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diff --git a/43435-0.txt b/43435-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..731e1f4 --- /dev/null +++ b/43435-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12948 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43435 *** + +Transcriber's note. + +Minor punctuation inconsistencies have been silently repaired. Variable +spelling has been retained. A list of the changes made can be found at +the end of the book. In the Index of Scenes, clarendon typeface is +indicated as bold. Sidenotes are presented [within square brackets]. + + Mark up: _italic_ + =bold= + + + + +SHAKESPEARE AS A DRAMATIC ARTIST + + +_MOULTON_ + + + + + London + HENRY FROWDE + + [Illustration] + + OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE + AMEN CORNER, E.C. + + + + + SHAKESPEARE AS A DRAMATIC ARTIST + + A POPULAR ILLUSTRATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF SCIENTIFIC CRITICISM + + + BY RICHARD G. MOULTON, M.A. + + LATE SCHOLAR OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY (EXTENSION) + LECTURER IN LITERATURE + + + Oxford + AT THE CLARENDON PRESS + 1885 + + [_All rights reserved_] + + + + +PREFACE. + + +I HAVE had three objects before me in writing this book. The first +concerns the general reader. 'No one needs assistance in order to +perceive Shakespeare's greatness; but an impression is not uncommonly to +be found, especially amongst English readers, that Shakespeare's +greatness lies mainly in his deep knowledge of human nature, while, as +to the technicalities of Dramatic Art, he is at once careless of them +and too great to need them. I have endeavoured to combat this impression +by a series of Studies of Shakespeare as a Dramatic Artist. They are +chiefly occupied with a few master-strokes of art, sufficient to +illustrate the revolution Shakespeare created in the Drama of the +world--a revolution not at once perceived simply because it had carried +the Drama at a bound so far beyond Dramatic Criticism that the +appreciation of Shakespeare's plays was left to the uninstructed public, +while the trained criticism that ought to have recognised the new +departure was engaged in clamouring for other views of dramatic +treatment, which it failed to perceive that Shakespeare had rendered +obsolete. + +While the earlier chapters are taken up with these Studies, the rest of +the work is an attempt, in very brief form, to present Dramatic Criticism +as a regular Inductive Science. If I speak of this as a new branch of +Science I am not ignoring the great works on Shakespeare-Criticism which +already exist, the later of which have treated their subject in an +inductive spirit. What these still leave wanting is a _recognition_ of +method in application to the study of the Drama: my purpose is to claim +for Criticism a position amongst the Inductive Sciences, and to sketch +in outline a plan for the Dramatic side of such a Critical Science. + +A third purpose has been to make the work of use as an educational +manual. Shakespeare now enters into every scheme of liberal education; +but the annotated editions of his works give the student little +assistance except in the explanation of language and allusions; and the +idea, I believe, prevails that anything like the discussion of literary +characteristics or dramatic effect is out of place in an educational +work--is, indeed, too 'indefinite' to be 'examined on.' Ten years' +experience in connection with the Cambridge University Extension, during +which my work has been to teach literature apart from philology, has +confirmed my impression that the subject-matter of literature, its +exposition and analysis from the sides of science, history, and art, is +as good an educational discipline as it is intrinsically valuable in +quickening literary appreciation. + +There are two special features of the book to which I may here draw +attention. Where practicable, I have appended in the margin references +to the passages of Shakespeare on which my discussion is based. (These +references are to the Globe Edition.) I have thus hoped to reduce to a +minimum the element of personal opinion, and to give to my treatment at +least that degree of definiteness which arises when a position stands +side by side with the evidence supporting it. I have also endeavoured to +meet a practical difficulty in the use of Shakespeare-Criticism as an +educational subject. It is usual in educational schemes to name single +plays of Shakespeare for study. Experience has convinced me that +methodical study of the subject-matter is not possible within the +compass of a single play. On the other hand, few persons in the +educational stage of life can have the detailed knowledge of +Shakespeare's plays as a whole which is required for a full treatment of +the subject. The present work is so arranged that it assumes knowledge +of only five plays--_The Merchant of Venice_, _Richard III_, _Macbeth_, +_Julius Cæsar_, and _King Lear_. Not only in the Studies, but also in +the final review, the matter introduced is confined to what can be +illustrated out of these five plays. These are amongst the most familiar +of the Shakespearean Dramas, or they can be easily read before +commencing the book; and if the arrangement is a limitation involving a +certain amount of repetition, yet I believe the gain will be greater +than the loss. For the young student, at all events, it affords an +opportunity of getting what will be the best of all introductions to the +whole subject--a thorough knowledge of five plays. + +In passing the book through the press I have received material +assistance from my brother, Dr. Moulton, Master of the Leys School, and +from my College friend, Mr. Joseph Jacobs. With the latter, indeed, I +have discussed the work in all its stages, and have been under continual +obligation to his stores of knowledge and critical grasp in all +departments of literary study. I cannot even attempt to name the many +friends--chiefly fellow-workers in the University Extension +Movement--through whose active interest in my Shakespeare teaching I +have been encouraged to seek for it publication. + +RICHARD G. MOULTON. + +_April, 1885._ + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + =INTRODUCTION.= + + PLEA FOR AN INDUCTIVE SCIENCE OF LITERARY CRITICISM. + + =PART FIRST.= + + SHAKESPEARE CONSIDERED AS A DRAMATIC ARTIST, _IN TEN STUDIES_. + + I. + THE TWO STORIES SHAKESPEARE BORROWS FOR HIS 'MERCHANT OF VENICE.' + + PAGE + _A Study in the Raw Material of the Romantic Drama_. 43 + + II. + _How Shakespeare Improves the Stories in the Telling_. + _A Study in Dramatic Workmanship_. 58 + + III. + HOW SHAKESPEARE MAKES HIS PLOT MORE COMPLEX IN ORDER TO MAKE IT MORE + SIMPLE. + _A Study in Underplot_. 74 + + IV. + A PICTURE OF IDEAL VILLANY IN 'RICHARD III.' + _A Study in Character-Interpretation_. 90 + + V. + 'RICHARD III': HOW SHAKESPEARE WEAVES NEMESIS INTO HISTORY. + _A Study in Plot_. 107 + + VI. + HOW NEMESIS AND DESTINY ARE INTERWOVEN IN 'MACBETH.' + _A further Study in Plot_. 125 + + VII. + MACBETH, LORD AND LADY. + _A Study in Character-Contrast_. 144 + + VIII. + JULIUS CÆSAR BESIDE HIS MURDERERS AND HIS AVENGER. + _A Study in Character-Grouping_. 168 + + IX. + HOW THE PLAY OF 'JULIUS CÆSAR' WORKS UP TO A CLIMAX + AT THE CENTRE. + _A Study in Passion and Movement_. 185 + + X. + HOW CLIMAX MEETS CLIMAX IN THE CENTRE OF 'LEAR.' + _A Study in more complex Passion and Movement_. 202 + + + =PART SECOND.= + + SURVEY OF DRAMATIC CRITICISM AS AN INDUCTIVE SCIENCE. + + XI. + TOPICS OF DRAMATIC CRITICISM. 227 + + XII. + INTEREST OF CHARACTER. 237 + + XIII. + INTEREST OF PASSION. 246 + + XIV. + INTEREST OF PLOT. 268 + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +_PLEA FOR AN INDUCTIVE SCIENCE OF LITERARY CRITICISM._ + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +[_Proposition._] + +IN the treatment of literature the proposition which seems to stand most +in need of assertion at the present moment is, _that there is an +inductive science of literary criticism_. As botany deals inductively +with the phenomena of vegetable life and traces the laws underlying +them, as economy reviews and systematises on inductive principles the +facts of commerce, so there is a criticism not less inductive in +character which has for its subject-matter literature. + + * * * * * + +[_Presumption in favour of inductive literary criticism._] + +The presumption is clearly that literary criticism should follow other +branches of thought in becoming inductive. Ultimately, science means no +more than organised thought; and amongst the methods of organisation +induction is the most practical. To begin with the observation of facts; +to advance from this through the arrangement of observed facts; to use +_à priori_ ideas, instinctive notions of the fitness of things, insight +into far probabilities, only as side-lights for suggesting convenient +arrangements, the value of which is tested only by the actual +convenience in arranging they afford; to be content with the sure +results so obtained as 'theory' in the interval of waiting for still +surer results based on a yet wider accumulation of facts: this is a +regimen for healthy science so widely established in different tracts of +thought as almost to rise to that universal acceptance which we call +common sense. Indeed the whole progress of science consists in winning +fresh fields of thought to the inductive methods. + +[_Current conceptions of criticism coloured by notions other than +inductive._] + +Yet the great mass of literary criticism at the present moment is of a +nature widely removed from induction. The prevailing notions of +criticism are dominated by the idea of _assaying_, as if its function +were to test the soundness and estimate the comparative value of +literary work. Lord Macaulay, than whom no one has a better right to be +heard on this subject, compares his office of reviewer to that of a +king-at-arms, versed in the laws of literary precedence, marshalling +authors to the exact seats to which they are entitled. And, as a matter +of fact, the bulk of literary criticism, whether in popular conversation +or in discussions by professed critics, occupies itself with the merits +of authors and works; founding its estimates and arguments on canons of +taste, which are either assumed as having met with general acceptance, +or deduced from speculations as to fundamental conceptions of literary +beauty. + +[_Criticism judicial and inductive. The two distinguished._] + +It becomes necessary then to recognise two different kinds of literary +criticism, as distinct as any two things that can be called by the same +name. The difference between the two may be summed up as the difference +between the work of a _judge_ and of an _investigator_. The one is the +enquiry into what ought to be, the other the enquiry into what is. +Judicial criticism compares a new production with those already existing +in order to determine whether it is inferior to them or surpasses them; +criticism of investigation makes the same comparison for the purpose of +identifying the new product with some type in the past, or +differentiating it and registering a new type. Judicial criticism has a +mission to watch against variations from received canons; criticism of +investigation watches for new forms to increase its stock of species. +The criticism of taste analyses literary works for grounds of preference +or evidence on which to found judgments; inductive criticism analyses +them to get a closer acquaintance with their phenomena. + +Let the question be of Ben Jonson. Judicial criticism starts by holding +Ben Jonson responsible for the decay of the English Drama. + +Inductive criticism takes objection to the word 'decay' as suggesting +condemnation, but recognises Ben Jonson as the beginner of a new +tendency in our dramatic history. + +But, judicial criticism insists, the object of the Drama is to pourtray +human nature, whereas Ben Jonson has painted not men but caricatures. + +Induction sees that this formula cannot be a sufficient definition of +the Drama, for the simple reason that it does not take in Ben Jonson; +its own mode of putting the matter is that Ben Jonson has founded a +school of treatment of which the law is caricature. + +But Ben Jonson's caricatures are palpably impossible. + +Induction soon satisfies itself that their point lies in their +impossibility; they constitute a new mode of pourtraying qualities of +character, not by resemblance, but by analysing and intensifying +contrasts to make them clearer. + +Judicial criticism can see how the poet was led astray; the bent of his +disposition induced him to sacrifice dramatic propriety to his satiric +purpose. + +Induction has another way of putting the matter: that the poet +has utilised dramatic form for satiric purpose; thus by the +'cross-fertilisation' of two existing literary species he has added to +literature a third including features of both. + +At all events, judicial criticism will maintain, it must be admitted +that the Shakespearean mode of pourtraying is infinitely the higher: a +sign-painter, as Macaulay points out, can imitate a deformity of +feature, while it takes a great artist to bring out delicate shades of +expression. + +Inductive treatment knows nothing about higher or lower, which lie +outside the domain of science. Its point is that science is indebted to +Ben Jonson for a new species; if the new species be an easier form of +art it does not on that account lose its claim to be analysed. + +The critic of merit can always fall back upon taste: who would not +prefer Shakespeare to Ben Jonson? + +But even from this point of view scientific treatment can plead its own +advantages. The inductive critic reaps to the full the interest of Ben +Jonson, to which the other has been forcibly closing his eyes; while, so +far from liking Shakespeare the less, he appreciates all the more keenly +Shakespeare's method of treatment from his familiarity with that which +is its antithesis. + +[_The two criticisms confused:_] + +It must be conceded at once that both these kinds of criticism have +justified their existence. Judicial criticism has long been established +as a favourite pursuit of highly cultivated minds; while the criticism +of induction can shelter itself under the authority of science in +general, seeing that it has for its object to bring the treatment of +literature into the circle of the inductive sciences. [_conception of +critical method limited to judicial method._] It is unfortunate, +however, that the spheres of the two have not been kept distinct. In the +actual practice of criticism the judicial method has obtained an +illegitimate supremacy which has thrown the other into the shade; it has +even invaded the domain of the criticism that claims to be scientific, +until the word _criticism_ itself has suffered, and the methodical +treatment of literature has by tacit assumption become limited in idea +to the judicial method. + +[_Partly a survival of Renaissance influence:_] + +Explanation for this limited conception of criticism is not far to seek. +Modern criticism took its rise before the importance of induction was +recognised: it lags behind other branches of thought in adapting itself +to inductive treatment chiefly through two influences. The first of +these is connected with the revival of literature after the darkness of +the middle ages. The birth of thought and taste in modern Europe was the +Renaissance of classical thought and taste; by Roman and Greek +philosophy and poetry the native powers of our ancestors were trained +till they became strong enough to originate for themselves. It was +natural for their earliest criticism to take the form of applying the +classical standards to their own imitations: [_and its testing by +classical models._] now we have advanced so far that no one would +propose to test exclusively by classical models, but nevertheless the +idea of _testing_ still lingers as the root idea in the treatment of +literature. Other branches of thought have completely shaken off this +attitude of submission to the past: literary criticism differs from the +rest only in being later to move. This is powerfully suggested by the +fact that so recent a writer as Addison couples science in general with +criticism in his estimate of probable progress; laying down the +startling proposition that 'it is impossible for us who live in the +later ages of the world to make observations in criticism, in morality, +_or in any art or science_, which have not been touched upon by others'! + +[_Partly the methods of journalism have invaded systematic criticism._] + +And even for this lateness a second influence goes far to account. The +grand literary phenomenon of modern times is journalism, the huge +apparatus of floating literature of which leading object is to review +literature itself. The vast increase of production consequent upon the +progress of printing has made production itself a phenomenon worthy of +study, and elevated the sifting of production into a prominent literary +occupation; by the aid of book-tasters alone can the ordinary reader +keep pace with production. It is natural enough that the influence of +journalism should pass beyond its natural sphere, and that the review +should tend to usurp the position of the literature for which reviewing +exists. Now in journalism testing and valuation of literary work have a +real and important place. It has thus come about that in the great +preponderance of ephemeral over permanent literature the machinery +adapted to the former has become applied to the latter: methods proper +to journalism have settled the popular conception of systematic +treatment; and the bias already given to criticism by the Renaissance +has been strengthened to resist the tendency of all kinds of thought +towards inductive methods. + +[_The limitation defended: theory of taste as condensed experience._] + +History will thus account for the way in which the criticism of taste +and valuation tends to be identified with criticism in general: but +attempts are not wanting to give the identification a scientific basis. +Literary appreciation, it is said, is a thing of culture. A critic in +the reviewer's sense is one who has the literary faculty both originally +acute and developed by practice: he thus arrives quickly and with +certainty at results which others would reach laboriously and after +temporary misjudgments. Taste, however arbitrary in appearance, is in +reality condensed experience; judicial criticism is a wise economy of +appreciation, the purpose of which is to anticipate natural selection +and universal experience. He is a good critic who, by his keen and +practised judgment, can tell you at once the view of authors and works +which you would yourself come to hold with sufficient study and +experience. + +[_The theory examined. The judicial spirit a limit on appreciation._] + +Now in the first place there is a flaw in this reasoning: it omits to +take into account that the judicial attitude of mind is itself a barrier +to appreciation, as being opposed to that delicacy of receptiveness +which is a first condition of sensibility to impressions of literature +and art. It is a matter of commonest experience that appreciation may be +interfered with by prejudice, by a passing unfavourable mood, or even by +uncomfortable external surroundings. But it is by no means sufficient +that the reader of literature should divest himself of these passive +hindrances to appreciation: poets are pioneers in beauty, and +considerable activity of effort is required to keep pace with them. +Repetition may be necessary to catch effects--passages to be read over +and over again, more than one author of the same school to be studied, +effect to be compared with kindred effect each helping the other. Or an +explanation from one who has already caught the idea may turn the mind +into a receptive attitude. Training again is universally recognised as a +necessity for appreciation, and to train is to make receptive. [_On the +other hand sympathy the great interpreter._] Beyond all these conditions +of perception, and including them, is yet another. It is a foundation +principle in art-culture, as well as in human intercourse, that +_sympathy is the grand interpreter_: secrets of beauty will unfold +themselves to the sunshine of sympathy, while they will wrap themselves +all the closer against the tempest of sceptical questionings. Now a +judicial attitude of mind is highly unreceptive, for it necessarily +implies a restraint of sympathy: every one, remarks Hogarth, is a judge +of painting except the connoisseur. The judicial mind has an appearance +of receptiveness, because it seeks to shut out prejudice: but what if +the idea of judging be itself a prejudice? On this view the very +consciousness of fairness, involving as it does limitation of sympathy, +will be itself unfair. In practical life, where we have to act, the +formation of judgments is a necessity. In art we can escape the +obligation, and here the judicial spirit becomes a wanton addition to +difficulties of appreciation already sufficiently great; the mere notion +of condemning may be enough to check our receptivity to qualities which, +as we have seen, it may need our utmost effort to catch. So that the +judicial attitude of mind comes to defeat its own purpose, and disturbs +unconsciously the impression it seeks to judge; until, as Emerson puts +it, 'if you criticise a fine genius the odds are that you are out of +your reckoning, and instead of the poet are censuring your caricature of +him.' + +[_The theory refuted by experience: the history of criticism a triumph +of authors over critics._] + +But the appeal made is to experience: to experience let it go. It will +be found that, speaking broadly, _the whole history of criticism has +been a triumph of authors over critics_: so long as criticism has meant +the gauging of literature, so long its progress has consisted in the +reversal of critical judgments by further experience. I hesitate to +enlarge upon this part of my subject lest I be inflicting upon the +reader the tedium of a thrice-told tale. But I believe that the ordinary +reader, however familiar with notable blunders of criticism, has little +idea of that which is the essence of my argument--the degree of +regularity, amounting to absolute law, with which criticism, where it +has set itself in opposition to freedom of authorship, has been found in +time to have pronounced upon the wrong side, and has, after infinite +waste of obstructive energy, been compelled at last to accept +innovations it had pronounced impossible under penalty of itself +becoming obsolete. + +[_Case of the Shakespearean Drama: retiring waves of critical +opposition._] + +Shakespeare-criticism affords the most striking illustration. Its +history is made up of wave after wave of critical opposition, each +retiring further before the steady advance of Shakespeare's fame. They +may almost be traced in the varying apologetic tones of the successive +_Variorum_ editors, until Reed, in the edition of 1803, is content to +leave the poet's renown as established on a basis which will 'bid +defiance to the caprices of fashion and the canker of time.' [I. +_Unmeasured attack._] The first wave was one of unmeasured virulent +attack. Rymer, accepted in his own day as the champion of 'regular' +criticism, and pronounced by Pope one of the best critics England ever +had, says that in Tragedy Shakespeare appears quite out of his element: + + His brains are turned; he raves and rambles without any coherence, + any spark of reason, or any rule to control him or set bounds to his + phrensy. + +The shouting and battles of his scenes are necessary to keep the +audience awake, 'otherwise no sermon would be so strong an opiate.' +Again: + + In the neighing of an horse, or in the growling of a mastiff, there + is a meaning, there is as lively an expression, and, may I say, more + humanity, than many times in the tragical flights of Shakespeare. + +The famous Suggestion Scene in _Othello_ has, in Rymer's view, no point +but 'the mops, the mows, the grimace, the grins, the gesticulation.' On +Desdemona's + + O good Iago, + What shall I do to win my lord again? + +he remarks that no woman bred out of a pig-stye would talk so meanly. +Speaking of Portia he says, 'she is scarce one remove from a natural, +she is own cousin-german, of one piece, the very same impertinent flesh +and blood with Desdemona.' And Rymer's general verdict of +_Othello_--which he considers the best of Shakespeare's tragedies--is +thus summed up: + + There is in this play some burlesque, some humour and ramble of + comical wit, some show and some mimicry to divert the spectators: + but the tragical part is plainly none other than a bloody farce, + without salt or savour. + +In the eighteenth century Lord Lansdowne, writing on 'Unnatural Flights +in Poetry,' could refuse to go into the question of Shakespeare's +soliloquies, as being assured that 'not one in all his works could be +excused by reason or nature.' The same tone was still later kept up by +Voltaire, who calls Shakespeare a writer of monstrous farces called +tragedies; says that nature had blended in him all that is most great +and elevating with all the basest qualities that belong to barbarousness +without genius; and finally proceeds to call his poetry the fruit of the +imagination of an intoxicated savage. [2. _The Shakespearean Drama held +inadmissible, yet attractive._]--Meanwhile a second wave of opinion had +arisen, not conceiving a doubt as to the total inadmissibility of the +Shakespearean Drama, yet feeling its attraction. This is perhaps most +exactly illustrated in the forgotten critic Edwards, who ruled that +'poor Shakespeare'--the expression his own--must be excluded from the +number of good tragedians, yet 'as Homer from the Republic of Plato, +with marks of distinction and veneration.' But before this the more +celebrated dramatists of the Restoration had shown the double feeling in +the way they reconstructed Shakespeare's plays, and turned them into +'correct' dramas. Thus Otway made the mediæval Capulets and Montagus +presentable by giving them a classical dress as followers of Marius and +Sulla; and even Dryden joined in a polite version of _The Tempest_, with +an original touch for symmetry's sake in the addition to the heroine +Miranda, a maid who had never seen a man, of a suitable hero, a man who +had never seen a maid. [3. _The Shakespearean Drama admitted with +excuses._]--Against loud abuse and patronising reconstruction the silent +power of Shakespeare's works made itself more and more felt, and we +reach a third stage when the Shakespearean Drama is accepted as it +stands, but with excuses. Excuse is made for the poet's age, in which +the English nation was supposed to be struggling to emerge from +barbarism. Heywood's apology for uniting light and serious matter is +allowed, that 'they who write to all must strive to please all.' Pope +points out that Shakespeare was dependent for his subsistence on +pleasing the taste of tradesmen and mechanics; and that his 'wrong +choice of subjects' and 'wrong conduct of incidents,' his 'false +thoughts and forced expressions' are the result of his being forced to +please the lowest of the people and keep the worst of company. Similarly +Theobald considers that he schemed his plots and characters from +romances simply for want of classical information. [4. _The +Shakespearean Drama not felt to need defence as a whole, but praised and +blamed in its parts._]--With the last name we pass to yet another +school, with whom Shakespeare's work as a whole is not felt to need +defence, and the old spirit survives only in their distribution of +praise and blame amongst its different parts. Theobald opens his preface +with the comparison of the Shakespearean Drama to a splendid pile of +buildings, with 'some parts finished up to hit the taste of a +connoisseur, others more negligently put together to strike the fancy of +a common beholder.' Pope--who reflects the most various schools of +criticism, often on successive pages--illustrates this stage in his +remark that Shakespeare has excellences that have elevated him above all +others, and almost as many defects; 'as he has certainly written better +so he has perhaps written worse than any other.' Dr. Johnson sets out by +describing Shakespeare as 'having begun to assume the dignity of an +ancient'--the highest commendation in his eyes. But he goes on to point +out the inferiority of Shakespeare's Tragedy to his Comedy, the former +the outcome of skill rather than instinct, with little felicity and +always leaving something wanting; how he seems without moral purpose, +letting his precepts and axioms drop casually from him, dismissing his +personages without further care, and leaving the examples to operate by +chance; how his plots are so loosely formed that they might easily be +improved, his set speeches cold and weak, his incidents imperfectly told +in many words which might be more plainly described in few. Then in the +progress of his commentary, he irritates the reader, as Hallam points +out, by the magisterial manner in which he dismisses each play like a +schoolboy's exercise. [5. _Finally criticism comes round entirely to +Shakespeare._]--At last comes a revolution in criticism and a new order +of things arises: with Lessing to lead the way in Germany and Coleridge +in England, a school of critics appear who are in complete harmony with +their author, who question him only to learn the secrets of his art. The +new spirit has not even yet leavened the whole of the literary world; +but such names as Goethe, Tieck, Schlegel, Victor Hugo, Ulrici, Gervinus +suggest how many great reputations have been made, and reputations +already great have been carried into a new sphere of greatness, by the +interpretation and unfolding of Shakespeare's greatness: not one critic +has in recent years risen to eminence by attacking Shakespeare. + +[_Other examples._] + +And the Shakespearean Drama is only the most illustrious example of +authors triumphing over the criticism that attempted to judge them. +[_Milton._] It is difficult for a modern reader to believe that even +Rymer could refer to the _Paradise Lost_ as 'what some are pleased to +call a poem'; or that Dr. Johnson could assert of the minor poems of +Milton that they exhibit 'peculiarity as distinguished from excellence,' +'if they differ from others they differ for the worse.' He says of +_Comus_ that it is 'inelegantly splendid and tediously instructive'; +and of _Lycidas_, that its diction is harsh, its rhymes uncertain, its +numbers unpleasing, that 'in this poem there is no nature for there is +no truth, there is no art for there is nothing new,' that it is 'easy, +vulgar, and therefore disgusting,'--after which he goes through the +different parts of the poem to show what Milton should have done in +each. Hallam has pointed out how utterly impotent Dr. Johnson has been +to fix the public taste in the case of these poems; yet even Hallam +could think the verse of the poet who wrote _Paradise Lost_ sufficiently +described by the verdict, 'sometimes wanting in grace and almost always +in ease.' [_Shakespeare's Sonnets._] In the light of modern taste it is +astonishing indeed to find Steevens, with his devotion of a lifetime to +Shakespeare, yet omitting the Sonnets from the edition of 1793, 'because +the strongest Act of Parliament that could be framed would not compel +readers into their service.' [_Spenser._] It is equally astonishing to +find Dryden speaking of Spenser's 'ill choice of stanza,' and saying of +the _Faerie Queene_ that if completed it might have been more of a +piece, but it could not be perfect, because its model was not true: an +example followed up in the next century by a 'person of quality,' who +translated a book of the _Faerie Queene_ out of its 'obsolete language +and manner of verse' into heroic couplets. [_Gray._] I pass over the +crowd of illustrations, such as the fate of Gray at the hands of Dr. +Johnson, [_Keats._] of Keats at the hands of monthly and quarterly +reviewers, [_Waverley Novels._] or of the various Waverley Novels +capriciously selected by different critics as examples of literary +suicide. But we have not yet had time to forget how Jeffrey--one of the +greatest names in criticism--set in motion the whole machinery of +reviewing in order to put down Wordsworth. [_Wordsworth._] Wordsworth's +most elaborate poem he describes as a 'tissue of moral and devotional +ravings,' a 'hubbub of strained raptures and fantastical sublimities': +his 'effusions on ... the physiognomy of external nature' he +characterises as 'eminently fantastic, obscure, and affected.' Then, to +find a climax, he compares different species of Wordsworth's poetry to +the various stages of intoxication: his Odes are 'glorious delirium' and +'incoherent rapture,' his Lyrical Ballads a 'vein of pretty deliration,' +his _White Doe_ is 'low and maudlin imbecility.' Not a whit the less has +the influence of Wordsworth deepened and solidified; and if all are not +yet prepared to accept him as the apostle of a new religion, yet he has +tacitly secured his place in the inner circle of English poets. In fine, +the work of modern criticism is seriously blocked by the perpetual +necessity of revising and reversing what this same Jeffrey calls the +'impartial and irreversible sentences' of criticism in the past. And as +a set-off in the opposite scale only one considerable achievement is to +be noted: [_Robert Montgomery._] that journalism afforded a medium for +Macaulay to quench the light of Robert Montgomery, which, on Macaulay's +own showing, journalism had puffed into a flame. + +[_Defeat of criticism in the great literary questions._] + +It is the same with the great literary questions that have from time to +time arisen, the pitched battles of criticism: as Goldsmith says, there +never has been an unbeaten path trodden by the poet that the critic has +not endeavoured to recall him by calling his attempt an innovation. +[_Blank verse._] Criticism set its face steadily from the first against +blank verse in English poetry. The interlocutors in Dryden's _Essay on +the Drama_ agree that it is vain to strive against the stream of the +people's inclination, won over as they have been by Shakespeare, Ben +Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher; but, as they go on to discuss the rights +of the matter, the most remarkable thing to a modern reader is that the +defence of blank verse is made to rest only on the colloquial character +of dramatic poetry, and neither party seems to conceive the possibility +of non-dramatic poetry other than in rhyme. Before Dryden's _Essay on +Satire_ the _Paradise Lost_ had made its appearance; but so impossible +an idea is literary novelty to the 'father of English criticism' that +Dryden in this Essay refuses to believe Milton's own account of the +matter, saying that, whatever reasons Milton may allege for departing +from rhyme, 'his own particular reason is plainly this, that rhyme was +not his talent, he has neither the ease of doing it nor the graces of +it.' To one so steeped in French fashions as Rymer, poetry that lacks +rhyme seems to lack everything; many of Shakespeare's scenes might, he +says, do better without words at all, or at most the words set off the +action like the drone of a bagpipe. Voltaire estimates blank verse at +about the same rate, and having to translate some of Shakespeare's for +purposes of exact comparison, he remarks that blank verse costs nothing +but the trouble of dictating, that it is not more difficult to write +than a letter. Dr. Johnson finds a theoretic argument in the unmusical +character of English poetry to prove the impossibility of its ever +adapting itself to the conditions of blank verse, and is confident +enough to prophesy: 'poetry may subsist without rhyme, but English +poetry will not often please.' Even Byron is found only one degree more +tolerant than Dryden: he has the grace to except Milton from his dictum +that no one ever wrote blank verse who could rhyme. Thus critical taste, +critical theory, and critical prophecy were unanimous against blank +verse as an English measure: for all that it has become the leading +medium of English poetry, and a doubter of to-day would be more likely +to doubt the permanence of English rhyme than of English blank verse. +[_The 'three unities':_] As to the famous 'three unities,' not only the +principles themselves, but even the refutation of them has now become +obsolete. Yet this stickling for the unities has been merely the chief +amongst many examples of the proneness the critical mind has exhibited +towards limiting literary appreciation and production by single +standards of taste. [_and limitations by still narrower classical +standards._] The same tone of mind that contended for the classical +unities had in an earlier generation contended for the classical +languages as the sole vehicle of literary expression, and the modern +languages of Europe had to assert their rights by hard fighting. In +Latin literature itself a more successful attempt has been made to limit +taste by the writers of a single period, the Augustan age, and so +construct a list of Latin poets which omits Lucretius. And for a short +period of the Renaissance movement the limitation was carried further to +a single one of the Augustan writers, and 'Ciceronianism' struggled hard +against the freedom of style it chose to nickname 'Apuleianism,' till it +fell itself before the laughter of Erasmus. [_Criticism failing to +distinguish the permanent and transitory._] It would seem almost to be a +radical law of the critical temperament that admiration for the past +paralyses faith in the future; while criticism proves totally unable to +distinguish between what has been essential in the greatness of its +idols and what has been as purely accidental as, to use Scott's +illustration, the shape of the drinking-glass is to the flavour of the +wine it contains. And if criticism has thus failed in distinguishing +what is permanent in past literature, it has proved equally mistaken in +what it has assumed to be accidental and transitory. Early commentators +on Shakespeare, whatever scruples they may have had upon other points, +had no misgivings in condemning the irregularities of his English and +correcting his grammar. This was described as obsolete by Dryden half a +century after the poet's death; while it is delicious to hear Steevens, +in the Advertisement to his edition of 1766, mentioning that 'some have +been of opinion that even a particular syntax prevailed in the time of +Shakespeare'--a novel suggestion he promptly rejects. If the two could +have lived each a century later, Dryden would have found Malone laying +down that Shakespeare had been the great purifyer and refiner of our +language, and Steevens would have seen Shakespeare's grammar studied +with the same minuteness and reduced to the same regular form as the +grammar of his commentators and readers; while one of the most +distinguished of our modern grammarians, instituting a comparison +between Elizabethan and nineteenth century English, fancies the +representative of the old-fashioned tongue characterising current speech +in the words of Sebastian: + + Surely + It is a sleepy language! + +[_Critical works where inductive retain their force, where judicial have +become obsolete._] + +The critics may themselves be called as chief witnesses against +themselves. Those parts of their works in which they apply themselves to +analysing and interpreting their authors survive in their full force: +where they judge, find fault, and attempt to regulate, they inevitably +become obsolete. Aristotle, the founder of all criticism, is for the +most part inductive in his method, describing poetry as it existed in +his day, distinguishing its different classes and elements, and +tabulating its usages: accordingly Aristotle's treatise, though more +than two thousand years old, remains the text-book of the Greek Drama. +In some places, however, he diverges from his main purpose, as in the +final chapter, in which he raises the question whether Epic or Tragic is +more excellent, or where he promises a special treatise to discuss +whether Tragedy is yet perfect: here he has for modern readers only the +interest of curiosity. Dr. Johnson's analysis of 'metaphysical poetry,' +Addison's development of the leading effects in _Paradise Lost_, remain +as true and forcible to-day as when they were written: Addison +constructing an order of merit for English poets with Cowley and Sprat +at the head, Dr. Johnson lecturing Shakespeare and Milton as to how they +ought to have written--these are to us only odd anachronisms. It is like +a contest with atomic force, this attempt at using ideas drawn from the +past to mould and limit productive power in the present and future. The +critic peers into the dimness of history, and is found to have been +blind to what was by his side: Boileau strives to erect a throne of +Comedy for Terence, and never suspects that a truer king was at hand in +his own personal friend Molière. It is in vain for critics to denounce, +their denunciation recoils on themselves: the sentence of Rymer that +the soul of modern Drama was a brutish and not a reasonable soul, or of +Voltaire, that Shakespeare's Tragedy would not be tolerated by the +lowest French mob, can harm none but Rymer and Voltaire. If the critics +venture to prophesy, the sequel is the only refutation of them needed; +if they give reasons, the reasons survive only to explain how the +critics were led astray; if they lay down laws, literary greatness in +the next generation is found to vary directly with the boldness with +which authors violate the laws. If they assume a judicial attitude, the +judgment-seat becomes converted into a pillory for the judge, and a +comic side to literary history is furnished by the mockery with which +time preserves the proportions of things, as seen by past criticism, to +be laid side by side with the true perspective revealed by actual +history. In such wise it has preserved to us the list of 'poets +laureate' who preceded Southey: Shadwell, Tate, Rowe, Eusden, Cibber, +Whitehead, Warton, Pye. It reveals Dryden sighing that Spenser could +only have read the rules of Bossu, or smitten with a doubt whether he +might not after all excuse Milton's use of blank verse 'by the example +of Hannibal Caro'; Rymer preferring Ben Jonson's _Catiline_ to all the +tragedies of the Elizabethan age, and declaring Waller's _Poem on the +Navy Royal_ beyond all modern poetry in any language; Voltaire wondering +that the extravagances of Shakespeare could be tolerated by a nation +that had seen Addison's _Cato_; Pope assigning three-score years and ten +as the limit of posthumous life to 'moderns' in poetry, and celebrating +the trio who had rescued from the 'uncivilised' Elizabethan poetry the +'fundamental laws of wit.' These three are Buckingham, Roscommon, and +Walsh: as to the last of whom if we search amongst contemporary +authorities to discover who he was, we at last come upon his works +described in the _Rambler_ as 'pages of inanity.' + +[_In actual practice criticism is found to have gradually approached +induction._] + +But in the conflict between judicial criticism and science the most +important point is to note how the critics' own ideas of criticism are +found to be gradually slipping away from them. Between the Renaissance +and the present day criticism, as judged by the methods actually +followed by critics, has slowly changed from the form of laying down +laws to authors into the form of receiving laws from authors. [_Five +stages. 