folio, 167; + described, 141-143; + facsimile of title-page, 143; + introductory matter in, _see_ APPENDIX A. + +Fisher Quarto, 141 n. + +Fleay, F. G., 72 n, 172. + +Fletcher, John, 9, 91, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 168, 177, 191; + collaboration on _Two Noble Kinsman_, 159, 160. + _See_ Beaumont and Fletcher. + +Fletcher, Lawrence, 32. + +Florio, John, 57. + _See_ Montaigne. + +Flower, Mrs. Charles, 37. + +Folios, Second, Third, Fourth, 145, 157. + +Ford, John, 91, 109, 112, 113. + +Forman, Dr. Simon, 68. + +Forrest, Edwin, 176. + +Fortune theater, 11, 117, 119, 121, 122; + diagram of, 123. + +Foxe, John, _Book of Martyrs_, 63. + +_Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay_, 97. + +Fuller, Thomas, 38. + +Fulman, Rev. W., 41. + +Furness, H. H., 144, 154, 159. + + +Galileo, 191. + +Gallup, Mrs., 164. + +_Gammer Gurton's Needle_, 94. + +Garrick Club bust, 38. + +Garrick, David, 130, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177. + +Gascoigne, George, 5, 58, 63. + +Gervinus, 180. + +_Gesta Romanorum_, 57. + +Getley, Walter, 25. + +Gildon, C., 146. + +Goethe, 179, 180, 183, 190. + +_Globe Shakespeare_, 154. + +Globe theater, 11, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 124, 177. + +Glover, J., 154. + +Golding, Arthur, 53. + +_Gorboduc_, 98. + +Gottsched, J. C., 182. + +Gower, 31. + +Grafton's _Chronicles_, 63. + +_Great Cryptogram_, 164. + +Greene, Robert, 62, 63, 90, 96, 97, 101, 102, 158; + attack on S., 20-23. + +_Greene's Funeralls_, 21, 22. + +Greene's _Groatsworth of Wit_, 20-22. + +Greg, W. W., 140 n. + +Gresham, Sir Thomas, 10. + +Grey, Z., 150. + +Guarini, G. B., 113. + +Guizot, F., 185. + +_Guy of Warwick_, 59. + + +Hakluyt, Richard, 64. + +Hall, John, 25, 34. + +Hall, Susanna, 25, 34. + +Hall, William, 35, 42. + +Halliwell-Phillipps, J. O., 153, 181. + +Hall's _Union of Lancaster and York_, 63, 101. + +_Hamburgische Dramaturgie_, 182. + +_Hamlet_, 43, 45, 47, 49, 54, 63, 73, 75, 81, 87, 100, 106, 107, 119, + 135, 136, 137, 145, 169, 184, 185. + +_Hamlet_, the lost, 100, 106, 107. + +Hanmer, Sir T., 149, 150. + +Harness, W., 153. + +Harsnett's _Popish Impostures_, 62. + +Hart, J. C., 163. + +Hazlitt, William, 175, 179, 180. + +Heath, B., 150. + +_Hecatommithi_, 58. + +Heliodorus, 56. + +Heminge, John, 29, 32, 35, 142, 157. + +Henderson, J., 175. + +_1 Henry IV_, 30, 62, 73, 137. + +_2 Henry IV_, 30, 62, 69. + +_Henry V_, 52, 56, 63, 68, 79, 135, 136, 149. + +_1 Henry VI_, 63, 77, 102, 120, 141, 157. + +_2 Henry VI_, 52, 54, 63, 77, 99, 102, 141, 157, 161. + +_3 Henry VI_, 21, 63, 77, 99, 102, 157, 161, 169. + +_Henry VIII_, 34, 63, 74, 124, 157, 160, 162. + +Henry VIII, 10, 11, 43, 79. + +Henryson, Robert, 60. + +Henslowe, P., 117, 119. + +Herder, J. G., 183. + +_Hero and Leander_, 62. + +Heyes Quarto, 141 n. + +Heywood, Thomas, 31, 95, 105, 111, 131; + quoted in publishing, 132-134, 135, 156. + +_History of English Dramatic Poetry_, 163. + +_Hoffman_, 107. + +Hollar, W., 120. + +Hollinshed's _Chronicles_, 63, 65, 101. + +Homer, 56, 96, 187, 194. + +_Honest Whore_, 105. + +Hooker, Richard, 2, 61. + +Hope theater, 117, 119. + +Horace, 51, 54. + +_Horestes_, 98. + +Hugo, F. V., 185. + +Hugo, Victor, 185. + +Hunsdon's men, 120. + +_Huon of Bordeaux_, 59. + + +Ibsen, H., 177. + +_If you know not me you know nobodie_, quoted, 133, 134. + +Ingram, J. K., 72 n. + +Ireland, W. H., 162, 163. + +Irving, Sir Henry, 176. + + +Jacob, E., 161. + +Jaggard, Isaac, 143. + +Jaggard, William, 140 n, 143, 156. + +James I, 9, 12, 32, 44, 69, 119, 120. + +_James IV_, 98. + +Janssen, Gerard, 37. + +_Jocasta_, 98. + +Johnson, Samuel, 150, 151, 152, 178, 179, 182. + +John, King, 78. + +Jonson, Ben, 13, 29, 30, 31, 33, 39, 40, 45, 46, 50, 63, 91, 95, 103, + 105, 107, 108, 109, 111, 112, 114, 131, 182, 190; + eulogy of S., 167, 168. + +Jordan's _Collections_, 162. + +Jordan, Mrs., 175. + +_Julius Caesar_, 81, 105, 108, 169, 182. + +Jusserand, J. J., 185. + +Juvenal, 54. + + +Kean, Edmund, 175. + +Kemble, J. P., 162, 175. + +Kempe, Will., 24. + +Kendrick, 152. + +Kesselstadt, death-mask, 38. + +_Kind-Heart's Dream_, 22. + +_King and No King_, 109. + +_King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid_, 59. + +_King John_, 30, 52, 63, 78, 141, 161. + +King's men, 120. + +Kipling, Rudyard, 51. + +Kirkman's _Drolls_, 120. + +Knight, Charles, 153, 154. + +_Knight's Tale_, 60. + +Koenig, G., 72 n, 75. + +Kyd, Thomas, 63, 90, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 105, 106, 107, 158, 167. + + +Lacy, John, 39. + +Lamb, Charles, 159, 175, 179. + +Langbaine, G., 38. + +La Place's translation, 184. + +_Lear_, 47, 49, 61, 62, 63, 75, 81, 85, 99, 114, 135, 140, 140 n, 169. + +Lee, Sidney, 181. + +_Legend of Good Women_, 60. + +Leicester, Earl of, 5, 119. + +Lessing, G. E., 182. + +Le Tourneur, P., 184, 185. + +Lily's Grammar, 51, 54. + +Littledale, H., 159. + +_Lives of eminent men_, 38. + +Livy, 55, 60. + +_Locrine_, 100, 157, 158. + +Lodge, Thomas, 62. + +_Londinopolis_, 120. + +London, described, 6-12. + +_London Prodigal_, 157, 158. + +Lope de Vega, 95. + +Lord Admiral's men, 119, 120. + +Lord Chamberlain's men, 120. + +_Lover's Complaint, A_, 62, 156. + +_Love's Labour's Lost_, 29, 30, 51, 52, 74, 78, 88, 97, 137, 156, 189. + +_Love's Labour's Won_, 30. + +Lowin, John, 43, 130. + +Lucan, 55. + +Lucian, 56. + +_Lucrece_, 23, 29, 30, 53, 54, 62, 87, 131. + +Lucy, Sir T., 41. + +Lyly, John, 63, 90, 95, 96, 97, 102, 113, 167. + + +_Macbeth_, 68, 74, 75, 81, 99, 169, 174, 183, 185. + +Macklin, C., 175. + +Macready, W., 176. + +_Maid's Tragedy_, 109. + +_Malcontent_, 104; + quoted, 134. + +Malone, Edmund, 152, 163, 172. + +Malory, Sir T., 96. + +Mannering, Arthur, 26. + +Manningham, John, 44. + +Mantuan's _Eclogues_, 52. + +Marlowe, Christopher, 13, 16, 62, 63, 68, 72, 90, 98, 99, 101, 102, 104, + 105, 106, 158, 167, 177. + +Marlowe, Julia, 176. + +Marston, J., 103, 104, 106, 107, 134. + +Mason, J. M., 152. + +_Masque of the Inner Temple and Gray's Inn_, 160. + +Massinger, Philip, 91, 92, 111, 112, 168. + +Matthews, Sir T., 165. + +_Measure for Measure_, 58, 63, 82, 83, 104. + +_Memoirs of Edward Alleyn_, 163. + +Mennes, Sir John, 41. + +_Menaechmi_, 54. + +_Merchant of Venice_, 30, 57, 58, 80, 85, 99, 137, 140 n, 174, 184. + +Meres, Francis, _Palladis Tamia_, 27, 68. + +_Merry Devil of Edmonton_, 161. + +_Merry Wives of Windsor_, 51, 58, 60, 73, 80, 95, 135, 136, 140 n, 169. + +_Messalina_, 120, 121, 122. + +_Metamorphoses_, 53. + +Mezieres, A., 