1. Idea of judging solely by classical standards._] The process +of change falls into five stages. In its first stage the conception of +criticism was bounded by the notion of comparing whatever was produced +with the masterpieces and trying it by the ideas of Greek and Roman +literature. Boileau objected to Corneille's tragedies, not because they +did not excite admiration, but because admiration was not one of the +tragical passions as laid down by Aristotle. To Rymer's mind it was +clearly a case of classical standards or no standards, and he describes +his opponents as 'a kind of stage-quacks and empirics in poetry who have +got a receipt to please.' And there is a degree of _naïveté_ in the way +in which Bossu betrays his utter unconsciousness of the possibility that +there should be more than one kind of excellence, where, in a passage in +which he is admitting that the moderns have as much spirit and as lucky +fancies as the ancients, he nevertheless calls it 'a piece of injustice +to pretend that our new rules destroy the fancies of the old masters, +and that they must condemn all their works who could not foresee all our +humours.' Criticism in this spirit is notably illustrated by the +Corneille incident in the history of the French Academy. The fashionable +literary world, led by a Scudéry, solemnly impeach Corneille of +originality, and Richelieu insists on the Academy pronouncing judgment; +which they at last do, unwillingly enough, since, as Boileau admitted, +all France was against them. The only one that in the whole incident +retained his sense of humour was the victim himself; who, early in the +struggle, being confronted by critics recognising no merit but that of +obedience to rules, set himself to write his _Clitandre_ as a play +which should obey all the rules of Drama and yet have nothing in it: 'in +which,' he said, 'I have absolutely succeeded.' [2. _Recognition of +modern as illegitimate merit._]--But this reign of simple faith began to +be disturbed by sceptical doubts: it became impossible entirely to +ignore merit outside the pale of classical conformity. Thus we get a +Dennis unable to conceal his admiration for the daring of Milton, as a +man who knew the rules of Aristotle, 'no man better,' and yet violated +them. Literature of the modern type gets discussed as it were under +protest. Dr. Johnson, when he praises Addison's _Cato_ for adhering to +Aristotle's principles 'with a _scrupulousness_ almost unexampled on the +English stage,' is reflecting the constant assumption throughout this +transitional stage, that departure from classical models is the result +of carelessness, and that beauties in such offending writers are lucky +hits. The spirit of this period is distinctly brought out by Dr. Johnson +where he 'readily allows' that the union in one composition of serious +and ludicrous is 'contrary to the rules of criticism,' but, he adds, +'there is always an appeal open from criticism to nature.' [3. _Modern +standards of judging side by side with ancient._]--Once admitted to +examination the force of modern literature could not fail to assert its +equality with the literature of the ancients, and we pass into a third +stage of criticism when critics grasp the conception that there may be +more than one set of rules by which authors may be judged. The new +notion made its appearance early in the country which was the main +stronghold of the opposite view. Perrault in 1687 instituted his +'Parallels' between the ancients and the moderns to the advantage of the +latter; and the question was put in its naked simplicity by Fontenelle, +the 'Nestor of literature,' when he made it depend upon another +question, 'whether the trees that used to grow in our woods were larger +than those which grow now.' Later, and with less distinctness, English +criticism followed the lead. Pope, with his happy indifference to +consistency, after illustrating the first stage where he advises to +write 'as if the Stagirite o'erlooked each line,' and where he contends +that if the classical authors indulge in a licence that licence becomes +a law to us, elsewhere lays down that to apply ancient rules in the +treatment of modern literature is to try by the laws of one country a +man belonging to another. In one notable instance the genius of Dr. +Johnson rises superior to the prejudices of his age, and he vindicates +in his treatment of Shakespeare the conception of a school of Drama in +which the unities of time and place do not apply. But he does it with +trembling: 'I am almost frightened at my own temerity; and when I +estimate the fame and the strength of those who maintain the contrary +opinion, am ready to sink down in reverential silence.' [4. _Conception +of criticism as judging begins to waver:_]--Criticism had set out with +judging by one set of laws, it had come to judge by two: the change +began to shake the notion of _judging_ as the function of criticism, and +the eyes of critics came to be turned more to the idea of literary +beauty itself, as the end for which the laws of literary composition +were merely means. Addison is the great name connected with this further +transitional stage. We find Addison not only arguing negatively that +'there is sometimes a greater judgment shown in deviating from the rules +of art than in adhering to them,' [_changing to the search for +beauties:_] but even laying down as a positive theory that the true +function of a critic is 'to discover the concealed beauties of a +writer'; while the practical illustration of his theory which he gave in +the case of the _Paradise Lost_ is supposed to have revolutionised the +opinion of the fashionable reading-public. [5. _and finally to +investigation of laws in literature as it stands._]--Addison was removed +by a very little from the final stage of criticism, the conception of +which is perhaps most fully brought out by Gervinus, where he declares +his purpose of treating Shakespeare as the 'revealing genius' of his +department of art and of its laws. Thus slowly and by gradual stages has +the conception of criticism been changing in the direction of induction: +starting from judgment by the laws of the ancient classics as standards +beyond which there is no appeal, passing through the transitional stage +of greater and greater toleration for intrinsic worth though of a modern +type, to arrive at the recognition of modern standards of judgment side +by side with ancient; again passing through a further transitional stage +of discrediting judgment altogether as the purpose of criticism in +favour of the search for intrinsic worth in literature as it stands, +till the final conception is reached of analysing literature as it +stands for the purpose of discovering its laws in itself. The later +stages do not universally prevail yet. But the earlier stages have at +all events become obsolete; and there is no reader who will not +acquiesce cheerfully in one of the details Addison gives out for his +ideal theatre, by which Rymer's tragedy _Edgar_ was to be cut up into +snow to make the Storm Scene in Shakespeare's _Lear_. + + * * * * * + +[_Separateness of the two criticisms._] + +It may be well to recall the exact purpose to which the present argument +is intended to lead. The purpose is not to attack journalism and kindred +branches of criticism in the interests of inductive treatment. It would +be false to the principles of induction not to recognise that the +criticism of taste has long since established its position as a fertile +branch of literature. Even in an inductive system journalism would still +have place as a medium for fragmentary and tentative treatment. Moreover +it may be admitted that induction in its formal completeness of system +can never be applied in practical life; and in the intellectual pursuits +of real life trained literary taste may be a valuable acquisition. What +is here attacked is the mistake which has identified the criticism of +taste and valuation with the conception of criticism as a whole; the +intrusion of methods belonging to journalism into treatment that claims +to be systematic. [_Criticism of taste belongs to creative literature:_] +So far from being a standard of method in the treatment of literature, +criticism of the reviewer's order is outside science altogether. It +finds its proper place on the creative side of literature, as a branch +in which literature itself has come to be taken as a theme for literary +writing; it thus belongs to the literature treated, not to the +scientific treatment of it. [_as the lyrics of prose._] Reviews so +placed may be regarded almost as the lyrics of prose: like lyric poems +they have their completeness in themselves, and their interest lies, not +in their being parts of some whole, but in their flashing the +subjectivity of a writer on to a variety of isolated topics; they thus +have value, not as fragments of literary science, but as fragments of +Addison, of Jeffrey, of Macaulay. Nor is the bearing of the present +argument that commentators should set themselves to eulogise the authors +they treat instead of condemning them (though this would certainly be +the safer of two errors). The treatment aimed at is one independent of +praise or blame, one that has nothing to do with merit, relative or +absolute. The contention is for a branch of criticism separate from the +criticism of taste; a branch that, in harmony with the spirit of other +modern sciences, reviews the phenomena of literature as they actually +stand, enquiring into and endeavouring to systematise the laws and +principles by which they are moulded and produce their effects. +Scientific criticism and the criticism of taste have distinct spheres: +and the whole of literary history shows that the failure to keep the two +separate results only in mutual confusion. + +Our present purpose is with inductive criticism. What, by the analogy of +other sciences, is implied in the inductive treatment of literature? + +[_Application of induction to literary subject-matter._] + +The inductive sciences occupy themselves directly with facts, that is, +with phenomena translated by observation into the form of facts; and +soundness of inductive theory is measured by the closeness with which it +will bear confronting with the facts. In the case of literature and art +the facts are to be looked for in the literary and artistic productions +themselves: the dramas, epics, pictures, statues, pillars, capitals, +symphonies, operas--the details of these are the phenomena which the +critical observer translates into facts. A picture is a title for a +bundle of facts: that the painter has united so many figures in such and +such groupings, that he has given such and such varieties of colouring, +and such and such arrangement of light and shade. Similarly the _Iliad_ +is a short name implying a large number of facts characterising the +poem: that its principal personages are Agamemnon and Achilles, that +these personages are represented as displaying certain qualities, doing +certain deeds, and standing in certain relations to one another. + +[_Difficulty: the want of positiveness in literary impressions._] + +Here, however, arises that which has been perhaps the greatest +stumbling-block in the way of securing inductive treatment for +literature. Science deals only with ascertained facts: but the details +of literature and art are open to the most diverse interpretation. They +leave conflicting impressions on different observers, impressions both +subjective and variable in themselves, and open to all manner of +distracting influences, not excepting that of criticism itself. Where in +the treatment of literature is to be found the positiveness of +subject-matter which is the first condition of science? + +[_The difficulty not confined to literature._] + +In the first place it may be pointed out that this want of certainty in +literary interpretation is not a difficulty of a kind peculiar to +literature. The same object of terror will affect the members of a crowd +in a hundred different ways, from presence of mind to hysteria; yet this +has not prevented the science of psychology from inductively discussing +fear. Logic proposes to scientifically analyse the reasoning processes +in the face of the infinite degrees of susceptibility different minds +show to proof and persuasion. It has become proverbial that taste in art +is incapable of being settled by discussion, yet the art of music has +found exact treatment in the science of harmony. In the case of these +well-established sciences it has been found possible to separate the +variable element from that which is the subject-matter of the science: +such a science as psychology really covers two distinct branches of +thought, the psychology that discusses formally the elements of the +human mind, and another psychology, not yet systematised, that deals +with the distribution of these elements amongst different individuals. +It need then be no barrier to inductive treatment that in the case of +literature and art the will and consciousness act as disturbing forces, +refracting what may be called natural effects into innumerable effects +on individual students. It only becomes a question of practical +procedure, in what way the interfering variability is to be eliminated. + +[_The variable element to be eliminated by reference not to taste;_] + +It is precisely at this point that _à priori_ criticism and induction +part company. The _à priori_ critic gets rid of uncertainty in literary +interpretation by confining his attention to effects produced upon the +best minds: he sets up _taste_ as a standard by which to try impressions +of literature which he is willing to consider. The inductive critic +cannot have recourse to any such arbitrary means of limiting his +materials; for his doubts he knows no court of appeal except the appeal +to the literary works themselves. [_but to the objective details of the +literature itself._] The astronomer, from the vast distance of the +objects he observes, finds the same phenomenon producing different +results on different observers, and he has thus regularly to allow for +personal errors: but he deals with such discrepancies only by fresh +observations on the stars themselves, and it never occurs to him that he +can get rid of a variation by abstract argument or deference to a +greater observer. In the same way the inductive critic of literature +must settle his doubts by referring them to the literary productions +themselves; to him the question is not of the nobler view or the view in +best taste, but simply what view fits in best with the details as they +stand in actual fact. He quite recognises that it is not the objective +details but the subjective impressions they produce that make literary +effect, but the objective details are the _limit_ on the variability of +the subjective impressions. The character of Macbeth impresses two +readers differently: how is the difference to be settled? The _à priori_ +critic contends that his conception is the loftier; that a hero should +be heroic; that moreover the tradition of the stage and the greatest +names in the criticism of the past bear him out; or, finally, falls back +upon good taste, which closes the discussion. The inductive critic +simply puts together all the sayings and doings of Macbeth himself, all +that others in the play say and appear to feel about him, and whatever +view of the character is consistent with these and similar facts of the +play, that view he selects; while to vary from it for any external +consideration would seem to him as futile as for an astronomer to make a +star rise an hour earlier to tally with the movements of another star. + +[_Foundation axiom of the inductive criticism: Interpretation of the +nature of an hypothesis._] + +We thus arrive at a foundation axiom of inductive literary criticism: +_Interpretation in literature is of the nature of a scientific +hypothesis, the truth of which is tested by the degree of completeness +with which it explains the details of the literary work as they actually +stand_. That will be the true meaning of a passage, not which is the +most worthy, but which most nearly explains the words as they are; that +will be the true reading of a character which, however involved in +expression or tame in effect, accounts for and reconciles all that is +represented of the personage. The inductive critic will interpret a +complex situation, not by fastening attention on its striking elements +and ignoring others as oversights and blemishes, but by putting together +with business-like exactitude all that the author has given, weighing, +balancing, and standing by the product. He will not consider that he has +solved the action of a drama by some leading plot, or some central idea +powerfully suggested in different parts, but will investigate patiently +until he can find a scheme which will give point to the inferior as well +as to the leading scenes, and in connection with which all the details +are harmonised in their proper proportions. In this way he will be +raising a superstructure of exposition that rests, not on authority +however high, but upon a basis of indisputable fact. + +[_Practical objection: Did the authors intend those interpretations?_] + +In actual operation I have often found that such positive analysis +raises in the popular mind a very practical objection: that the +scientific interpretation seems to discover in literary works much more +in the way of purpose and design than the authors themselves can be +supposed to have dreamed of. Would not Chaucer and Shakespeare, it is +asked, if they could come to life now, be greatly astonished to hear +themselves lectured upon? to find critics knowing their purposes better +than they had known them themselves, and discovering in their works laws +never suspected till after they were dead, and which they themselves +perhaps would need some effort to understand? Deep designs are traced in +Shakespeare's plots, and elaborate combinations in his characters and +passions: is the student asked to believe that Shakespeare really +_intended_ these complicated effects? + +[_Answer: changed meaning of 'design' in science._] + +The difficulty rests largely upon a confusion in words. Such words as +'purpose,' 'intention,' have a different sense when used in ordinary +parlance from that which they bear when applied in criticism and +science. In ordinary parlance a man's 'purpose' means his conscious +purpose, of which he is the best judge; in science the 'purpose' of a +thing is the purpose it actually serves, and is discoverable only by +analysis. Thus science discovers that the 'purpose' of earthworms is to +break up the soil, the 'design' of colouring in flowers is to attract +insects, though the flower is not credited with fore-sight nor the worm +with disinterestedness. In this usage alone can the words 'purpose,' +'intention,' be properly applied to literature and art: science knows no +kind of evidence in the matter of creative purpose so weighty as the +thing it has actually produced. This has been well put by Ulrici: + + The _language_ of the artist is poetry, music, drawing, colouring: + there is no other form in which he can express himself with equal + depth and clearness. Who would ask a philosopher to paint his ideas + in colours? It would be equally absurd to think that because a poet + cannot say with perfect philosophic certainty in the form of + reflection and pure thought what it was that he wished and intended + to produce, that he never thought at all, but let his imagination + improvise at random. + +Nothing is more common than for analysis to discover design in what, so +far as consciousness is concerned, has been purely instinctive. Thus +physiology ascertains that bread contains all the necessary elements of +food except one, which omission happens to be supplied by butter: this +may be accepted as an explanation of our 'purpose' in eating butter with +bread, without the explanation being taken to imply that all who have +ever fed on bread and butter have consciously _intended_ to combine the +nitrogenous and oleaginous elements of food. It is the natural order of +things that the practical must precede the analytic. Bees by instinct +construct hexagonal cells, and long afterwards mensuration shows that +the hexagon is the most economic shape for such stowage; individual +states must rise and fall first before the sciences of history and +politics can come to explain the how and why of their mutations. +Similarly it is in accordance with the order of things that Shakespeare +should produce dramas by the practical processes of art-creation, and +that it should be left for others, his critics succeeding him at long +intervals, to discover by analysis his 'purposes' and the laws which +underlie his effects. The poet, if he could come to life now, would not +feel more surprise at this analysis of his 'motives' and unfolding of +his unconscious 'design' than he would feel on hearing that the beating +of his heart--to him a thing natural enough, and needing no +explanation--had been discovered to have a distinct purpose he could +never have dreamed of in propelling the circulation of his blood, a +thing of which he had never heard. + +[_Three points of contrast between judicial and inductive criticism._] + +There are three leading ideas in relation to which inductive and +judicial criticism are in absolute antagonism: to bring out these +contrasts will be the most effective way of describing the inductive +treatment. + +The first of these ideas is order of merit, together with the kindred +notions of partisanship and hostility applied to individual authors and +works. [1. _Comparisons of merit: these outside science._] The minds of +ordinary readers are saturated with this class of ideas; they are the +weeds of taste, choking the soil, and leaving no room for the purer +forms of literary appreciation. Favoured by the fatal blunder of modern +education, which considers every other mental power to stand in need of +training, but leaves taste and imagination to shift for themselves, +literary taste has largely become confused with a spurious form of it: +the mere taste for competition, comparison of likes and dislikes, gossip +applied to art and called criticism. Of course such likes and dislikes +must always exist, and journalism is consecrated to the office of giving +them shape and literary expression; though it should be led by +experience, if by nothing else, to exercise its functions with a double +reserve, recognising that the judicial attitude of mind is a limit on +appreciation, and that the process of testing will itself be tried by +the test of vitality. But such preferences and comparisons of merit must +be kept rigidly outside the sphere of science. Science knows nothing of +competitive examination: a geologist is not heard extolling old red +sandstone as a model rock-formation, or making sarcastic comments on the +glacial epoch. Induction need not disturb the freedom with which we +attach ourselves to whatever attracts our individual dispositions: +individual partisanship for the wooded snugness of the Rhine or the bold +and bracing Alps is unaffected by the adoption of exact methods in +physical geography. What is to be avoided is the confusion of two +different kinds of interest attaching to the same object. In the study +of the stars and the rocks, which can inspire little or no personal +interest, it is easy to keep science pure; to keep it to 'dry light,' as +Heraclitus calls it, intelligence unclouded by the humours of individual +sentiment, as Bacon interprets. But when science comes to be applied to +objects which can excite emotion and inspire affection, then confusion +arises, and the scientific student of political economy finds his +treatment of pauperism disturbed by the philanthropy which belongs to +him as a man. Still more in so emotional an atmosphere as the study of +beauty, the student must use effort to separate the _beauty_ of an +object, which is a thing of art and perfectly analysable, from his +personal _interest_ in it, which is as distinctly external to the +analysis of beauty as his love for his dog is external to the science of +zoology. The possibility of thus separating interest and perception of +beauty without diminishing either may be sufficiently seen in the case +of music--an art which has been already reduced to scientific form. +Music is as much as any art a thing of tastes and preferences; besides +partialities for particular masters one student will be peculiarly +affected by melody, another is all for dramatic effect, others have a +special taste for the fugue or the sonata. No one can object to such +preferences, but the science of music knows nothing about them; its +exposition deals with modes of treatment or habits of orchestration +distinguishing composers, irrespective of the private partialities they +excite. Mozart and Wagner are analysed as two items in the sum of facts +which make up music; and if a particular expositor shows by a turn in +the sentence that he has a leaning to one or the other, the slip may do +no harm, but for the moment science has been dropped. + +[_Inductive treatment concerned with differences of kind, not of +degree._] + +There is, however, a sort of difference between authors and works, the +constant recognition of which would more than make up to cultured +pleasure for discarding comparisons of merit. Inductive treatment is +concerned with _differences of kind_ as distinguished from differences +of degree. Elementary as this distinction is, the power of firmly +grasping it is no slight evidence of a trained mind: the power, that is, +of clearly seeing that two things are different, without being at the +same time impelled to rank one above the other. The confusion of the two +is a constant obstacle in the way of literary appreciation. It has been +said, by way of comparison between two great novelists, that George +Eliot constructs characters, but Charlotte Brontë creates them. The +description (assuming it to be true) ought to shed a flood of interest +upon both authoresses; by perpetually throwing on the two modes of +treatment the clear light of contrast it ought to intensify our +appreciation of both. As a fact, however, the description is usually +quoted to suggest a preference for Charlotte Brontë on the supposed +ground that creation is 'higher' than construction; and the usual +consequences of preferences are threatened--the gradual closing of our +susceptibilities to those qualities in the less liked of the two which +do not resemble the qualities of the favourite. Yet why should we not be +content to accept such a description (if true) as constituting a +difference of kind, and proceed to recognise 'construction' and +'creation' as two parallel modes of treatment, totally distinct from one +another in the way in which a fern is distinct from a flower, a +distinction allowing no room for preferences because there is no common +ground on which to compare? This separateness once granted, the mind, +instead of having to choose between the two, would have scope for taking +in to the full the detailed effects flowing from both modes of +treatment, and the area of mental pleasure would be enlarged. The great +blunders of criticism in the past, which are now universally admitted, +rest on this inability to recognise differences of kind in literature. +The Restoration poets had a mission to bring the heroic couplet to +perfection: poetry not in their favourite measure they treated, not as +different, but as bad, and rewrote or ignored Spenser and Milton. And +generations of literary history have been wasted in discussing whether +the Greek dramatists or Shakespeare were the higher: now every one +recognises that they constitute two schools different in kind that +cannot be compared. + +[_Distinctions of kind a primary element in appreciation._] + +It is hardly going too far to assert that this sensitiveness to +differences of kind as distinguished from differences of degree is the +first condition of literary appreciation. Nothing can be more essential +to art-perception than receptiveness, and receptiveness implies a change +in the receptive attitude of mind with each variety of art. To +illustrate by an extreme case. Imagine a spectator perfectly familiar +with the Drama, but to whom the existence of the Opera was unknown, and +suppose him to have wandered into an opera-house, mistaking it for a +theatre. At first the mistake under which he was labouring would distort +every effect: the elaborate overture would seem to him a great 'waste' +of power in what was a mere accessory; the opening recitative would +strike him as 'unnaturally' delivered, and he would complain of the +orchestral accompaniment as a 'distraction'; while at the first aria he +would think the actor gone mad. As, however, arias, terzettos, +recitatives succeeded one another, he must at last catch the idea that +the music was an essential element in the exhibition, and that he was +seeing, not a drama, but a drama translated into a different kind of +art. The catching of this idea would at once make all the objectionable +elements fall into their proper places. No longer distracted by the +thought of the ordinary Drama, his mind would have leisure to catch the +special effects of the Opera: he would feel how powerfully a change of +passion could move him when magnified with all the range of expression +an orchestra affords, and he would acknowledge a dramatic touch as the +diabolic spirit of the conspirator found vent in a double D. The +illustration is extreme to the extent of absurdity: but it brings out +how expectation plays an important part in appreciation, and how the +expectation has to be adapted to that on which it is exercised. The +receptive attitude is a sort of mental focus which needs adjusting +afresh to each variety of art if its effects are to be clearly caught; +and to disturb attention when engaged on one species of literature by +the thought of another is as unreasonable as to insist on one +microscopic object appearing definite when looked at with a focus +adjusted to another object. [_Each author a separate species._] This +will be acknowledged in reference to the great divisions of art: but +does it not apply to the species as well as the genera, indeed to each +individual author? Wordsworth has laid down that each fresh poet is to +be tried by fresh canons of taste: this is only another way of saying +that the differences between poets are differences of kind, that each +author is a 'school' by himself, and can be appreciated only by a +receptive attitude formed by adjustment to himself alone. In a +scientific treatment of literature, at all events, an elementary axiom +must be: [_Second axiom of inductive criticism: its function in +distinguishing literary species._] _That inductive criticism is mainly +occupied in distinguishing literary species_. And on this view it will +clearly appear how such notions as order of merit become disturbing +forces in literary appreciation: unconsciously they apply the +_qualitative_ standard of the favourite works to works which must +necessarily be explained by a different standard. They are defended on +the ground of pleasure, but they defeat their own object: no element in +pleasure is greater than variety, and comparisons of merit, with every +other form of the judicial spirit, are in reality arrangements for +appreciating the smallest number of varieties. + +[II. _The 'laws of art': confusion between law external and +scientific._] + +The second is the most important of the three ideas, both for its effect +in the past and for the sharpness with which it brings judicial and +inductive criticism into contrast. It is the idea that there exist +'laws' of art, in the same sense in which we speak of laws in morality +or the laws of some particular state--great principles which have been +laid down, and which are binding on the artist as the laws of God or his +country are binding on the man; that by these, and by lesser principles +deduced from these, the artist's work is to be tried, and praise or +blame awarded accordingly. Great part of formal criticism runs on these +lines; while, next in importance to comparisons of merit, the popular +mind considers literary taste to consist in a keen sensitiveness to the +'faults' and 'flaws' of literary workmanship. + +This attitude to art illustrates the enormous misleading power of the +metaphors that lie concealed in words. The word 'law,' justly applicable +in one of its senses to art, has in practice carried with it the +associations of its other sense; and the mistake of metaphor has been +sufficient to distort criticism until, as Goldsmith remarks, rules have +become the greatest of all the misfortunes which have befallen the +commonwealth of letters. Every expositor has had to point out the +widespread confusion between the two senses of this term. Laws in the +moral and political world are external obligations, restraints of the +will; they exist where the will of a ruler or of the community is +applied to the individual will. In science, on the other hand, law has +to do not with what ought to be, but with what is; scientific laws are +facts reduced to formulæ, statements of the habits of things, so to +speak. The laws of the stars in the first sense could only mean some +creative fiat, such as 'Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven'; +in the scientific sense laws of the stars are summaries of their +customary movements. In the act of getting drunk I am violating God's +moral law, I am obeying his law of alcoholic action. So scientific laws, +in the case of art and literature, will mean descriptions of the +practice of artists or the characteristics of their works, when these +will go into the form of general propositions as distinguished from +disconnected details. The key to the distinction is the notion of +external authority. There cannot be laws in the moral and political +sense without a ruler or legislative authority; in scientific laws the +law-giver and the law-obeyer are one and the same, and for the laws of +vegetation science looks no further than the facts of the vegetable +world. [_The 'laws of art' are scientific laws._] In literature and art +the term 'law' applies only in the scientific sense; the laws of the +Shakespearean Drama are not laws imposed by some external authority upon +Shakespeare, but laws of dramatic practice derived from the analysis of +his actual works. Laws of literature, in the sense of external +obligations limiting an author, there are none: if he were voluntarily +to bind himself by such external laws, he would be so far curtailing +art; it is hardly a paradox to say the art is legitimate only when it +does not obey laws. [_The word 'fault' meaningless in inductive +criticism._] What applies to the term 'law' applies similarly to the +term 'fault.' The term is likely always to be used from its extreme +convenience in art-training; but it must be understood strictly as a +term of education and discipline. In inductive criticism, as in the +other inductive sciences, the word 'fault' has no meaning. If an artist +acts contrary to the practice of all other artists, the result is either +that he produces no art-effect at all, in which case there is nothing +for criticism to register and analyse, or else he produces a new effect, +and is thus extending, not breaking, the laws of art. The great clash of +horns in Beethoven's Heroic Symphony was at first denounced as a gross +fault, a violation of the plainest laws of harmony; now, instead of a +'fault,' it is spoken of as a 'unique effect,' and in the difference +between the two descriptions lies the whole difference between the +conceptions of judicial and inductive criticism. Again and again in the +past this notion of faults has led criticism on to wrong tracks, from +which it has had to retrace its steps on finding the supposed faults to +be in reality new laws. Immense energy was wasted in denouncing +Shakespeare's 'fault' of uniting serious with light matter in the same +play as a violation of fundamental dramatic laws; experience showed this +mixture of passions to be the source of powerful art-effects hitherto +shut out of the Drama, and the 'fault' became one of the distinguishing +'laws' in the most famous branch of modern literature. It is necessary +then to insist upon the strict scientific sense of the term 'law' as +used of literature and art; and the purging of criticism from the +confusion attaching to this word is an essential step in its elevation +to the inductive standard. It is a step, moreover, in which it has been +preceded by other branches of thought. At one time the practice of +commerce and the science of economy suffered under the same confusion: +the battle of 'free trade' has been fought, the battle of 'free art' is +still going on. In time it will be recognised that the practice of +artists, like the operations of business, must be left to its natural +working, and the attempt to impose external canons of taste on artists +will appear as futile as the attempt to effect by legislation the +regulation of prices. + +[_Objection as to the moral purpose of literature:_] + +Objections may possibly be taken to this train of argument on very high +grounds, as if the protest against the notion of law-obeying in art were +a sort of antinomianism. Literature, it may be said, has a moral +purpose, to elevate and refine, and no duty can be higher than that of +pointing out what in it is elevating and refining, and jealously +watching against any lowering of its standard. [_this outside inductive +treatment, though intrinsically more important._] Such contention may +readily be granted, and yet may amount to no more than this: that there +are ways of dealing with literature which are more important than +inductive criticism, but which are none the less outside it. Jeremy +Collier did infinite service to our Restoration Drama, but his was not +the service of a scientific critic. The same things take different ranks +as they are tried by the standards of science or morals. An enervating +climate may have the effect of enfeebling the moral character, but this +does not make the geographer's interest in the tropical zone one whit +the less. Economy concerns itself simply with the fact that a certain +subsidence of profits in a particular trade will drive away capital to +other trades. But the details of human experience that are latent in +such a proposition: the chilling effects of unsuccess and the dim colour +it gives to the outlook into the universe, the sifting of character and +separation between the enterprising and the simple, the hard thoughts as +to the mysterious dispensations of human prosperity, the sheer misery of +a wage-class looking on plenty and feeling starvation--this human drama +of failing profits may be vastly more important than the whole science +of economy, but economy none the less entirely and rightly ignores it. + +[_Objection: Art as an arbitrary product not subject to law._] + +To some, I know, it appears that literature is a sphere in which the +strict sense of the word 'law' has no application: that such laws belong +to nature, not to art. The essence, it is contended, of the natural +sciences is the certainty of the facts with which they deal. Art, on the +contrary, is creative; it does not come into the category of objective +phenomena at all, but is the product of some artist's will, and +therefore purely arbitrary. If in a compilation of observations in +natural history for scientific use it became known that the compiler had +at times drawn upon his imagination for his details, the whole +compilation would become useless; and any scientific theories based upon +it would be discredited. But the artist bases his work wholly on +imagination, and caprice is a leading art-beauty: how, it is asked, can +so arbitrary a subject-matter be reduced to the form of positive laws? + +[_Third axiom of inductive criticism: art a part of nature._] + +In view of any such objections, it may be well to set up a third axiom +of inductive criticism: _That art is a part of nature_. Nature, it is +true, is the vaguest of words: but this is a vagueness common to the +objection and the answer. The objection rests really on a false +antithesis, of which one term is 'nature,' while it is not clear what is +the other term; the axiom set up in answer implies that there is no real +distinction between 'nature' and the other phenomena which are the +subject of human enquiry. The distinction is supposed to rest upon the +degree to which arbitrary elements of the mind, such as imagination, +will, caprice, enter into such a thing as art-production. [_Other +arbitrary products subject to inductive treatment._] But there are other +things in which the human will plays as much part as it does in art, and +which have nevertheless proved compatible with inductive treatment. +Those who hold that 'thought is free' do not reject psychology as an +inductive science; actual politics are made up of struggles of will, +exercises of arbitrary power, and the like, and yet there is a political +science. If there is an inductive science of politics, men's voluntary +actions in the pursuit of public life, and an inductive science of +economy, men's voluntary actions in pursuit of wealth, why should there +not be an inductive science of art, men's voluntary actions in pursuit +of the beautiful? The whole of human action, as well as the whole of +external nature, comes within the jurisdiction of science; so far from +the productions of the will and imagination being exempted from +scientific treatment, will and imagination themselves form chapters in +psychology, and caprice has been analysed. + +[III. _Testing by fixed standards inconsistent with inductive +treatment._] + +It remains to notice the third of the three ideas in relation to which +the two kinds of criticism are in complete contrast with one another. It +is a vague notion, which no objector would formulate, but which as a +fact does underlie judicial criticism, and insensibly accompanies its +testing and assaying. It is the idea that the foundations of literary +form have reached their final settlement, the past being tacitly taken +as a standard for the present and future, or the present as a standard +for the past. Thus in the treatment of new literature the idea manifests +itself in a secret antagonism to variations from received models; at the +very least, new forms are called upon to justify themselves, and so the +judicial critic brings his least receptive attitude to the new effects +which need receptiveness most. In opposition to this tacit assumption, +inductive criticism starts with a distinct counter-axiom of the utmost +importance: _That literature is a thing of development_. [_Fourth axiom +of inductive criticism: literature a thing of development._] This axiom +implies that the critic must come to literature as to that in which he +is expecting to find unlimited change and variety; he must keep before +him the fact that production must always be far ahead of criticism and +analysis, and must have carried its conquering invention into fresh +regions before science, like settled government in the wake of the +pioneer, follows to explain the new effects by new principles. No doubt +in name literary development is recognised in all criticism; yet in its +treatment both of old literature and new the _à priori_ criticism is +false to development in the scientific sense of the term. [_Ignoring of +development in new literature:_] Such systems are apt to begin by laying +down that 'the object of literature is so and so,' or that 'the purpose +of the Drama is to pourtray human nature'; they then proceed to test +actual literature and dramas by the degree in which they carry out these +fundamental principles. Such procedure is the opposite of the inductive +method, and is a practical denial of development in literature. +[_'purpose' in literature continually modifying._] Assuming that the +object of existing literature were correctly described, such a formula +could not bind the literature of the future. Assuming that there was +ever a branch of art which could be reduced to one simple purpose, yet +the inherent tendency of the human mind and its productions to develop +would bring it about that what were at first means towards this purpose +would in time become ends in themselves side by side with the main +purpose, giving us in addition to the simple species a modified variety +of it; external influences, again, would mingle with the native +characteristics of the original species, and produce new species +compound in their purposes and effects. The real literature would be +ever obeying the first principle of development and changing from simple +to complex, while the criticism that tried it by the original standard +would be at each step removed one degree further from the only standard +by which the literature could be explained. [_Development in past +literature confused with improvement._] And if judicial criticism fails +in providing for development in the future and present, it is equally +unfortunate in giving a false twist to development when looked for in +the past. The critic of comparative standards is apt to treat early +stages of literature as elementary, tacitly assuming his own age as a +standard _up to_ which previous periods have developed. Thus his +treatment of the past becomes often an assessment of the degrees in +which past periods have approximated to his own, advancing from literary +pot-hooks to his own running facility. The clearness of an ancient +writer he values at fifty per cent. as compared with modern standards, +his concatenation of sentences is put down as only forty-five. But what +if a certain degree of mistiness be an essential element in the phase +of literary development to which the particular writer belongs, so that +in him modern clearness would become, in judicial phrase, a fault? What +if Plato's concatenation of sentences would simply spoil the flavour of +Herodotus's story-telling, if Jeremy Taylor's prolixity and Milton's +bi-lingual prose be simply the fittest of all dresses for the thought of +their age and individual genius? In fact, the critic of fixed standards +confuses development with _improvement_: a parallel mistake in natural +history would be to understand the statement that man is higher in the +scale of development than the butterfly as implying that a butterfly was +God's failure in the attempt to make man. The inductive critic will +accord to the early forms of his art the same independence he accords to +later forms. Development will not mean to him education for a future +stage, but the perpetual branching out of literary activity into ever +fresh varieties, different in kind from one another, and each to be +studied by standards of its own: the 'individuality' of authors is the +expression in literary parlance which corresponds to the perpetual +'differentiation' of new species in science. Alike, then, in his +attitude to the past and the future, the inductive critic will eschew +the temptation to judgment by fixed standards, which in reality means +opposing lifeless rules to the ever-living variety of nature. He will +leave a dead judicial criticism to bury its dead authors and to pen for +them judicious epitaphs, and will himself approach literature filled +equally with reverence for the unbroken vitality of its past and faith +in its exhaustless future. + +[_Summary._] + +To gather up our results. Induction, as the most universal of scientific +methods, may be presumed to apply wherever there is a subject-matter +reducible to the form of fact; such a subject-matter will be found in +literature where its effects are interpreted, not arbitrarily, but with +strict reference to the details of the literary works as they actually +stand. There is thus an inductive literary criticism, akin in spirit +and methods to the other inductive sciences, and distinct from other +branches of criticism, such as the criticism of taste. This inductive +criticism will entirely free itself from the judicial spirit and its +comparisons of merit, which is found to have been leading criticism +during half its history on to false tracks from which it has taken the +other half to retrace its steps. On the contrary, inductive criticism +will examine literature in the spirit of pure investigation: looking for +the laws of art in the practice of artists, and treating art, like the +rest of nature, as a thing of continuous development, which may thus be +expected to fall, with each author and school, into varieties distinct +in kind from one another, and each of which can be fully grasped only +when examined with an attitude of mind adapted to the special variety +without interference from without. + + * * * * * + +To illustrate the criticism thus described in its application to +Shakespeare is the purpose of the present work. + +The scope of the book is limited to the consideration of Shakespeare in +his character as the great master of the Romantic Drama; and its +treatment of his dramatic art divides itself into two parts. The first +applies the inductive method in a series of Studies devoted to +particular plays, and to single important features of dramatic art which +these plays illustrate. One of the purposes of this first part is to +bring out how the inductive method, besides its scientific interest, has +the further recommendation of assisting more than any other treatment to +enlarge our appreciation of the author and of his achievements. The +second part will use the materials collected in the first part to +present, in the form of a brief survey, Dramatic Criticism as an +inductive science: enumerating, so far as its materials admit, the +leading topics which such a science would treat, and arranging these +topics in the logical connection which scientific method requires. + + + + +PART FIRST. + +SHAKESPEARE CONSIDERED AS A DRAMATIC ARTIST _IN TEN STUDIES_. + + + + +I. + +THE TWO STORIES SHAKESPEARE BORROWS FOR HIS MERCHANT OF VENICE. + +_A Study in the Raw Material of the Romantic Drama_. + + +[_Story as the Raw Materials of the Romantic Drama._] + +THE starting-point in the treatment of any work of literature is its +position in literary history: the recognition of this gives the attitude +of mind which is most favourable for extracting from the work its full +effect. The division of the universal Drama to which Shakespeare belongs +is known as the 'Romantic Drama,' one of its chief distinctions being +that it uses the stories of Romance, together with histories treated as +story-books, as the sources from which the matter of the plays is taken; +Romances are the _raw material_ out of which the Shakespearean Drama is +manufactured. This very fact serves to illustrate the elevation of the +Elizabethan Drama in the scale of literary development: just as the +weaver uses as his raw material that which is the finished product of +the spinner, so Shakespeare and his contemporaries start in their art of +dramatising from Story which is already a form of art. In the +exhibition, then, of Shakespeare as an Artist, it is natural to begin +with the raw material which he worked up into finished masterpieces. For +illustration of this no play could be more suitable than _The Merchant +of Venice_, in which two tales, already familiar in the story form, have +been woven together into a single plot: the Story of the Cruel Jew, who +entered into a bond with his enemy of which the forfeit was to be a +pound of this enemy's own flesh, and the Story of the Heiress and the +Caskets. The present study will deal with the stories themselves, +considering them as if with the eye of a dramatic artist to catch the +points in which they lend themselves to dramatic effect; the next will +show how Shakespeare improves the stories in the telling, increasing +their dramatic force by the very process of working them up; a third +study will point out how, not content with two stories, he has added +others in the development of his plot, making it more complex only in +reality to make it more simple. + +[_Story of The Jew._] + +In the Story of the Jew the main point is its special capability for +bringing out the idea of _Nemesis_, one of the simplest and most +universal of dramatic motives. Described broadly, Nemesis is retribution +as it appears in the world of art. [_Nemesis as a dramatic idea._] In +reality the term covers two distinct conceptions: in ancient thought +Nemesis was an artistic bond between excess and reaction, in modern +thought it is an artistic bond between sin and retribution. The +distinction is part of the general difference between Greek and modern +views of life. [_Ancient conception: artistic connection between excess +and reaction._] The Greeks may be said to be the most artistic nation of +mankind, in the sense that art covered so large a proportion of their +whole personality: it is not surprising to find that they projected +their sense of art into morals. Aristotle was a moral philosopher, but +his system of ethics reads as an artistically devised pattern, in which +every virtue is removed at equal distances from vices of excess and +defect balancing it on opposite sides. The Greek word for law signifies +proportion and distribution, _nomos_; and it is only another form of it +that expresses _Nemesis_ as the power punishing violations of proportion +in things human. Distinct from Justice, which was occupied with crime, +Nemesis was a companion deity to Fortune; and as Fortune went through +the world distributing the good things of life heedlessly without regard +to merit, so Nemesis followed in her steps, and, equally without regard +to merit, delighted in cutting down the prosperity that was high enough +to attract her attention. Polycrates is the typical victim of such +Nemesis: cast off by his firmest ally for no offence but an unbroken +career of good luck, in the reaction from which his ally feared to be +involved; essaying as a forlorn hope to propitiate by voluntarily +throwing in the sea his richest crown-jewel; recognising when this was +restored by fishermen that heaven had refused his sacrifice, and +abandoning himself to his fate in despair. But Nemesis, to the moral +sense of antiquity, could go even beyond visitation on innocent +prosperity, and goodness itself could be carried to a degree that +invited divine reaction. Heroes like Lycurgus and Pentheus perished for +excess of temperance; and the ancient Drama startles the modern reader +with an Hippolytus, whose passionate purity brought down on him a +destruction prophesied beforehand by those to whom religious duty +suggested moderate indulgence in lust. + +[_Modern conception: artistic connection between sin and retribution._] + +Such malignant correction of human inequalities is not a function to +harmonise with modern conceptions of Deity. Yet the Greek notion of +Nemesis has an element of permanency in it, for it represents a +principle underlying human life. It suggests a sort of elasticity in +human experience, a tendency to rebound from a strain; this is the +equilibrium of the moral world, the force which resists departure from +the normal, becoming greater in proportion as departure from the normal +is wider. Thus in commercial speculation there is a safe medium certain +to bring profit in the long run; in social ambition there is a certain +rise though slow: if a man hurries to be rich, or seeks to rise in +public life by leaps and bounds, the spectator becomes aware of a secret +force that has been set in motion, as when the equilibrium of physical +bodies has been disturbed, which force threatens to drag the aspirant +down to the point from which he started, or to debase him lower in +proportion to the height at which he rashly aimed. Such a force is +'risk,' and it may remain risk, but if it be crowned with the expected +fall the whole is recognised as 'Nemesis.' This Nemesis is deeply +embedded in the popular mind and repeatedly crops up in its proverbial +wisdom. Proverbs like 'Grasp all, lose all,' 'When things come to the +worst they are sure to mend,' exactly express moral equilibrium, and the +'golden mean' is its proverbial formula. The saying 'too much of a good +thing' suggests that the Nemesis on departures from the golden mean +applies to good things as well as bad; while the principle is made to +apply even to the observation of the golden mean itself in the proverb +'Nothing venture, nothing have.' Nevertheless, this side of the whole +notion has in modern usage fallen into the background in comparison with +another aspect of Nemesis. The grand distinction of modern thought is +the predominance in it of moral ideas: they colour even its imagination; +and if the Greeks carried their art-sense into morals, modern instincts +have carried morals into art. In particular the speculations raised by +Christianity have cast the shadow of Sin over the whole universe. It has +been said that the conception of Sin is unknown to the ancients, and +that the word has no real equivalent in Latin or Classical Greek. The +modern mind is haunted by it. Notions of Sin have invaded art, and +Nemesis shows their influence: vague conceptions of some supernatural +vindication of artistic proportion in life have now crystallised into +the interest of watching morals and art united in their treatment of +Sin. The link between Sin and its retribution becomes a form of +art-pleasure; and no dramatic effect is more potent in modern Drama than +that which emphasises the principle that whatsoever a man soweth that +shall he also reap. + +[_Dramatic Nemesis latent in the Story of the Jew._] + +Now for this dramatic effect of Nemesis it would be difficult to find a +story promising more scope than the Story of the Cruel Jew. It will be +seen at once to contain a double nemesis, attaching to the Jew himself +and to his victim. The two moreover represent the different conceptions +of Nemesis in the ancient and modern world; Antonio's excess of moral +confidence suffers a nemesis of reaction in his humiliation, and +Shylock's sin of judicial murder finds a nemesis of retribution in his +ruin by process of law. The nemesis, it will be observed, is not merely +two-fold, but double in the way that a double flower is distinct from +two flowers: it is a nemesis _on_ a nemesis; the nemesis which visits +Antonio's fault is the crime for which Shylock suffers his nemesis. +Again, in that which gives artistic character to the reaction and the +retribution the two nemeses differ. Let St. Paul put the difference for +us: 'Some men's sins are evident, going before unto judgment; and some +they follow after.' So in cases like that of Shylock the nemesis is +interesting from its very obviousness and the impatience with which we +look for it; in the case of Antonio the nemesis is striking for the very +opposite reason, that he of all men seemed most secure against it. + +[_Antonio: perfection and self-sufficiency, the Nemesis of Surprise._] + +Antonio must be understood as a perfect character: for we must read the +play in the light of its age, and intolerance was a mediæval virtue. But +there is no single good quality that does not carry with it its special +temptation, and the sum of them all, or perfection, has its shadow in +self-sufficiency. It is so with Antonio. Of all national types of +character the Roman is the most self-sufficient, alike incorruptible by +temptation and independent of the softer influences of life: [=iii.= ii. +297.] we find that 'Roman honour' is the idea which Antonio's friends +are accustomed to associate with him. Further the dramatist contrives to +exhibit Antonio to us in circumstances calculated to bring out this +drawback to his perfection. In the opening scene we see the dignified +merchant-prince suffering under the infliction of frivolous visitors, to +which his friendship with the young nobleman exposes him: his tone +throughout the interview is that of the barest toleration, and suggests +that his courtesies are felt rather as what is due to himself than what +is due to those on whom they are bestowed. [=i.= i. 60-64.] When +Salarino makes flattering excuses for taking his leave, Antonio replies, +first with conventional compliment, + + Your worth is very dear in my regard, + +and then with blunt plainness, as if Salarino were not worth the trouble +of keeping up polite fiction: + + I take it, your own business calls on you + And you embrace the occasion to depart. + +[=i.= i. 8.] + +The visitors, trying to find explanation for Antonio's seriousness, +suggest that he is thinking of his vast commercial speculations; Antonio +draws himself up: + +[=i.= i. 41.] + + Believe me, no: I thank my fortune for it, + My ventures are not in one bottom trusted, + Nor to one place; nor is my whole estate + Upon the fortune of this present year: + Therefore my merchandise makes me not sad. + +Antonio is saying in his prosperity that _he_ shall never be moved. But +the great temptation to self-sufficiency lies in his contact, not with +social inferiors, but with a moral outcast such as Shylock: confident +that the moral gulf between the two can never be bridged over, Antonio +has violated dignity as well as mercy in the gross insults he has heaped +upon the Jew whenever they have met. [=i.= iii. 99 &c.] In the Bond +Scene we see him unable to restrain his insults at the very moment in +which he is soliciting a favour from his enemy; [=i.= iii. 107-130.] the +effect reaches a climax as Shylock gathers up the situation in a single +speech, reviewing the insults and taunting his oppressor with the +solicited obligation: + + Well then, it now appears you need my help: + Go to, then; you come to me, and you say, + 'Shylock, we would have moneys': you say so; + You, that did void your rheum upon my beard + And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur + Over your threshold: moneys is your suit. + +There is such a foundation of justice for these taunts that for a +moment our sympathies are transferred to Shylock's side. But Antonio, so +far from taking warning, is betrayed beyond all bounds in his defiance; +and in the challenge to fate with which he replies we catch the tone of +infatuated confidence, the _hybris_ in which Greek superstition saw the +signal for the descent of Nemesis. + +[=i.= iii. 131.] + + I am as like to call thee so again, + To spit on thee again, to spurn thee too. + If thou wilt lend this money, lend it not + As to thy friends ... + _But lend it rather to thine enemy, + Who, if he break, thou may'st with better face + Exact the penalty_. + +To this challenge of self-sufficiency the sequel of the story is the +answering Nemesis: the merchant becomes a bankrupt, the first citizen of +Venice a prisoner at the bar, the morally perfect man holds his life and +his all at the mercy of the reprobate he thought he might safely insult. + +[_Shylock: malignant justice, the Nemesis of Measure for Measure._] + +So Nemesis has surprised Antonio in spite of his perfectness: but the +malice of Shylock is such as is perpetually crying for retribution, and +the retribution is delayed only that it may descend with accumulated +force. In the case of this second nemesis the Story of the Jew exhibits +dramatic capability in the opportunity it affords for the sin and the +retribution to be included within the same scene. [=iv.= i.] Portia's +happy thought is a turning-point in the Trial Scene on the two sides of +which we have the Jew's triumph and the Jew's retribution; the two sides +are bound together by the principle of measure for measure, and for each +detail of vindictiveness that is developed in the first half of the +scene there is a corresponding item of nemesis in the sequel. [_Charter_ +v. _statute_. =iv.= i. 38; compare 102, 219.] To begin with, Shylock +appeals to the charter of the city. It is one of the distinctions +between written and unwritten law that no flagrant injustice can arise +out of the latter. If the analogy of former precedents would seem to +threaten such an injustice, it is easy in a new case to meet the special +emergency by establishing a new precedent; where, however, the letter of +the written law involves a wrong, however great, it must, nevertheless, +be exactly enforced. Shylock takes his stand upon written law; [compare +=iii.= iii. 26-31.] indeed upon the strictest of all kinds of written +law, for the charter of the city would seem to be the instrument +regulating the relations between citizens and aliens--an absolute +necessity for a free port--which could not be superseded without +international negotiations. But what is the result? As plaintiff in the +cause Shylock would, in the natural course of justice, leave the court, +when judgment had been given against him, with no further mortification +than the loss of his suit. He is about to do so when he is recalled: + + It is enacted in the laws of Venice, &c. + +[=iv.= i. 314.] + +Unwittingly, he has, by the action he has taken, entangled himself with +an old statute law, forgotten by all except the learned Bellario, which, +going far beyond natural law, made the mere attempt upon a citizen's +life by an alien punishable to the same extent as murder. Shylock had +chosen the letter of the law, and by the letter of the law he is to +suffer. [_Humour_ v. _quibble_.] Again, every one must feel that the +plea on which Portia upsets the bond is in reality the merest quibble. +It is appropriate enough in the mouth of a bright girl playing the +lawyer, but no court of justice could seriously entertain it for a +moment: by every principle of interpretation a bond that could justify +the cutting of human flesh must also justify the shedding of blood, +which is necessarily implied in such cutting. But, to balance this, we +have Shylock in the earlier part of the scene refusing to listen to +arguments of justice, and taking his stand upon his 'humour': [=iv.= i. +40-62.] if he has a whim, he pleads, for giving ten thousand ducats to +have a rat poisoned, who shall prevent him? The suitor who rests his +cause on a whim cannot complain if it is upset by a quibble. Similarly, +throughout the scene, every point in Shylock's justice of malice meets +its answer in the justice of nemesis. He is offered double the amount of +his loan: + +[_Offer of double_ v. _refusal of principal._] + + If every ducat in six thousand ducats + Were in six parts, and every part a ducat, + +he answers, he would not accept them in lieu of his bond. [=iv.= i. 318, +336.] The wheel of Nemesis goes round, and Shylock would gladly accept +not only this offer but even the bare principal; but he is denied, on +the ground that he has refused it in open court. They try to bend him to +thoughts of mercy: + +[_Complete security_ v. _total loss._] + + How shalt thou hope for mercy, rendering none? + +He dares to reply: + + What judgement shall I dread, doing no wrong? + +The wheel of Nemesis goes round, and Shylock's life and all lie at the +mercy of the victim to whom he had refused mercy and the judge to whose +appeal for mercy he would not listen. [_Exultation_ v. _irony._] In the +flow of his success, when every point is being given in his favour, he +breaks out into unseemly exultation: + +[=iv.= i. 223, 246, 250, 301, 304.] + + A Daniel come to judgement! yea, a Daniel! + +The ebb comes, and his enemies catch up the cry and turn it against him: + +[=iv.= i. 313, 317, 323, 333, 340.] + + A Daniel, still say I, a second Daniel! + I thank thee, Jew, for _teaching_ me that word. + +Such then is the Story of the Jew, and so it exhibits nemesis clashing +with nemesis, the nemesis of surprise with the nemesis of equality and +intense satisfaction. + + * * * * * + +[_The Caskets Story._] + +In the Caskets Story, which Shakespeare has associated with the Story of +the Jew, the dramatic capabilities are of a totally different kind. In +the artist's armoury one of the most effective weapons is Idealisation: +[_Idealisation:_] inexplicable touches throwing an attractiveness over +the repulsive, uncovering the truth and beauty which lie hidden in the +commonplace, and showing how much can be brought out of how little with +how little change. [_the exhibition of a commonplace experience in a +glorified form._] A story will be excellent material, then, for dramatic +handling which contains at once some experience of ordinary life, and +also the surroundings which can be made to exhibit this experience in a +glorified form: the more commonplace the experience, the greater the +triumph of art if it can be idealised. The point of the Caskets Story to +the eye of an artist in Drama is the opportunity it affords for such an +idealisation of the commonest problem in everyday experience--what may +be called the Problem of Judgment by Appearances. + +[_Problem of Judgment by Appearances._] + +In the choice between alternatives there are three ways in which +judgment may be exercised. The first mode, if it can be called judgment +at all, is to accept the decision of chance--to cast lots, or merely to +drift into a decision. An opposite to this is purely rational choice. +But rational choice, if strictly interpreted as a logical process, +involves great complications. If a man would choose according to the +methods of strict reason, he must, first of all, purge himself of all +passion, for passion and reason are antagonistic. Next, he must examine +himself as to the possibility of latent prejudice; and as prejudice may +be unconsciously inherited, he must include in the sphere of his +examination ancestral and national bias. Then, he must accumulate all +the evidence that can possibly bear upon the question in hand, and +foresee every eventuality that can result from either alternative. When +he has all the materials of choice before him, he must proceed to +balance them against one another, seeing first that the mental faculties +employed in the process have been equally developed by training. All +such preliminary conditions having been satisfied, he may venture to +enquire on which side the balance dips, maintaining his suspense so long +as the dip is undecided. And when a man has done all this he has +attained only that degree of approach to strictly rational choice which +his imperfect nature admits. Such pure reason has no place in real life: +judgment in practical affairs is something between chance and this +strict reason; it attempts to use the machinery of rational choice, but +only so far as practical considerations proper to the matter in hand +allow. This medium choice is what I am here calling Judgment by +Appearances, for it is clear that the antithesis between appearance and +reality will obtain so long as the materials of choice are +scientifically incomplete; the term will apply with more and more +appropriateness as the divergence from perfect conditions of choice is +greater. + +[_This idealised: a maximum in the issue._] + +Judgment by Appearances so defined is the only method of judgment proper +to practical life, and accordingly an exalted exhibition of it must +furnish a keen dramatic interest. How is such a process to be glorified? +Clearly Judgment by Appearances will reach the ideal stage when there is +the maximum of importance in the issue to be decided and the minimum of +evidence by which to decide it. These two conditions are satisfied in +the Caskets Story. In questions touching the individual life, that of +marriage has this unique importance, that it is bound up with wide +consequences which extend beyond the individual himself to his +posterity. With the suitors of Portia the question is of marriage with +the woman who is presented as supreme of her age in beauty, in wealth +and in character; [=ii.= i. 40, &c.] moreover, the other alternative is +a vow of perpetual celibacy. So the question at issue in the Caskets +Story concerns the most important act of life in the most important form +in which it can be imagined to present itself. [_and a minimum in the +evidence._] When we turn to the evidence on which this question is to be +decided we find that of rational evidence there is absolutely none. The +choice is to be made between three caskets distinguished by their metals +and by the accompanying inscriptions: + +[=ii.= vii. 5-9.] + + Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire. + Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves. + Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath. + +However individual fancies may incline, it is manifestly impossible to +set up any train of _reasoning_ which should discover a ground of +preference amongst the three. And it is worth noting, as an example of +Shakespeare's nicety in detail, that the successful chooser reads in the +scroll which announces his victory, + +[=iii.= ii. 132.] + + You that choose not by the view, + Chance _as_ fair, and choose _as_ true: + +Shakespeare does not say '_more_ fair,' '_more_ true.' [=i.= ii. 30-36.] +This equal balancing of the alternatives will appear still clearer when +we recollect that it is an intentional puzzle with which we are dealing, +and accordingly that even if ingenuity could discover a preponderance of +reason in favour of any one of the three, there would be the chance that +this preponderance had been anticipated by the father who set the +puzzle. The case becomes like that of children bidden to guess in which +hand a sweetmeat is concealed. They are inclined to say the right hand, +but hesitate whether that answer may not have been foreseen and the +sweetmeat put in the left hand; and if on this ground they are tempted +to be sharp and guess the left hand, there is the possibility that this +sharpness may have been anticipated, and the sweetmeat kept after all in +the right hand. If then the Caskets Story places before us three +suitors, going through three trains of intricate reasoning for guidance +in a matter on which their whole future depends, whereas we, the +spectators, can see that from the nature of the case no reasoning can +possibly avail them, we have clearly the Problem of Judgment by +Appearances drawn out in its ideal form; and our sympathies are +attracted by the sight of a process, belonging to our everyday +experience, yet developed before us in all the force artistic setting +can bestow. + +[_Solution of the problem: the characters of the choosers determine +their fates._] + +But is this all? Does Shakespeare display before us the problem, yet +give no help towards its solution? The key to the suitors' fates is not +to be found in the trains of reasoning they go through. [=iii.= ii, from +43; esp. 61.] As if to warn us against looking for it in this +direction. Shakespeare contrives that we never hear the reasonings of +the successful suitor. By a natural touch Portia, who has chosen +Bassanio in her heart, is represented as unable to bear the suspense of +hearing him deliberate, and calls for music to drown his meditations; it +is only the conclusion to which he has come that we catch as the music +closes. The particular song selected on this occasion points dimly in +the direction in which we are to look for the true solution of the +problem: + +[=iii.= ii. 63.] + + Tell me where is fancy bred, + Or in the heart or in the head? + +'Fancy' in Shakespearean English means 'love'; and the discussion, +whether love belongs to the head or the heart, is no inappropriate +accompaniment to a reality which consists in this--that the success in +love of the suitors, which they are seeking to compass by their +reasonings, is in fact being decided by their characters. + +To compare the characters of the three suitors, it will be enough to +note the different form that pride takes in each. [=ii.= i, vii.] The +first suitor is a prince of a barbarian race, who has thus never known +equals, but has been taught to consider himself half divine; as if made +of different clay from the rest of mankind he instinctively shrinks from +'lead.' [=ii.= vii. 20.] Yet modesty mingles with his pride, and though +he feels truly that, so far [=ii.= vii. 24-30.] as the estimation of him +by others is concerned, he might rely upon 'desert,' yet he doubts if +desert extends as far as Portia. [=ii.= vii, from 36.] What seizes his +attention is the words, 'what many men desire'; and he rises to a flight +of eloquence in picturing wildernesses and deserts become thoroughfares +by the multitude of suitors flocking to Belmont. But he is all the while +betraying a secret of which he was himself unconscious: he has been led +to seek the hand of Portia, not by true love, but by the feeling that +what all the world is seeking the Prince of Morocco must not be slow to +claim. Very different is the pride of Arragon. [=ii.= ix.] He has no +regal position, but rather appears to be one who has fallen in social +rank: [compare =ii.= ix. 47-9.] he makes up for such a fall by intense +pride of family, and is one of those who complacently thank heaven that +they are not as other men. The 'many men' which had attracted Morocco +repels Arragon: + +[=ii.= ix. 31.] + + I will not choose what many men desire, + Because I will not jump with common spirits, + And rank me with the barbarous multitudes. + +[=ii.= ix, from 36.] He is caught by the bait of 'desert.' It is true he +almost deceives us with the lofty tone in which he reflects how the +world would benefit if dignities and offices were in all cases purchased +by the merit of the wearer; yet there peeps through his sententiousness +his real conception of merit--the sole merit of family descent. His +ideal is that the 'true seed of honour' should be 'picked from the chaff +and ruin of the times,' and wrest greatness from the 'low peasantry' who +had risen to it. He accordingly rests his fate upon desert: and he finds +in the casket of his choice a fool's head. [=iii.= ii, from 73.] Of +Bassanio's soliloquy we hear enough to catch that his pride is the pride +of the soldier, who will yield to none the post of danger, [compare =i.= +ii. 124.] and how he is thus attracted by the 'threatening' of the +leaden casket: + + thou meagre lead, + Which rather threatenest than dost promise aught, + Thy paleness moves me more than eloquence. + +Moreover, he is a lover, and the threatening is a challenge to show what +he will risk for love: his true heart finds its natural satisfaction in +'giving and hazarding' his all. This is the pride that is worthy of +Portia; and thus the ingenious puzzle of the 'inspired' father has +succeeded in piercing through the outer defence of specious reasoning, +and carrying its repulsion and attraction to the inmost characters of +the suitors. + +[_General principle: character as an element in judgment._] + +Such, then, is Shakespeare's treatment of the Problem of Judgment by +Appearances: while he draws out the problem itself to its fullest extent +in displaying the suitors elaborating trains of argument for a +momentous decision in which we see that reason can be of no avail, he +suggests for the solution that, besides reason, there is in such +judgments another element, character, and that in those crises in which +reason is most fettered, character is most potent. An important solution +this is; for what is character? A man's character is the shadow of his +past life; it is the grand resultant of all the forces from within and +from without that have been operating upon him since he became a +conscious agent. Character is the sandy footprint of the commonplace +hardened into the stone of habit; it is the complexity of daily tempers, +judgments, restraints, impulses, all focussed into one master-passion +acting with the rapidity of an instinct. To lay down then, that where +reason fails as an element in judgment, character comes to its aid, is +to bind together the exceptional and the ordinary in life. In most of +the affairs of life men have scope for the exercise of commonplace +qualities, but emergencies do come where this is denied them; in these +cases, while they think, like the three suitors, that they are moving +voluntarily in the direction in which they are judging fit at the +moment, in reality the weight of their past lives is forcing them in the +direction in which their judgment has been accustomed to take them. Thus +in the moral, as in the physical world, nothing is ever lost: not a +ripple on the surface of conduct but goes on widening to the outermost +limit of experience. Shakespeare's contribution to the question of +practical judgment is that by the long exercise of commonplace qualities +we are building up a character which, though unconsciously, is the +determining force in the emergencies in which commonplace qualities are +impossible. + + + + +II. + +HOW SHAKESPEARE IMPROVES THE STORIES IN THE TELLING. + +_A Study in Dramatic Workmanship._ + + +[_Two points of Dramatic Mechanism._] + +IN treating the Story as the raw material of the Romantic Drama it has +already been shown, in the case of the stories utilised for _The +Merchant of Venice_, what natural capacities these exhibit for dramatic +effect. The next step is to show how the artist increases their dramatic +force in the process of working them up. Two points will be illustrated +in the present study: first, how Shakespeare meets the difficulties of a +story and reduces them to a minimum; secondly, how he improves the two +tales by weaving them together so that they assist one another's effect. + +[_Reduction of difficulties specially important in Drama._] + +The avoidance or reduction of difficulties in a story is an obvious +element in any kind of artistic handling; it is of special importance in +Drama in proportion as we are more sensitive to improbabilities in what +is supposed to take place before our eyes than in what we merely hear of +by narrative. This branch of art could not be better illustrated than in +the Story of the Jew: never perhaps has an artist had to deal with +materials so bristling with difficulties of the greatest magnitude, and +never, it may be added, have they been met with greater ingenuity. The +host of improbabilities gathering about such a detail as the pound of +flesh must strike every mind. [_First difficulty: monstrosity of the +Jew's character._] There is, however, preliminary to these, another +difficulty of more general application: the difficulty of painting a +character bad enough to be the hero of the story. It might be thought +that to paint excess of badness is comparatively easy, as needing but a +coarse brush. On the contrary, there are few severer tests of creative +power than the treatment of monstrosity. To be told that there is +villainy in the world and tacitly to accept the statement may be easy; +it is another thing to be brought into close contact with the villains, +to hear them converse, to watch their actions and occasionally to be +taken into their confidence. We realise in Drama through our sympathy +and our experience: in real life we have not been accustomed to come +across monsters and are unfamiliar with their behaviour; in proportion +then as the badness of a character is exaggerated it is carried outside +the sphere of our experience, the naturalness of the scene is +interrupted and its human interest tends to decline. So, in the case of +the story under consideration, the dramatist is confronted with this +dilemma: he must make the character of Shylock absolutely bad, or the +incident of the bond will appear unreal; he must not make the character +extraordinarily bad, or there is danger of the whole scene appearing +unreal. + +[_Its repulsiveness counteracted by sympathy with his wrongs._] + +Shakespeare meets a difficulty of this kind by a double treatment. On +the one hand, he puts no limits to the blackness of the character +itself; on the other hand, he provides against repulsiveness by giving +it a special attraction of another kind. In the present case, while +painting Shylock as a monster, he secures for him a hold upon our +sympathy by representing him as a victim of intolerable ill-treatment +and injustice. The effect resembles the popular sympathy with criminals. +The men themselves and their crimes are highly repulsive; but if some +slight irregularity occurs in the process of bringing them to +justice--if a counsel shows himself unduly eager, or a judge appears for +a moment one-sided, a host of volunteer advocates espouse their cause. +These are actuated no doubt by sensitiveness to purity of justice; but +their protests have a ring that closely resembles sympathy with the +criminals themselves, whom they not unfrequently end by believing to be +innocent and injured. [e.g. in =iii.= i, iii; =iv.= i; =ii.= 5.] In the +same way Shakespeare shows no moderation in the touches of +bloodthirstiness, of brutality, of sordid meanness he heaps together in +the character of Shylock; but he takes equal pains to rouse our +indignation at the treatment he is made to suffer. [e.g. =iii.= i.; +=iv.= i, &c.] Personages such as Gratiano, Salanio, Salarino, Tubal, +serve to keep before us the mediæval feud between Jew and Gentile, and +the persecuting insolence with which the fashionable youth met the +money-lenders who ministered to their necessities. [=i.= iii. 107-138.] +Antonio himself has stepped out of his natural character in the +grossness of his insults to his enemy. [=iii.= i. 57, 133; =iii.= iii. +22; and =i.= iii. 45.] Shylock has been injured in pocket as well as in +sentiment, Antonio using his wealth to disturb the money-market and +defeat the schemes of the Jew; according to Shylock Antonio has hindered +him of half-a-million, and were he out of Venice the usurer could make +what merchandise he would. Finally, our sense of deliverance in the +Trial Scene cannot hinder a touch of compunction for the crushed +plaintiff, as he appeals against the hard justice meted out to him:--the +loss of his property, the acceptance of his life as an act of grace, the +abandonment of his religion and race, which implies the abandonment of +the profession by which he makes his living. + +[=iv.= i. 374.] + + Nay, take my life and all; pardon not that: + You take my house when you do take the prop + That doth sustain my house; you take my life + When you do take the means whereby I live. + +By thus making us resent the harsh fate dealt to Shylock the dramatist +recovers in our minds the fellow-feeling we have lost in contemplating +the Jew himself. [_Dramatic Hedging._] A name for such double treatment +might be 'Dramatic Hedging': as the better covers a possible loss by a +second bet on the opposite side, so, when the necessities of a story +involve the creation of a monster, the dramatic artist 'hedges' against +loss of attractiveness by finding for the character human interest in +some other direction. So successful has Shakespeare been in the present +instance that a respectable minority of readers rise from the play +partisans of Shylock. + +[_Difficulties connected with the pound of flesh._] + +We pass on to the crop of difficulties besetting the pound of flesh as a +detail in the bond. That such a bond should be proposed, that when +proposed it should be accepted, that it should be seriously entertained +by a court of justice, that if entertained at all it should be upset on +so frivolous a pretext as the omission of reference to the shedding of +blood: these form a series of impossible circumstances that any +dramatist might despair of presenting with even an approach to +naturalness. Yet if we follow the course of the story as moulded by +Shakespeare we shall find all these impossibilities one after another +evaded. + +[_Proposal of the bond._] + +At the end of the first scene Antonio had bidden Bassanio go forth and +try what his credit could do in Venice. [=i.= i. 179.] Armed with this +blank commission Bassanio hurries into the city. As a gay young nobleman +he knows nothing of the commercial world except the money-lenders; and +now proceeds to the best-known of them, apparently unaware of what any +gossip on the Rialto could have told him, the unfortunate relations +between this Shylock and his friend Antonio. [compare =i.= iii. 1-40.] +At the opening of the Bond Scene we find Bassanio and Shylock in +conversation, Bassanio impatient and irritated to find that the famous +security he has to offer seems to make so little impression on the +usurer. [=i.= iii. 41.] At this juncture Antonio himself falls[1] in +with them, sees at a glance to what his rash friend has committed him, +but is too proud to draw back in sight of his enemy. Already a minor +difficulty is surmounted, as to how Antonio comes to be in the position +of asking an obligation of Shylock. Antonio is as impatient as dignity +will permit to bring an awkward business to a conclusion. Shylock, on +the contrary, to whom the interview itself is a triumph, in which his +persecutor is appearing before him in the position of a client, casts +about to prolong the conversation to as great a length as possible. Any +topic would serve his purpose; but what topic more natural than the +question at the root of the feud between the two, the question of +lending money on interest? It is here we reach the very heart of our +problem, how the first mention of the pound of flesh is made without a +shock of unreality sufficient to ruin the whole scene. Had Shylock asked +for a forfeiture of a million per cent., or in any other way thrown into +a commercial form his purpose of ruining Antonio, the old feud and the +present opportunity would be explanation sufficient: the real difficulty +is the total incongruity between such an idea as a pound of human flesh +and commercial transactions of any kind. [_The proposal led up to by the +discourse on interest._] This difficulty Shakespeare has met by one of +his greatest triumphs of mechanical ingenuity: his leading up to the +proposal of the bond by the discussion on interest. The effect of this +device a modern reader is in danger of losing: [=i.= iii, from 69.] we +are so familiar with the idea of interest at the present day that we are +apt to forget what the difficulty was to the ancient and mediæval mind, +which for so many generations kept the practice of taking interest +outside the pale of social decency. This prejudice was one of the +confusions arising out of the use of a metal currency. The ancient mind +could understand how corn put into the ground would by the agency of +time alone produce twentyfold, thirtyfold, or a hundredfold; they could +understand how cattle left to themselves would without human assistance +increase from a small to a large flock: but how could metal grow? how +could lifeless gold and silver increase and multiply like animals and +human beings? The Greek word for interest, _tokos_, is the exact +equivalent of the English word _breed_, and the idea underlying the two +was regularly connected with that of interest in ancient discussions. +The same idea is present throughout the dispute between Antonio and +Shylock. Antonio indignantly asks: + +[=i.= iii. 134.] + + when did friendship take + A _breed_ for _barren metal_ of his friend? + +[=i.= iii. 72.] + +Shylock illustrates usury by citing the patriarch Jacob and his clever +trick in cattle-breeding; showing how, at a time when cattle were the +currency, the natural rate of increase might be diverted to private +advantage. Antonio interrupts him: + +[=i.= iii. 96.] + + Is your gold and silver ewes and rams? + +Shylock answers: + + I cannot tell; I make it _breed_ as fast; + +both parties thus showing that they considered the distinction between +the using of flesh and metal for the medium of wealth to be the +essential point in their dispute. With this notion then of flesh +_versus_ money floating in the air between them the interview goes on to +the outbursts of mutual hatred which reach a climax in Antonio's +challenge to Shylock to do his worst; [=i.= iii, from 138.] this +challenge suddenly combines with the root idea of the conversation to +flash into Shylock's mind the suggestion of the bond. In an instant he +smoothes his face and proposes friendship. He will lend the money +without interest, in pure kindness, nay more, he will go to that extent +of good understanding implied in joking, and will have a merry bond; +while as to the particular joke (he says in effect), since you +Christians cannot understand interest in the case of money while you +acknowledge it in the case of flesh and blood, suppose I take as my +interest in this bond a pound of your own flesh. In such a context the +monstrous proposal sounds almost natural. It has further been ushered +in a manner which makes it almost impossible to decline it. When one who +is manifestly an injured man is the first to make advances, a generous +adversary finds it almost impossible to hold back. A sensitive man, +again, will shrink from nothing more than from the ridicule attaching to +those who take serious precautions against a jest. And the more +incongruous Shylock's proposal is with commercial negotiations the +better evidence it is of his non-commercial intentions. In a word, the +essence of the difficulty was the incongruity between human flesh and +money transactions: it has been surmounted by a discussion, flowing +naturally from the position of the two parties, of which the point is +the relative position of flesh and money as the medium of wealth in the +past. + +[_Difficulty of legally recognising the bond evaded:_] + +The bond thus proposed and accepted, there follows the difficulty of +representing it as entertained by a court of justice. With reference to +Shakespeare's handling of this point it may be noted, first, that he +leaves us in doubt whether the court would have entertained it: [=iv.= +i. 104.] the Duke is intimating an intention of adjourning at the moment +when the entrance of Portia gives a new turn to the proceedings. [=iv.= +i. 17.] Again, at the opening of the trial, the Duke gives expression to +the universal opinion that Shylock's conduct was intelligible only on +the supposition that he was keeping up to the last moment the +appearance of insisting on his strange terms, in order that before the +eyes of the whole city he might exhibit his enemy at his mercy, and then +add to his ignominy by publicly pardoning him: a fate which, it must be +admitted, was no more than Antonio justly deserved. This will explain +how Shylock comes to have a hearing at all: when once he is admitted to +speak it is exceedingly difficult to resist the pleas Shakespeare puts +into his mouth. [=iv.= i. 38.] He takes his stand on the city's charter +and the letter of the law, and declines to be drawn into any discussion +of natural justice; [=iv.= i. 90.] yet even as a question of natural +justice what answer can be found when he casually points to the +institution of slavery, which we must suppose to have existed in Venice +at the period? Shylock's only offence is his seeking to make Antonio's +life a matter of barter: what else is the accepted institution of +slavery but the establishment of power over human flesh and blood and +life, simply because these have been bought with money, precisely as +Shylock has given good ducats for his rights over the flesh of Antonio? +No wonder the perplexed Duke is for adjourning. + +[_Difficulty as to the traditional mode of upsetting the bond met._] + +There remains one more difficulty, the mode in which, according to the +traditional story, the bond is upset. It is manifest that the agreement +as to the pound of flesh, if it is to be recognised by a court of +justice at all, cannot without the grossest perversion of justice be +cancelled on the ground of its omitting to mention blood. Legal evasion +can go to great lengths. It is well known that an Act requiring cabs to +carry lamps at night has been evaded through the omission of a direction +that the lamps were to be lighted; and that importers have escaped a +duty on foreign gloves at so much the pair by bringing the right-hand +and left-hand gloves over in different ships. But it is perfectly +possible to carry lamps without lighting them, while it is a clear +impossibility to cut human flesh without shedding blood. Nothing of +course would be easier than to upset the bond on rational +grounds--indeed the difficulty is rather to imagine it receiving +rational consideration at all; but on the other hand no solution of the +perplexity could be half so dramatic as the one tradition has preserved. +The dramatist has to choose between a course of procedure which shall be +highly dramatic but leave a sense of injustice, and one that shall be +sound and legal but comparatively tame. Shakespeare contrives to secure +both alternatives. He retains the traditional plea as to the blood, but +puts it into the mouth of one known to his audience to be a woman +playing the lawyer for the nonce; [=iv.= i. 314, 347.] and again, before +we have time to recover from our surprise and feel the injustice of the +proceeding, he follows up the brilliant evasion by a sound legal plea, +the suggestion of a real lawyer. Portia has come to the court from a +conference with her cousin Bellario, the most learned jurist of Venice. +[=iii.= iv. 47; =iv.= i. 143.] Certainly it was not this doctor who hit +upon the idea of the blood being omitted. His contribution to the +interesting consultation was clearly the old statute of Venice, which +every one else seems to have forgotten, which made the mere attempt on +the life of a citizen by an alien punishable with death and loss of +property: according to this piece of statute law not only would +Shylock's bond be illegal, but the demand of such security constituted a +capital offence. Thus Shakespeare surmounts the final difficulty in the +story of the Jew in a mode which retains dramatic force to the full, yet +does this without any violation of legal fairness. + + * * * * * + +[_The interweaving of the two stories._] + +The second purpose of the present study is to show how Shakespeare has +improved his two stories by so weaving them together that they assist +one another's effect. + +First, it is easy to see how the whole movement of the play rises +naturally out of the union of the two stories. One of the main +distinctions between the progress of events in real life or history and +in Drama is that the movement of a drama falls into the form technically +known as Complication and Resolution. [_Complication and Resolution._] +A dramatist fastens our attention upon some train of events: then he +sets himself to divert this train of events from its natural course by +some interruption; this interruption is either removed, and the train of +events returns to its natural course, or the interruption is carried on +to some tragic culmination. In _The Merchant of Venice_ our interest is +at the beginning fixed on Antonio as rich, high-placed, the protector +and benefactor of his friends. By the events following upon the incident +of the bond we see what would seem the natural life of Antonio diverted +into a totally different channel; in the end the old course is restored, +and Antonio becomes prosperous as before. Such interruption of a train +of incidents is its Complication, and the term Complication suggests a +happy Resolution to follow. Complication and Resolution are essential to +dramatic movement, as discords and their 'resolution' into concords +constitute the essence of music. [_The one story complicated and +resolved by the other._] The Complication and Resolution in the story of +the Jew serve for the Complication and Resolution of the drama as a +whole; and my immediate point is that these elements of movement in the +one story spring directly out of its connection with the other. [=i.= i, +from 122; =i.= iii.] But for Bassanio's need of money and his blunder in +applying to Shylock the bond would never have been entered into, and the +change in Antonio's fortunes would never have come about: thus the cause +for all the Complication of the play (technically, the Complicating +Force) is the happy lover of the Caskets Story. Similarly Portia is the +means by which Antonio's fortunes are restored to their natural flow: in +other words, the source of the Resolution (or Resolving Force) is the +maiden of the Caskets Story. The two leading personages of the one tale +are the sources respectively of the Complication and Resolution in the +other tale, which carry the Complication and Resolution of the drama as +a whole. Thus simply does the movement of the whole play flow from the +union of the two stories. + +[_The whole play symmetrical about its central scene._] + +One consequence flowing from this is worth noting; that the scene in +which Bassanio makes his successful choice of the casket is the Dramatic +Centre of the whole play, as being the point in which the Complicating +and Resolving Forces meet. This Dramatic Centre is, according to +Shakespeare's favourite custom, placed in the exact mechanical centre of +the drama, covering the middle of the middle Act. There is again an +amount of poetic splendour lavished upon this scene which throws it up +as a poetic centre to the whole. More than this, it is the real crisis +of the play. Looking philosophically upon the whole drama as a piece of +history, we must admit that the true turning-point is the success of +Bassanio; the apparent crisis is the Trial Scene, but this is in reality +governed by the scene of the successful choice, and if Portia and +Bassanio had not been united in the earlier scene no lawyer would have +interposed to turn the current of events in the trial. There is yet +another sense in which the same scene may be called central. Hitherto I +have dealt with only two tales; the full plot however of _The Merchant +of Venice_ involves two more, the Story of Jessica and the Episode of +the Rings: it is to be observed that all four stories meet in the scene +of the successful choice. This scene is the climax of the Caskets Story. +[=iii.= ii, from 221.] It is connected with the catastrophe in the Story +of the Jew: Bassanio, at the moment of his happiness, learns that the +friend through whom he has been able to contend for the prize has +forfeited his life to his foe as the price of his liberality. The scene +is connected with the Jessica Story: for Jessica and her husband are the +messengers who bring the sad tidings, and thus link together the bright +and gloomy elements of the play. [=iii.= ii. 173-187.] Finally, the +Episode of the Rings, which is to occupy the end of the drama, has its +foundation in this scene, in the exchange of the rings which are +destined to be the source of such ironical perplexity. Such is the +symmetry with which the plot of _The Merchant of Venice_ has been +constructed: the incident which is technically its Dramatic Centre is at +once its mechanical centre, its poetic centre, and, philosophically +considered, its true turning-point; while, considering the play as a +Romantic drama with its union of stories, we find in the same central +incident all the four stories dovetailed together. + +[_Shakespeare as a master of Plot_.] + +These points may appear small and merely technical. But is a constant +purpose with me in the present exposition of Shakespeare as a Dramatic +Artist to combat the notion, so widely prevalent amongst ordinary +readers, that Shakespeare, though endowed with the profoundest grasp of +human nature, is yet careless in the construction of his plots: a notion +in itself as improbable as it would be that a sculptor could be found to +produce individual figures exquisitely moulded and chiselled, yet +awkwardly and clumsily grouped. It is the minuter points that show the +finish of an artist; and such symmetry of construction as appears in +_The Merchant of Venice_ is not likely to characterise a dramatist who +sacrifices plot to character-painting. + +[_The union of a light with a serious story._] + +There remains another point, which no one will consider small or +technical, connected with the union of the two stories: the fact that +Shakespeare has thus united a light and a serious story, that he has +woven together gloom and brightness. This carries us to one of the great +battlefields of dramatic history; no feature is more characteristic of +the Romantic Drama than this mingling of light and serious in the same +play, and at no point has it been more stoutly assailed by critics +trained in an opposite school. I say nothing of the wider scope this +practice gives to the dramatist, nor the way in which it brings the +world of art nearer to the world of reality; my present purpose is to +review the dramatic effects which flow from the mingling of the two +elements in the present play. + +[_Dramatic effects arising out of this union._] + +In general human interest the stories are a counterpoise to one +another, so different in kind, so equal in the degree of interest their +progress continues to call forth. The incidents of the two tales gather +around Antonio and Portia respectively; [_Effects of Human Interest._] +each of these is a full and rounded character, and they are both centres +of their respective worlds. [=i.= i. 1.] The stories seem to start from +a common point. The keynote to the story of the Jew is the strange +'sadness'--the word implies no more than seriousness--which overpowers +Antonio, and which seems to be the shadow of his coming trouble. Compare +with this the first words we hear of Portia: + +[=i.= ii. 1.] + + By my troth, Nerissa, my little body is aweary of this great world. + +Such a humorous languor is a fitting precursor to the excitement and +energy of the scenes which follow. But from this common starting-point +the stories move in opposite directions; the spectator's sympathies are +demanded alternately for two independent chains of circumstances, for +the fortunes of Antonio sinking lower and lower, and the fortunes of +Portia rising higher and higher. He sees the merchant and citizen become +a bankrupt prisoner, the lordly benefactor of his friends a wretch at +the mercy of his foe. He sees Portia, already endowed with beauty, +wealth, and character, attain what to her heart is yet higher, the power +to lay all she has at the feet of the man she loves. Then, when they are +at the climax of their happiness and misery, when Portia has received +all that this world can bestow, and Antonio has lost all that this world +can take away, for the first time these two central personages meet face +to face in the Trial Scene. [_Effects of Plot._] And if from general +human interest we pass on to the machinery of plot, we find this also +governed by the same combination: a half-serious frolic is the medium in +which a tragic crisis finds its solution. + +[_Emotional effects: increase of tragic passion;_] + +But it is of course passion and emotional interest which are mainly +affected by the union of light and serious: these we shall appreciate +chiefly in connection with the Trial Scene, where the emotional threads +of the play are gathered into a knot, and the two personages who are the +embodiments of the light and serious elements face one another as judge +and prisoner. [=iv.= i, from 225.] In this scene it is remarkable how +Portia takes pains to prolong to the utmost extent the crisis she has +come to solve; she holds in her fingers the threads of the tangled +situation, and she is strong enough to play with it before she will +consent to bring it to an end. [178.] She has intimated her opinion that +the letter of the bond must be maintained, [184-207.] she has made her +appeal to Shylock for mercy and been refused, she has heard Bassanio's +appeal to wrest the law for once to [214-222.] her authority and has +rejected it; there remains nothing but to pronounce the decree. [225.] +But at the last moment she asks to see the bond, and every spectator in +court holds his breath and hears his heart beat as he follows the +lawyer's eye down line after line. [227-230.] It is of no avail; at the +end she can only repeat the useless offer of thrice the loan, with the +effect of drawing from Shylock an oath that he will not give way. +[230-244.] Then Portia admits that the bond is forfeit, with a needless +reiteration of its horrible details; yet, as if it were some evenly +balanced question, in which after-thoughts were important, she once more +appeals to Shylock to be merciful and bid her tear the bond, and evokes +a still stronger asseveration from the malignant victor, until even +Antonio's stoicism begins to give way, and he begs for a speedy +judgment. [243.] Portia then commences to pass her judgment in language +of legal prolixity, which sounds like a recollection of her hour with +Bellario:-- + + For the intent and purpose of the law + Hath full relation to the penalty, + Which here appeareth due upon the bond, &c. + +[255-261.] + +Next she fads about the details of the judicial barbarity, the balance +to weigh the flesh, a surgeon as a forlorn hope; and when Shylock demurs +to the last, stops to argue that he might do this for charity. At last +surely the intolerable suspense will come to a termination. [263.] But +our lawyer of half-an-hour's standing suddenly remembers she has +forgotten to call on the defendant in the suit, and the pathos is +intensified by the dying speech of Antonio, calmly welcoming death for +himself, anxious only to soften Bassanio's remorse, his last human +passion a rivalry with Portia for the love of his friend. + +[=iv.= i. 276.] + + Bid her be judge + Whether Bassanio had not once a love. + +[=iv.= i, from 299.] + +When the final judgment can be delayed no longer its opening sentences +are still lengthened out by the jingling repetitions of judicial +formality, + + The law allows it, and the court awards it, &c. + +Only when every evasion has been exhausted comes the thunderstroke which +reverses the whole situation. Now it is clear that had this situation +been intended to have a tragic termination this prolonging of its +details would have been impossible; thus to harrow our feelings with +items of agony would be not art but barbarity. It is because Portia +knows what termination she is going to give to the scene that she can +indulge in such boldness; it is because the audience have recognised in +Portia the signal of deliverance that the lengthening of the crisis +becomes the dramatic beauty of suspense. It appears then that, if this +scene be regarded only as a crisis of tragic passion, the dramatist has +been able to extract more _tragic_ effect out of it by the device of +assisting the tragic with a light story. + +[_reaction and comic effect;_] + +Again, it is a natural law of the human mind to pass from strain to +reaction, and suspense relieved will find vent in vehement exhilaration. +By giving Portia her position in the crisis scene the dramatist is +clearly furnishing the means for a reaction to follow, and the reaction +is found in the [=iv.= i, from 425.] Episode of the Rings, by which the +disguised wives entangle their husbands in a perplexity affording the +audience the bursts of merriment needed as relief from the tension of +the Trial Scene. The play is thus brought into conformity with the laws +of mental working, and the effect of the reaction is to make the +serious passion more keen because more healthy. + +[_effects of mixed passion._] + +Finally, there are the effects of mixed passion, neither wholly serious +nor wholly light, but compounded of the two, which are impossible to a +drama that can admit only a single tone. The effect of Dramatic Irony, +which Shakespeare inherited from the ancient Drama, but greatly modified +and extended, is powerfully illustrated at the most pathetic point of +the Trial Scene, [=iv.= i. 273-294.] when Antonio's chance reference to +Bassanio's new wife calls from Bassanio and his followers agonised vows +to sacrifice even their wives if this could save their patron--little +thinking that these wives are standing by to record the vow. But there +is an effect higher than this. [=iv.= i. 184-202.] Portia's outburst on +the theme of mercy, considered only as a speech, is one of the noblest +in literature, a gem of purest truth in a setting of richest music. But +the situation in which she speaks it is so framed as to make Portia +herself the embodiment of the mercy she describes. How can we imagine a +higher type of mercy, the feminine counterpart of justice, than in the +bright woman, at the moment of her supreme happiness, appearing in the +garb of the law to deliver a righteous unfortunate from his one error, +and the justice of Venice from the insoluble perplexity of having to +commit a murder by legal process? And how is this situation brought +about but by the most intricate interweaving of a story of brightness +with a story of trouble? + +In all branches then of dramatic effect, in Character, in Plot and in +Passion, the union of a light with a serious story is found to be a +source of power and beauty. The fault charged against the Romantic Drama +has upon a deeper view proved a new point of departure in dramatic +progress; and in this particular case the combination of tales so +opposite in character must be regarded as one of the leading points in +which Shakespeare has improved the tales in the telling. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] No commentator has succeeded in making intelligible the line + +[=i.= iii. 42.] + + How like a fawning publican he looks! + +as it stands in the text at the opening of Shylock's soliloquy. The +expression 'fawning publican' is so totally the opposite of all the +qualities of Antonio that it could have no force even in the mouth of a +satirist. It is impossible not to be attracted by the simple change in +the text that would not only get over this difficulty, but add a new +effect to the scene: the change of assigning this single line to +Antonio, reserving, of course, the rest of the speech for Shylock. The +passage would then read thus [the stage direction is my own]: + + _Enter_ ANTONIO. + + _Bass._ This is Signior Antonio. + + _Ant._ [_Aside_]. How like a fawning publican he looks-- + + [BASSANIO _whispers_ ANTONIO _and brings him to_ SHYLOCK. + + _Shy._ [_Aside_]. I hate him, for he is a Christian, But more, &c. + +Both the terms 'fawning' and 'publican' are literally applicable to +Shylock, and are just what Antonio would be likely to say of him. It is +again a natural effect for the two foes on meeting for the first time in +the play to exchange scowling defiance. Antonio's defiance is cut short +at the first line by Bassanio's running up to him, explaining what he +has done, and bringing Antonio up to where Shylock is standing; the time +occupied in doing this gives Shylock scope for his longer soliloquy. + + + + +III. + +HOW SHAKESPEARE MAKES HIS PLOT MORE COMPLEX IN ORDER TO MAKE IT MORE +SIMPLE. + +_A Study in Underplot._ + + +[_Paradox of simplicity by means of increased complexity._] + +THE title of the present study is a paradox: that Shakespeare makes a +plot more complex[2] in order to make it more simple. It is however a +paradox that finds an illustration from the material world in every open +roof. The architect's problem has been to support a heavy weight without +the assistance of pillars, and it might have been expected that in +solving the problem he would at least have tried every means in his +power for diminishing the weight to be supported. On the contrary, he +has increased this weight by the addition of massive cross-beams and +heavy iron-girders. Yet, if these have been arranged according to the +laws of construction, each of them will bring a supporting power +considerably greater than its own weight; and thus, while in a literal +sense increasing the roof, for all practical purposes they may be said +to have diminished it. Similarly a dramatist of the Romantic school, +from his practice of uniting more than one story in the same plot, has +to face the difficulty of complexity. This difficulty he solves not by +seeking how to reduce combinations as far as possible, but, on the +contrary, by the addition of more and inferior stories; yet if these new +stories are so handled as to emphasise and heighten the effect of the +main stories, the additional complexity will have resulted in increased +simplicity. In the play at present under consideration, Shakespeare has +interwoven into a common pattern two famous and striking tales; his +plot, already elaborate, he has made yet more elaborate by the addition +of two more tales less striking in their character--the Story of Jessica +and the Episode of the Rings. [_The Jessica Story and the Rings Episode +assist the main stories._] If it can be shown that these inferior +stories have the effect of assisting the main stories, smoothing away +their difficulties and making their prominent points yet more prominent, +it will be clear that he has made his plot more complex only in reality +to make it more simple. The present study is devoted to noticing how the +Stories of Jessica and of the Rings minister to the effects of the Story +of the Jew and the Caskets Story. + +[_The Jessica Story. It serves as Underplot for mechanical personages._] + +To begin with: it may be seen that in many ways the mechanical working +out of the main stories is assisted by the Jessica story. In the first +place it relieves them of their superfluous personages. Every drama, +however simple, must contain 'mechanical' personages, who are introduced +into the play, not for their own sake, but to assist in presenting +incidents or other personages. The tendency of Romantic Drama to put a +story as a whole upon the stage multiplies the number of such mechanical +personages: and when several such stories come to be combined in one, +there is a danger of the stage being crowded with characters which +intrinsically have little interest. Here the Underplots become of +service and find occupation for these inferior personages. In the +present case only four personages are essential to the main +plot--Antonio, Shylock, Bassanio, Portia. But in bringing out the +unusual tie that binds together a representative of the city and a +representative of the nobility, [e.g. =i.= i; =iii.= iii; =iv.= i.] and +upon which so much of the plot rests, it is an assistance to introduce +the rank and file of gay society and depict these paying court to the +commercial magnate. The high position of Antonio and Bassanio in their +respective spheres will come out still clearer if these lesser social +personages are graduated. [=i.= i; compare =iii.= i. esp. 14-18.] +Salanio, Salerio, and Salarino are mere parasites; [=i.= i. 74-118. =i.= +ii. 124. =v.= i, &c. =i.= ii, &c. =iii.= i. 80, &c.] Gratiano has a +certain amount of individuality in his wit; while, seeing that Bassanio +is a scholar as well as a nobleman and soldier, it is fitting to give +prominence amongst his followers to the intellectual and artistic +Lorenzo. Similarly the introduction of Nerissa assists in presenting +Portia fully; Shylock is seen in his relations with his race by the aid +of Tubal, his family life is seen in connection with Jessica, and his +behaviour to dependants in connection with Launcelot; Launcelot himself +is set off by Gobbo. Now the Jessica story is mainly devoted to these +inferior personages, and the majority of them take an animated part in +the successful elopement. It is further to be noted that the Jessica +Underplot has itself an inferior story attached to it, [=ii.= ii. iii; +=iii.= v.] that of Launcelot, who seeks scope for his good nature by +transferring himself to a Christian master, just as his mistress seeks a +freer social atmosphere in union with a Christian husband. And, +similarly, side by side with the Caskets Story, which unites Portia and +Bassanio, [=iii.= ii. 188, &c.] we have a faintly-marked underplot which +unites their followers, Nerissa and Gratiano. In one or other of these +inferior stories the mechanical personages find attachment to plot; and +the multiplication of individual figures, instead of leaving an +impression of waste, is made to minister to the sense of Dramatic +Economy. + +[_It assists mechanical development: occupying the three months' +interval,_] + +Again: as there are mechanical personages so there are mechanical +difficulties--difficulties of realisation which do not belong to the +essence of a story, but which appear when the story comes to be worked +out upon the stage. The Story of the Jew involves such a mechanical +difficulty in the interval of three months which elapses between the +signing of the bond and its forfeiture. In a classical setting this +would be avoided by making the play begin on the day the bond falls due; +such treatment, however, would shut out the great dramatic opportunity +of the Bond Scene. The Romantic Drama always inclines to exhibiting the +whole of a story; it must therefore in the present case _suppose_ a +considerable interval between one part of the story and another, and +such suppositions tend to be weaknesses. The Jessica Story conveniently +bridges over this interval. The first Act is given up to bringing about +the bond, which at the beginning of the third Act appears to be broken. +The intervening Act consists of no less than nine scenes, and while +three of them carry on the progress of the Caskets Story, the other six +are devoted to the elopement of Jessica: the bustle and activity implied +in such rapid change of scene indicating how an underplot can be used to +keep the attention of the audience just where the natural interest of +the main story would flag. + +[_and so breaking gradually the news of Antonio's losses._] + +The same use of the Jessica Story to bridge over the three months' +interval obviates another mechanical difficulty of the main plot. The +loss of all Antonio's ships, the supposition that all the commercial +ventures of so prudent a merchant should simultaneously miscarry, is so +contrary to the chances of things as to put some strain upon our sense +of probability; and this is just one of the details which, too +unimportant to strike us in an anecdote, become realised when a story is +presented before our eyes. The artist, it must be observed, is not bound +to find actual solutions for every possible difficulty; he has merely to +see that they do not interfere with dramatic effect. Sometimes he so +arranges his incidents that the difficulty is met and vanishes; +sometimes it is kept out of sight, the portion of the story which +contains it going on behind the scenes; at other times he is content +with reducing the difficulty in amount. In the present instance the +improbability of Antonio's losses is lessened by the gradual way in +which the news is broken to us, distributed amongst the numerous scenes +of the three months' interval. [=ii.= viii. 25.] We get the first hint +of it in a chance conversation between Salanio and Salarino, in which +they are chuckling over the success of the elopement and the fury of the +robbed father. Salanio remarks that Antonio must look that he keep his +day; this reminds Salarino of a ship he has just heard of as lost +somewhere in the English Channel: + + I thought upon Antonio when he told me; + And wish'd in silence that it were not his. + +[=iii.= i.] In the next scene but one the same personages meet, and one +of them, enquiring for the latest news, is told that the rumour yet +lives of Antonio's loss, and now the exact place of the wreck is +specified as the Goodwin Sands; Salarino adds: 'I would it might prove +the end of his losses.' Before the close of the scene Shylock and Tubal +have been added to it. Tubal has come from Genoa and gives Shylock the +welcome news that at Genoa it was _known_ that Antonio had lost an +argosy coming from Tripolis; while on his journey to Venice Tubal had +travelled with creditors of Antonio who were speculating upon his +bankruptcy as a certainty. [=iii.= ii.] Then comes the central scene in +which the full news reaches Bassanio at the moment of his happiness: all +Antonio's ventures failed-- + + From Tripolis, from Mexico and England, + From Lisbon, Barbary, and India, + +not one escaped. [=iii.= iii.] In the following scene we see Antonio in +custody. + +[_The Jessica Story assists Dramatic Hedging in regard to Shylock._] + +These are minor points such as may be met with in any play, and the +treatment of them belongs to ordinary Dramatic Mechanism. But we have +already had to notice that the Story of the Jew contains special +difficulties which belong to the essence of the story, and must be met +by special devices. One of these was the monstrous character of the Jew +himself; and we saw how the dramatist was obliged to maintain in the +spectators a double attitude to Shylock, alternately letting them be +repelled by his malignity and again attracting their sympathy to him as +a victim of wrong. Nothing in the play assists this double attitude so +much as the Jessica Story. Not to speak of the fact that Shylock shows +no appreciation for the winsomeness of the girl who attracts every one +else in the drama, nor of the way in which this one point of brightness +in the Jewish quarter throws up the sordidness of all her surroundings, +[=ii.= iii. 2.] we hear the Jew's own daughter reflect that his house is +a 'hell,' and we see enough of his domestic life to agree with her. +[e.g. =ii.= v.] A Shylock painted without a tender side at all would be +repulsive; he becomes much more repulsive when he shows a tenderness for +one human being, and yet it appears how this tenderness has grown hard +and rotten with the general debasement of his soul by avarice, until, in +his ravings over his loss, [=iii.= i, from 25.] his ducats and his +daughter are ranked as equally dear. + + [=iii.= i. 92.] I would my daughter were dead at my foot, and the + jewels in her ear! Would she were hearsed at my foot, and the ducats + in her coffin! + +For all this we feel that he is hardly used in losing her. Paternal +feeling may take a gross form, but it is paternal feeling none the less, +and cannot be denied our sympathy; bereavement is a common ground upon +which not only high and low, but even the pure and the outcast, are +drawn together. Thus Jessica at home makes us hate Shylock: with Jessica +lost we cannot help pitying him. The perfection of Dramatic Hedging lies +in the equal balancing of the conflicting feelings, and one of the most +powerful scenes in the whole play is devoted to this twofold display of +Shylock. Fresh from the incident of the elopement, he is encountered by +the parasites and by Tubal: these amuse themselves with alternately +'chaffing' him upon his losses, and 'drawing' him in the matter of the +expected gratification of his vengeance, while his passions rock him +between extremes of despair and fiendish anticipation. [_Jessica +Shakespeare's compensation to Shylock._] We may go further. Great +creative power is accompanied by great attachment to the creations and +keen sense of justice in disposing of them. Looked at as a whole, the +Jessica Story is Shakespeare's compensation to Shylock. [=iv.= i. +348-394.] The sentence on Shylock, which the necessities of the story +require, is legal rather than just; yet large part of it consists in a +requirement that he shall make his daughter an heiress. And, to put it +more generally, the repellent character and hard fate of the father have +set against them the sweetness and beauty of the daughter, together with +the full cup of good fortune which her wilful rebellion brings her in +the love of Lorenzo and the protecting friendship of Portia. Perhaps the +dramatist, according to his wont, is warning us of this compensating +treatment when he makes one of the characters early in the play exclaim: +[=ii.= iv. 34.] + + If e'er the Jew her father come to heaven, + It will be for his gentle daughter's sake. + +[_The Jessica Story explains Shylock's unyieldingness._] + +The other main source of difficulty in the Story of the Jew is, as we +have seen, the detail concerning the pound of flesh, which throws +improbability over every stage of its progress. In one at least of these +stages the difficulty is directly met by the aid of the Jessica Story: +it is this which explains Shylock's resolution not to give way. When we +try in imagination to realise the whole circumstances, common sense must +take the view taken in the play itself by the Duke: + +[=iv.= i. 17.] + + Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too, + That thou but lead'st this fashion of thy malice + To the last hour of act; and then 'tis thought + Thou'lt show thy mercy and remorse more strange + Than is thy strange apparent cruelty. + +A life-long training in avarice would not easily resist an offer of nine +thousand ducats. But further, the alternatives between which Shylock has +to choose are not so simple as the alternatives of Antonio's money or +his life. On the one hand, Shylock has to consider the small chance that +either the law or the mob would actually suffer the atrocity to be +judicially perpetrated, and how his own life would be likely to be lost +in the attempt. Again, turning to the other alternative, Shylock is +certainly deep in his schemes of vengeance, and the finesse of malignity +must have suggested to him how much more cruel to a man of Antonio's +stamp it would be to fling him a contemptuous pardon before the eyes of +Venice than to turn him into a martyr, even supposing this to be +permitted. But at the moment when the choice becomes open to Shylock he +has been maddened by the loss of his daughter, who, with the wealth she +has stolen, has gone to swell the party of his deadly foe. It is fury, +not calculating cruelty, that makes Shylock with a madman's tenacity +cling to the idea of blood, while this passion is blinding him to a more +keenly flavoured revenge, and risking the chance of securing any +vengeance at all[3]. + +[_The Jessica Story assists the interweaving of the main stories._] + +From the mechanical development of the main plot and the reduction of +its difficulties, we pass to the interweaving of the two principal +stories, which is so leading a feature of the play. In the main this +interweaving is sufficiently provided for by the stories themselves, and +we have already seen how the leading personages in the one story are the +source of the whole movement in the other story. But this interweaving +is drawn closer still by the affair of Jessica: [_It is thus a Link +Action,_] technically described the position in the plot of Jessica's +elopement is that of a Link Action between the main stories. This +linking appears in the way in which Jessica and her suite are in the +course of the drama transferred from the one tale to the other. At the +opening of the play they are personages in the Story of the Jew, and +represent its two antagonistic sides, Jessica being the daughter of the +Jew and Lorenzo a friend and follower of Bassanio and Antonio. First the +contrivance of the elopement assists in drawing together these opposite +sides of the Jew Story, and aggravating the feud on which it turns. +[=iii.= ii, from 221.] Then, as we have seen, Jessica and her husband in +the central scene of the whole play come into contact with the Caskets +Story at its climax. From this point they become adopted into the +Caskets Story, and settle down in the house and under the protection of +Portia. [_helping to restore the balance between the main stories,_] +This transference further assists the symmetry of interweaving by +helping to adjust the balance between the two main stories. In its +_mass_, if the expression may be allowed, the Caskets tale, with its +steady progress to a goal of success, is over-weighted by the tale of +Antonio's tragic peril and startling deliverance: the Jessica episode, +withdrawn from the one and added to the other, helps to make the two +more equal. Once more, the case, we have seen, is not merely that of a +union between stories, but a union between stories opposite in kind, a +combination of brightness with gloom. [_and a bond between their bright +and dark climaxes._] The binding effect of the Jessica Story extends to +the union between these opposite tones. We have already had occasion to +notice how the two extremes meet in the central scene, how from the +height of Bassanio's bliss we pass in an instant to the total ruin of +Antonio, which we then learn in its fulness for the first time: the link +which connects the two is the arrival of Jessica and her friends as +bearers of the news. + +[_Character effects. Character of Jessica._] + +So far, the points considered have been points of Mechanism and Plot; in +the matter of Character-Interest the Jessica episode is to an even +greater degree an addition to the whole effect of the play, Jessica and +Lorenzo serving as a foil to Portia and Bassanio. The characters of +Jessica and Lorenzo are charmingly sketched, though liable to +misreading unless carefully studied. To appreciate Jessica we must in +the first place assume the grossly unjust mediæval view of the Jews as +social outcasts. [=ii.= v.] The dramatist has vouchsafed us a glimpse of +Shylock at home, and brief as the scene is it is remarkable how much of +evil is crowded into it. The breath of home life is trust, yet the one +note which seems to pervade the domestic bearing of Shylock is the +lowest suspiciousness. [12, 16, 36.] Three times as he is starting for +Bassanio's supper he draws back to question the motives for which he has +been invited. He is moved to a shriek of suspicion by the mere fact of +his servant joining him in shouting for the absent Jessica, [7.] by the +mention of masques, by the sight of the servant whispering to his +daughter [28, 44.]. Finally, he takes his leave with the words + +[52.] + + Perhaps I will return immediately, + +a device for keeping order in his absence which would be a low one for a +nurse to use to a child, but which he is not ashamed of using to his +grown-up daughter and the lady of his house. The short scene of +fifty-seven lines is sufficient to give us a further reminder of +Shylock's sordid house-keeping, which is glad to get rid of the +good-natured Launcelot as a 'huge feeder'; [3, 46.] and his aversion to +any form of gaiety, which leads him to insist on his shutters being put +up when he hears that there is a chance of a pageant in the streets +[28.]. Amidst surroundings of this type Jessica has grown up, a +motherless girl, mingling only with harsh men (for we nowhere see a +trace of female companionship for her): [=ii.= iii. 20.] it can hardly +be objected against her that she should long for a Christian atmosphere +in which her affections might have full play. Yet even for this natural +reaction she feels compunction: + +[=ii.= iii. 16.] + + Alack, what heinous sin is it in me + To be ashamed to be my father's child! + But though I am a daughter to his blood, + I am not to his manners. + +Formed amidst such influences it would be a triumph to a character if it +escaped repulsiveness; Jessica, on the contrary, is full of attractions. +She has a simplicity which stands to her in the place of principle. More +than this she has a high degree of feminine delicacy. Delicacy will be +best brought out in a person who is placed in an equivocal situation, +and we see Jessica engaged, not only in an elopement, but in an +elopement which, [=ii.= iv. 30.] it appears, has throughout been planned +by herself and not by Lorenzo. Of course a quality like feminine +delicacy is more conveyed by the bearing of the actress than by positive +words; we may however notice the impression which Jessica's part in the +elopement scenes makes upon those who are present. [=ii.= iv. 30-40.] +When Lorenzo is obliged to make a confidant of Gratiano, and tell him +how it is Jessica who has planned the whole affair, instead of feeling +any necessity of apologising for her the thought of her childlike +innocence moves him to enthusiasm, and it is here that he exclaims: + + If e'er the Jew her father come to heaven, + It will be for his gentle daughter's sake. + +[=ii.= vi.] + +In the scene of the elopement itself, Jessica has steered clear of both +prudishness and freedom, and when after her pretty confusion she has +retired from the window, even Gratiano breaks out: + +[=ii.= vi. 51.] + + Now, by my hood, a Gentile and no Jew; + +while Lorenzo himself has warmed to see in her qualities he had never +expected: + +[=ii.= vi. 52.] + + Beshrew me but I love her heartily; + For she is wise, if I can judge of her, + And fair she is, if that mine eyes be true, + And true she is, as she has proved herself, + And therefore, like herself, wise, fair, and true, + Shall she be placed in my constant soul. + +So generally, all with whom she comes into contact feel her spell: +[=ii.= iii. 10.] the rough Launcelot parts from her with tears he is +ashamed of yet cannot keep down; [=iii.= i. 41.] Salarino--the last of +men to take high views of women--resents as a sort of blasphemy +Shylock's claiming her as his flesh and blood; [=iii.= iv, v; =v.= i.] +while between Jessica and Portia there seems to spring in an instant an +attraction as mysterious as is the tie between Antonio and Bassanio. + +[_Character of Lorenzo._] + +Lorenzo is for the most part of a dreamy inactive nature, as may be seen +in his amused tolerance of Launcelot's word-fencing [=iii.= v. +44-75.]--word-fencing being in general a challenge which none of +Shakespeare's characters can resist; similarly, Jessica's enthusiasm on +the subject of Portia, which in reality he shares, he prefers to meet +with banter [=iii.= v. 75-89.]: + + Even such a husband + Hast thou of me as she is for a wife. + +But the strong side of his character also is shown us in the play: [=v.= +i. 1-24, 54-88.] he has an artist soul, and to the depth of his passion +for music and for the beauty of nature we are indebted for some of the +noblest passages in Shakespeare. This is the attraction which has drawn +him to Jessica, her outer beauty is the index of artistic sensibility +within: [=v.= i. 69, 1-24.] 'she is never merry when she hears sweet +music,' and the soul of rhythm is awakened in her, just as much as in +her husband, by the moonlight scene. Simplicity again, is a quality they +have in common, as is seen by their ignorance in money-matters, [=iii.= +i. 113, 123.] and the way a valuable turquoise ring goes for a +monkey--if, at least, Tubal may be believed: a carelessness of money +which mitigates our dislike of the free hand Jessica lays upon her +father's ducats and jewels. On the whole, however, Lorenzo's dreaminess +makes a pretty contrast to Jessica's vivacity. And Lorenzo's inactivity +is capable of being roused to great things. This is seen by the +elopement itself: [esp. =ii.= iv. 20, 30; =ii.= vi. 30. &c.] for the +suggestion of its incidents seems to be that Lorenzo meant at first no +more than trifling with the pretty Jewess, and that he rose to the +occasion as he found and appreciated Jessica's higher tone and +attraction. [=iii.= iv. 24, 32.] Finally, we must see the calibre of +Lorenzo's character through the eyes of Portia, who selects him at +first sight as the representative to whom to commit her household in her +absence, of which commission she will take no refusal. + +[_Jessica and Lorenzo a foil to Portia and Bassanio._] + +So interpreted the characters of Jessica and Lorenzo make the whole +episode of the elopement an antithesis to the main plot. To a wedded +couple in the fresh happiness of their union there can hardly fall a +greater luxury than to further the happiness of another couple; this +luxury is granted to Portia and Bassanio, and in their reception of the +fugitives what picturesque contrasts are brought together! The two pairs +are a foil to one another in kind, and set one another off like gold and +gems. Lorenzo and Jessica are negative characters with the one positive +quality of intense capacity for enjoyment; Bassanio and Portia have +everything to enjoy, yet their natures appear dormant till roused by an +occasion for daring and energy. The Jewess and her husband are +distinguished by the bird-like simplicity that so often goes with +special art-susceptibility; Portia and Bassanio are full and rounded +characters in which the whole of human nature seems concentrated. The +contrast is of degree as well as kind: the weaker pair brought side by +side with the stronger throw out the impression of their strength. +Portia has a fulness of power which puts her in her most natural +position when she is extending protection to those who are less able to +stand by themselves. Still more with Bassanio: he has so little scope in +the scenes of the play itself, which from the nature of the stories +present him always in situations of dependence on others, that we see +his strength almost entirely by the reflected light of the attitude +which others hold to him; in the present instance we have no difficulty +in catching the intellectual power of Lorenzo, and Lorenzo looks up to +Bassanio as a superior. And the couples thus contrasted in character +present an equal likeness and unlikeness in their fortunes. Both are +happy for ever, and both have become so through a bold stroke. Yet in +the one instance it is blind obedience, in face of all temptations, to +the mere whims of a good parent, who is dead, that has been guided to +the one issue so passionately desired; in the case of the other couple +open rebellion, at every practical risk, against the legitimate +authority of an evil father, still living, has brought them no worse +fate than happiness in one another, and for their defenceless position +the best of patrons. + +It seems, then, that the introduction of the Jessica Story is justified, +not only by the purposes of construction which it serves, but by the +fact that its human interest is at once a contrast and a supplement to +the main story, with which it blends to produce the ordered variety of a +finished picture. + +[_The Rings Episode assists the mechanism of the main stories,_] + +A few words will be sufficient to point out how the effects of the main +plot are assisted by the Rings Episode, which, though rich in fun, is of +a slighter character than the Jessica Story, and occupies a much smaller +space in the field of view. The dramatic points of the two minor stories +are similar. Like the Jessica Story the Rings Episode assists the +mechanical working out of the main plot. An explanation must somehow be +given to Bassanio that the lawyer is Portia in disguise; mere mechanical +explanations have always an air of weakness, but the affair of the rings +utilises the explanation in the present case as a source of new dramatic +effects. This arrangement further assists, to a certain extent, in +reducing the improbability of Portia's project. The point at which the +improbability would be most felt would be, not the first appearance of +the lawyer's clerk, for then we are engrossed in our anxiety for +Antonio, but when the explanation of the disguise came to be made; there +might be a danger lest here the surprise of Bassanio should become +infectious, and the audience should awake to the improbability of the +whole story: as it is, their attention is at the critical moment +diverted to the perplexity of the penitent husbands. [_and their +interweaving;_] The Story of the Rings, like that of Jessica, assists +the interweaving of the two main stories with one another, its subtlety +suggesting to what a degree of detail this interlacing extends. Bassanio +is the main point which unites the Story of the Jew and the Caskets +Story; in the one he occupies the position of friend, in the other of +husband. [=iv.= i. 425-454.] The affair of the rings, slight as it is, +is so managed by Portia that its point becomes a test as between his +friendship and his love; and so equal do these forces appear that, +though his friendship finally wins and he surrenders his betrothal ring, +yet it is not until after his wife has given him a hint against herself: + + An if your wife be not a mad-woman, + And know how well I have deserved the ring, + She would not hold out enemy for ever + For giving it to me. + +The Rings Episode, even more than the Jessica Story, assists in +restoring the balance between the main tales. The chief inequality +between them lies in the fact that the Jew Story is complicated and +resolved, while the Caskets Story is a simple progress to a goal; when, +however, there springs from the latter a sub-action which has a highly +comic complication and resolution the two halves of the play become +dramatically on a par. And the interweaving of the dark and bright +elements in the play is assisted by the fact that the Episode of the +Rings not only provides a comic reaction to relieve the tragic crisis, +but its whole point is a Dramatic Irony in which serious and comic are +inextricably mixed. + +[_and assists in the development of Portia's character._] + +Finally, as the Jessica Story ministers to Character effect in +connection with the general ensemble of the personages, so the Episode +of the Rings has a special function in bringing out the character of +Portia. The secret of the charm which has won for Portia the suffrages +of all readers is the perfect balance of qualities in her character: she +is the meeting-point of brightness, force, and tenderness. And, to crown +the union, Shakespeare has placed her at the supreme moment of life, on +the boundary line between girlhood and womanhood, when the wider aims +and deeper issues of maturity find themselves in strange association +with the abandon of youth. The balance thus becomes so perfect that it +quivers, and dips to one side and the other. [=i.= ii. 39.] Portia is +the saucy child as she sprinkles her sarcasms over Nerissa's enumeration +of the suitors: in the trial she faces the world of Venice as a heroine. +[=iii.= ii. 150.] She is the ideal maiden in the speech in which she +surrenders herself to Bassanio: [=iv.= i. 184.] she is the ideal woman +as she proclaims from the judgment seat the divinity of mercy. Now the +fourth Act has kept before us too exclusively one side of this +character. Not that Portia in the lawyer's gown is masculine: but the +dramatist has had to dwell too long on her side of strength. He will not +dismiss us with this impression, but indulges us in one more daring feat +surpassing all the madcap frolics of the past. Thus the Episode of the +Rings is the last flicker of girlhood in Portia before it merges in the +wider life of womanhood. We have rejoiced in a great deliverance wrought +by a noble woman: our enjoyment rises higher yet when the Rings Episode +reminds us that this woman has not ceased to be a sportive girl. + +It has been shown, then, that the two inferior stories in _The Merchant +of Venice_ assist the main stories in the most varied manner, smoothing +their mechanical working, meeting their special difficulties, drawing +their mutual interweaving yet closer, and throwing their character +effects into relief: the additional complexity they have brought has +resulted in making emphatic points yet more prominent, and the total +effect has therefore been to increase clearness and simplicity. Enough +has now been said on the building up of Dramas out of Stories, which is +the distinguishing feature of the Romantic Drama; the studies that +follow will be applied to the more universal topics of dramatic +interest, Character, Plot, and Passion. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] It is a difficulty of literary criticism that it has to use as +technical terms words belonging to ordinary conversation, and therefore +more or less indefinite in their significations. In the present work I +am making a distinction between 'complex' and 'complicated': the latter +is applied to the diverting a story out of its natural course with a +view to its ultimate 'resolution'; 'complex' is reserved for the +interweaving of stories with one another. Later on 'single' will be +opposed to 'complex,' and 'simple' to 'complicated.' + +[3] This seems to me a reasonable view notwithstanding what Jessica says +to the contrary (iii. ii. 286), that she has often heard her father +swear he would rather have Antonio's flesh than twenty times the value +of the bond. It is one thing to swear vengeance in private, another +thing to follow it up in the face of a world in opposition. A man of +overbearing temper surrounded by inferiors and dependants often utters +threats, and seems to find a pleasure in uttering them, which both he +and his hearers know he will never carry out. + + + + +IV. + +A PICTURE OF IDEAL VILLAINY IN RICHARD III. + +_A Study in Character-Interpretation._ + + +[_Villainy as a subject for art-treatment._] + +I HOPE that the subject of the present study will not be considered by +any reader forbidding. On the contrary, there is surely attractiveness +in the thought that nothing is so repulsive or so uninteresting in the +world of fact but in some way or other it may be brought under the +dominion of art-beauty. The author of _L'Allegro_ shows by the companion +poem that he could find inspiration in a rainy morning; and the great +master in English poetry is followed by a great master in English +painting who wins his chief triumphs by his handling of fog and mist. +Long ago the masterpiece of Virgil consecrated agricultural toil; +Murillo's pictures have taught us that there is a beauty in rags and +dirt; rustic commonplaces gave a life passion to Wordsworth, and were +the cause of a revolution in poetry; while Dickens has penetrated into +the still less promising region of low London life, and cast a halo +around the colourless routine of poverty. Men's evil passions have given +Tragedy to art, crime is beautified by being linked to Nemesis, meanness +is the natural source for brilliant comic effects, ugliness has reserved +for it a special form of art in the grotesque, and pain becomes +attractive in the light of the heroism that suffers and the devotion +that watches. In the infancy of modern English poetry Drayton found a +poetic side to topography and maps, and Phineas Fletcher idealised +anatomy; while of the two greatest imaginations belonging to the modern +world Milton produced his masterpiece in the delineation of a fiend, and +Dante in a picture of hell. The final triumph of good over evil seems to +have been already anticipated by art. + +[_The villainy of Richard ideal in its scale,_] + +The portrait of Richard satisfies a first condition of ideality in the +scale of the whole picture. The sphere in which he is placed is not +private life, but the world of history, in which moral responsibility is +the highest: if, therefore, the quality of other villainies be as fine, +here the issues are deeper. [_and in its fulness of development._] As +another element of the ideal, the villainy of Richard is presented to us +fully developed and complete. Often an artist of crime will rely--as +notably in the portraiture of Tito Melema--mainly on the succession of +steps by which a character, starting from full possession of the +reader's sympathies, arrives by the most natural gradations at a height +of evil which shocks. In the present case all idea of growth is kept +outside the field of this particular play; the opening soliloquy +announces a completed process: + +[=i.= i. 30.] + + I am determined to prove a villain. + +What does appear of Richard's past, seen through the favourable medium +of a mother's description, only seems to extend the completeness to +earlier stages: + +[=iv.= iv. 167.] + + A grievous burthen was thy birth to me; + Tetchy and wayward was thy infancy; + Thy school-days frightful, desperate, wild, and furious, + Thy prime of manhood daring, bold, and venturous, + Thy age confirm'd, proud, subtle, bloody, treacherous, + More mild, but yet more harmful, kind in hatred. + +So in the details of the play there is nowhere a note of the hesitation +that betrays tentative action. When even Buckingham is puzzled as to +what can be done if Hastings should resist, Richard answers: + +[=iii.= i. 193.] + + Chop off his head, man; somewhat we will do. + +His choice is only between different modes of villainy, never between +villainy and honesty. + +[_It has no sufficient motive._] + +Again, it is to be observed that there is no suggestion of impelling +motive or other explanation for the villainy of Richard. He does not +labour under any sense of personal injury, such as Iago felt in +believing, however groundlessly, [_Othello_: =i.= iii. 392, &c.] that +his enemies had wronged him through his wife; [_Lear_: =i.= ii. 1-22.] +or Edmund, whose soliloquies display him as conscious that his birth has +made his whole life an injury. Nor have we in this case the morbid +enjoyment of suffering which we associate with Mephistopheles, and which +Dickens has worked up into one of his most powerful portraits in Quilp. +Richard never turns aside to gloat over the agonies of his victims; it +is not so much the details as the grand schemes of villainy, the +handling of large combinations of crime, that have an interest for him: +he is a strategist in villainy, not a tactician. Nor can we point to +ambition as a sufficient motive. He is ambitious in a sense which +belongs to all vigorous natures; he has the workman's impulse to rise by +his work. But ambition as a determining force in character must imply +more than this; it is a sort of moral dazzling, its symptom is a +fascination by ends which blinds to the ruinous means leading up to +these ends. Such an ambition was Macbeth's; but in Richard the symptoms +are wanting, and in all his long soliloquies he is never found dwelling +upon the prize in view. A nearer approach to an explanation would be +Richard's sense of bodily deformity. Not only do all who come in contact +with him shrink from the 'bottled spider,' [=i.= iii. 242, 228; =iv.= +iv. 81, &c.] but he himself gives a conspicuous place in his meditations +to the thought of his ugliness; from the outset he connects his criminal +career with the reflection that he 'is not shaped for sportive tricks' +[=i.= i. 14.]: + + Deform'd, unfinish'd, sent before my time + Into this breathing world, scarce half made up, + And that so lamely and unfashionable + That dogs bark at me as I halt by them; + Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace, + Have no delight to pass away the time, + Unless to spy my shadow in the sun + And descant on mine own deformity. + +Still, it would be going too far to call this the motive of his crimes: +the spirit of this and similar passages is more accurately expressed by +saying that he has a morbid pleasure in contemplating physical ugliness +analogous to his morbid pleasure in contemplating moral baseness. [esp. +=i.= ii. 252-264.] + +[_Villainy has become to Richard an end in itself._] + +There appears, then, no sufficient explanation and motive for the +villainy of Richard: the general impression conveyed is that to Richard +villainy has become an end in itself needing no special motive. This is +one of the simplest principles of human development--that a means to an +end tends to become in time an end in itself. The miser who began +accumulating to provide comforts for his old age finds the process +itself of accumulating gain firmer and firmer hold upon him, until, when +old age has come, he sticks to accumulating and foregoes comfort. So in +previous plays Gloster may have been impelled by ambition to his crimes: +[compare _3 Henry VI:_ =iii.= ii. 165-181.] by the time the present play +is reached crime itself becomes to him the dearer of the two, and the +ambitious end drops out of sight. This leads directly to one of the two +main features of Shakespeare's portrait: Richard is an _artist in +villainy_. [_Richard an artist in villainy._] What form and colour are +to the painter, what rhythm and imagery are to the poet, that crime is +to Richard: it is the medium in which his soul frames its conceptions of +the beautiful. The gulf that separates between Shakespeare's Richard and +the rest of humanity is no gross perversion of sentiment, nor the +development of abnormal passions, nor a notable surrender in the +struggle between interest and right. It is that he approaches villainy +as a thing of pure intellect, a region of moral indifference in which +sentiment and passion have no place, attraction to which implies no more +motive than the simplest impulse to exercise a native talent in its +natural sphere. + +[_Richard lacks the emotions naturally attending crime._] + +Of the various barriers that exist against crime, the most powerful are +the checks that come from human emotions. It is easier for a criminal +to resist the objections his reason interposes to evildoing than to +overcome these emotional restraints: either his own emotions, woven by +generations of hereditary transmission into the very framework of his +nature, which make his hand tremble in the act of sinning; or the +emotions his crimes excite in others, such as will cause hardened +wretches, who can die calmly on the scaffold, to cower before the +menaces of a mob. Crime becomes possible only because these emotions can +be counteracted by more powerful emotions on the other side, by greed, +by thirst for vengeance, by inflamed hatred. In Richard, however, when +he is surveying his works, we find no such evil emotions raised, no +gratified vengeance or triumphant hatred. The reason is that there is in +him no restraining emotion to be overcome. Horror at the unnatural is +not subdued, but absent; [=i.= ii.] his attitude to atrocity is the +passionless attitude of the artist who recognises that the tyrant's +cruelty can be set to as good music as the martyr's heroism. Readers are +shocked at the scene in which Richard wooes Lady Anne beside the bier of +the parent he has murdered, and wonder that so perfect an intriguer +should not choose a more favourable time. But the repugnance of the +reader has no place in Richard's feelings: the circumstances of the +scene are so many _objections_, to be met by so much skill of treatment. +A single detail in the play illustrates perfectly this neutral attitude +to horror. Tyrrel comes to bring the news of the princes' murder; +Richard answers: + +[=iv.= iii. 31.] + + Come to me, Tyrrel, soon at after supper, + And thou shalt tell the process of their death. + +Quilp could not have waited for his gloating till after supper; other +villains would have put the deed out of sight when done; the epicure in +villainy reserves his _bonbouche_ till he has leisure to do it justice. +Callous to his own emotions, he is equally callous to the emotions he +rouses in others. When Queen Margaret is pouring a flood of curses which +make the innocent courtiers' hair stand on end, and the heaviest curse +of all, which she has reserved for Richard himself, [=i.= iii. 216-239.] +is rolling on its climax, + + Thou slander of thy mother's heavy womb! + Thou loathed issue of thy father's loins! + Thou rag of honour! thou detested-- + +he adroitly slips in the word 'Margaret' in place of the intended +'Richard,' and thus, with the coolness of a schoolboy's small joke, +disconcerts her tragic passion in a way that gives a moral wrench to the +whole scene. [=iv.= iv, from 136.] His own mother's curse moves him not +even to anger; he caps its clauses with bantering repartees, until he +seizes an opportunity for a pun, and begins to move off: [=ii.= ii. +109.] he treats her curse, as in a previous scene he had treated her +blessing, with a sort of gentle impatience as if tired of a fond yet +somewhat troublesome parent. Finally, there is an instinct which serves +as resultant to all the complex forces, emotional or rational, which +sway us between right and wrong; this instinct of conscience is formally +disavowed by Richard: + +[=v.= iii. 309.] + + Conscience is but a word that cowards use, + Devised at first to keep the strong in awe. + +[_But he regards villainy with the intellectual enthusiasm of the +artist._] + +But, if the natural heat of emotion is wanting, there is, on the other +hand, the full intellectual warmth of an artist's enthusiasm, whenever +Richard turns to survey the game he is playing. He reflects with a +relish how he does the wrong and first begins the brawl, how he sets +secret mischief abroach and charges it on to others, beweeping his own +victims to simple gulls, and, [=i.= iii, from 324.] when these begin to +cry for vengeance, quoting Scripture against returning evil for evil, +and thus seeming a saint when most he plays the devil. The great master +is known by his appreciation of details, in the least of which he can +see the play of great principles: so the magnificence of Richard's +villainy does not make him insensible to commonplaces of crime. When in +the long usurpation conspiracy there is a moment's breathing space just +before the Lord Mayor enters, [=iii.= vi. 1-11.] Richard and Buckingham +utilise it for a burst of hilarity over the deep hypocrisy with which +they are playing their parts; how they can counterfeit the deep +tragedian, murder their breath in the middle of a word, tremble and +start at wagging of a straw:--here we have the musician's flourish upon +his instrument from very wantonness of skill. Again: + +[=i.= i. 118.] + + Simple, plain Clarence! I do love thee so + That I will shortly send thy soul to heaven-- + +is the composer's pleasure at hitting upon a readily workable theme. +Richard appreciates his murderers as a workman appreciates good tools: + +[=i.= iii. 354.] + + Your eyes drop millstones, when fools' eyes drop tears: + I like you, lads. + +[=i.= ii, from 228.] + +And at the conclusion of the scene with Lady Anne we have the artist's +enjoyment of his own masterpiece: + + Was ever woman in this humour woo'd? + Was ever woman in this humour won?... + What! I, that kill'd her husband and his father, + To take her in her heart's extremest hate, + With curses in her mouth, tears in her eyes, + The bleeding witness of her hatred by; + Having God, her conscience, and these bars against me, + And I nothing to back my suit at all, + But the plain devil and dissembling looks, + And yet to win her, all the world to nothing! + +The tone in this passage is of the highest: it is the tone of a musician +fresh from a triumph of his art, the sweetest point in which has been +that he has condescended to no adventitious aids, no assistance of +patronage or concessions to popular tastes; it has been won by pure +music. So the artist in villainy celebrates a triumph of _plain devil_! + +[_The villainy ideal in success: a fascination of irresistibility in +Richard._] + +This view of Richard as an artist in crime is sufficient to explain the +hold which villainy has on Richard himself: but ideal villainy must be +ideal also in its success; and on this side of the analysis another +conception in Shakespeare's portraiture becomes of first importance. It +is obvious enough that Richard has all the elements of success which can +be reduced to the form of skill: but he has something more. No theory of +human action will be complete which does not recognise a dominion of +will over will operating by mere contact, without further explanation so +far as conscious influence is concerned. What is it that takes the bird +into the jaws of the serpent? No persuasion or other influence on the +bird's consciousness, for it struggles to keep back; we can only +recognise the attraction as a force, and give it a name, fascination. In +Richard there is a similar Fascination of Irresistibility, which also +operates by his mere presence, and which fights for him in the same way +in which the idea of their invincibility fought for conquerors like +Napoleon, and was on occasions as good to them as an extra twenty or +thirty thousand men. A consideration like this will be appreciated in +the case of _tours de force_ like the Wooing of Lady Anne, which is a +stumblingblock to many readers--a widow beside the bier of her murdered +husband's murdered father wooed and won by the man who makes no secret +that he is the murderer of them both. The analysis of ordinary human +motives would make it appear that Anne would not yield at points at +which the scene represents her as yielding; some other force is wanted +to explain her surrender, and it is found in this secret force of +irresistible will which Richard bears about with him. But, it will be +asked, in what does this fascination appear? The answer is that the idea +of it is furnished to us by the other scenes of the play. Such a +consideration illustrates the distinction between real and ideal. An +ideal incident is not an incident of real life simply clothed in beauty +of expression; nor, on the other hand, is an ideal incident divorced +from the laws of real possibility. Ideal implies that the transcendental +has been made possible by treatment: that an incident (for example) +which might be impossible in itself becomes possible through other +incidents with which it is associated, just as in actual life the action +of a public personage which may have appeared strange at the time +becomes intelligible when at his death we can review his life as a +whole. Such a scene as the Wooing Scene might be impossible as a +fragment; it becomes possible enough in the play, where it has to be +taken in connection with the rest of the plot, throughout which the +irresistibility of the hero is prominent as one of the chief threads of +connection. [_The fascination is to be conveyed in the acting._] Nor is +it any objection that the Wooing Scene comes early in the action. The +play is not the book, but the actor's interpretation on the stage, and +the actor will have collected even from the latest scenes elements of +the interpretation he throws into the earliest: the actor is a lens for +concentrating the light of the whole play upon every single detail. The +fascination of irresistibility, then, which is to act by instinct in +every scene, may be arrived at analytically when we survey the play as a +whole--when we see how by Richard's innate genius, by the reversal in +him of the ordinary relation of human nature to crime, especially by his +perfect mastery of the successive situations as they arise, the +dramatist steadily builds up an irresistibility which becomes a secret +force clinging to Richard's presence, and through the operation of which +his feats are half accomplished by the fact of his attempting them. + +[_The irresistibility analysed. Unlikely means._] + +To begin with: the sense of irresistible power is brought out by the way +in which the unlikeliest things are continually drawn into his schemes +and utilised as means. [=i.= i, from 42.] Not to speak of his regular +affectation of blunt sincerity, he makes use of the simple brotherly +confidence of Clarence as an engine of fratricide, [=iii.= iv; esp. 76 +compared with =iii.= i. 184.] and founds on the frank familiarity +existing between himself and Hastings a plot by which he brings him to +the block. The Queen's compunction at the thought of leaving Clarence +out of the general reconciliation around the dying king's bedside is +the fruit of a conscience tenderer than her neighbours': [=ii.= i, from +73: cf. 134.] Richard adroitly seizes it as an opportunity for shifting +on to the Queen and her friends the suspicion of the duke's murder. +[=iii.= i. 154.] The childish prattle of little York Richard manages to +suggest to the bystanders as dangerous treason; [=ii.= i. 52-72.] the +solemnity of the king's deathbed he turns to his own purposes by +outdoing all the rest in Christian forgiveness and humility; [=iii.= v. +99, &c.] and he selects devout meditation as the card to play with the +Lord Mayor and citizens. On the other hand, amongst other devices for +the usurpation conspiracy, he starts a slander upon his own mother's +purity; [=iii.= v. 75-94.] and further--by one of the greatest strokes +in the whole play--makes capital in the Wooing Scene out of his own +heartlessness, [=i.= ii. 156-167.] describing in a burst of startling +eloquence the scenes of horror he has passed through, the only man +unmoved to tears, in order to add: + + And what these sorrows could not thence exhale, + Thy beauty hath, and made them blind with weeping. + +There are things which are too sacred for villainy to touch, and there +are things which are protected by their own foulness: both alike are +made useful by Richard. + +[_The sensation produced by one crime made to bring about others._] + +Similarly it is to be noticed how Richard can utilise the very sensation +produced by one crime as a means to bring about more; as when he +interrupts the King's dying moments to announce the death of Clarence in +such a connection as must give a shock to the most unconcerned +spectator, [=ii.= i, from 77; cf. 134.] and then draws attention to the +pale faces of the Queen's friends as marks of guilt. He thus makes one +crime beget another without further effort on his part, reversing the +natural law by which each criminal act, through its drawing more +suspicion to the villain, tends to limit his power for further mischief. +[_Richard's own plans foisted on to others._] It is to the same purpose +that Richard chooses sometimes instead of acting himself to foist his +own schemes on to others; as when he inspires Buckingham with the idea +of the young king's arrest, and, when Buckingham seizes the idea as his +own, meekly accepts it from him: + +[=ii.= ii. 112-154; esp. 149.] + + I, like a child, will go by thy direction. + +There is in all this a dreadful _economy_ of crime: not the economy of +prudence seeking to reduce its amount, but the artist's economy which +delights in bringing the largest number of effects out of a single +device. Such skill opens up a vista of evil which is boundless. + +[_No signs of effort in Richard: imperturbability of mind._] + +The sense of irresistible power is again brought out by his perfect +imperturbability of mind: villainy never ruffles his spirits. He never +misses the irony that starts up in the circumstances around him, and +says to Clarence: + +[=i.= i. 111.] + + This deep disgrace in brotherhood + _Touches_ me deeply. + +While taking his part in entertaining the precocious King he treats us +to continual asides-- + +[=iii.= i. 79, 94.] + + So wise so young, they say, do never live long-- + +showing how he can stop to criticise the scenes in which he is an actor. +[=iii.= iv. 24.] He can delay the conspiracy on which his chance of the +crown depends by coming late to the council, [=iii.= iv. 32.] and then +while waiting the moment for turning upon his victim is cool enough to +recollect the Bishop of Ely's strawberries. [_humour;_] But more than +all these examples is to be noted Richard's _humour_. This is _par +excellence_ the sign of a mind at ease with itself: scorn, contempt, +bitter jest belong to the storm of passion, but humour is the sunshine +of the soul. Yet Shakespeare has ventured to endow Richard with +unquestionable humour. [=i.= i. 151-156.] Thus, in one of his earliest +meditations, he prays, 'God take King Edward to his mercy,' for then he +will marry Warwick's youngest daughter: + + What though I kill'd her husband and her father! + The readiest way to make the wench amends + Is to become her husband and her father! + +[e.g. =i.= i. 118; =ii.= ii. 109; =iv.= iii. 38, 43; =i.= iii. 142; +=ii.= i. 72; =iii.= vii. 51-54, &c.] + +And all through there perpetually occur little turns of language into +which the actor can throw a tone of humorous enjoyment; notably, when he +complains of being 'too childish-foolish for this world,' and where he +nearly ruins the effect of his edifying penitence in the Reconciliation +Scene, by being unable to resist one final stroke: + + I thank my God for my humility! + +[_freedom from prejudice._] + +Of a kindred nature is his perfect frankness and fairness to his +victims: villainy never clouds his judgment. Iago, astutest of +intriguers, was deceived, as has been already noted, by his own morbid +acuteness, and firmly believed--what the simplest spectator can see to +be a delusion--that Othello has tampered with his wife. Richard, on the +contrary, is a marvel of judicial impartiality; he speaks of King Edward +in such terms as these-- + +[=i.= i. 36.] + + If King Edward be as true and just + As I am subtle, false and treacherous; + +and weighs elaborately the superior merit of one of his victims to his +own: + +[=i.= ii. from 240.] + + Hath she forgot already that brave prince, + Edward, her lord, whom I, some three months since, + Stabb'd in my angry mood at Tewksbury? + A sweeter and a lovelier gentleman, + Framed in the prodigality of nature, + Young, valiant, wise, and, no doubt, right royal, + The spacious world cannot again afford: + And will she yet debase her eyes on me, + That cropped the golden prime of this sweet prince, + And made her widow to a woful bed? + On me, whose all not equals Edward's moiety? + +Richard can rise to all his height of villainy without its leaving on +himself the slightest trace of struggle or even effort. + +[_A recklessness suggesting boundless resources._] + +Again, the idea of boundless resource is suggested by an occasional +recklessness, almost a slovenliness, in the details of his intrigues. +Thus, in the early part of the Wooing Scene he makes two blunders of +which a tyro in intrigue might be ashamed. [=i.= ii. 91.] He denies that +he is the author of Edward's death, to be instantly confronted with the +evidence of Margaret as an eye-witness. Then a few lines further on he +goes to the opposite extreme: + +[=i.= ii. 101.] + + _Anne._ Didst thou not kill this king? + + _Glouc._ I grant ye. + + _Anne_. Dost grant me, hedgehog? + +The merest beginner would know better how to meet accusations than by +such haphazard denials and acknowledgments. But the crack +billiard-player will indulge at the beginning of the game in a little +clumsiness, giving his adversaries a prospect of victory only to have +the pleasure of making up the disadvantage with one or two brilliant +strokes. And so Richard, essaying the most difficult problem ever +attempted in human intercourse, lets half the interview pass before he +feels it worth while to play with caution. + +[_General character of Richard's intrigue: inspiration rather than +calculation._] + +The mysterious irresistibility of Richard, pointed to by the succession +of incidents in the play, is assisted by the very improbability of some +of the more difficult scenes in which he is an actor. Intrigue in +general is a thing of reason, and its probabilities can be readily +analysed; but the genius of intrigue in Richard seems to make him avoid +the caution of other intriguers, and to give him a preference for feats +which seem impossible. The whole suggests how it is not by calculation +that he works, but he brings the _touch_ of an artist to his dealing +with human weakness, and follows whither his artist's inspiration leads +him. If, then, there is nothing so remote from evil but Richard can make +it tributary; if he can endow crimes with power of self-multiplying; if +he can pass through a career of sin without the taint of distortion on +his intellect and with the unruffled calmness of innocence; if Richard +accomplishes feats no other would attempt with a carelessness no other +reputation would risk, even slow reason may well believe him +irresistible. When, further, such qualifications for villainy become, +by unbroken success in villainy, reflected in Richard's very bearing; +when the only law explaining his motions to onlookers is the lawlessness +of genius whose instinct is more unerring than the most laborious +calculation and planning, it becomes only natural that the _opinion_ of +his irresistibility should become converted into a mystic _fascination_, +making Richard's very presence a signal to his adversaries of defeat, +chilling with hopelessness the energies with which they are to face his +consummate skill. + +The two main ideas of Shakespeare's portrait, the idea of an artist in +crime and the fascination of invincibility which Richard bears about +with him, are strikingly illustrated in the wooing of Lady Anne. [=i.= +ii.] For a long time Richard will not put forth effort, but meets the +loathing and execration hurled at him with repartee, saying in so many +words that he regards the scene as a 'keen encounter of our wits.' +[115.] All this time the mysterious power of his presence is operating, +the more strongly as Lady Anne sees the most unanswerable cause that +denunciation ever had to put produce no effect upon her adversary, and +feels her own confidence in her wrongs recoiling upon herself. [from +152.] When the spell has had time to work then he assumes a serious +tone: suddenly, as we have seen, turning the strong point of Anne's +attack, his own inhuman nature, into the basis of his plea--he who never +wept before has been softened by love to her. From this point he urges +his cause with breathless speed; [175.] he presses a sword into her hand +with which to pierce his breast, knowing that she lacks the nerve to +wield it, and seeing how such forbearance on her part will be a +starting-point in giving way. [from 193.] We can trace the sinking of +her will before the unconquerable will of her adversary in her feebler +and feebler refusals, while as yet very shame keeps her to an outward +defiance. Then, when she is wishing to yield, he suddenly finds her an +excuse by declaring that all he desires at this moment is that she +should leave the care of the King's funeral + + To him that hath more cause to be a mourner. + +By yielding this much to penitence and religion we see she has commenced +a downward descent from which she will never recover. Such consummate +art in the handling of human nature, backed by the spell of an +irresistible presence, the weak Anne has no power to combat. [=iv.= i. +66-87.] To the last she is as much lost in amazement as the reader at +the way it has all come about: + + Lo, ere I can repeat this curse again, + Even in so short a space, my woman's heart + Grossly grew captive to his honey words. + +[_Ideal_ v. _real villainy_] + +To gather up our results. A dramatist is to paint a portrait of ideal +villainy as distinct from villainy in real life. In real life it is a +commonplace that a virtuous life is a life of effort; but the converse +is not true, that he who is prepared to be a villain will therefore lead +an easy life. On the contrary, 'the _way_ of transgressors is hard.' The +metaphor suggests a path, laid down at first by the Architect of the +universe, beaten plain and flat by the generations of men who have since +trodden it: he who keeps within this path of rectitude will walk, not +without effort, yet at least with safety; but he who 'steps aside' to +the right or left will find his way beset with pitfalls and +stumblingblocks. In real life a man sets out to be a villain, but his +mental power is deficient, and he remains a villain only in intention. +Or he has stores of power, but lacks the spark of purpose to set them +aflame. Or, armed with both will to plan and mind to execute, yet his +efforts are hampered by unfit tools. Or, if his purpose needs reliance +alone on his own clear head and his own strong arm, yet in the critical +moment the emotional nature he has inherited with his humanity starts +into rebellion and scares him, like Macbeth, from the half-accomplished +deed. Or, if he is as hardened in nature as corrupt in mind and will, +yet he is closely pursued by a mocking fate, which crowns his well-laid +plans with a mysterious succession of failures. Or, if there is no other +limitation on him from within or from without, yet he may move in a +world too narrow to give him scope: the man with a heart to be the +scourge of his country proves in fact no more than the vagabond of a +country side.--But in Shakespeare's portrait we have infinite capacity +for mischief, needing no purpose, for evil has become to it an end in +itself; we have one who for tools can use the baseness of his own nature +or the shame of those who are his nearest kin, while at his touch all +that is holiest becomes transformed into weapons of iniquity. We have +one whose nature in the past has been a gleaning ground for evil in +every stage of his development, and who in the present is framed to look +on unnatural horror with the eyes of interested curiosity. We have one +who seems to be seconded by fate with a series of successes, which +builds up for him an irresistibility that is his strongest safeguard; +and who, instead of being cramped by circumstances, has for his stage +the world of history itself, in which crowns are the prize and nations +the victims. In such a portrait is any element wanting to arrive at the +ideal of villainy? + +[_Ideal villainy_ v. _monstrosity._] + +The question would rather be whether Shakespeare has not gone too far, +and, passing outside the limits of art, exhibited a monstrosity. Nor is +it an answer to point to the 'dramatic hedging' by which Richard is +endowed with undaunted personal courage, unlimited intellectual power, +and every good quality not inconsistent with his perfect villainy. The +objection to such a portrait as the present study presents is that it +offends against our sense of the principles upon which the universe has +been constructed; we feel that before a violation of nature could attain +such proportions nature must have exerted her recuperative force to +crush it. If, however, the dramatist can suggest that such reassertion +of nature is actually made, that the crushing blow is delayed only while +it is accumulating force: in a word, if the dramatist can draw out +before us a _Nemesis_ as ideal as the villainy was ideal, then the full +demands of art will be satisfied. The Nemesis that dominates the whole +play of _Richard III_ will be the subject of the next study. + + + + +V. + +RICHARD III: HOW SHAKESPEARE WEAVES NEMESIS INTO HISTORY. + +_A Study in Plot._ + + +[_Richard III: from the Character side a violation of Nemesis;_] + +I HAVE alluded already to the dangerous tendency, which, as it appears +to me, exists amongst ordinary readers of Shakespeare, to ignore plot as +of secondary importance, and to look for Shakespeare's greatness mainly +in his conceptions of character. But the full character effect of a +dramatic portrait cannot be grasped if it be dissociated from the plot; +and this is nowhere more powerfully illustrated than in the play of +_Richard III_. The last study was devoted exclusively to the Character +side of the play, and on this confined view the portrait of Richard +seemed a huge offence against our sense of moral equilibrium, rendering +artistic satisfaction impossible. Such an impression vanishes when, as +in the present study, the drama is looked at from the side of Plot. +[_from the side of Plot, the transformation of history into Nemesis._] +The effect of this plot is, however, missed by those who limit their +attention in reviewing it to Richard himself. These may feel that there +is nothing in his fate to compensate for the spectacle of his crimes: +man must die, and a death in fulness of energy amid the glorious stir of +battle may seem a fate to be envied. But the Shakespearean Drama with +its complexity of plot is not limited to the individual life and fate in +its interpretation of history; and when we survey all the distinct +trains of interest in the play of _Richard III_, with their blendings +and mutual influence, we shall obtain a sense of dramatic satisfaction +amply counterbalancing the monstrosity of Richard's villainy. Viewed as +a study in character the play leaves in us only an intense craving for +Nemesis: when we turn to consider the plot, this presents to us the +world of history transformed into an intricate design of which the +recurrent pattern is Nemesis. + +[_The underplot: a set of separate Nemesis Actions._] + +This notion of tracing a pattern in human affairs is a convenient key to +the exposition of plot. Laying aside for the present the main interest +of Richard himself, we may observe that the bulk of the drama consists +in a number of minor interests--single threads of the pattern--each of +which is a separate example of Nemesis. [_Clarence._] The first of these +trains of interest centres around the Duke of Clarence. He has betrayed +the Lancastrians, to whom he had solemnly sworn fealty, for the sake of +the house of York; [=i.= iv. 50, 66.] this perjury is his bitterest +recollection in his hour of awakened conscience, and is urged home by +the taunts of his murderers; while his only defence is that he did it +all for his brother's love. [=ii.= i. 86.] Yet his lot is to fall by a +treacherous death, the warrant for which is signed by this brother, the +King and head of the Yorkist house, [=i.= iv. 250.] while its execution +is procured by the bulwark of the house, the intriguing Richard. [_The +King._] The centre of the second nemesis is the King, who has thus +allowed himself in a moment of suspicion to be made a tool for the +murder of his brother, seeking to stop it when too late. [=ii.= i. +77-133.] Shakespeare has contrived that this death of Clarence, +announced as it is in so terrible a manner beside the King's sick bed, +gives him a shock from which he never rallies, and he is carried out to +die with the words on his lips: + + O God, I fear Thy justice will take hold + On me, and you, and mine, and yours for this. + +[_The Queen and her kindred._] + +In this nemesis on the King are associated the Queen and her kindred. +They have been assenting parties to the measures against Clarence +(however little they may have contemplated the bloody issue to which +those measures have been brought by the intrigues of Gloster). [=ii.= +ii. 62-65.] This we must understand from the introduction of Clarence's +children, who serve no purpose except to taunt the Queen in her +bereavement: + + _Boy._ Good aunt, you wept not for our father's death; + How can we aid you with our kindred tears? + + _Girl._ Our fatherless distress was left unmoan'd; + Your widow-dolour likewise be unwept! + +[=ii.= ii. 74, &c.] + +The death of the King, so unexpectedly linked to that of Clarence, +removes from the Queen and her kindred the sole bulwark to the hated +Woodville family, and leaves them at the mercy of their enemies. +[_Hastings._] A third nemesis Action has Hastings for its subject. [=i.= +i. 66; =iii.= ii. 58, &c.] Hastings is the head of the court-faction +which is opposed to the Queen and her allies, and he passes all bounds +of decency in his exultation at the fate which overwhelms his +adversaries: + + But I shall laugh at this a twelvemonth hence, + That they who brought me in my master's hate, + I live to look upon their tragedy. + +He even forgets his dignity as a nobleman, and stops on his way to the +Tower to chat with a mere officer of the court, [=iii.= ii. 97.] in +order to tell him the news of which he is full, that his enemies are to +die that day at Pomfret. Yet this very journey of Hastings is his +journey to the block; the same cruel fate which had descended upon his +opponents, from the same agent and by the same unscrupulous doom, is +dealt out to Hastings in his turn. [_Buckingham._] In this treacherous +casting off of Hastings when he is no longer useful, Buckingham has been +a prime agent. [=iii.= ii, from 114.] Buckingham amused himself with the +false security of Hastings, adding to Hastings's innocent expression of +his intention to stay dinner at the Tower the aside + + And supper too, although thou know'st it not; + +while in the details of the judicial murder he plays second to Richard. +By precisely similar treachery he is himself cast off when he hesitates +to go further with Richard's villainous schemes; [=iv.= ii, from 86.] +and in precisely similar manner the treachery is flavoured with +contempt. + + _Buck._ I am thus bold to put your grace in mind + Of what you promised me. + + _K. Rich._ Well, but what's o'clock? + + _Buck._ Upon the stroke of ten. + + _K. Rich._ Well, let it strike. + + _Buck._ Why let it strike? + + _K. Rich._ Because that, like a Jack, thou keep'st the stroke + Betwixt thy begging and my meditation. + I am not in the giving vein to-day. + + _Buck._ Why, then resolve me whether you will or no. + + _K. Rich._ Tut, tut. + Thou troublest me; I am not in the vein. + + [_Exeunt all but Buckingham._ + + _Buck._ Is it even so? rewards he my true service + With such deep contempt? made I him king for this? + O, let me think on Hastings, and be gone + To Brecknock, while my fearful head is on! + +[_The four nemeses formed into a system by nemesis as a link._] + +These four Nemesis Actions, it will be observed, are not separate trains +of incident going on side by side, they are linked together into a +system, the law of which is seen to be that those who triumph in one +nemesis become the victims of the next; so that the whole suggests a +'chain of destruction,' like that binding together the orders of the +brute creation which live by preying upon one another. When Clarence +perished it was the King who dealt the doom and the Queen's party who +triumphed: the wheel of Nemesis goes round and the King's death follows +the death of his victim, the Queen's kindred are naked to the vengeance +of their enemies, and Hastings is left to exult. Again the wheel of +Nemesis revolves, and Hastings at the moment of his highest exultation +is hurled to destruction, while Buckingham stands by to point the moral +with a gibe. Once more the wheel goes round, and Buckingham hears +similar gibes addressed to himself and points the same moral in his own +person. Thus the portion of the drama we have so far considered yields +us a pattern within a pattern, a series of Nemesis Actions woven into a +complete underplot by a connecting-link which is also Nemesis. + +[_The 'Enveloping Action' a nemesis._] + +Following out the same general idea we may proceed to notice how the +dramatic pattern is surrounded by a fringe or border. The picture of +life presented in a play will have the more reality if it be connected +with a life wider than its own. There is no social sphere, however +private, but is to some extent affected by a wider life outside it, this +by one wider still, until the great world is reached the story of which +is History. The immediate interest may be in a single family, but it +will be a great war which, perhaps, takes away some member of this +family to die in battle, or some great commercial crisis which brings +mutation of fortune to the obscure home. The artists of fiction are +solicitous thus to suggest connections between lesser and greater; it is +the natural tendency of the mind to pass from the known to the unknown, +and if the artist can derive the movements in his little world from the +great world outside, he appears to have given his fiction a basis of +admitted truth to rest on. This device of enclosing the incidents of the +actual story in a framework of great events--technically, the +'Enveloping Action'--is one which is common in Shakespeare; it is enough +to instance such a case as _A Midsummer Night's Dream_, in which play a +fairy story has a measure of historic reality given to it by its +connection with the marriage of personages so famous as Theseus and +Hippolyta. In the present case, the main incidents and personages belong +to public life; nevertheless the effect in question is still secured, +and the contest of factions with which the play is occupied is +represented as making up only a few incidents in the great feud of +Lancaster and York. This Enveloping Action of the whole play, the War of +the Roses, is marked with special clearness: two personages are +introduced for the sole purpose of giving it prominence. [=ii.= ii. 80.] +The Duchess of York is by her years and position the representative of +the whole house; the factions who in the play successively triumph and +fall are all descended from herself; she says: + + Alas, I am the mother of these moans! + Their woes are parcell'd, mine are general. + +[=i.= iii, from 111; and =iv.= iv. 1-125.] + +And probabilities are forced to bring in Queen Margaret, the head and +sole rallying-point of the ruined Lancastrians: when the two aged women +are confronted the whole civil war is epitomised. It is hardly necessary +to point out that this Enveloping Action is itself a Nemesis Action. All +the rising and falling, the suffering and retaliation that we actually +see going on between the different sections of the Yorkist house, +constitute a detail in a wider retribution: [esp. =ii.= ii; =iv.= i; +=iv.= iv.] the presence of the Duchess gives to the incidents a unity, +[=ii.= iii; and =iv.= iv.] Queen Margaret's function is to point out +that this unity of woe is only the nemesis falling on the house of York +for their wrongs to the house of Lancaster. Thus the pattern made up of +so many reiterations of nemesis is enclosed in a border which itself +repeats the same figure. + +[_The Enveloping Nemesis carried on into indefiniteness._] + +The effect is carried further. Generally the Enveloping Action is a sort +of curtain by which our view of a drama is bounded; in the present case +the curtain is at one point lifted, and we get a glimpse into the world +beyond. Queen Margaret has surprised the Yorkist courtiers, and her +prophetic denunciations are still ringing, in which she points to the +calamities her foes have begun to suffer as retribution for the woes of +which her fallen greatness is the representative--[=i.= iii. 174-194.] +when Gloster suddenly turns the tables upon her. + + The curse my noble father laid on thee, + When thou didst crown his warlike brows with paper + And with thy scorns drew'st rivers from his eyes, + And then, to dry them, gavest the duke a clout + Steep'd in the faultless blood of pretty Rutland,-- + His curses, then from bitterness of soul + Denounced against thee, are all fall'n upon thee; + And God, not we, hath plagu'd thy bloody deed. + +And the new key-note struck by Gloster is taken up in chorus by the +rest, who find relief from the crushing effect of Margaret's curses by +pressing the charge home upon her. This is only a detail, but it is +enough to carry the effect of the Enveloping Action a degree further +back in time: the events of the play are nemesis on York for wrongs done +to Lancaster, but now, it seems, these old wrongs against Lancaster were +retribution for yet older crimes Lancaster had committed against York. +As in architecture the vista is contrived so as to carry the general +design of the building into indefiniteness, so here, while the grand +nemesis, of which Margaret's presence is the representative, shuts in +the play like a veil, the momentary lifting of the veil opens up a vista +of nemeses receding further and further back into history. + +[_The one attempt to reverse the nemesis confirms it._] + +Once more. All that we have seen suggests it as a sort of law to the +feud of York and Lancaster that each is destined to wreak vengeance on +the other, and then itself suffer in turn. [=i.= ii.] But at one notable +point of the play an attempt is made to evade the hereditary nemesis by +the marriage of Richard and Lady Anne. Anne, daughter to Warwick--the +grand deserter to the Lancastrians and martyr to their cause--widow to +the murdered heir of the house and chief mourner to its murdered head, +is surely the greatest sufferer of the Lancastrians at the hands of the +Yorkists. Richard is certainly the chief avenger of York upon Lancaster. +When the chief source of vengeance and the chief sufferer are united in +the closest of all bonds, the attempt to evade Nemesis becomes ideal. +Yet what is the consequence? This attempt of Lady Anne to evade the +hereditary curse proves the very channel by which the curse descends +upon herself. [=iv.= i. 66-87.] We see her once more: she is then on her +way to the Tower, and we hear her tell the strange story of her wooing, +and wish the crown were 'red hot steel to sear her to the brain'; never, +she says, since her union with Richard has she enjoyed the golden dew +of sleep; she is but waiting for the destruction, by which, no doubt, +Richard will shortly rid himself of her. + +[_To counteract the effect of repetition the nemeses are specially +emphasised:_] + +An objection may, however, here present itself, that continual +repetition of an idea like Nemesis, tends to weaken its artistic effect, +until it comes to be taken for granted. No doubt it is a law of taste +that force may be dissipated by repetition if carried beyond a certain +point. But it is to be noted, on the other hand, what pains Shakespeare +has taken to counteract the tendency in the present instance. The force +of a nemesis may depend upon a fitness that addresses itself to the +spectator's reflection, or it may be measured by the degree to which the +nemesis is brought into prominence in the incidents themselves. [_by +recognition,_] In the incidents of the present play special means are +adopted to make the recognition of the successive nemeses as they arise +emphatic. In the first place the nemesis is in each case pointed out at +the moment of its fulfilment. [=i.= iv, from 18.] In the case of +Clarence his story of crime and retribution is reflected in his dream +before it is brought to a conclusion in reality; and wherein the +bitterness of this review consists, we see when he turns to his +sympathising jailor and says: + +[=i.= iv. 66.] + + O Brackenbury, I have done those things, + Which now bear evidence against my soul, + For Edward's sake: and see how he requites me! + +The words have already been quoted in which the King recognises how +God's justice has overtaken him for his part in Clarence's death, and +those in which the children of Clarence taunt the Queen with her having +herself to bear the bereavement she has made them suffer. As the Queen's +kindred are being led to their death, one of them exclaims: + +[=iii.= iii. 15.] + + Now Margaret's curse is fall'n upon our heads + For standing by when Richard stabb'd her son. + +Hastings, when his doom has wakened him from his infatuation, recollects +a priest he had met on his way to the Tower, with whom he had stopped +to talk about the discomfiture of his enemies: + +[=iii.= iv. 89.] + + O, now I want the priest that spake to me! + +Buckingham on his way to the scaffold apostrophises the souls of his +victims: + +[=v.= i. 7.] + + If that your moody discontented souls + Do through the clouds behold this present hour, + Even for revenge mock my destruction. + +[=iv.= iv. 1, 35.] And such individual notes of recognition are +collected into a sort of chorus when Margaret appears the second time to +point out the fulfilment of her curses, and sits down beside the old +Duchess and her daughter-in-law to join in the 'society of sorrow' and +'cloy her' with beholding the revenge for which she has hungered. + +[_by prophecy,_] + +Again, the nemeses have a further emphasis given to them by prophecy. +[=i.= iii, from 195.] As Queen Margaret's second appearance is to mark +the fulfilment of a general retribution, so her first appearance +denounced it beforehand in the form of curses. And the effect is carried +on in individual prophecies: the Queen's friends as they suffer foresee +that the turn of the opposite party will come: + +[=iii.= iii. 7.] + + You live that shall cry woe for this hereafter; + +and Hastings prophesies Buckingham's doom: + +[=iii.= iv. 109.] + + They smile at me that shortly shall be dead. + +It is as if the atmosphere cleared for each sufferer with the approach +of death, and they then saw clearly the righteous plan on which the +universe is constructed, and which had been hidden from them by the dust +of life. + +[_and especially by irony._] + +But there is a third means, more powerful than either recognition or +prophecy, which Shakespeare has employed to make his Nemesis Actions +emphatic. The danger of an effect becoming tame by repetition he has met +by giving to each train of nemesis a flash of irony at some point of its +course. In the case of Lady Anne we have already seen how the exact +channel Nemesis chooses by which to descend upon her is the attempt she +made to avert it. She had bitterly cursed her husband's murderer: + +[=iv.= i. 75.] + + And be thy wife--if any be so mad-- + As miserable by the life of thee + As thou hast made me by my dear lord's death! + +In spite of this she had yielded to Richard's mysterious power, and so, +as she feels, proved the _subject of her own heart's curse_. Again, it +was noticed in the preceding study how the Queen, less hard than the +rest in that wicked court, or perhaps softened by the spectacle of her +dying husband, essayed to reverse, when too late, what had been done +against Clarence; [=ii.= i. 134.] Gloster skilfully turned this +compunction of conscience into a ground of suspicion on which he traded +to bring all the Queen's friends to the block, and thus a moment's +relenting was made into a means of destruction. [=i.= iv. 187, 199, 200, +206.] In Clarence's struggle for life, as one after another the threads +of hope snap, as the appeal to law is met by the King's command, the +appeal to heavenly law by the reminder of his own sin, [=i.= iv. 232.] +he comes to rest for his last and surest hope upon his powerful brother +Gloster--and the very murderers catch the irony of the scene: + + _Clar._ If you be hired for meed, go back again, + And I will send you to my brother Gloster, + Who shall reward you better for my life + Than Edward will for tidings of my death. + + _Sec. Murd._ You are deceived, your brother Gloster hates you. + + _Clar._ O, no, he loves me, and he holds me dear: + Go you to him from me. + + _Both._ Ay, so we will. + + _Clar._ Tell him, when that our princely father York + Bless'd his three sons with his victorious arm, + And charg'd us from his soul to love each other, + He little thought of this divided friendship: + Bid Gloster think of this, and he will weep. + + _First Murd._ Ay, millstones; as he lesson'd us to weep. + + _Clar._ O, do not slander him, for he is kind. + + _First Murd._ Right, + As snow in harvest. Thou deceivest thyself: + 'Tis he that sent us hither now to slaughter thee. + + _Clar._ It cannot be; for when I parted with him, + He hugg'd me in his arms, and swore, with sobs, + That he would labour my delivery. + + _Sec. Murd._ Why, so he doth, now he delivers thee + From this world's thraldom to the joys of heaven. + +[=ii.= i. 95.] + +In the King's case a special incident is introduced into the scene to +point the irony. Before Edward can well realise the terrible +announcement of Clarence's death, the decorum of the royal chamber is +interrupted by Derby, who bursts in, anxious not to lose the portion of +the king's life that yet remains, in order to beg a pardon for his +follower. The King feels the shock of contrast: + + Have I a tongue to doom my brother's death, + And shall the same give pardon to a slave? + +The prerogative of mercy that exists in so extreme a case as the murder +of a 'righteous gentleman,' and is so passionately sought by Derby for a +servant, is denied to the King himself for the deliverance of his +innocent brother. [=iii.= ii, from 41.] The nemesis on Hastings is +saturated with irony; he has the simplest reliance on Richard and on +'his servant Catesby,' who has come to him as the agent of Richard's +treachery; and the very words of the scene have a double significance +that all see but Hastings himself. + + _Hast._ I tell thee, Catesby,-- + + _Cate._ What, my lord? + + _Hast._ Ere a fortnight make me elder + I'll send some packing that yet think not on it. + + _Cate._ 'Tis a vile thing to die, my gracious lord, + When men are unprepared, and look not for it. + + _Hast._ O monstrous, monstrous! and so falls it out + With Rivers, Vaughan, Grey: and so 'twill do + With some men else, who think themselves as safe + As thou and I. + +As the scenes with Margaret constituted a general summary of the +individual prophecies and recognitions, [=ii.= i.] so the Reconciliation +Scene around the King's dying bed may be said to gather into a sort of +summary the irony distributed through the play; for the effect of the +incident is that the different parties pray for their own destruction. +[=ii.= i. 32.] In this scene Buckingham has taken the lead and struck +the most solemn notes in his pledge of amity; [=v.= i, from 10.] when +Buckingham comes to die, his bitterest thought seems to be that the day +of his death is All Souls' Day. + + _This is the day_ that, in King Edward's time, + I wish'd might fall on me, when I was found + False to his children or his wife's allies; + This is the day wherein I wish'd to fall + By the false faith of him I trusted most; ... + That high All-Seer that I dallied with + Hath turn'd my feigned prayer on my head + And given in earnest what I begg'd in jest. + +By devices, then, such as these; by the sudden revelation of a remedy +when it is just too late to use it; by the sudden memory of clear +warnings blindly missed; by the spectacle of a leaning for hope upon +that which is known to be ground for despair; by attempts to retreat or +turn aside proving short cuts to destruction; above all by the +sufferer's perception that he himself has had a chief share in bringing +about his doom:--by such irony the monotony of Nemesis is relieved, and +fatality becomes flavoured with mockery. + +[_This multiplication of Nemesis a dramatic background for the villainy +of Richard._] + +Dramatic design, like design which appeals more directly to the eye, has +its perspective: to miss even by a little the point of view from which +it is to be contemplated is enough to throw the whole into distortion. +So readers who are not careful to watch the harmony between Character +and Plot have often found in the present play nothing but wearisome +repetition. Or, as there is only a step between the sublime and the +ridiculous, this masterpiece of Shakespearean plot has suggested to them +only the idea of Melodrama,--that curious product of dramatic feeling +without dramatic inventiveness, with its world in which poetic justice +has become prosaic, in which conspiracy is never so superhumanly secret +but there comes a still more superhuman detection, and however +successful villainy may be for a moment the spectator confidently relies +on its being eventually disposed of by a summary 'off with his head.' +The point of view thus missed in the present play is that this network +of Nemesis is all needed to give dramatic reality to the colossal +villainy of the principal figure. When isolated, the character of +Richard is unrealisable from its offence against an innate sense of +retribution. Accordingly Shakespeare projects it into a world of which, +in whatever direction we look, retribution is the sole visible pattern; +in which, as we are carried along by the movement of the play, the +unvarying reiteration of Nemesis has the effect of _giving rhythm to +fate_. + +[_The motive force of the whole play is another nemesis: the Life and +Death of Richard._] + +What the action of the play has yielded so far to our investigation has +been independent of the central personage: we have now to connect +Richard himself with the plot. Although the various Nemesis Actions have +been carried on by their own motion and by the force of retribution as a +principle of moral government, yet there is not one of them which +reaches its goal without at some point of its course receiving an +impetus from contact with Richard. Richard is thus the source of +movement to the whole drama, communicating his own energy through all +parts. It is only fitting that the motive force to this system of +nemeses should be itself a grand Nemesis Action, the _Life and Death_, +or crime and retribution, _of Richard III_. The hero's rise has been +sufficiently treated in the preceding study; it remains to trace his +fall. + +[_The fall of Richard: not a shock but a succession of stages._] + +This fall of Richard is constructed on Shakespeare's favourite plan; its +force is measured, not by suddenness and violence, but by protraction +and the perception of distinct stages--the crescendo in music as +distinguished from the fortissimo. Such a fall is not a mere passage +through the air--one shock and then all is over--but a slipping down the +face of the precipice, with desperate clingings and consciously +increasing impetus: its effect is the one inexhaustible emotion of +suspense. If we examine the point at which the fall begins we are +reminded that the nemesis on Richard is different in its type from the +others in the play. [_Not a nemesis of equality but of sureness._] These +are (like that on Shylock) of the _equality_ type, of which the motto is +measure for measure: [=iii.= iii. 15.] and, with his usual exactness, +Shakespeare gives us a turning-point in the precise centre of the play, +where, as the Queen's kindred are being borne to their death, we get the +first recognition that the general retribution denounced by Margaret has +begun to work. But the turning-point of Richard's fate is reserved till +long past the centre of the play; his is the nemesis of _sureness_, in +which the blow is delayed that it may accumulate force. Not that this +turning-point is reserved to the very end; [_The turning-point: irony of +its delay._] the change of fortune appears just when Richard has +_committed himself_ to his final crime in the usurpation--the murder of +the children--the crime from which his most unscrupulous accomplice has +drawn back. [=iv.= ii, from 46.] The effect of this arrangement is to +make the numerous crimes which follow appear to come by necessity; he is +'so far in blood that sin will pluck on sin'; he is forced to go on +heaping up his villainies with Nemesis full in his view. This +turning-point appears in the simple announcement that 'Dorset has fled +to Richmond.' There is an instantaneous change in Richard to an attitude +of defence, which is maintained to the end. His first instinct is +action: but as soon as we have heard the rapid scheme of measures--most +of them crimes--by which he prepares to meet his dangers, then he can +give himself up to meditation; [from 98.] and we now begin to catch the +significance of what has been announced. The name of Richmond has been +just heard for the first time in this play. But as Richard meditates we +learn how Henry VI prophesied that Richmond should be a king while he +was but a peevish boy. Again, Richard recollects how lately, while +viewing a castle in the west, the mayor, who showed him over it, +mispronounced its name as 'Richmond'--and he had started, for a bard of +Ireland had told him he should not live long after he had seen Richmond. +Thus the irony that has given point to all the other retributions in the +play is not wanting in the chief retribution of all: Shakespeare +compensates for so long keeping the grand Nemesis out of sight by thus +representing Richard as gradually realising that _the finger of Nemesis +has been pointing at him all his life and he has never seen it_! + +[_Tantalising mockery in Richard's fate._] + +From this point fate never ceases to tantalise and mock Richard. He +engages in his measures of defence, and with their villainy his spirits +begin to recover: + +[=iv.= iii. 38.] + + The sons of Edward sleep in Abraham's bosom, + And Anne my wife hath bid the world good night; + +young Elizabeth is to be his next victim, and + + To her I go, a jolly thriving wooer. + +[comp. 49. =iv.= iii. 45.] + +Suddenly the Nemesis appears again with the news that Ely, the shrewd +bishop he dreads most of all men, is with Richmond, and that Buckingham +has raised an army. Again, his defence is completing, and the wooing of +Elizabeth--his masterpiece, since it is the second of its kind--has been +brought to an issue that deserves his surprised exultation: + +[=iv.= iv. 431.] + + Relenting fool, and shallow, changing woman! + +Suddenly the Nemesis again interrupts him, and this time is nearer: a +puissant navy has actually appeared on the west. And now his equanimity +begins at last to be disturbed. [_His equanimity affected._] He storms +at Catesby for not starting, forgetting that he has given him no message +to take. [=iv.= iv. 444-540.] More than this, a little further on +_Richard changes his mind_! Through the rest of the long scene destiny +is openly playing with him, giving him just enough hope to keep the +sense of despair warm. Messenger follows messenger in hot haste: +Richmond is on the seas--Courtenay has risen in Devonshire--the +Guildfords are up in Kent.--But Buckingham's army is dispersed--But +Yorkshire has risen.--But, a gleam of hope, the Breton navy is +dispersed--a triumph, Buckingham is taken.--Then, finally, Richmond has +landed! The suspense is telling upon Richard. In this scene he strikes a +messenger before he has time to learn that he brings good tidings. [=v.= +iii. 2, 5, 8, &c.] When we next see him he wears a forced gaiety and +scolds his followers into cheerfulness; but with the gaiety go sudden +fits of depression: + + Here will I lie to-night; + But where to-morrow? + +[=v.= iii, from 47.] + +A little later he becomes nervous, and we have the minute attention to +details of the man who feels that his all depends upon one cast; he will +not sup, but calls for ink and paper to plan the morrow's fight, he +examines carefully as to his beaver and his armour, selects White Surrey +to ride, and at last calls for wine and _confesses_ a change in himself: + + I have not that alacrity of spirit, + Nor cheer of mind, that I was wont to have. + +[_Climax of Richard's fate: significance of the apparitions._] + +Then comes night, and with it the full tide of Nemesis. By the device of +the apparitions the long accumulation of crimes in Richard's rise are +made to have each its due representation in his fall. It matters not +that they are only apparitions. [=v.= iii, from 118.] Nemesis itself is +the ghost of sin: its sting lies not in the physical force of the blow, +but in the close _connection_ between a sin and its retribution. So +Richard's victims rise from the dead only to secure that the weight of +each several crime shall lie heavy on his soul in the morrow's doom. +This point moreover must not be missed--that the climax of his fate +comes to Richard in his _sleep_. [_Significance of Richard's sleep._] +The supreme conception of resistance to Deity is reached when God is +opposed by God's greatest gift, the freedom of the will. God, so it is +reasoned, is omnipotent, but God has made man omnipotent in setting no +bounds to his will; and God's omnipotence to punish may be met by man's +omnipotence to endure. Such is the ancient conception of Prometheus, +and such are the reasonings Milton has imagined for his Satan: to whom, +though heaven be lost, + + All is not lost, the unconquerable will ... + And courage never to submit or yield. + +But when that strange bundle of greatness and littleness which makes up +man attempts to oppose with such weapons the Almighty, how is he to +provide for those states in which the will is no longer the governing +force in his nature; for the sickness, in which the mind may have to +share the feebleness of the body, or for the daily suspension of will in +sleep? Richard can to the last preserve his will from faltering. But, +like all the rest of mankind, he must some time sleep: that which is the +refuge of the honest man, when he may relax the tension of daily care, +sleep, is to Richard his point of weakness, when the safeguard of +invincible will can protect him no longer. It is, then, this weak moment +which a mocking fate chooses for hurling upon Richard the whole +avalanche of his doom; as he starts into the frenzy of his half-waking +soliloquy we see him, as it were, tearing off layer after layer of +artificial reasonings with which the will-struggles of a lifetime have +covered his soul against the touch of natural remorse. With full waking +his will is as strong as ever: but meanwhile his physical nature has +been shattered to its depths, and it is only the wreck of Richard that +goes to meet his death on Bosworth Field. + +[_Remaining stages of the fall._] + +There is no need to dwell on the further stages of the fall: to the last +the tantalising mockery continues. [=v.= iii. 303.] Richard's spirits +rise with the ordering of the battle, and there comes the mysterious +scroll to tell him he is bought and sold. [=v.= iii. 342.] His spirits +rise again as the fight commences, and news comes of Stanley's long +feared desertion. [=v.= iv. 11.] Five times in the battle he has slain +his foe, and five times it proves a false Richmond. Thus slowly the cup +is drained to its last dregs and Richard dies. [=i.= i, from 1.] The +play opened with the picture of peace, the peace which led Richard's +turbid soul, no longer finding scope in physical warfare, to turn to +the moral war of villainy; from that point through all the crowded +incidents has raged the tumultuous battle between Will and Nemesis; with +Richard's death it ceases, and the play may return to its keynote: + +[=v.= v. 40.] + + Now civil wounds are stopp'd, peace lives again. + + + + +VI. + +HOW NEMESIS AND DESTINY ARE INTERWOVEN IN MACBETH. + +_A further Study in Plot._ + + +[_Macbeth as a study of subtlety in Plot._] + +THE present study, like the last, is a study in Plot. The last +illustrated Shakespeare's grandeur of conception, how a single principle +is held firm amidst the intricacies of history, and reiterated in every +detail. The present purpose is to give an example of Shakespeare's +_subtlety_, and to exhibit the incidents of a play bound together not by +one, [_Its threefold action._] but by three, distinct threads of +connection--or, if a technical term may be permitted, three Forms of +Dramatic Action--all working harmoniously together into a design equally +involved and symmetrical. One of these forms is Nemesis; the other two +are borrowed from the ancient Drama: it thus becomes necessary to +digress for a moment, in order to notice certain differences between the +ancient and modern Drama, and between the ancient and modern thought of +which the Drama is the expression. + +[_In the passage from ancient to modern, Destiny changes into +Providence._] + +In the ancient Classical Drama the main moral idea underlying its action +is the idea of Destiny. The ancient world recognised Deity, but their +deities were not supreme in the universe; Zeus had gained his position +by a revolution, and in his turn was to be overthrown by revolution; +there was thus, in ancient conception, behind Deity a yet higher force +to which Deity itself was subject. The supreme force of the universe has +by a school of modern thought been defined as a stream of tendency in +things not ourselves making for righteousness: if we attempt to adapt +this formula to the ideas of antiquity the difficulty will be in finding +anything to substitute for the word 'righteousness.' Sometimes the sum +of forces in the universe did seem, in the conception of the ancients, +to make for righteousness, and Justice became the highest law. At other +times the world seemed to them governed by a supernatural Jealousy, and +human prosperity was struck down for no reason except that it was +prosperity. In such philosophy as that of Lucretius, again, the tendency +of all things was towards Destruction; while in the handling of legends +such as that of Hippolytus there is a suggestion of a dark interest to +ancient thought in conceiving Evil itself as an irresistible force. It +appears, then, that the ancient mind had caught the idea of _force_ in +the universe, without adding to it the further idea of a motive by which +that force was guided: _blind_ fate was the governing power over all +other powers. With this simple conception of force as ruling the world, +modern thought has united as a motive righteousness or law: the +transition from ancient to modern thought may be fairly described by +saying that Destiny has become changed into Providence as the supreme +force of the universe. [_The change reflected in ancient and modern +Nemesis._] The change may be well illustrated by comparing the ancient +and modern conception of Nemesis. To ancient thought Nemesis was simply +one phase of Destiny; the story of Polycrates has been quoted in a +former study to illustrate how Nemesis appeared to the Greek mind as +capricious a deity as Fortune, a force that might at any time, heedless +of desert, check whatever happiness was high enough to attract its +attention. But in modern ideas Nemesis and justice are strictly +associated: Nemesis may be defined as the artistic side of justice. + +So far as Nemesis then is concerned, it has, in modern thought, passed +altogether out of the domain of Destiny and been absorbed into the +domain of law: it is thus fitted to be one of the regular forms into +which human history may be represented as falling, in harmony with our +modern moral conceptions. But even as regards Destiny itself, while the +notion as a whole is out of harmony with the modern notion of law and +Providence as ruling forces of the world, yet certain minor phases of +Destiny as conceived by antiquity have survived into modern times and +been found not irreconcilable with moral law. [_Nemesis and Destiny +interwoven in the plot of Macbeth_.] Two of these minor phases of +Destiny are, it will be shown, illustrated in _Macbeth_: and we may thus +take as a general description of its plot, the interweaving of Destiny +with Nemesis. + +[_The whole plot a Nemesis Action,_] + +That the career of Macbeth is an example of Nemesis needs only to be +stated. As in the case of _Richard III_, we have the rise and fall of a +leading personage; the rise is a crime of which the fall is the +retribution. Nemesis has just been defined as the artistic aspect of +justice; we have in previous studies seen different artistic elements in +different types of Nemesis. Sometimes, as with Richard III, the +retribution becomes artistic through its sureness; its long delay +renders the effect of the blow more striking when it does come. [_of the +type of equality._] More commonly the artistic element in Nemesis +consists in the perfect equality between the sin and its retribution; +and of the latter type the Nemesis in the play of _Macbeth_ is perhaps +the most conspicuous illustration. The rise and fall of Macbeth, to +borrow the illustration of Gervinus, constitute a perfect arch, with a +turning-point in the centre. Macbeth's series of successes is unbroken +till it ends in the murder of Banquo; his series of failures is unbroken +from its commencement in the escape of Fleance. Success thus +constituting the first half and failure the second half of the play, the +transition from the one to the other is the expedition against Banquo +and Fleance, in which success and failure are mingled: [=iii.= iii.] and +this expedition, the keystone to the arch, is found to occupy the exact +middle of the middle Act. + +But this is not all: not only the play as a whole is an example of +nemesis, but if its two halves be taken separately they will be found to +constitute each a nemesis complete in itself. [_The rise of Macbeth a +separate Nemesis action._] To begin with the first half, that which is +occupied with the rise of Macbeth. If the plan of the play extended no +further than to make the hero's fall the retribution upon his rise, it +might be expected that the turning-point of the action would be reached +upon Macbeth's elevation to the throne. As a fact, however, Macbeth's +rise does not stop here; he still goes on to win one more success in his +attempt upon the life of Banquo. What the purpose of this prolonged flow +of fortune is will be seen when it is considered that this final success +of the hero is in reality the source of his ruin. In Macbeth's progress +to the attainment of the crown, while of course it was impossible that +crimes so violent as his should not incur suspicion, yet circumstances +had strangely combined to soothe these suspicions to sleep. But--so +Shakespeare manipulates the story--when Macbeth, seated on the throne, +goes on to the attempt against Banquo, this additional crime not only +brings its own punishment, but has the further effect of unmasking the +crimes that have gone before. This important point in the plot is +brought out to us in a scene, specially introduced for the purpose, in +which Lennox and another lord represent the opinion of the court. + +[=iii.= vi. i.] + + _Lennox._ My former speeches have but hit your thoughts, + Which can interpret further: only, I say, + Things have been strangely borne. The gracious Duncan + Was pitied of Macbeth: marry, he was dead: + And the right-valiant Banquo walk'd too late; + Whom, you may say, if't please you, Fleance kill'd, + For Fleance fled: men must not walk too late. + Who cannot want the thought how monstrous + It was for Malcolm and for Donalbain + To kill their gracious father? damned fact! + How it did grieve Macbeth! did he not straight + In pious rage the two delinquents tear, + That were the slaves of drink and thralls of sleep? + Was not that nobly done? Ay, and wisely too; + For 'twould have anger'd any heart alive + To hear the men deny't. So that, I say, + He has borne all things well: and I do think + That had he Duncan's sons under his key-- + As, an't please heaven, he shall not--they should find + What 'twere to kill a father; so should Fleance. + +Under the bitter irony of this speech we can see clearly enough that +Macbeth has been exposed by his _series_ of suspicious acts; he has +'done all things well;' and in particular by peculiar resemblances +between this last incident of Banquo and Fleance and the previous +incident of Duncan and his son. It appears then that Macbeth's last +successful crime proves the means by which retribution overtakes all his +other crimes; the latter half of the play is needed to develop the steps +of the retribution, but, in substance, Macbeth's fall is latent in the +final step of his rise. Thus the first half of the play, that which +traces the rise of Macbeth, is a complete Nemesis Action--a career of +sins in which the last sin secures the punishment of all. + +[_The fall of Macbeth a separate Nemesis Action._] + +The same reasoning applies to the latter half of the play: the fall of +Macbeth not only serves as the retribution for his rise, but further +contains in itself a crime and its nemesis complete. What Banquo is to +the first half of the play Macduff is to the latter half; the two +balance one another as, in the play of _Julius Cæsar_, Cæsar himself is +balanced by Antony; and Macduff comes into prominence upon Banquo's +death as Antony upon the fall of Cæsar. Now Macduff, when he finally +slays Macbeth, is avenging not only Scotland, but also his own wrongs; +and the tyrant's crime against Macduff, with its retribution, just gives +unity to the second half of the play, in the way in which the first half +was made complete by the association between Macbeth and Banquo, [=iii.= +i. 57-72.] from their joint encounter with the Witches on to the murder +of Banquo as a consequence of the Witches' prediction. Accordingly we +find that no sooner has Macbeth, by the appearance of the Ghost at the +banquet, realised the turn of fate, than his first thoughts are of +Macduff: + +[=iii.= iv. 128.] + + _Macbeth._ How say'st thou, that Macduff denies his person + At our great bidding? + + _Lady M._ Did you send to him, sir? + + _Macbeth._ I hear it by the way; but I will send. + +When the Apparitions bid Macbeth 'beware Macduff,' he answers, + +[=iv.= i. 74.] + + Thou hast harp'd my fear aright! + +[=iv.= i, from 139.] On the vanishing of the Apparition Scene, the first +thing that happens is the arrival of news that Macduff has fled to +England, and is out of his enemy's power; then Macbeth's bloody thoughts +devise a still more cruel purpose of vengeance to be taken on the +fugitive's family. + + Time, thou anticipatest my dread exploits: + The flighty purpose never is o'ertook + Unless the deed go with it.... + The castle of Macduff I will surprise; + Seize upon Fife; give to the edge o' the sword + His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls + That trace him in his line. + +[=iv.= ii, iii.] In succeeding scenes we have this diabolical massacre +carried out, and see the effect which the news of it has in rousing +Macduff to his revenge; [=v.= vii. 15.] until in the final scene of all +he feels that if Macbeth is slain and by no stroke of his, his wife and +children's ghosts will for ever haunt him. Thus Macduff's function in +the play is to be the agent not only of the grand nemesis which +constitutes the whole plot, but also of a nemesis upon a private wrong +which occupies the latter half of the play. And, putting our results +together, we find that a Nemesis Action is the description alike of the +whole plot and of the rise and fall which are its two halves. + +[_The Oracular as one phase of Destiny: its partial revelation._] + +With Nemesis is associated in the play of _Macbeth_ Destiny in two +distinct phases. The first of these is _the Oracular_. In ancient +thought, as Destiny was the supreme governor of the universe, so oracles +were the revelation of Destiny; and thus the term 'the Oracles of God' +is appropriately applied to the Bible as the Christian revelation. With +the advent of Christianity the oracles became dumb. But the triumph of +Christianity was for centuries incomplete; heathen deities were not +extirpated, but subordinated to the supernatural personages of the new +religion; [_A minor form of the Oracular in modern oracular beings._] +and the old oracles declined into oracular beings such as witches and +wizards, and oracular superstitions, such as magic mirrors, dreams, +apparitions--all means of dimly revealing hidden destiny. Shakespeare is +never wiser than the age he is pourtraying; and accordingly he has +freely introduced witches and apparitions into the machinery of +_Macbeth_, though in the principles that govern the action of this, as +of all his other plays, he is true to the modern notions of Providence +and moral law. [_The Oracular Action: Destiny working from mystery to +clearness;_] An oracle and its fulfilment make up a series of events +eminently fitted to constitute a dramatic interest; and no form of +ancient Drama and Story is more common than this of the 'Oracular +Action.' Its interest may be formulated as Destiny working from mystery +to clearness. At the commencement of an oracular story the fated future +is revealed indeed, but in a dress of mystery, as when the Athenians are +bidden to defend themselves with only wooden walls; but as the story of +Themistocles develops itself, the drift of events is throwing more and +more light on to the hidden meaning of the oracle, until by the naval +victory over the Persians the oracle is at once clear and fulfilled. + +The Oracular Action is so important an element in plot, that it may be +worth while to prolong the consideration of it by noting the three +principal varieties into which it falls, all of which are illustrated in +the play of _Macbeth_. In each case the interest consists in tracing the +working of Destiny out of mystery into clearness: the distinction +between the varieties depends upon the agency by which Destiny works, +and the relation of this agency to the original oracle. [(1) _by the +agency of blind obedience;_] In the first variety Destiny is fulfilled +by the agency of blind obedience. The Spartans, unfortunate in their +war with the Messenians, enquire of an oracle, and receive the strange +response that they must apply for a general to the Athenians, their +hereditary enemies. But they resolve to obey the voice of Destiny, +though to all appearance they obey at their peril; and the Athenians +mock them by selecting the most unfit subject they can find--a man whose +bodily infirmities had excluded him from the military exercises +altogether. Yet in the end the faith of the Spartans is rewarded. It had +been no lack of generalship that had caused their former defeats, but +discord and faction in their ranks; now Tyrtæus turned out to be a lyric +poet, whose songs roused the spirit of the Spartans and united them as +one man, and when united, their native military talent led them to +victory. Thus in its fulfilment the hidden meaning of the oracle breaks +out into clearness: and blind obedience to the oracle is the agency by +which it has been fulfilled. + +[(2) _by the agency of free will;_] + +In the second variety the oracle is fulfilled by the agency of +indifference and free will: it is neither obeyed nor disobeyed, but +ignored. One of the best illustrations is to be found in the plot of Sir +Walter Scott's novel, _The Betrothed_. Its heroine, more rational than +her age, resists the family tradition that would condemn her to sleep in +the haunted chamber; overborne, however, by age and authority, she +consents, and the lady of the bloody finger appears to pronounce her +doom: + + Widow'd wife, and wedded maid; + Betrothed, Betrayer, and Betrayed. + +This seems a mysterious destiny for a simple and virtuous girl. The +faithful attendant Rose declares in a burst of devotion that betrayed +her mistress may be, but betrayer never; the heroine herself braces her +will to dismiss the foreboding from her thoughts, and resolves that she +will not be influenced by it on the one side or on the other. Yet it all +comes about. Gratitude compels her to give her hand to the elderly +Constable, who on the very day of betrothal is summoned away to the +Crusade, from which, as it appears, he is never to return, leaving his +spouse at once a widowed wife and a wedded maid. In the troubles of that +long absence, by a perfectly natural series of events, gratitude again +leads the heroine to admit to her castle her real deliverer and lover in +order to save his life, and in protecting him amidst strange +circumstances of suspicion to bid defiance to all comers. Finally the +castle is besieged by the royal armies, and the heroine has to hear +herself proclaimed a traitor by the herald of England; from this +perplexity a deliverance is found only when her best friend saves her by +betraying the castle to the king. So every detail in the unnatural doom +has been in the most natural manner fulfilled: and the woman by whose +action it has been fulfilled has been all the while maintaining the +freedom of her will and persistently ignoring the oracle. + +[(3) _by the agency of opposing will._] + +But the supreme interest of the Oracular Action is reached when the +oracle is fulfilled by an agency that has all the while set itself to +oppose and frustrate it. A simple illustration of this is seen in the +Eastern potentate who, in opposition to a prophecy that his son should +be killed by a lion, forbad the son to hunt, but heaped upon him every +other indulgence. In particular he built him a pleasure-house, hung with +pictures of hunting and of wild beasts, on which all that art could do +was lavished to compensate for the loss of the forbidden sport. One day +the son, chafing at his absence from the manly exercise in which his +comrades were at that moment engaged, wandered through his +pleasure-house, until, stopping at a magnificent picture of a lion at +bay, he began to apostrophise it as the source of his disgrace, and +waxing still more angry, drove his fist through the picture. A nail, +hidden behind the canvas entered his hand; the wound festered, and he +died. So the measures taken to frustrate the destiny proved the means of +fulfilling it. But in this third variety of the Oracular Action the +classical illustration is the story of Oedipus: told fully, it presents +three examples woven together. Laius of Thebes learns from an oracle +that the son about to be born to him is destined to be his murderer; +accordingly he refuses to rear the child, and it is cast out to perish. +A herdsman, Polybus, takes pity on the infant, carries it away to +Corinth, and brings it up in secret. In due time this Oedipus becomes +weary of the humble life of his supposed father; quitting Corinth, he +seeks advice of the oracle as to his future career, and receives the +startling response that he is destined to slay his own father. Resolved +to frustrate so terrible a fate, he will not return to Corinth, but, as +it happens, _takes the road to Thebes_, where he falls in accidentally +with Laius, and, in ignorance of his person, quarrels with him and slays +him. Now if Laius had not resisted the oracle by casting out the infant, +it would have grown up like other sons, and every probability would have +been against his committing so terrible a crime as parricide. Again, if +Polybus had not by his removal to Corinth sought to keep the child in +ignorance of his fate, he would have known the person of Laius and +spared him. Once more, if Oedipus had not, in opposition to the oracle, +avoided his supposed home, Corinth, he would never have gone to Thebes +and fallen in with his real father. Three different persons acting +separately seek to frustrate a declared destiny, and their action unites +in fulfilling it. + +The plot of _Macbeth_, both as a whole and in its separate parts, is +constructed upon this form of the Oracular Action, in combination with +the form of Nemesis. The play deals with the rise and fall of Macbeth: +the rise, and the fall, and again the two taken together, present each +of them an example of an Oracular Action. [_The rise of Macbeth an +Oracular Action,_] Firstly, the former half of the play, the rise of +Macbeth, taken by itself, consists in an oracle and its fulfilment--the +Witches' promise of the crown and the gradual steps by which the crown +is attained. Amongst the three varieties of the Oracular Action we have +just distinguished, the present example wavers between the first and the +second. [_varying between the second and first type._] After his first +excitement has passed away, Macbeth resolves that he will have nothing +to do with the temptation that lurked in the Witches' words; in his +disjointed meditation we hear him saying: + +[=i.= iii. 143.] + + If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me + Without my stir; + +and again: + +[=i.= iii. 146.] + + Come what come may, + Time and the hour runs through the roughest day; + +in which last speech the very rhyming may, according to Shakespeare's +subtle usage, be pointed to as marking a mind made up. So far then we +appear to be following an Oracular Action of the second type, that of +indifference and ignoring. But in the very next scene the proclamation +of a Prince of Cumberland--that is, of an heir-apparent like our Prince +of Wales--takes away Macbeth's 'chance': + +[=i.= iv. 48.] + + _Macb._ [_Aside_]. The prince of Cumberland! that is a step + On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, + For in my way it lies. + +He instantly commits himself to the evil suggestion, and thus changes +the type of action to the first variety, that in which the oracle is +fulfilled by the agency of obedience. + +[_The fall an Oracular Action of the first type._] + +Similarly Macbeth's fall, taken by itself, constitutes an Oracular +Action, consisting as it does of the ironical promises by the +Apparitions which the Witches raise for Macbeth on his visit to them, +and the course of events by which these promises are fulfilled. Its type +is a highly interesting example of the first variety, that of blind +obedience. [=iv.= i. 71-100.] The responses of the Apparitions lay down +impossible conditions, and as long as these conditions are unfulfilled +Macbeth is to be secure; he will fall only when one not born of woman +shall be his adversary, only when Birnam Wood shall come to Dunsinane. +Macbeth trusts blindly to these promises; further he obeys them, so far +as a man can be said to obey an oracle which enjoins no command: he +obeys in the sense of relying on them, and making that reliance his +ground of action. But this reliance of Macbeth on the ironical promises +is an agency in fulfilling them in their real meaning. [=iv.= i. +144-156.] In his reckless confidence he strikes out right and left, and +amongst others injures one to whom the description 'not born of woman' +applies. In his reliance on the Apparitions he proceeds, when threatened +by the English, to _shut himself up in Dunsinane Castle_; but for this +fact the English army would not have approached Dunsinane Castle by the +route of Birnam Wood, and the incident of the boughs would never have +taken place. Thus Macbeth's fate was made to depend uponi mpossibilities: +by his action in reliance on these impossibilities he is all the while +giving them occasion to become possible. In this way an ironical oracle +comes to be fulfilled by the agency of blind obedience. + +[_The whole plot an Oracular Action of the third type._] + +Thirdly, the rise and fall of Macbeth are so linked together as to +constitute the whole plot another example of the Oracular Action. [=i.= +iii. 48-50, 62-66.] The original oracle given by the Witches on the +blasted heath was a double oracle: besides the promise of the thaneships +and the crown there was another revelation of destiny, that Banquo was +to be lesser than Macbeth and yet greater, that he was to get kings +though to be none. In this latter half of the oracle is found the link +which binds together the rise and fall of Macbeth. When the first half +of the Witches' promise has been fulfilled in his elevation to the +throne, Macbeth sets himself to prevent the fulfilment of the second +half by his attempt upon Banquo and Fleance. Now we have already seen +how this attempt has the effect of drawing attention, not only to +itself, but also to Macbeth's other crimes, and proves indeed the +foundation of his ruin. Had Macbeth been content with the attainment of +the crown, all might yet have been well: the addition of just one more +precaution renders all the rest vain. It appears, then, that that which +binds together the rise and the fall, that which makes the fall the +retribution upon the rise, is the expedition against the Banquo family; +and the object of this crime is to frustrate the second part of the +Witches' oracle. So the original oracle becomes the motive force to the +whole play, setting in motion alike the rise and fall of the action. The +figure of the whole plot we have taken as a regular arch; its movement +might be compared to that terrible incident of mining life known as +'overwinding,' in which the steam engine pulls the heavy cage from the +bottom to the top of the shaft, but, instead of stopping then, winds on +till the cage is carried over the pulley and dashed down again to the +bottom. So the force of the Witches' prediction is not exhausted when it +has tempted Macbeth on to the throne, but carries him on to resist its +further clauses, and in resisting to bring about the fall by which they +are fulfilled. Not only then are the rise and the fall of Macbeth taken +separately oracular, but the whole plot, compounded of the two taken +together, constitutes another Oracular Action; and the last is of that +type in which Destiny is fulfilled by the agency of a will that has been +opposing it. + +[_Irony a phase of malignant Destiny._] + +A second phase of Destiny enters into the plot of _Macbeth_: this is +Irony. Etymologically the word means no more than _saying_. Pressing the +idea of saying as distinguished from meaning we get at the ordinary +signification, ambiguous speech; from which the word widens in its usage +to include double-dealing in general, such as the 'irony of Socrates,' +his habit of assuming the part of a simple enquirer in order to entangle +the pretentious sophists in their own wisdom. The particular extension +of meaning with which we are immediately concerned is that by which +irony comes to be applied to a double-dealing in Destiny itself; the +link between this and the original sense being no doubt the ambiguous +wording of oracular responses which has become proverbial. In ancient +conception Destiny wavered between justice and malignity; a leading +phase of malignant destiny was this Irony or double-dealing; Irony was +the laughter or mockery of Fate. It is illustrated in the angry measures +of Oedipus for penetrating the mystery that surrounds the murder of +Laius in order to punish the crime, impunity for which has brought the +plague upon his city: when at last it is made clear that Oedipus himself +has been unknowingly the culprit, there arises an irresistible sensation +that Destiny has been all the while playing with the king, and using his +zeal as a means for working his destruction. In modern thought the +supreme force of the universe cannot possibly be represented as +malignant. [_A modified Irony: Justice in a mocking humour._] But +mockery, though it may not be enthroned in opposition to justice, may +yet, without violating modern ideas, be made to appear in the _mode of +operation_ by which justice is brought about; here mockery is no longer +malignant, but simply an index of overpowering force, just as we smile +at the helpless stubbornness of a little child, whereas a man's +opposition makes us angry. For such a reconciliation of mockery with +righteousness we have authority in the imagery of Scripture. + + Why do the heathen rage? + And the people imagine a vain thing? + The kings of the earth set themselves + And the rulers take counsel together + Against the Lord + And against His Anointed: + Saying, Let us break their bonds, + And cast away their cords from us. + + He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: + The Lord shall have them in derision. + + Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath; + And vex them in his sore displeasure. + +There could not be a more perfect type of Irony, in that form of it +which harmonises with justice, than this picture in three touches, of +the busy security of the wicked, of justice pausing to mock their idle +efforts, and then with a burst of wrath and displeasure annihilating +their projects at a stroke. + +In modern thought, then, Irony is Justice in a mocking humour. The +mockery that suddenly becomes apparent in the mysterious operations of +Providence, and is a measure of their overpowering force, is clearly +capable of giving a highly dramatic interest to a train of events, and +so is fitted to be a form of dramatic action. [_Irony in the plot of +Macbeth: obstacles converted into stepping-stones._] The operation of +Destiny as exhibited in the plot of _Macbeth_ is throughout tinctured +with irony: the element of mockery appearing always in this, that +apparent checks to Destiny turn out the very means Destiny chooses by +which to fulfil itself. Irony of this kind is regularly attached to what +I have called the third variety of the Oracular Action, that in which +the oracle is fulfilled by the agency of attempts to oppose it; but in +the play under consideration the destiny, whether manifesting itself in +that type of the Oracular Action or not, is never dissociated from the +attitude of mockery to resistance which converts obstacles into +stepping-stones. It remains to show how the rise of Macbeth, the fall of +Macbeth, and again the rise and the fall taken together, are all of them +Irony Actions. + +[_The rise of Macbeth an Irony Action._] + +The basis of Macbeth's rise is the Witches' promise of the crown. +Scarcely has it been given when an obstacle starts up to its fulfilment +in the proclamation of Malcolm as heir-apparent. I have already pointed +out that it is this very proclamation which puts an end to Macbeth's +wavering, and leads him to undertake the treasonable enterprise which +only in the previous scene he had resolved he would have nothing to do +with. Later in the history a second obstacle appears: [=ii.= iii. 141.] +the king is slain, but his two sons, this heir-apparent and his brother, +escape from Macbeth's clutches and place two lives between him and the +fulfilment of his destiny. But, as events turn out, it is this very +flight of the princes that, by diverting suspicion to them for a moment, +causes Macbeth to be named as Duncan's successor. A conversation in the +play itself is devoted to making this point clear. + +[=ii.= iv. 22.] + + _Ross._ Is't known who did this more than bloody deed? + + _Macduff._ Those that Macbeth hath slain. + + _Ross._ Alas, the day! + What good could they pretend? + + _Macduff._ They were suborn'd: + Malcolm and Donalbain, the king's two sons, + Are stol'n away and fled; which puts upon them + Suspicion of the deed. + + _Ross._ 'Gainst nature still! + Thriftless ambition, that will ravin up + Thine own life's means! Then 'tis most like + The sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth. + + _Macduff._ He is already named, and gone to Scone + To be invested. + +[_The fall an Irony Action._] + +Twice, then, in the course of the rise Destiny allows obstacles to +appear only for the sake of using them as an unexpected means of +fulfilment. The same mockery marks the fall of the action. The security +against a fall promised by the Apparitions to Macbeth had just one +drawback--'beware Macduff'; [=iv.= i. 71.] and [=iv.= ii, &c.] we have +already had occasion to notice Macbeth's attempt to secure himself +against this drawback in the completest manner by extirpating the +dangerous thane and his family to the last scion of his stock, and also +how this cruel purpose succeeded against all but Macduff himself. Now it +is to be noted that this attempt against the fulfilment of the destined +retribution proves the very source of the fulfilment, without which it +would never have come about. For at one point of the story Macduff, the +only man who, according to the decrees of Fate, can harm Macbeth, +resolves to abandon his vengeance against him. In his over-cautious +policy Macduff was unwilling to move without the concurrence of Malcolm +the rightful heir. [=iv.= iii.] In one of the most singular scenes in +all Shakespeare Macduff is represented as urging Malcolm to assert his +rights, while Malcolm (in reality driven by the general panic to +suspect even Macduff) discourages his attempts, and affects to be a +monster of iniquity, surpassing the tyrant of Scotland himself. [=iv.= +iii, from 100.] At last he succeeds in convincing Macduff of his +villainies, and in a burst of despair the fate-appointed avenger +renounces vengeance. + + _Macduff._ Fit to govern? + No, not to live.... Fare thee well! + These evils thou repeat'st upon thyself + Have banish'd me from Scotland. O my breast + Thy hope ends here! + +Malcolm, it is true, then drops the pretence of villainy, but he does +not succeed in reassuring his companion. + +[=iv.= iii. 138.] + + _Macduff._ Such welcome and unwelcome things at once + 'Tis hard to reconcile. + +At this moment enters Ross with the news of Macbeth's expedition against +Fife, and tells how all Macduff's household, 'wife, children, servants, +all,' have been cut off 'at one swoop': before the agony of a +bereavement like this hesitation flies away for ever. + +[=iv.= iii. 231.] + + Gentle heavens, + Cut short all intermission; front to front + Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself; + Within my sword's length set him: if he 'scape, + Heaven forgive him too! + +The action taken by Macbeth with a view to prevent Macduff's being the +instrument of retribution, is brought by a mocking Fate to impel Macduff +to his task at the precise moment he had resolved to abandon it. + +[_The plot as a whole an Irony Action._] + +Finally, if the rise and the fall be contemplated together as +constituting one action, this also will be found animated by the same +spirit of irony. The original promise of the Witches, as well as the +later promise of the Apparition, [=i.= iii. 62-66.] had its drawback in +the destiny that Banquo was to be lesser than Macbeth and yet greater, +to get kings though to be none; and to secure against this drawback is +Macbeth's purpose in his plot against Banquo and Fleance, by which the +rival family would be extirpated. The plot only _half succeeds_, and by +its half-success contributes to the exactness with which the destiny is +fulfilled. Had Macbeth's attempt fully succeeded, Banquo would neither +have got kings nor been one; had no such attempt at all been made, then, +for anything we see to the contrary in the play, Banquo would have +preceded his sons on the throne, and so again the oracle would not have +been fulfilled which made Banquo lesser than Macbeth. But by the mixture +of success and failure in Macbeth's plot Banquo is slain before he can +attain the crown, and Fleance lives to give a royal house to Scotland. +Once more, then, mockery appears a characteristic of the Destiny that +finds in human resistance just the one peculiar device needed for +effecting the peculiar distribution of fortune it has promised. + +[_Summary._] + +Such is the subtlety with which Shakespeare has constructed this plot of +_Macbeth_, and interwoven in it Nemesis and Destiny. To outward +appearance it is connected with the rise and fall of a sinner: the +analysis that searches for inner principles of construction traces +through its incidents three forms of action working harmoniously +together, by which the rise and fall of Macbeth are so linked as to +exhibit at once a crime with its Nemesis, an Oracle with its fulfilment, +and the Irony which works by the agency of that which resists it. Again +the separate halves of the play, the rise and the fall of the hero, are +found to present each the same triple pattern as the whole. Once more, +with the career of Macbeth are associated the careers of Banquo and +Macduff, and these also reflect the threefold spirit. Macbeth's rise +involves Banquo's fall: this fall is the subject of oracular prediction, +it is the starting-point of nemesis on Macbeth, and it has an element of +irony in the fact that Banquo _all but_ escaped. With Macbeth's fall is +bound up Macduff's rise: this also had been predicted in oracles, it is +an agency in the main nemesis, and Macduff's fate has the irony that he +_all but_ perished at the outset of his mission. Through all the +separate interests of this elaborate plot, the three forms of +action--Nemesis, the Oracular, Irony--are seen perfectly harmonised and +perfectly complete. And over all this is thrown the supernatural +interest of the Witches, who are agents of nemesis working by the means +of ironical oracles. + + + + +VII. + +MACBETH, LORD AND LADY. + +_A Study in Character-Contrast._ + + +CONTRASTS of character form one of the simplest elements of dramatic +interest. Such contrasts are often obvious; at other times they take +definitiveness only when looked at from a particular point of view. The +contrast of character which it is the object of the present study to +sketch rests upon a certain distinction which is one of the fundamental +ideas in the analysis of human nature--[_The antithesis of the outer and +inner life._] the distinction between the outer life of action and the +inner life of our own experience. The recognition of the two is as old +as the _Book of Proverbs_, which contrasts the man that ruleth his +spirit with the man that taketh a city. The heathen oracle, again, +opened out to an age which seemed to have exhausted knowledge a new +world for investigation in the simple command, Know thyself. The Stoics, +who so despised the busy vanity of state cares, yet delighted to call +their ideal man a king; and their particular tenet is universalised by +Milton when he says: + + Therein stands the office of a king, + His honour, virtue, merit, and chief praise, + That for the public all this weight he bears: + Yet he who reigns within himself, and rules + Passions, desires, and fears, is more a king. + +And the modern humourist finds the idea indispensable for his pourtrayal +of character and experience. 'Sir,' says one of Thackeray's personages, +'a distinct universe walks about under your hat and under mine ... You +and I are but a pair of infinite isolations with some fellow-islands +more or less near to us.' And elsewhere the same writer says that 'each +creature born has a little kingdom of thought of his own, which it is a +sin in us to invade.' + +This antithesis of the practical and inner life is so accepted a +commonplace of the pulpit and of the essayist on morals and culture that +it may seem tedious to expound it. But for the very reason that it +belongs to all these spheres, and that these spheres overlap, the two +sides of the antithesis are not kept clearly distinct, nor are the terms +uniformly used in the same sense. For the present purpose the exact +distinction is between the outer world, the world of practical action, +the sphere of making and doing, in which we mingle with our fellow men, +join in their enterprises, and influence them to our ideas, in which we +investigate nature and society, or seek to build up a fabric of power: +and, on the other hand, the inner intellectual life, in which our powers +as by a mirror are turned inwards upon ourselves, finding a field for +enterprise in self-discipline and the contest with inherited notions and +passions, exploring the depths of our consciousness and our mysterious +relations with the unseen, until the thinker becomes familiar with +strange situations of the mind and at ease in the presence of its +problems. The antithesis is thus not at all the same as that between +worldly and religious, for the inner life may be cultivated for evil: +self-anatomy, as Shelley says, + + Shall teach the will + Dangerous secrets: for it tempts our powers. + Knowing what must be thought and may be done, + Into the depth of darkest purposes. + +Still less is it the antithesis between intellectual and commonplace; +the highest intellectual powers find employment in practical life. The +various mental and moral qualities belong to both spheres, but have a +different meaning for each. Practical experience is a totally different +thing from what the religious thinker means by his 'experience.' The +discipline given by the world often consists in the dulling of those +powers which self-discipline seeks to develope. Knowledge of affairs, +with its rapid and instinctive grasp, is often possessed in the highest +degree by the man who is least of all men versed in the other knowledge, +which could explain and analyse the processes by which it operated. And +every observer is struck by the different forms which courage takes in +the two spheres, courage in action, and courage where nothing can be +done and men have only to endure and wait. Macaulay in a well-known +passage contrasts the active and passive courage as one of the +distinctions between the West and the East. + + An European warrior, who rushes on a battery of cannon with a loud + hurrah, will sometimes shriek under the surgeon's knife, and fall + into an agony of despair at the sentence of death. But the Bengalee, + who would see his country overrun, his house laid in ashes, his + children murdered or dishonoured, without having the spirit to + strike one blow, has yet been known to endure torture with the + firmness of Mucius, and to mount the scaffold with the steady step + and even pulse of Algernon Sidney. + +The two lives are complete, each with its own field, its own qualities, +culture, and fruit. + +[_The antithesis an element in Character-Interpretation._] + +It is obvious that relation to these two lives will have a very great +effect in determining individual character. In the same man the two +sides of experience may be most unequally developed; an intellectual +giant is often a child in the affairs of the world, and a moral hero may +be found in the person of some bedridden cripple. On the other hand, to +some the inner life is hardly known: familiar perhaps with every other +branch of knowledge they go down to their graves strangers to +themselves. + + All things without, which round about we see, + We seek to know and how therewith to do; + But that whereby we reason, live, and be + Within ourselves, we strangers are thereto. + + We seek to know the moving of each sphere, + And the strange cause of the ebbs and flows of Nile: + But of that clock within our breasts we bear, + The subtle motions we forget the while. + + We, that acquaint ourselves with every zone, + And pass both tropics, and behold each pole, + When we come home, are to ourselves unknown, + And unacquainted still with our own soul. + +The antithesis then between the outer and inner life will be among the +ideas which lie at the root of Character-Interpretation. + +[_In a simple age it coincides with the distinction of the sexes._] + +When the idea is applied to an age like that of Macbeth, the antithesis +between the two lives almost coincides with the distinction of the +sexes: amid the simple conditions of life belonging to such an age the +natural tendency would be for genius in men to find scope in the outer +and practical world, while genius in women would be restricted to the +inner life. And this is the idea I am endeavouring to work out in the +present study:--[_The antithesis the key to the characters of Macbeth +and Lady Macbeth._] that the key to Shakespeare's portraiture of Macbeth +and Lady Macbeth will be found in regarding the two as illustrations of +the outer and inner life. Both possess force in the highest degree, but +the two have been moulded by the exercise of this force in different +spheres; their characters are in the play brought into sharp contrast by +their common enterprise, and the contrast of practical and intellectual +mind is seen maintained through the successive stages of their descent +to ruin. + +[_Macbeth as the practical man._] + +Thus Macbeth is essentially the practical man, the man of action, of the +highest experience, power, and energy in military and political command, +accustomed to the closest connection between willing and doing. He is +one who in another age would have worked out the problem of free trade, +or unified Germany, or engineered the Suez Canal. On the other hand, he +has concerned himself little with things transcendental; he is poorly +disciplined in thought and goodness; prepared for any emergency in which +there is anything to be _done_, yet a mental crisis or a moral problem +afflicts him with the shock of an unfamiliar situation. This is by no +means a generally accepted view: amongst a large number of readers the +traditional conception of Macbeth lingers as a noble disposition dragged +down by his connection with the coarser nature of his wife. [_His +nobility conventional._] According to the view here suggested the +nobility of Macbeth is of the flimsiest and most tawdry kind. The lofty +tone he is found at times assuming means no more than virtuous education +and surroundings. When the purely practical nature is examined in +reference to the qualities which belong to the intellectual life, the +result is not a blank but ordinariness: the practical nature will +reflect current thought and goodness as they appear from the outside. So +Macbeth's is the morality of inherited notions, retained just because he +has no disposition to examine them; he has all the practical man's +distrust of wandering from the beaten track of opinion, which gives the +working politician his prejudice against doctrinaires, and has raised up +stout defenders of the Church amongst men whose lives were little +influenced by her teaching. And the traditionary morality is more than +merely retained. When the seed fell into stony ground forthwith it +sprang up _because_ it had no deepness of earth: the very shallowness of +a man's character may lend emphasis to his high professions, just as, on +the other hand, earnestness in its first stage often takes the form of +hesitation. So Macbeth's practical genius takes in strongly what it +takes in at all, and gives it out vigorously. But that the nobility has +gone beyond the stage of passive recognition, that it has become +absorbed into his inner nature, there is not a trace; on the contrary, +it is impossible to follow Macbeth's history far without abundant +evidence that real love of goodness for its own sake, founded on +intelligent choice or deep affection, has failed to root a single fibre +in his nature. + +First, we have the opportunity of studying Macbeth's character in the +analysis given of it in the play itself by the one person who not only +saw Macbeth in his public life, but knew also the side of him hidden +from the world. + +[_Lady Macbeth's analysis of her husband's character._] + +[=i.= v. 16-31.] + + _Lady Macbeth._ I fear thy nature; + It is too full o' the milk of human kindness + To catch the nearest way. + +I believe that this phrase, the 'milk of human kindness,' divorced from +its context and become the most familiar of all commonplaces, has done +more than anything else towards giving a false twist to the general +conception of Macbeth's character. The words _kind, kindness_ are +amongst the most difficult words in Shakespeare. The wide original +signification of the root, _natural, nature_, still retained in the noun +_kind_, has been lost in the adjective, which has been narrowed by +modern usage to one sort of naturalness, tender-heartedness; though in a +derivative form the original sense is still familiar to modern ears in +the expression 'the _kindly_ fruits of the earth.' In Elizabethan +English, however, the root signification still remained in all usages of +_kind_ and its derivatives. In Schmidt's analysis of the adjective, two +of its four significations agree with the modern use, the other two are +'keeping to nature, natural,' and 'not degenerate and corrupt, but such +as a thing or person ought to be.' Shakespeare delights to play upon the +two senses of this family of words: [_Much Ado,_ =i.= i. 26.] tears of +joy are described as a 'kind overflow of kindness'; the Fool says of +Regan that she will use Lear 'kindly,' i.e. according to her nature; +[_Lr._ =i.= v. 15.] 'the worm will do his kind,' i.e. bite. [_Ant. and +Cleop._ =v.= ii. 264.] How far the word can wander from its modern sense +is seen in a phrase of the present play, [=ii.= i. 24.] 'at your kind'st +leisure,' where it is simply equivalent to 'convenient.' Still more will +the wider signification of the word obtain, when it is associated with +the word _human_; 'humankind' is still an expression for human nature, +and the sense of the passage we are considering would be more obvious if +the whole phrase were printed as one word, not 'human kindness,' but +'humankind-ness':--that shrinking from what is not natural, which is a +marked feature of the practical nature. The other part of the clause, +_milk_ of humankind-ness, no doubt suggests absence of hardness: but it +equally connotes natural, inherited, traditional feelings, imbibed at +the mother's breast. The whole expression of Lady Macbeth, then, I take +to attribute to her husband an instinctive tendency to shrink from +whatever is in any way unnatural. That this is the true sense further +appears, not only from the facts--[=i.= ii. 54.] for nothing in the play +suggests that Macbeth, 'Bellona's bridegroom,' was distinguished by +kindness in the modern sense--but from the context. The form of Lady +Macbeth's speech makes the phrase under discussion a summing up of the +rest of her analysis, or rather a general text which she proceeds to +expand into details. Not one of these details has any connection with +tender-heartedness: on the other hand, if put together the details do +amount to the sense for which I am contending, that Macbeth's character +is a type of commonplace morality, the shallow unthinking and unfeeling +man's lifelong hesitation between God and Mammon. + + Thou would'st be great; + Art not without ambition, but without + The illness should attend it: what thou would'st highly + That would'st thou holily; would'st not play false, + And yet would'st wrongly win: thou'ldst have, great Glamis, + That which cries 'Thus thou must do, if thou have it, + And that which _rather thou dost fear to do + Than wishest should be undone._' + +If the delicate balancing of previous clauses had left any doubt as to +the meaning, the last two lines remove it, and assert distinctly that +Macbeth has no objection to the evil itself, but only a fear of evil +measures which must be associated to a practical mind with failure and +disgrace. [=i.= iv. 48-53.] It is striking that at the very moment Lady +Macbeth is so meditating, her husband is giving a practical confirmation +of her description in its details as well as its general purport. [=i.= +iii. 143, 146.] He had resolved to take no steps himself towards the +fulfilment of the Witches' prophecy, but to leave all to chance; then +the proclamation of Malcolm, removing all apparent chance of succession, +led him to change his mind and entertain the scheme of treason and +murder: the words with which he surrenders himself seem like an echo of +his wife's analysis. + + Stars, hide your fires; + Let not light see my black and deep desires: + The eye wink at the hand; _yet let that be + Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see._ + +[_Macbeth's soliloquy: of an eminently practical character._] + +But we are not left to descriptions of Macbeth by others. We have him +self-displayed; and that in a situation so framed that if there were in +him the faintest sympathy with goodness it must here be brought into +prominence. [=i.= vii. 1-28.] Macbeth has torn himself away from the +banquet, and, his mind full of the desperate danger of the treason he is +meditating, he ponders over the various motives that forbid its +execution. A strong nobility would even amid incentives _to_ crime feel +the attraction of virtue and have to struggle against it; but surely the +weakest nobility, when facing motives _against_ sin, would be roused to +some degree of virtuous passion. Yet, if Macbeth's famous soliloquy be +searched through and through, not a single thought will be found to +suggest that he is regarding the deep considerations of sin and +retribution in any other light than that of immediate practical +consequences. First, there is the thought of the sureness of retribution +even in this world. It may be true that hope of heaven and fear of hell +are not the highest of moral incentives, but at least they are a degree +higher than the thought of worldly prosperity and failure; Macbeth +however is willing to take his chance of the next world if only he can +be guaranteed against penalties in this life. + + If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well + It were done quickly: if the assassination + Could trammel up the consequence, and catch + With his surcease success; that but this blow + Might be the be-all and the end-all here, + But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, + We'ld jump the life to come. But in these cases + We still have judgement here; that we but teach + Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return + To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice + Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice + To our own lips. + +So far he has reached no higher consideration, in reference to treason +and murder, than the fear that he may be suggesting to others to use +against himself the weapon he is intending for Duncan. Then his thoughts +turn to the motives against crime which belong to the softer side of our +nature. + + He's here in double trust, + First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, + Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, + Who should against his murderer shut the door, + Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan, + Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been + So clear in his great office, that his virtues + Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against + The deep damnation of his taking-off; + And pity-- + +At all events it is clear this is no case of a man blinded for the +moment to the emotions which resist crime; and as we hear him passing in +review kinship, loyalty, hospitality, pity, we listen for the burst of +remorse with which he will hurl from him the treachery he had been +fostering. But, on the contrary, his thoughts are still practical, and +the climax to which this survey of motives is to lead up is no more than +the effect they will have on others: pity + + Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, + That tears shall drown the wind. + +And then he seems to regret that he cannot find more incentives to his +villainy. + + I have no spur + To prick the sides of my intent, but only + Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself + And falls on the other. + +So Macbeth's searching self-examination on topics of sin and +retribution, amid circumstances specially calculated to rouse +compunction, results in thoughts not more noble than these--that murder +is a game which two parties can play at, that heartlessness has the +effect of drawing general attention, that ambition is apt to defeat its +own object. + +[_Macbeth rises with external deeds and sinks with internal conflicts._] + +Again: that Macbeth's union of superficial nobility with real moral +worthlessness is connected with the purely practical bent of his mind +will be the more evident the wider the survey which is taken of his +character and actions. It may be observed that Macbeth's spirits always +rise with evil deeds: however he may have wavered in the contemplation +of crime, its execution strings him up to the loftiest tone. [=ii.= i, +from 31; and =iii.= ii, from 39.] This is especially clear in the Dagger +Scene, and in the scene in which he darkly hints to his wife the murder +of Banquo, which is in a brief space to be in actual perpetration. As he +feels the moment of crime draw near, his whole figure seems to dilate, +the language rises, and the imagery begins to flow. Like a poet invoking +his muse, Macbeth calls on seeling night to scarf up the tender eye of +pitiful day. He has an eye to dramatic surroundings for his dark deeds. + + Now, o'er the one half-world + Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse + The curtain'd sleep; witchcraft celebrates + Pale Hecate's offerings, and wither'd murder, + Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf, + Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace, + With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design + Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth, + Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear + The very stones prate of my whereabout, + _And take the present horror from the time, + Which now suits with it._ + +The man who had an hour or two before been driven from the table of his +guests by the mere thought of a crime moves to the deed itself with the +exalted language of a Hebrew prophet. On the other hand, in his +spiritual struggles there is a simpleness that sometimes suggests +childishness. [=ii.= ii. 31.] His trouble is that he could not say +'Amen' when the sleepers cried 'God bless us'; his conscience seems a +voice outside him; [=ii.= ii. 35-46.] finally, the hardened warrior dare +not return to the darkness and face the victim he had so exultingly done +to death. + +Macbeth, then, is the embodiment of one side of the antithesis with +which we started; his is pre-eminently the practical nature, moulded in +a world of action, but uninfluenced by the cultivation of the inner +life. Yet he is not perfect as a man of action: for the practical cannot +reach its perfection without the assistance of the inner life. [_Two +flaws in Macbeth as an embodiment of the practical: his superstition;_] +There are two flaws in Macbeth's completeness. For one, his lack of +training in thought has left him without protection against the +superstition of his age. He is a passive prey to supernatural +imaginings. [=v.= v. 10.] He himself tells us he is a man whose senses +would cool to hear a night-shriek, and his fell of hair rouse at a +dismal treatise. And we see throughout the play how he never for an +instant doubts the reality of the supernatural appearances: [e.g. =iii.= +iv. 60; =i.= iii. 107, 122.] a feature the more striking from its +contrast with the scepticism of Lady Macbeth, and the hesitating doubt +of Banquo. [_and his helplessness under suspense._] [=iii.= i. 6.] +Again: no active career can be without its periods when action is +impossible, and it is in such periods that the training given by the +intellectual life makes itself felt, with its self-control and passive +courage. All this Macbeth lacks: in suspense he has no power of +self-restraint. [compare =i.= iii. 137, and =iii.= ii. 16.] When we come +to trace him through the stages of the action we shall find that one of +these two flaws springing out of Macbeth's lack of the inner life, his +superstition and his helplessness in suspense, is at every turn the +source of his betrayal. + +In the case of Lady Macbeth, the old-fashioned view of her as a second +Clytæmnestra has long been steadily giving way before a conception +higher at least on the intellectual side. [_Lady Macbeth as an +embodiment of the inner life._] The exact key to her character is given +by regarding her as the antithesis of her husband, and an embodiment of +the inner life and its intellectual culture so markedly wanting in him. +She has had the feminine lot of being shut out from active life, and her +genius and energy have been turned inwards; [=v.= i. 58.] her soul--like +her 'little hand'--is not hardened for the working-day world, but is +quick, delicate, sensitive. She has the keenest insight into the +characters of those around her. She is accustomed to moral loneliness +and at home in mental struggles. She has even solved for herself some of +their problems. In the very crisis of Duncan's murder she gives +utterance to the sentiment: + +[=ii.= ii. 53.] + + the sleeping and the dead + Are but as pictures. + +When we remember that she must have started with the superstitions of +her age such an expression, simple enough in modern lips, opens up to us +a whole drama of personal history: we can picture the trembling +curiosity, the struggle between will and quivering nerves, the triumph +chequered with awe, the resurrection of doubts, the swayings between +natural repulsion and intellectual thirst, the growing courage and the +reiterated victories settling down into calm principle. Accordingly, +Lady Macbeth has won the grand prize of the inner life: in the kingdom +of her personal experience her WILL is unquestioned king. It may seem +strange to some readers that Lady Macbeth should be held up as the type +of the inner life, so associated is that phrase to modern ears with the +life fostered by religion. But the two things must not be +confused--religion and the sphere in which religion is exercised. 'The +kingdom of God is within you,' was the proclamation of Christ, but the +world within _may_ be subjugated to other kings than God. Mental +discipline and perfect self-control, like that of Lady Macbeth, would +hold their sway over evil passions, but they would also be true to her +when she chose to contend against goodness, and even against the deepest +instincts of her feminine nature. [_A struggle against not absence of +the softer qualities._] This was ignored in the old conception of the +character, and a struggle _against_ the softer side of her nature was +mistaken for its total absence. But her intellectual culture must have +quickened her finer sensibilities at the same time that it built up a +will strong enough to hold them down; nor is the subjugation so perfect +but that a sympathetic insight can throughout trace a keen delicacy of +nature striving to assert itself. [=i.= v. 41.] In particular, when she +calls upon the spirits that tend on mortal thoughts to unsex and fill +her from crown to toe with direst cruelty, she is thrilling all over +with feminine repugnance to the bloody enterprise, which nevertheless +her royal will insists upon her undertaking. Lady Macbeth's career in +the play is one long mental civil war: and the strain ends, as such a +strain could only end, in madness. + +[_The Character-Contrast traced through the action._] + +Such is the general conception of Lord and Lady Macbeth from the point +of view of the antithesis between the outer and inner life. We have now +to turn from character to action, and trace the contrasted pair through +the stages of their common career. + +[_Situation at the opening of the play._] + +The two opposing natures have been united in a happy marriage, the +happier because a link between characters so forceful and so antithetic, +if it held at all, must be a source of interest: [compare =i.= v. 55-60; +=i.= vii. 38; =iii.= ii. 27, 29, 36, 45; =iii.= iv. 141.] the dark +tragedy of this unhappy pair is softened by the tenderness of demeanour +which appears on both sides. Another source of marriage happiness is +added: there is not a trace of self-seeking in Lady Macbeth. Throughout +the play she is never found meditating upon what she is to gain by the +crown; wife-like, she has no sphere but the career of her husband. [_The +original impulse to evil came from Macbeth._] In a picture of human +characters, great in their scale, overwhelmed in moral ruin, the +question of absorbing interest is the commencement of the descent, and +the source from which the impulse to evil has come. This, in the present +case, Shakespeare has carefully hidden from us: before the play opens +the essential surrender of spirit has taken place, and all that we are +allowed to see is its realisation in life and fact. If, however, we use +the slight material afforded us for speculation on this point, it would +appear that the original choice for evil has for both been made by +Macbeth. In the partnership of man and wife it is generally safe to +assume that the initiative of action has come from the husband, if +nothing appears to the contrary. [=i.= vii. 48.] In the present case we +are not left to assumptions, Lady Macbeth distinctly speaks of her +husband as first breaking to her the enterprise of treacherous ambition. + + What beast was't, then, + Which made you break this enterprise to me? + ... Nor time nor place + Did then adhere, and yet you would make both. + +The reference can only be to a period before the commencement of the +play; and the general drift of the passage suggests that it was no mere +choice, made by Macbeth with deliberation during which he would be open +to conviction, but an impulse of uncontrollable passion that it would +have been vain for his wife to resist, supposing that she had had the +desire to resist it--so uncontrollable, indeed, [=i.= vii. 54.] that it +appears to Lady Macbeth stronger than the strongest of feminine +passions, a mother's love. + + I have given suck, and know + How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me: + I would, while it was smiling in my face, + Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, + And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you + Have done to this. + +The only sense in which Lady Macbeth can be pronounced the ruin of her +husband is that her firm nature holds him in the path to which he has +committed them both, and will not allow his fatal faltering to lose +both the virtue he has renounced and the price for which he has bartered +it. Denied by her feminine position, the possibility--even if she had +had the desire--of directing the common lot for good, she has recognised +before we make her acquaintance that this lot has been cast for evil, +and she is too well-trained in self-knowledge to attempt the +self-deception her husband tries to keep up. [=i.= vii. 54.] And to this +evil lot she applies her full force. Her children have died, and this +natural outlet for passion is wanting; the whole of her energy is +brought to bear upon her husband's ambition, and she is waiting only an +occasion for concentrating her powers upon some definite project. + +[_Four stages in the action._] + +With such mutual relations between the hero and the heroine the play +opens: we are to watch the contrasted characters through the successive +stages of the Temptation, the Deed, the Concealment, the Nemesis. + +[_The Temptation._] + +The Temptation accosts the two personages when separated from one +another, and we thus have the better opportunity of watching the +different forms it assumes in adapting itself to the different +characters. The expedition, which has separated Macbeth from his wife, +is one which must have led him to brood over his schemes of ambition. +Certainly it exhibits to him an example of treason and shows him the +weakness of his sovereign. Probably he sees events shaping in a +direction that suggests opportunity; he may have known that the king +must pass in the direction of his castle, or in some other way may have +anticipated a royal visit; at all events the king's intimation of this +visit in the play itself-- + +[=i.= iv. 42.] + + From hence to Inverness, + And bind us further to you,-- + +does not look like a first mention of it. [=i.= iii. 38-78.] To a mind +so prepared the supernatural solicitation brings a shock of temptation; +and as the Witches in their greeting reach the promise, 'Thou shalt be +KING hereafter,' Macbeth gives a start that astonishes Banquo: + + Good sir, why do you start; and seem to fear + Things that do sound so fair? + +To Banquo this prediction of the Witches seems no more than curious; for +it must be remembered that Macbeth's position in the kingdom was not +such as to exclude hope of succession to the crown, though the hope was +a remote one. But Macbeth's start tells a tale of his inner thoughts at +the time. This alone should be sufficient to vindicate Shakespeare from +the charge sometimes brought against him of turning a great character +from virtue to vice by demoniac agency; his is the higher conception +that a soul which has commenced the surrender to evil will find in the +powers of darkness agencies ready to expedite its descent, it matters +not what form these agencies assume. Macbeth has been for years playing +with the idea of treason, while never bracing himself up to the point of +acting it: suddenly the thought he fancied so safe within his bosom +appears outside him in tangible form, gleaming at him in the malignant +glances of recognition the Witches are casting at him. To a mind utterly +undefended by culture against superstitious terror this objective +presentation of his own thought proves a Rubicon of temptation which he +never attempts to recross. [=i.= v. 1-55.] On Lady Macbeth the +supernatural incident makes not the slightest impression of any kind; we +see her reading her husband's excited account of the interview with the +most deliberate calmness, weighing its suggestions only with reference +to the question how it can be used upon her husband. To her temptation +comes with the suggestion of _opportunity_. The messenger enters during +her quiet meditation; + + _Mess._ The king comes here to-night. + + _Lady M._ Thou 'rt mad to say it! + +The shock that passes over her is like the shock of chemical change. In +an instant her whole nature is strung up to a single end; the +long-expected occasion for the concentration of a whole life's energy +upon a decisive stroke is come. So rapidly does her imagination move +that she sees the deed before her as already done, and, as she casts her +eyes upwards, the very ravens over her head seem to be croaking the +fatal entrance of Duncan under her battlements. + +[_The meeting afterwards._] + +[=i.= v, from 55: =i.= vii.] + +The stage of Temptation cannot be considered complete without taking in +that important section of the play which intervenes between the meeting +of the two personages after their separate temptations and the +accomplishment of the treason. This is essentially a period of suspense, +and accordingly exhibits Macbeth at his weakest. As he enters his castle +his tell-tale face is as a book where men may read strange matters; and +his utter powerlessness of self-control throws upon his wife's firm will +the strongest of all strains, that of infusing her own tenacity into a +vacillating ally. I have already dealt with the point at which Macbeth's +suspense becomes intolerable, and he leaves the supper-table; and I have +drawn attention to the eminently practical nature of his thoughts even +at this crisis. The scene which follows, when his wife labours to hold +him to the enterprise he has undertaken, illustrates perhaps better than +any other incident in the play how truly this practical bent is the key +to Macbeth's whole character. At first he takes high ground, and rests +his hesitation on considerations of gratitude. Lady Macbeth appeals to +consistency, to their mutual love, and, her anger beginning to rise at +this wavering of will in a critical moment, she taunts her husband with +cowardice. Then it is that Macbeth, irritated in his turn, speaks the +noble words that have done so much to gain him a place in the army of +martyrs to wifely temptations. + + Prithee, peace: + I dare do all that may become a man; + Who dares do more is none. + +But it is difficult to share Macbeth's self-deception long. At his +wife's reminder how he had been the one to first moot the undertaking, +and swear to it in spite of overwhelming obstacles, already the noble +attitude looks more like the sour grapes morality of the man who begins +to feel indignation against sin at the precise moment when the sin +becomes dangerous. And the whole truth comes sneaking out at Macbeth's +next rejoinder: 'If we should fail?' Here is the critical point of the +scene. [=i.= vii, from 61.] At its beginning Macbeth is for abandoning +the treason, at its end he prepares for his task of murder with +animation: where does the change come? _The practical man is nerved by +having the practical details supplied to him._ Lady Macbeth sketches a +feasible scheme: how that the King will be wearied, his chamberlains can +by means of the banquet be easily drugged, their confusion on waking can +be interpreted as guilt--before she has half done her husband interrupts +her with a burst of enthusiasm, and completes her scheme for her. The +man who had thought it was manliness that made him shrink from murder +henceforward never hesitates till he has plunged his dagger in his +sovereign's bosom. + +[_The Deed_] + +[=ii.= i. 31 to =ii.= ii.] + +In the perpetration of the Deed itself we have the woman passing from +weakness to strength, the man from strength to weakness. To Lady Macbeth +this actual contact with a deed of blood is the severest point of the +strain, the part most abhorrent to her more delicate nature. For a +single moment she feels herself on the verge of the madness which +eventually comes upon her: + +[=ii.= ii. 33.] + + These deeds must not be thought + After these ways; so, it will make us mad! + +And at the beginning of the scene she has been obliged to have recourse +to stimulants in order to brace her failing nerves: + +[=ii.= ii. 1.] + + That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold. + +And in part the attempt to bring her delicate nature to the repugnant +deed does fail. It is clear that, knowing how little her husband could +be depended upon, she had intended to have a hand in the murder itself: + +[=i.= vii. 69; compare =i.= v. 68.] + + What cannot _you and I_ perform upon + The unguarded Duncan? + +But the will which was strong enough to hold down conscience gave way +for a moment before an instinct of feminine tenderness: + +[=ii.= ii. 13.] + + Had he not resembled + My father as he slept, I had done 't. + +The superiority, however, of the intellectual mind is seen in this, that +it can nerve itself from its own agitation, it can draw strength out of +the weakness surrounding it, or out of the necessities of the situation: +_must_ is the most powerful of spells to a trained will. And so it is +that Lady Macbeth rises to the occasion when her husband fails. At first +Macbeth in the perpetration of the murder appears in his proper sphere +of action, and we have already noticed how the Dagger Soliloquy shows no +shrinking, but rather excitement on the side of exultation. The change +in him comes with a moment of suspense, caused by the momentary waking +of the grooms: [=ii.= ii. 24.] 'I stood and heard them.' With this, no +longer sustained by action, he utterly breaks down under the unfamiliar +terrors of a fight with his conscience. His prayer sticks in his throat; +his thoughts seem so vivid that his wife can hardly tell whether he did +not take them for a real voice outside him. + + Who was it that thus cried? Why, worthy thane, + You do unbend your noble strength, to think + So brainsickly of things. + +In his agitation he forgets the plan of action, brings away the daggers +instead of leaving them with the grooms, and finally dares not return to +finish what he has left uncompleted. And accordingly his wife has to +make another demand upon her overwrought nature: with one hysterical +jest, + + If he do bleed, + I'll _gild_ the faces of the grooms withal, + For it must seem their _guilt_, + +her nature rallies, and the strength derived from the inner life fills +up a gap in action where the mere strength of action had failed. + +[_The first Shock of Concealment._ =ii.= iii, from 68.] + +The Concealment of the murder forms a stage of the action which falls +into two different parts: the single effort which faces the first shock +of discovery, and the very different strain required to meet the slowly +gathering evidence of guilt. In the Scene of the Discovery Macbeth is +perfectly at home: energetic action is needed, and he is dealing with +men. His acted innocence appears to me better than his wife's; Lady +Macbeth goes near to suggesting a personal interest in the crime by her +over-anxiety to disclaim it. + + _Macduff._ O Banquo, Banquo, + Our royal master's murder'd! + + _Lady M._ Woe, alas! + What, in our house? + + _Banquo._ Too cruel anywhere. + +Yet in this scene, as everywhere else, the weak points in Macbeth's +character betray him: for one moment he is left to himself, and that +moment's suspense ruins the whole episode. In the most natural manner in +the world Macbeth had, on hearing the announcement, rushed with Lennox +to the scene of the murder. Lennox quitted the chamber of blood first, +and for an instant Macbeth was alone, facing the grooms still heavy with +their drugged sleep, and knowing that in another moment they would be +aroused and telling their tale: the sense of crisis proves too much for +him, and under an ungovernable impulse he stabs them. He thus wrecks the +whole scheme. How perfectly Lady Macbeth's plan would have served if it +had been left to itself is seen by Lennox's account of what he had seen, +and how the grooms + + stared, and were distracted; no man's life + Was to be trusted with them. + +Nothing, it is true, can be finer than the way in which Macbeth seeks to +cover his mistake and announces what he has done. But in spite of his +brilliant outburst, + + Who can be wise, amazed, temperate and furious, + Loyal and neutral, in a moment? + +and his vivid word-picture of his supposed sensations, his efforts are +in vain, and at the end of his speech we feel that there has arisen in +the company of nobles the indescribable effect known as 'a sensation,' +and we listen for some one to speak some word that shall be irrevocable. +[=ii.= iii. 124.] The crisis is acute, but Lady Macbeth comes to the +rescue _and faints_! It matters little whether we suppose the fainting +assumed, or that she yields to the agitation she has been fighting +against so long. The important point is that she chooses this exact +moment for giving way: she holds out to the end of her husband's speech, +then falls with a cry for help; there is at once a diversion, and she is +carried out. [=ii.= iii. 132.] But the crisis has passed, and a moment's +consideration has suggested to the nobles the wisdom of adjourning for a +fitter occasion the enquiry into the murder they all suspect: [=ii.= iv. +24-32.] before that occasion arrives the flight of the king's sons has +diverted suspicion into an entirely new channel. Lady Macbeth's fainting +saved her husband. + +[_The long Strain of Concealment._ =iii.= i, ii.] + +To convey dramatically the continuous strain of keeping up appearances +in face of steadily accumulating suspicion is more difficult than to +depict a single crisis. Shakespeare manages it in the present case +chiefly by presenting Macbeth to us on the eve of an important council, +at which the whole truth is likely to come out. + +[= iii.= i. 30.] + + We hear, our bloody cousins are bestowed + In England and in Ireland, not confessing + Their cruel parricide, filling their hearers + With strange invention: but of that to-morrow. + +It is enough to note here that Macbeth takes the step--the fatal step, +as was pointed out in the last study--of contriving Banquo's murder +simply because he cannot face the suspense of waiting for the morrow, +and hearing the defence of the innocent princes made in presence of +Banquo, who knows the inducement he had to such a deed. That he feels +the danger of the crime, which nevertheless he cannot hold himself back +from committing, is clear from the fact that he will not submit it to +the calmer judgment of his wife. [=iii.= ii. 45.] The contrast of the +two characters appears here as everywhere. Lady Macbeth can _wait_ for +an opportunity of freeing themselves from Banquo: + +[=iii.= ii. 37.] + + _Macb._ Thou know'st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives. + + _Lady M._ But in them nature's copy's not eterne. + +To Macbeth the one thing impossible is to wait; and once more his +powerlessness to control suspense is his ruin. + +[_The first Shock of Nemesis._] + +We have reviewed the contrasted characters under Temptation, in the Deed +of sin itself, and in the struggle for Concealment: [=iii.= iv.] it +remains to watch them face to face with their Nemesis. In the present +play Shakespeare has combined the nemesis which takes the form of a +sudden shock with the yet severer nemesis of a hopeless resistance +through the stages of a protracted fall. The first Shock of Nemesis +comes in the Banquet Scene. Macbeth has surrendered himself to the +supernatural, and from the supernatural his retribution comes. This is +not the place to draw out the terrible force of this famous scene; for +its bearing on the contrast of character under delineation it is to be +remarked that Macbeth faces his ghostly visitation with unflinching +courage, yet without a shadow of doubt as to the reality of what +nevertheless no one sees but himself. Lady Macbeth is equally true to +her character, and fights on to the last in the now hopeless +contest--her double task of keeping up appearances for herself and for +her husband. Her keen tact in dealing with Macbeth is to be noted. At +first she rallies him angrily, and seeks to shame him into self-command; +a moment shows that he is too far gone to be reached by such motives. +Instantly she changes her tactics, and, employing a device so often +effective with patients of disordered brain, she endeavours to recall +him to his senses by assuming an ordinary tone of voice; hitherto she +has whispered, now, in the hearing of all, she makes the practical +remark: + +[=iii.= iv. 83.] + + My worthy lord, + Your noble friends do lack you. + +The device proves successful, his nerves respond to the tone of everyday +life, and recovering himself he uses all his skill of deportment to +efface the strangeness of the episode, until the reappearance of his +victim plunges the scene in confusion past recovery. In the moment of +crisis Lady Macbeth had used roughness to rouse her husband; [=iii.= iv, +from 122.] when the courtiers are gone she is all tenderness. She utters +not a word of reproach: perhaps she is herself exhausted by the strain +she has gone through; more probably the womanly solicitude for the +physical sufferer thinks only how to procure for her husband 'the season +of all natures, sleep.' + +[_The full Nemesis._] + +At last the end comes. The final stage, like the first, is brought to +the two personages separately. Lady Macbeth has faced every crisis by +sheer force of nerve; [=v.= i.] the nemesis comes upon her fitly in +madness, the brain giving way under the strain of contest which her will +has forced upon it. In the delirium of her last appearance before us we +can trace three distinct tones of thought working into one another as if +in some weird harmony. There is first the mere reproduction of the +horrible scenes she has passed through. + + One: two: why then 'tis time to do 't.... Yet who would have thought + the old man to have had so much blood in him.... The thane of Fife + had a wife: where is she now? + +Again there is an inner thought contending with the first, the struggle +to keep her husband from betraying himself by his irresolution. + + No more o' that, my lord, no more o' that: you mar all with this + starting.... Wash your hands, put on your night-gown; look not so + pale.... Fie! a soldier and afear'd? + +And there is an inmost thought of all: the uprising of her feminine +nature against the foulness of the violent deed. + + Out, damned spot!... Here's the smell of blood still: all the + perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand-- + +and the 'sorely charged heart' vents itself in a sigh which the +attendants shudder to hear. On Macbeth Nemesis heaps itself in double +form. The purely practical man, without resources in himself, finds +nemesis in an old age that receives no honour from others. + +[=v.= iii. 22.] + + My way of life + Is fall'n into the sear, the yellow leaf; + And that which should accompany old age, + As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, + I must not look to have, but, in their stead, + Curses, not loud, but deep. + +Again, as the drunkard finds his refuge in drink, so the victim of +superstition longs for deeper draughts of the supernatural. [=iv.= i.] +Macbeth seeks the Witches, forces himself to hear the worst, [=iv.= i. +110-135.] and suffers nemesis in anticipation in viewing future +generations which are to see his foes on his throne. [from =iv.= i. 80.] +Finally from the supernatural comes the climax of retribution when +Macbeth is seen resting in unquestioning reliance on an ironical oracle: +[=v.= v, from 33; =v.= viii, from 13.] till the shock of revelation +comes, the pledge of his safety is converted into the sign of his doom, +and the brave Macbeth, hero of a hundred battles, [=v.= viii. 22.] +throws down his sword and refuses to fight. + + + + +VIII. + +JULIUS CÆSAR BESIDE HIS MURDERERS AND HIS AVENGER. + +_A Study in Character-Grouping._ + + +[_Character-Grouping._] + +EVERY lover of art feels that the different fine arts form not a crowd +but a family; the more familiar the mind becomes with them the more it +delights to trace in them the application of common ideas to different +media of expression. We are reminded of this essential unity by the way +in which the arts borrow their terms from one another. 'Colour' is +applied to music, 'tone' to painting; we speak of costume as 'loud,' of +melody as 'bright,' of orchestration as 'massive.' Two classes of +oratorical style have been distinguished as 'statuesque' and +'picturesque'; while the application of a musical term, 'harmony,' and a +term of sculpture, 'relief,' to all the arts alike is so common that the +transference is scarcely felt. Such usages are not the devices of a +straitened vocabulary, but are significant of a single _Art_ which is +felt to underlie the special _arts_. So the more Drama is brought by +criticism into the family of the fine arts the more it will be seen to +present the common features. We have already had to notice repeatedly +how the idea of pattern or design is the key to dramatic plot. We are in +the present study to see how contrast of character, such as was traced +in the last study between Lord and Lady Macbeth, when applied to a +larger number of personages, produces an effect on the mind analogous to +that of _grouping_ in pictures and statuary: the different personages +not only present points of contrast with one another, but their +varieties suddenly fall into a unity of effect if looked at from some +one point of view. [_The grouping in Julius Cæsar rests on the +antithesis of the practical and inner life._] An example of such +Character-Grouping is seen in the play of _Julius Cæsar_, where the four +leading figures, all on the grandest scale, have the elements of their +characters thrown into relief by comparison with one another, and the +contrast stands out boldly when the four are reviewed in relation to one +single idea. + +This idea is the same as that which lay at the root of the +Character-Contrast in _Macbeth_--the antithesis of the practical and +inner life. It is, however, applied in a totally different sphere. +Instead of a simple age in which the lives coincide with the sexes we +are carried to the other extreme of civilisation, the final age of Roman +liberty, and all four personages are merged in the busy world of +political life. Naturally, then, the contrast of the two lives takes in +this play a different form. [_This takes the form of individual +sympathies_ v. _public policy._] In the play of _Macbeth_ the inner life +was seen in the force of will which could hold down alike bad and good +impulses; while the outer life was made interesting by its confinement +to the training given by action, and an exhibition of it devoid of the +thoughtfulness and self-control for which the life of activity has to +draw upon the inner life. But there is another aspect in which the two +may be regarded. The idea of the inner life is reflected in the word +'individuality,' or that which a man has not in common with others. The +cultivation of the inner life implies not merely cultivation of our own +individuality, but to it also belongs sympathy with the individuality of +others; whereas in the sphere of practical life men fall into classes, +and each person has his place as a member of these classes. Thus +benevolence may take the form of enquiring into individual wants and +troubles and meeting these by personal assistance; but a man has an +equal claim to be called benevolent who applies himself to such sciences +as political economy, studies the springs which regulate human society, +and by influencing these in the right direction confers benefits upon +whole classes at a time. Charity and political science are the two forms +benevolence assumes correspondent to the inner life of individual +sympathies and the outer life of public action. Or, if we consider the +contrast from the side of rights as distinguished from duties, the +supreme form in which the rights of individuals may be summed up is +justice; the corresponding claim which public life makes upon us is (in +the highest sense of the term) policy: wherever these two, justice and +policy, seem to clash, the outer and inner life are brought into +conflict. It is in this form that the conflict is raised in the play of +_Julius Cæsar_. To get it in its full force, the dramatist goes to the +world of antiquity, for one of the leading distinctions between ancient +and modern society is that the modern world gives the fullest play to +the individual, while in ancient systems the individual was treated as +existing solely for the state. 'Liberty' has been a watchword in both +ages; but while we mean by liberty the least amount of interference with +personal activity, the liberty for which ancient patriots contended was +freedom of the government from external or internal control, and the +ideal republic of Plato was so contrived as to reduce individual liberty +to a minimum. And this subordination of private to public was most fully +carried out in Rome. 'The common weal,' says Merivale, 'was after all +the grand object of the heroes of Roman story. Few of the renowned +heroes of old had attained their eminence as public benefactors without +steeling their hearts against the purest instincts of nature. The deeds +of a Brutus or a Manlius, of a Sulla or a Cæsar, would have been branded +as crimes in private citizens; it was the public character of the actors +that stamped them with immortal glory in the eyes of their countrymen.' +Accordingly, the opposition of outer and inner life is brought before us +most keenly when, in Roman life, a public policy, the cause of +republican freedom, seems to be bound up with the supreme crime against +justice and the rights of the individual, assassination. + +[_Brutus's character so evenly developed that the antithesis +disappears._] + +Brutus is the central figure of the group: in his character the two +sides are so balanced that the antithesis disappears. This evenness of +development in his nature is the thought of those who in the play gather +around his corpse; giving prominence to the quality in Brutus hidden +from the casual observer they say: + +[=v.= v. 73.] + + His life was gentle; and the elements + So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up + And say to all the world 'This was a man!' + +Of another it would be said that he was a poet, a philosopher; of Brutus +the only true description was that he was a man! It is in very few +characters that force and softness are each carried to such perfection. +[_Force of his character._] The strong side of Brutus's character is +that which has given to the whole play its characteristic tone. It is +seen in the way in which he appreciates the issue at stake. Weak men sin +by hiding from themselves what it is they do; Brutus is fully alive to +the foulness of conspiracy at the moment in which he is conspiring. + +[=ii.= i. 77.] + + O conspiracy, + Shamest thou to show thy dangerous brow by night, + When evils are most free? O, then by day + Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough + To mask thy monstrous visage? + +His high tone he carries into the darkest scenes of the play. The use of +criminal means has usually an intoxicating effect upon the moral sense, +and suggests to those once committed to it that it is useless to haggle +over the amount of the crime until the end be obtained. [=ii.= i. 162.] +Brutus resists this intoxication, setting his face against the proposal +to include Antony in Cæsar's fate, and resolving that not one life shall +be unnecessarily sacrificed. He scorns the refuge of suicide; and with +warmth adjures his comrades not to stain-- + +[=ii.= i. 114.] + + The even virtue of our enterprise, + Nor the insuppressive mettle of our spirits, + To think that or our cause or our performance + Did need an oath; when every drop of blood + That every Roman bears, and nobly bears, + Is guilty of a several bastardy, + If he do break the smallest particle + Of any promise that hath pass'd from him. + +The scale of Brutus's character is again brought out by his relations +with other personages of the play. Casca, with all his cynical +depreciation of others, has to bear unqualified testimony to Brutus's +greatness: + +[=i.= iii. 157.] + + O, he sits high in all the people's hearts; + And that which would appear offence in us, + His countenance, like richest alchemy, + Will change to virtue and to worthiness. + +[=ii.= i, fin.] + +We see Ligarius coming from a sick-bed to join in he knows not what: 'it +sufficeth that Brutus leads me on.' And the hero's own thought, when at +the point of death he pauses to take a moment's survey of his whole +life, [=v.= v. 34.] is of the unfailing power with which he has swayed +the hearts of all around him: + + My heart doth joy that yet in all my life + I found no man but he was true to me. + +Above all, contact with Cassius throws into relief the greatness of +Brutus. [=i.= ii.] At the opening of the play it is Cassius that we +associate with the idea of force; but his is the ruling mind only while +Brutus is hesitating; as soon as Brutus has thrown in his lot with the +conspirators, Cassius himself is swept along with the current of +Brutus's irresistible influence. [Cf. =ii.= i. 162-190; =iii.= i. +140-146, 231-243; =iv.= iii. 196-225, &c.] In the councils every point +is decided--and, so far as success is concerned, wrongly +decided--against Cassius's better judgment. In the sensational moment +when Popilius Lena enters the Senate-house and is seen to whisper Cæsar, +Cassius's presence of mind fails him, [=iii.= i. 19.] and he prepares in +despair for suicide; Brutus retains calmness enough to _watch faces_: + + Cassius, be constant: + Popilius Lena speaks not of our purposes; + For, look, he smiles, and Cæsar doth not change. + +[=iv.= iii.] + +In the Quarrel Scene Cassius has lost all pretensions to dignity of +action in the impatience sprung from a ruined cause; Brutus maintains +principle in despair. Finally, at the close of the scene, when it is +discovered that under all the hardness of this contest for principle +Brutus has been hiding a heart broken by the loss of Portia, [=iv.= iii, +from 145.] Cassius is forced to give way and acknowledge Brutus's +superiority to himself even in his own ideal of impassiveness: + +[=iv.= iii. 194.] + + I have as much of this in art as you, + But yet my nature could not bear it so. + +[_Its softness._] + +The force in Brutus's character is obvious: it is rather its softer side +that some readers find difficulty in seeing. But this difficulty is in +reality a testimony to Shakespeare's skill, for Brutus is a Stoic, and +what gentleness we see in him appears in spite of himself. It may be +seen in his culture of art, music, and philosophy, which have such an +effect in softening the manners. Nor is this in the case of the Roman +Brutus a mere conventional culture: these tastes are among his strongest +passions. [=iv.= iii. 256.] When all is confusion around him on the eve +of the fatal battle he cannot restrain his longing for the refreshing +tones of his page's lyre; and, the music over, he takes up his +philosophical treatise at the page he had turned down. [=iv.= iii. 242.] +Again Brutus's considerateness for his dependants is in strong contrast +with the harshness of Roman masters. On the same eve of the battle he +insists that the men who watch in his tent shall lie down instead of +standing as discipline would require. [=iv.= iii, from 252.] An +exquisite little episode brings out Brutus's sweetness of demeanour in +dealing with his youthful page; this rises to womanly tenderness at the +end when, noticing how the boy, wearied out and fallen asleep, is lying +in a position to injure his instrument, he rises and disengages it +without waking him. + + _Bru._ Look, Lucius, here's the book I sought for so; + I put it in the pocket of my gown. + + _Luc._ I was sure your lordship did not give it me. + + _Bru._ Bear with me, good boy; I am much forgetful. + Can'st thou hold up thy heavy eyes awhile, + And touch thy instrument a strain or two? + + _Luc._ Ay, my lord, an't please you. + + _Bru._ It does, my boy: + I trouble thee too much, but thou art willing. + + _Luc._ It is my duty, sir. + + _Bru._ I should not urge thy duty past thy might; + I know young bloods look for a time of rest. + + _Luc._ I have slept my lord, already. + + _Bru._ It was well done; and thou shall sleep again; + I will not hold thee long: if I do live + I will be good to thee. [_Music and a song._ + This is a sleepy tune. O murderous slumber, + Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy, + That plays thee music? Gentle knave, good night; + I will not do thee so much wrong to wake thee.-- + If thou dost nod, thou break'st thy instrument; + I'll take it from thee; and, good boy, good night. + +[=ii.= i, from 233.] + +Brutus's relations with Portia bear the same testimony. Portia is a +woman with as high a spirit as Lady Macbeth, and she can inflict a wound +on herself to prove her courage and her right to share her husband's +secrets. But she lacks the physical nerve of Lady Macbeth; [=ii.= iv.] +her agitation on the morning of the assassination threatens to betray +the conspirators, and when these have to flee from Rome the suspense is +too much for her and she commits suicide. Brutus knew his wife better +than she knew herself, and was right in seeking to withhold the fatal +confidence; yet he allowed himself to be persuaded: no man would be so +swayed by a tender woman unless he had a tender spirit of his own. In +all these ways we may trace an extreme of gentleness in Brutus. [_This +is concealed under stoic imperturbability._] But it is of the essence of +his character that this softer side is concealed behind an +imperturbability of outward demeanour that belongs to his stoic +religion: this struggle between inward and outward is the main feature +for the actor to bring out. [=iii.= ii, from 14.] It is a master stroke +of Shakespeare that he utilises the euphuistic prose of his age to +express impassiveness in Brutus's oration. The greatest of the world has +just been assassinated; the mob are swaying with fluctuating passions; +the subtlest orator of his day is at hand to turn those passions into +the channel of vengeance for his friend: Brutus called on amid such +surroundings to speak for the conspirators still maintains the +artificial style of carefully balanced sentences, such as emotionless +rhetoric builds up in the quiet of a study. + + As Cæsar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at + it; as he was valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I + slew him. There is tears for his love; joy for his fortune; honour + for his valour; and death for his ambition. + +[_The antithesis reappears for Brutus in the action._] + +Brutus's nature then is developed on all its sides; in his character the +antithesis of the outer and inner life disappears. It reappears, +however, in the action; [=ii.= i. 10-85.] for Brutus is compelled to +balance a weighty issue, with public policy on the one side, and on the +other, not only justice to individual claims, but further the claims of +friendship, which is one of the fairest flowers of the inner life. And +the balance dips to the wrong side. If the question were of using the +weapon of assassination against a criminal too high for the ordinary law +to reach, this would be a moral problem which, however doubtful to +modern thought, would have been readily decided by a Stoic. But the +question which presented itself to Brutus was distinctly not this. +[=ii.= i. 18-34.] Shakespeare has been careful to represent Brutus as +admitting to himself that Cæsar has done no wrong: he slays him _for +what he might do_. + + The abuse of greatness is, when it disjoins + Remorse from power: and, _to speak truth of Cæsar, + I have not known when his affections sway'd + More than his reason_. But 'tis a common proof, + That lowliness is young ambition's ladder, + Whereto the climber-upward turns his face; + But when he once attains the upmost round, + He then unto the ladder turns his back, + Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees + By which he did ascend. So Cæsar may. + Then, lest he may, prevent. And _since the quarrel + Will bear no colour for the thing he is,_ + Fashion it thus; that what he is, augmented, + Would run to these and these extremities: + And therefore think him as a serpent's egg + Which hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous, + And kill him in the shell. + +It is true that Shakespeare, with his usual 'dramatic hedging,' softens +down this immoral bias in a great hero by representing him as both a +Roman, of the nation which beyond all other nations exalted the state +over the individual, and a Brutus, [compare =i.= ii. 159.] +representative of the house which had risen to greatness by leading +violence against tyranny. But, Brutus's own conscience being judge, the +man against whom he moves is guiltless; and so the conscious sacrifice +of justice and friendship to policy is a fatal error which is source +sufficient for the whole tragedy of which Brutus is the hero. + +[_Cæsar: discrepancies in his character to be reconciled._] + +The character of Cæsar is one of the most difficult in Shakespeare. +Under the influence of some of his speeches we find ourselves in the +presence of one of the master spirits of mankind; other scenes in which +he plays a leading part breathe nothing but the feeblest vacillation and +weakness. It is the business of Character-Interpretation to harmonise +this contradiction; it is not interpretation at all to ignore one side +of it and be content with describing Cæsar as vacillating. The force and +strength of his character is seen in the impression he makes upon +forceful and strong men. The attitude of Brutus to Cæsar seems +throughout to be that of looking up; and notably at one point the +thought of Cæsar's greatness seems to cast a lurid gleam over the +assassination plot itself, and Brutus feels that the grandeur of the +victim gives a dignity to the crime: + +[=ii.= i. 173.] + + Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods. + +The strength and force of Antony again no one will question; and Antony, +at the moment when he is alone with the corpse of Cæsar and can have no +motive for hypocrisy, apostrophises it in the words-- + +[=iii.= i. 256.] + + Thou art the ruins of the noblest man + That ever lived in the tide of times. + +And we see enough of Cæsar in the play to bear out the opinions of +Brutus and Antony. Those who accept vacillation as sufficient +description of Cæsar's character must explain his strong speeches as +vaunting and self-assertion. But surely it must be possible for dramatic +language to distinguish between the true and the assumed force; and +equally surely there is a genuine ring in the speeches in which Cæsar's +heroic spirit, shut out from the natural sphere of action in which it +has been so often proved, leaps restlessly at every opportunity into +pregnant words. We may thus feel certain of his lofty physical courage. + +[=ii.= ii. 32.] + + Cowards die many times before their deaths; + The valiant never taste of death but once. + Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, + It seems to me most strange that men should fear ... + + * * * * * + +[=ii.= ii. 44.] + + Danger knows full well + That Cæsar is more dangerous than he: + We are two lions litter'd in one day, + And I the elder and more terrible. + +A man must have felt the thrill of courage in search of its food, +danger, before his self-assertion finds language of this kind in which +to express itself. In another scene we have the perfect _fortiter in re_ +and _suaviter in modo_ of the trained statesman exhibited in the +courtesy with which Cæsar receives the conspirators, [=ii.= ii, from +57.] combined with his perfect readiness to 'tell graybeards the truth.' +[=iii.= i. 35.] Nor could imperial firmness be more ideally painted than +in the way in which Cæsar 'prevents' Cimber's intercession. + + Be not fond, + To think that Cæsar bears such rebel blood + That will be thaw'd from the true quality + With that which melteth fools; I mean, sweet words, + Low-crooked court'sies, and base spaniel-fawning. + Thy brother by decree is banished: + If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him, + I spurn thee like a cur out of my way. + Know, Cæsar doth not wrong, nor without cause + Will he be satisfied. + +Commonplace authority loudly proclaims that it will never relent: the +true imperial spirit feels it a preliminary condition to see first that +it never does wrong. + +[_Reconciliation: Cæsar the highest type of the practical;_] + +It is the antithesis of the outer and inner life that explains this +contradiction in Cæsar's character. Like Macbeth, he is the embodiment +of one side and one side only of the antithesis; he is the complete type +of the practical--though in special qualities he is as unlike Macbeth as +his age is unlike Macbeth's age. Accordingly Cæsar appears before us +perfect up to the point where his own personality comes in. The military +and political spheres, in which he has been such a colossal figure, call +forth practical powers, and do not involve introspection and meditation +on foundation principles of thought. + + Theirs not to reason why: + Theirs but to do. + +The tasks of the soldier and the statesman are imposed upon them by +external authority and necessities, and the faculties exercised are +those which shape means to ends. But at last Cæsar comes to a crisis +that does involve his personality; he attempts a task imposed on him by +his own ambition. He plays in a game of which the prize is the world and +the stake himself, and to estimate chances in such a game tests +self-knowledge and self-command to its depths. [_but lacking in the +inner life._] How wanting Cæsar is in the cultivation of the inner life +is brought out by his contrast with Cassius. [=i.= ii. 100-128.] The +incidents of the flood and the fever, retained by the memory of Cassius, +illustrate this. The first of these was no mere swimming-match; the +flood in the Tiber was such as to reduce to nothing the difference +between one swimmer and another. [=i.= ii. 102.] It was a trial of +nerve: and as long as action was possible Cæsar was not only as brave as +Cassius, but was the one attracted by the danger. Then some chance wave +or cross current renders his chance of life hopeless, and no buffeting +with lusty sinews is of any avail; that is the point at which the +_passive_ courage born of the inner life comes in, and gives strength to +submit to the inevitable in calmness. This Cæsar lacks, and he calls for +rescue: Cassius would have felt the water close over him and have sunk +to the bottom and died rather than accept aid from his rival. In like +manner the sick bed is a region in which the highest physical and +intellectual activity is helpless; the trained self-control of a Stoic +may have a sphere for exercise even here; but the god Cæsar shakes, and +cries for drink like a sick girl. [_The conception brought out by +personal contact with Cassius._] It is interesting to note how the two +types of mind, when brought into personal contact, jar upon one +another's self-consciousness. The intellectual man, judging the man of +action by the test of mutual intercourse, sees nothing to explain the +other's greatness, and wonders what people find in him that they so +admire him and submit to his influence. On the other hand, the man of +achievement is uneasily conscious of a sort of superiority in one whose +intellectual aims and habits he finds it so difficult to follow--yet +superiority it is not, for what has he _done_? [=i.= ii. 182-214.] +Shakespeare has illustrated this in the play by contriving to bring +Cæsar and his suite across the 'public place' in which Cassius is +discoursing to Brutus. Cassius feels the usual irritation at being +utterly unable to find in his old acquaintance any special qualities to +explain his elevation. + +[=i.= ii. 148.] + + Now, in the names of all the gods at once, + Upon what meat doth this our Cæsar feed, + That he is grown so great? + +Similarly Cæsar, as he casts a passing glance at Cassius, becomes at +once uneasy. 'He thinks too much,' is the exclamation of the man of +action: + + He loves no plays, + As thou dost, Antony; he hears no music. + +The practical man, accustomed to divide mankind into a few simple types, +is always uncomfortable at finding a man he cannot classify. Finally +there is a climax to the jealousy that exists between the two lives: +Cæsar complains that Cassius '_looks quite through the deeds of men._' + +[_A change in Cæsar and a change in Rome itself._ comp. =i.= i, and +=iii.= iii; =i.= ii. 151, 164; =i.= iii. 82, 105; =iii.= i. 66-70; =v.= +v. 69-72, &c.] + +There is another circumstance to be taken into account in explaining the +weakness of Cæsar. A change has come over the spirit of Roman political +life itself--such seems to be Shakespeare's conception: Cæsar on his +return has found Rome no longer the Rome he had known. Before he left +for Gaul, Rome had been the ideal sphere for public life, the arena in +which principles alone were allowed to combat, and from which the +banishment of personal aims and passions was the first condition of +virtue. In his absence Rome has gradually degenerated; the mob has +become the ruling force, and introduced an element of uncertainty into +political life; politics has passed from science into gambling. A new +order of public men has arisen, of which Cassius and Antony are the +types; personal aims, personal temptations, and personal risks are now +inextricably interwoven with public action. This is a changed order of +things to which the mind of Cæsar, cast in a higher mould, lacks the +power to adapt itself. His vacillation is the vacillation of +unfamiliarity with the new political conditions. [=i.= ii. 230.] He +refuses the crown 'each time gentler than the other,' showing want of +decisive reading in dealing with the fickle mob; [=i.= ii. 183.] and on +his return from the Capitol he is too untrained in hypocrisy to conceal +the angry spot upon his face; he has tried to use the new weapons which +he does not understand, and has failed. [=ii.= i. 195.] It is a subtle +touch of Shakespeare's to the same effect that Cæsar is represented as +having himself undergone a change _of late_: + + For he is superstitious grown of late, + Quite from the main opinion he held once + Of fantasy, of dreams and ceremonies + +To come back to a world of which you have mastered the machinery, and to +find that it is no longer governed by machinery at all, that causes no +longer produce their effects--this, if anything, might well drive a +strong intellect to superstition. And herein consists the pathos of +Cæsar's situation. The deepest tragedy of the play is not the +assassination of Cæsar, it is rather seen in such a speech as this of +Decius: + +[=ii.= i. 202.] + + If he be so resolved, + I can o'ersway him; for he loves to hear + That unicorns may be betray'd with trees, + And bears with glasses, elephants with holes, + Lions with toils and men with flatterers; + But when I tell him, he hates flatterers, + He says he does, being then most flattered. + +Assassination is a less piteous thing than to see the giant intellect by +its very strength unable to contend against the low cunning of a +fifth-rate intriguer. + +Such, then, appears to be Shakespeare's conception of Julius Cæsar. He +is the consummate type of the practical: emphatically the public man, +complete in all the greatness that belongs to action. On the other hand, +the knowledge of self produced by self-contemplation is wanting, and so +when he comes to consider the relation of his individual self to the +state he vacillates with the vacillation of a strong man moving amongst +men of whose greater intellectual subtlety he is dimly conscious: no +unnatural conception for a Cæsar who has been founding empires abroad +while his fellows have been sharpening their wits in the party contests +of a decaying state. + +[_Cassius: his whole character developed and subjected to a +master-passion that is disinterested._] + +The remaining members of the group are Cassius and Antony. In Cassius +thought and action have been equally developed, and he has the qualities +belonging to both the outer and the inner life. But the side which in +Brutus barely preponderated, absolutely tyrannises in Cassius; his +public life has given him a grand passion to which the whole of his +nature becomes subservient. Inheriting a 'rash humour' from his mother, +he was specially prepared for impatience of political anomalies; [=iv.= +iii. 120.] republican independence has become to him an ideal dearer +than life. + +[=i.= ii. 95.] + + I had as lief not be as live to be + In awe of such a thing as I myself. + +[=i.= ii, iii; =ii.= i; =iii.= i. 177, &c.] + +He has thus become a professional politician. Politics is to him a game, +and men are counters to be used; [=i.= ii. 312-319.] Cassius finds +satisfaction in discovering that even Brutus's 'honourable metal may be +wrought from that it is disposed.' He has the politician's low view of +human nature; while Brutus talks of principles Cassius interposes +appeals to interest: he says to Antony, + +[=iii.= i. 177.] + + Your voice shall be as strong as any man's + In the disposing of new dignities. + +His party spirit is, as usual, unscrupulous; he seeks to work upon his +friend's unsuspecting nobility by concocted letters thrown in at his +windows; [=i.= ii. 319.] and in the Quarrel Scene loses patience at +Brutus's scruples. + +[=iv.= iii. 7, 29, &c.] + + I'll not endure it: you forget yourself, + To hedge me in; I am a soldier, I, + Older in practice, abler than yourself + To make conditions. + +At the same time he has a party politician's tact; his advice throughout +the play is proved by the event to have been right, [=iii.= i. 145.] and +he does himself no more than justice when he says his misgiving 'still +falls shrewdly to the purpose.' [_Antony: his whole character developed +and subjected to selfish passion._] Antony also has all the powers that +belong both to the intellectual and practical life; so far as these +powers are concerned, he has them developed to a higher degree than even +Brutus and Cassius. His distinguishing mark lies in the use to which +these powers are put; like Cassius, he has concentrated his whole nature +in one aim, but this aim is not a disinterested object of public good, +it is unmitigated self-seeking. Antony has greatness enough to +appreciate the greatness of Cæsar; hence in the first half of the play +he has effaced himself, choosing to rise to power as the useful tool of +Cæsar. [esp. =i.= ii, from 190; comp. =ii.= i. 165.] Here, indeed, he is +famed as a devotee of the softer studies, but it is not till his patron +has fallen that his irresistible strength is put forth. There seems to +be but one element in Antony that is not selfish: [=iii.= i, from 254; +comp. 194-213.] his attachment to Cæsar is genuine, and its force is +measured in the violent imagery of the vow with which, when alone for a +moment with the corpse, he promises vengeance till all pity is 'choked +with custom of fell deeds.' And yet this perhaps is after all the best +illustration of his callousness to higher feelings; for the one tender +emotion of his heart is used by him as the convenient weapon with which +to fight his enemies and raise himself to power. + +[_The Grouping as a whole surveyed._] + +Such, then, is the Grouping of Characters in the play of _Julius Cæsar_. +To catch it they must be contemplated in the light of the antithesis +between the outer and inner life. In Brutus the antithesis disappears +amid the perfect balancing of his character, to reappear in the action, +when Brutus has to choose between his cause and his friend. In Cæsar the +practical life only is developed, and he fails as soon as action +involves the inner life. Cassius has the powers of both outer and inner +life perfect, and they are fused into one master-passion, morbid but +unselfish. Antony has carried to an even greater perfection the culture +of both lives, and all his powers are concentrated in one purpose, which +is purely selfish. In the action in which this group of personages is +involved the determining fact is the change that has come over the +spirit of Roman life, and introduced into its public policy the element +of personal aggrandisement and personal risk. The new spirit works upon +Brutus: the chance of winning political liberty by the assassination of +one individual just overbalances his moral judgment, and he falls. Yet +in his fall he is glorious: the one false judgment of his life brings +him, what is more to him than victory, the chance of maintaining the +calmness of principle amid the ruins of a falling cause, and showing how +a Stoic can fail and die. The new spirit affects Cæsar and tempts him +into a personal enterprise in which success demands a meanness that he +lacks, and he is betrayed to his fall. Yet in his fall he is glorious: +the assassins' daggers purge him from the stain of his momentary +personal ambition, and the sequel shows that the Roman world was not +worthy of a ruler such as Cæsar. The spirit of the age effects Cassius, +and fans his passion to work itself out to his own destruction, and he +falls. Yet in his fall he is glorious: we forgive him the lowered tone +of his political action when we see by the spirit of the new rulers how +desperate was the chance for which he played, and how Cassius and his +loved cause of republican freedom expire together. The spirit of the age +which has wrought upon the rest is controlled and used by Antony, and he +rises on their ruins. Yet in his rise he is less glorious than they in +their fall: he does all for self; he may claim therefore the prize of +success, but in goodness he has no share beyond that he is permitted to +be the passive instrument of punishing evil. + + + + +IX. + + +HOW THE PLAY OF JULIUS CÆSAR WORKS TO A CLIMAX AT THE CENTRE. + +_A Study in Passion and Movement._ + + +[_Passion and Movement as elements of dramatic effect._] + +THE preceding chapters have been confined to two of the main elements in +dramatic effect, Character and Plot: the third remains to be +illustrated. Amongst other devices of public amusement the experiment +has been tried of arranging a game of chess to be played by living +pieces on a monster board; if we suppose that in the midst of such a +game the real combative instincts of the living pieces should be +suddenly aroused, that the knight should in grim earnest plunge his +spear into his nearest opponent, and that missiles should actually be +discharged from the castles, then the shock produced in the feelings of +the bystanders by such a change would serve to bring out with emphasis +the distinction between Plot and the third element of dramatic effect, +Passion. Plot is an interest of a purely intellectual kind, it traces +laws, principles, order, and design in the incidents of life. Passion, +on the other hand, depends on the human character of the personages +involved; it consists in the effects produced on the spectator's +emotional nature as his sympathy follows the characters through the +incidents of the plot; it is War as distinguished from _Kriegspiel_. +Effects of such Passion are numerous and various: the present study is +concerned with its _Movement_. This Movement comprehends a class of +dramatic effects differing in one obvious particular from the effects +considered so far. Character-Interpretation and Plot are both analytical +in their nature; the play has to be taken to pieces and details selected +from various parts have to be put together to give the idea of a +complete character, or to make up some single thread of design. +[_Passion connected with the movement of a drama._] Movement, on the +contrary, follows the actual order of the events as they take place in +the play itself. The emotional effects produced by such events as they +succeed one another will not be uniform and monotonous; the skill of the +dramatist will lie in concentrating effect at some points and relieving +it at others; and to watch such play of passion through the progress of +the action will be a leading dramatic interest. Now we have already had +occasion to notice the prominence which Shakespeare in his dramatic +construction gives to the central point of a play; symmetry more than +sensation is the effect which has an attraction for his genius, and the +finale to which the action is to lead is not more important to him than +the balancing of the whole drama about a turning-point in the middle. +Accordingly it is not surprising to find that in the Passion-Movement of +his dramas a similar plan of construction is often followed; that all +other variations are subordinated to one great Climax of Passion at the +centre. [_The regular arch-form applicable to Passion-Movement._] To +repeat an illustration already applied to Plot: the movement of the +passion seems to follow the form of a regular arch, commencing in +calmness, rising through emotional strain to a summit of agitation at +the centre, then through the rest of the play declining into a calmness +of a different kind. It is the purpose of the two remaining studies to +illustrate this kind of movement in two very different plays. _Julius +Cæsar_ has the simplest of plots; our attention is engaged with a train +of emotion which is made to rise gradually to a climax at the centre, +and then equally gradually to decline. _Lear_, on the contrary, is +amongst the most intricate of Shakespeare's plays; nevertheless the +dramatist contrives to keep the same simple form of emotional effect, +and its complex passions unite in producing a concentration of emotional +agitation in a few central scenes. + +[_In Julius Cæsar the movement follows the justification of the +conspirators to the audience:_] + +The passion in the play of _Julius Cæsar_ gathers around the +conspirators, and follows them through the mutations of their fortunes. +If however we are to catch the different parts of the action in their +proper proportions we must remember the character of these conspirators, +and especially of their leaders Brutus and Cassius. These are actuated +in what they do not by personal motives but by devotion to the public +good and the idea of republican liberty; accordingly in following their +career we must not look too exclusively at their personal success and +failure. The exact key to the movement of the drama will be given by +fixing attention upon _the justification of the conspirators' cause_ in +the minds of the audience; [_this rises to the centre and declines from +the centre._] and it is this which is found to rise gradually to its +height in the centre of the play, and from that point to decline to the +end. I have pointed out in the preceding study how the issue at stake in +_Julius Cæsar_ amounts to a conflict between the outer and inner life, +between devotion to a public enterprise and such sympathy with the +claims of individual humanity as is specially fostered by the +cultivation of the inner nature. The issue is reflected in words of +Brutus already quoted: + +[=ii.= i. 18.] + + The abuse of greatness is, when it disjoins + Remorse from power. + +Brutus applies this as a test to Cæsar's action, and is forced to acquit +him: but is not Brutus here laying down the very principle of which his +own error in the play is the violation? The assassin's dagger puts +Brutus and the conspirators in the position of power; while +'remorse'--the word in Shakespearean English means human sympathy--is +the due of their victim Cæsar, whose rights to justice as a man, and to +more than justice as the friend of Brutus, the conspirators have the +responsibility of balancing against the claims of a political cause. +These claims of justice and humanity are deliberately ignored by the +stoicism of Brutus, while the rest of the conspirators are blinded to +them by the mists of political enthusiasm; this outraged human sympathy +asserts itself after Cæsar's death in a monstrous form in the passions +of the mob, which are guided by the skill of Antony to the destruction +of the assassins. Of course both the original violation of the balance +between the two lives and the subsequent reaction are equally corrupt. +The stoicism of Brutus, with its suppression of the inner sympathies, +arrives practically at the principle--destined in the future history of +the world to be the basis of a yet greater crime--that it is expedient +that one man should die rather than that a whole people should perish. +On the other hand, Antony trades upon the fickle violence of the +populace, and uses it as much for personal ends as for vengeance. This +demoralisation of both the sides of character is the result of their +divorce. Such is the essence of this play if its action be looked at as +a whole; but it belongs to the movement of dramatic passion that we see +the action only in its separate parts at different times. Through the +first half of the play, while the justification of the conspirators' +cause is rising, the other side of the question is carefully hidden from +us; from the point of the assassination the suppressed element starts +into prominence, and sweeps our sympathies along with it to its triumph +at the conclusion of the play. + +[_First stage: the conspiracy forming. Passion indistinguishable from +mere interest._] + +In following the movement of the drama the action seems to divide itself +into stages. In the first of these stages, which comprehends the first +two scenes, the conspiracy is only forming; the sympathy with which the +spectator follows the details is entirely free from emotional agitation; +passion so far is indistinguishable from mere interest. [=i.= i, ii.] +The opening scene strikes appropriately the key-note of the whole +action. [_Starting-point: signs of reaction in the popular worship of +Cæsar._] In it we see the tribunes of the people--officers whose whole +_raison d'être_ is to be the mouthpiece of the commonalty--restraining +their own clients from the noisy honours they are disposed to pay to +Cæsar. [=i.= i.] To the justification in our eyes of a conspiracy +against Cæsar, there could not be a better starting-point than this hint +that the popular worship of Cæsar, which has made him what he is, is +itself reaching its reaction-point. Such a suggestion moreover makes the +whole play one complete _wave_ of popular fickleness from crest to +crest. + +[_The Rise begins. The cause seen at its best, the victim at his +worst._] + +The second is the scene upon which the dramatist mainly relies for the +_crescendo_ in the justification of the conspirators. It is a long +scene, elaborately contrived so as to keep the conspirators and their +cause before us at their very best, and the victim at his very worst. +[=i.= ii.] Cassius is the life and spirit of this scene, as he is of the +whole republican movement. Cassius is excellent soil for republican +principles. The 'rash humour' his mother gave him would predispose him +to impatience of those social inequalities and conventional distinctions +against which republicanism sets itself. Again he is a hard-thinking +man, to whom the perfect realisation of an ideal theory would be as +palpable an aim as the more practical purposes of other men. He is a +Roman moreover, at once proud of his nation as the greatest in the +world, and aware that this national greatness had been through all +history bound up with the maintenance of a republican constitution. His +republicanism gives to Cassius the dignity that is always given to a +character by a grand passion, whether for a cause, a woman, or an +idea--the unification of a whole life in a single aim, by which the +separate strings of a man's nature are, as it were, tuned into harmony. +In the present scene Cassius is expounding the cause which is his +life-object. Nor is this all. Cassius was politician enough to adapt +himself to his hearers, and could hold up the lower motives to those who +would be influenced by them; but in the present case it is the +'honourable metal' of a Brutus that he has to work upon, and his +exposition of republicanism must be adapted to the highest possible +standard. Accordingly, in the language of the scene we find the idea of +human equality expressed in its most ideal form. Without it Cassius +thinks life not worth living. + +[=i.= ii. 95.] + + I had as lief not be as live to be + In awe of such a thing as I myself. + I was born free as Cæsar; so were you; + We both have fed as well, and we can both + Endure the winter's cold as well as he. + +The examples follow of the flood and fever incidents, which show how the +majesty of Cæsar vanished before the violence of natural forces and the +prostration of disease. + +[115.] + + And this man + Is now become a god, and Cassius is + A wretched creature and must bend his body, + If Cæsar carelessly but nod on him. + +In the eye of the state, individuals are so many members of a class, in +precisely the way that their names are so many examples of the proper +noun. + +[142.] + + Brutus and Cæsar: what should be in that 'Cæsar'? + Why should that name be sounded more than yours? + Write them together, yours is as fair a name; + Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well; + Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with them, + Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Cæsar. + Now, in the names of all the gods at once, + Upon what meat doth this our Cæsar feed, + That he is grown so great? + +And this exposition of the conspirators' cause in its highest form is at +the same time thrown into yet higher relief by a background to the +scene, in which the victim is presented at his worst. [from 182.] All +through the conversation between Brutus and Cassius, the shouting of the +mob reminds of the scene which is at the moment going on in the Capitol, +while the conversation is interrupted for a time by the returning +procession of Cæsar. In this action behind the scenes which thus mingles +with the main incident Cæsar is committing the one fault of his life: +this is the fault of 'treason,' which can be justified only by being +successful and so becoming 'revolution,' whereas Cæsar is failing, and +deserving to fail from the vacillating hesitation with which he sins. +Moreover, unfavourable as such incidents would be in themselves to our +sympathy with Cæsar, yet it is not the actual facts that we are +permitted to see, but they are further distorted by the medium through +which they reach us--the cynicism of Casca which belittles and +disparages all he relates. + +[=i.= ii. 235.] + + _Bru._ Tell us the manner of it, gentle Casca. + + _Casca._ I can as well be hanged as tell the manner of it: it was + mere foolery; I did not mark it. I saw Mark Antony offer him a + crown;--yet 'twas not a crown neither, 'twas one of these + coronets:--and, as I told you, he put it by once: but, for all that, + to my thinking, he would fain have had it. Then he offered it to him + again; then he put it by again: but, to my thinking, he was very + loath to lay his fingers off it. And then he offer'd it the third + time; he put it the third time by: and still as he refused it, the + rabblement hooted and clapped their chapped hands and threw up their + sweaty night-caps and uttered such a deal of stinking breath because + Cæsar had refused the crown that it had almost choked Cæsar; for he + swounded and fell down at it: and, for mine own part, I durst not + laugh, for fear of opening my lips and receiving the bad air.... + When he came to himself again, he said, If he had done or said + anything amiss, he desired their worships to think it was his + infirmity. Three or four wenches, where I stood, cried, 'Alas, good + soul!' and forgave him with all their hearts; but there's no heed to + be taken of them; if Cæsar had stabbed their mothers they would have + done no less. + +[_Second stage: the conspiracy formed and developing. Passion-Strain +begins._] + +At the end of the scene Brutus is won, and we pass immediately into the +second stage of the action: the conspiracy is now formed and developing, +and the emotional strain begins. The adhesion of Brutus has given us +confidence that the conspiracy will be effective, and we have only to +_wait_ for the issue. [=i.= iii--=ii.= ii.] This mere notion of +_waiting_ is itself enough to introduce an element of agitation into the +passion sufficient to mark off this stage of the action from the +preceding. [_Suspense one element in the strain of passion._] How +powerful suspense is for this purpose we have expressed in the words of +the play itself: + +[=ii.= i. 63.] + + Between the acting of a dreadful thing + And the first motion, all the interim is + Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream: + The Genius and the mortal instruments + Are then in council; and the state of man, + Like to a little kingdom, suffers then + The nature of an insurrection. + +[_The background of tempest and supernatural portents a device for +increasing the strain._] + +But besides the suspense there is a special device for securing the +agitation proper to this stage of the passion: throughout there is +maintained a Dramatic Background of night, storm, and supernatural +portents. + +The conception of nature as exhibiting sympathy with sudden turns in +human affairs is one of the most fundamental instincts of poetry. To +cite notable instances: it is this which accompanies with storm and +whirlwind the climax to the _Book of Job_, and which leads Milton to +make the whole universe sensible of Adam's transgression: + + Earth trembl'd from her entrails, as again + In pangs, and Nature gave a second groan; + Sky lowr'd, and muttering thunder, some sad drops + Wept at completing of the mortal sin + Original. + +So too the other end of the world's history has its appropriate +accompaniments: 'the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give +her light, and the stars shall be falling from heaven.' There is a +_vagueness_ of terror inseparable from these outbursts of nature, so +mysterious in their causes and aims. They are actually the most mighty +of forces--for human artillery is feeble beside the earthquake--yet they +are invisible: the wind works its havoc without the keenest eye being +able to perceive it, and the lightning is never seen till it has struck. +Again, there is something weird in the feeling that the most frightful +powers in the material universe are all _soft things_. The empty air +becomes the irresistible wind; the fluid and yielding water wears down +the hard and massive rock and determines the shape of the earth; +impalpable fire that is blown about in every direction can be roused +till it devours the solidest constructions of human skill; while the +most powerful agencies of all, electricity and atomic force, are +imperceptible to any of the senses and are known only by their results. +This uncanny terror attaching to the union between force and softness is +the inspiration of one of Homer's most unique episodes, in which the +bewildered Achilles, struggling with the river-god, finds the strength +and skill of the finished warrior vain against the ever-rising water, +and bitterly feels the violation of the natural order-- + + That strong might fall by strong, where now weak water's luxury + Must make my death blush. + +[=i.= iii; =ii.= ii, &c.] + +To the terrible in nature are added portents of the supernatural, sudden +violations of the uniformity of nature, the principle upon which all +science is founded. The solitary bird of night has been seen in the +crowded Capitol; fire has played around a human hand without destroying +it; lions, forgetting their fierceness, have mingled with men; clouds +drop fire instead of rain; graves are giving up their dead; the chance +shapes of clouds take distinctness to suggest tumult on the earth. Such +phenomena of nature and the supernatural, agitating from their appeal at +once to fear and mystery, and associated by the fancy with the terrible +in human events, have made a deep impression upon primitive thought; and +the impression has descended by generations of inherited tradition +until, whatever may be the attitude of the intellect to the phenomena +themselves, their associations in the emotional nature are of agitation. +They thus become appropriate as a Dramatic Background to an agitated +passion in the scenes themselves, calling out the emotional effect by a +vague sympathy, much as a musical note may set in vibration a distant +string that is in unison with it. + +This device then is used by Shakespeare in the second stage of the +present play. We see the warning terrors through the eyes of men of the +time, and their force is measured by the fact that they shake the +cynical Casca into eloquence. + +[=i.= iii. 3.] + + Are not you moved, when all the sway of earth + Shakes like a thing unfirm? O Cicero, + I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds + Have rived the knotty oaks, and I have seen + The ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam, + To be exalted with the threatening clouds: + But never till to-night, never till now, + Did I go through a tempest dropping fire. + Either there is a civil strife in heaven, + Or else the world, too saucy with the gods, + Incenses them to send destruction. + +And the idea thus started at the commencement is kept before our minds +throughout this stage of the drama by perpetual allusions, however +slight, to the sky