185. + +Middleton, Sir Hugh, 10. + +Middleton, T., 103, 104, 107, 109. + +_Midsummer Night's Dream_, 30, 40, 53, 58, 59, 60, 61, 73, 80, 97, 124, + 137, 140 n, 184. + +Milton, John, 114, 168, 194. + +Miracle plays, 5, 93. + +_Miseries of Enforced Marriage_, 159. + +_Misfortunes of Arthur_, 98. + +Moliere, 91, 95. + +Montagu, Mrs. Elizabeth, 178. + +Montaigne, 56. + +Montemayor, George of, 58. + +Morality plays, 93, 94. + +More, Sir Thomas, life of, 17. + +Morgann, M., 179. + +_Mother Bombie_, 95, 97. + +Mountjoy, Christopher, 27. + +_Much Ado About Nothing_, 51, 57, 80, 137, 148, 174. + +_Mucedorus_, 103, 161. + +Munday, A., 95, 103. + +Music, Shakespeare in, 186. + + +Neidig, W. J., 140 n. + +Neilson Text, 154. + +Newcastle, Duchess of, 168. + +Newington Butts theater, 120. + +_New Variorum_, 144, 154. + +_New Way to Pay Old Debts_, 112. + +_Nice Wanton_, 92. + +North, Sir Thomas, 56. + _See_ Plutarch. + + +_Oldcastle, Sir John_, 140 n. + +_Old Fortunatus_, 103. + +Oldys, William, 45. + +_Othello_, 58, 64, 75, 81, 85, 99, 114, 169, 170, 184, 185, 195. + +Otway, T., 169. + +Ovid, 53, 60, 65, 87, 96. + +_Oxford Shakespeare_, 154. + + +_Painful Adventures of Pericles_, 159. + +Painter's _Palace of Pleasure_, 57, 61. + +Palmer, J., 175. + +_Palladis Tamia_, 29, 30, 68. + +_Pandosto_, 62. + +_Passionate Pilgrim_, 30, 156. + +_Pastor Fido_, 113. + +Pavier, T., 140 n. + +_Pecorone, Il._, 58. + +Peele, George, 63, 90, 113, 158. + +_Pericles_, 60, 75, 83, 114, 135, 136, 140, 140 n, 145, 148, 151, 157, 158. + +Persius, 54. + +Petrarch, 58. + +Phelps, S., 176. + +_Philaster_, 109, 110, 113. + +Philip, Augustus, 29, 32. + +Phillips, Edward, 38. + +_Philosophy of the Plays of S._, 163. + +_Ph[oe]nix and the Turtle_, 156. + +_Piacevoli Notti_, 58. + +Plautus, 54, 93, 95. + +_Pleasant Dialogues and Dramas_, 133. + +Pliny, 55, 64. + +Plume, Archdeacon, 41. + +_Plutarch's Lives_, 52, 55, 56. + +_Poetaster_, 104. + +Pollard, A. W., 140 n. + +Pope, Alexander, 144, 147, 148, 149, 158. + +Pope, Thomas, 29. + +Preston, T., 63. + +Pritchard, Mrs., 174. + +Prince's men, 119. + +_Puritan, the_ 158. + +_Puritan Widow_, 157. + +_Putnam's Monthly_, 163. + + +Quartos, 135-140; + table of, 138, 139; + of apocryphal plays, 158. + +_Queen's Arcadia_, 113. + +Queen's Chapel boys, 118. + +Queen's men, 119. + +Quiney, Richard, 28. + +Quiney, Thomas, son-in-law of S., 28. + + +Rabelais, 57. + +Racine, 91, 182. + +Raleigh, Sir Walter, 13, 16, 64. + +_Ralph Royster Doyster_, 95. + +_Rape of Lucrece_, quoted, 132. + +_Recuyell of Troy_, 60. + +Red Bull theater, 117, 120. + +Reed, I., 152. + +Rehan, Ada, 176. + +_Return from Parnassus_, 30. + +_Revenger's Tragedy_, 107. + +_Richard II_, 29, 36, 52, 62, 79, 99, 106, 169. + +_Richard III_, 36, 54, 63, 77, 99, 102, 135, 140, 154, 169. + +Riche, Barnaby, 58, 61. + +Ristori, Madame, 185. + +Ritson, T., 152. + +Roberts Quartos, 140 n, 141 n. + +Robertson, Sir Forbes, 176. + +Robin Hood, 159. + +Robin Hood plays, 103. + +_Romance of Yachting_, 163. + +_Romeo and Juliet_, 30, 60, 73, 74, 77, 106, 135, 136, 137, 169, 174, + 182, 183, 195. + +_Romeus and Juliet_, 60. + +Ronsard, 57. + +_Rosalynde_, 62. + +_Rosamond_, 62. + +Rose theater, 117, 119, 120. + +Rossi, 185. + +Rowe, Nicholas, 42, 43, 45, 146, 147, 158, 172. + +Rowley, W., 111. + +_Roxana_, 120, 121. + +Rutland, Earl of, 164. + +Rymer, T., 170. + + +Sadler's Wells, 176. + +Salisbury Court theater, 118. + +Salvini, T., 185. + +Sanazzaro, 96. + +Schlegel, A. W., 180, 183. + +Schmidt's _Lexicon_, 183. + +Schroeder, F., 184. + +Scott, Sir Walter, 191. + +_Sejanus_, 33, 108. + +Seneca, 54, 93, 99, 100, 105. + +_Sententiae Pueriles_, 52. + +Shakespeare, Anna, 18. + +Shakespeare, Anne (Hathaway), 19. + +Shakespeare, Edmund, 18. + +Shakespeare, Gilbert, 18, 46. + +Shakespeare, Hamnet, 20, 85. + +Shakespeare, Joan, 18. + +Shakespeare, John, 4, 5, 18, 24, 40, 41. + +Shakespeare, Judith, 20, 35. + +Shakespeare, Mary Arden, 18, 24, 35. + +Shakespeare, Richard, 18. + +Shakespeare, Susanna, 25, 34. + +Shakespeare, William. _See_ CONTENTS. + Monument of, frontispiece; + facsimile autographs of, 36; + portrait of in First Folio, 143. + +_Shakespeare and the Drama_, Schlegel's, 183. + +_Shakespeare Restored_, 148. + +Shakespeare Society, New, 160. + +Shaw, G. B., 177. + +Shelley, P. B. 191. + +Sheridan, T., 162. + +Shirley, James, 91, 92, 112, 113. + +Shirley, Sir A., 164. + +_Short View of Tragedy_, 170. + +Siddons, Mrs. Sarah, 175, 177. + +Sidney, Sir Philip, 13, 16, 61. + +Simpson, R., 161. + +Singer, S. W., 153. + +_Sir Thomas More_, 161, 162. + +_Sir Thomas Oldcastle_, 157, 158. + +Slye, William, 29. + +Smethwick, John, 143. + +Smith, W. H., 163. + +_Soliman and Perseda_, 100. + +Somers, Sir George, 68. + +_Sonnets_, 57, 58; + date of, 87, 156; + evidence of, 47-49; + personality in, 189, 190. + +Sophocles, 184. + +Sothern, Edward, 176. + +Southampton, Earl of, 23, 47. + +Southwell, T., 166. + +Spalding, William, 159. + +Spenser, Edmund, 2, 16, 61, 178. + +_Spanish Tragedy_, 99, 100, 106, 107. + +_Squire of Low Degree_, 59. + +St. Paul's, 7, 8, 90, 118, 159. + +Stael, Madame de, 185. + +Stage, typical Shakespearean, illustration, 116. + +Stationers' Company, 68, 135, 136. + +Steevens, G., 151, 152. + +Stowe, John, _Annals_, 63. + +Strange's men, 120. + +Stratford, described, 4, 6; + Shakespeare at, 18-35. + +Sturley, Abraham, 28. + +Suckling, Sir John, 112, 168. + +_Supposoti, I_, 58, 95. + +Surrey, Earl of, 13. + +Swan theater, 117, 119, 120. + + +Tables of metrical tests, 71, 72; + of chronology of plays, 76; + of quarto editions, 138, 139. + +_Tamburlaine_, 98. + +_Taming of a Shrew_, 161. + +_Taming of the Shrew_, 51, 58, 60, 63, 80, 85, 141, 184. + +Taylor, Joseph, 43, 130. + +_Tears of the Muses_, 61. + +_Tempest, The_, 53, 57, 64, 68, 73, 74, 83, 110, 114, 169, 189. + +Tennyson, A., 190. + +Terence, 51, 54, 93, 95, 96. + +Terry, Ellen, 176. + +_Testament of Cressid_, 60. + +Theater, in Shoreditch, 117, 118, 119, 120. + +_Theatrum Poetarum_, 38 + +Theobald L., 148, 149, 150, 162. + +Theocritus, 96. + +_Thomas Lord Cromwell_, 157, 158. + +Thorpe, Thomas, 47. + +Tieck, L., 183. + +_Timber_, 46. + +_Timon of Athens_, 56, 157, 169. + +_'Tis Pity She's a Whore_, 112. + +_Titus Andronicus_, 30, 51, 53, 54, 77, 100, 140, 157, 158, 169. + +Tourgenieff, 194. + +Tourneur, C., 107, 112. + +Troilus and Cressida, 56, 60, 82, 104, 114, 169. + +_Troilus and Cressida_, (Chaucer's), 60. + +_Troublesome Reign of King John_, 161. + +_True Tragedy of Richard III_, 100. + +_True Tragedy of Richard Duke of York_, 21, 161. + +_Tudor Shakespeare_, 38 n, 154, 161. + +_Twelfth Night_, 51, 56, 57, 58, 73, 80, 114, 120, 146, 174. + +_Two Gentlemen of Verona_, 30, 58, 78, 98. + +_Two Italian Gentlemen_, 95. + +_Two Noble Kinsmen, The_, 34, 60, 110, 157, 159, 160, 162, 169. + +Tyrwhitt, T., 152. + + +Udall, N., 95. + +Ulrici, 180. + +Upton, J., 150. + + +_Venus and Adonis_, 23, 29, 30, 53, 62, 87, 131. + +Virgil, 53, 96. + +_Volpone_, 33, 105. + +Voltaire, 178, 184, 185. + +_Vortigern_, 162. + + +Wagner, C., 152. + +Walker, Henry, 26. + +Walker, Sidney, 172. + +Wallace, C. W., 26, 27. + +Walton's _Lives_, 17. + +Warburton, W., 150. + +Ward, Rev. J., 40. + +Ward, W. A., 172 + +Warner, Mrs., 176. + +Watson, Thomas, 61. + +Webster, John, 31, 91, 104, 107, 109, 111, 112. + +Weever, John, 30. + +Whetstone, George, 58, 60, 63. + +_White Devil_ 31, 107. + +White, R. G., 153, 172. + +Wieland, 183. + +_Wilhelm Meister_, 183. + +Wilson, Robert, 94. + +Winchester, Bishop of, 7. + +_Winter's Tale_, 62, 85, 110, 174. + +_Wise Woman of Hogsdon_, 95. + +Wolsey, life of, 17. + +_Woman Killed with Kindness_, 105. + +Wood, Anthony, 43. + +Wordsworth, 191. + +_Worthies of England_, 38. + +Wright, W. A., 154, 172. + +Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 13. + +Wycherley, W., 111. + + +_Yorkshire Tragedy_, 128, 140 n, 157, 158, 159. + + + +Printed in the United States of America. + + + + +Transcriber's Endnotes + + +Corrections: + + Page 41. Chapter II. "certains" corrected to _certain_. + "... contains certain notes made before 1688 by the ..." + + Page 72. Table 2. "LINES" corrected to _LINE_. + "... ENDING WITHIN THE LINE ..." + + Page 89. Chapter V. "comedy These" corrected to _comedy. These_. + "... of classical tragedy and comedy. These new forms ..." + + Page 234. Appendix B. "St. Alban's" corrected to _St. Albans_. + "... Mayor of St. Albans. 2H6. II. i." + + Page 265. Index entry. "Bi-Lateral" corrected to _Bi-Literal_. + "... Bi-Literal Cypher of Francis Bacon ..." + + Page 268. Index Hamlet entry. "160" corrected to _106_. + "... 87, 100, 106, 107, 119 ..." + + +Re-sequenced Index entries: + + First Folio, described, 141-143; facsimile of title-page, 143; 167; + introductory matter in, _see_ Appendix A. + + Fletcher, John, 9, 91, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114; collaboration on + _Two Noble Kinsman_, 159, 160; 168, 177, 191. _See_ Beaumont and + Fletcher. + + Florio, John. _See_ Montaigne, 57. + + Greene, Robert, attack on S., 20-23: 62, 63, 90, 96, 97, 101, 102, + 158. + + Jonson, Ben, 13, 29, 30, 31, 33, 39, 40, 45, 46, 50, 63, 91, 95, + 103, 105, 107, 108, 109, 111, 112, 114, 131; eulogy of S., 167, 168; + 182, 190. + + _Sonnets_, evidence of, 47-49; 57, 58; date of, 87, 156; personality + in, 189, 190. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Facts About Shakespeare, by +William Allan Nielson and Ashley Horace Thorndike + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FACTS ABOUT SHAKESPEARE *** + +***** This file should be named 22281.txt or 22281.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/2/8/22281/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Stephen Blundell and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |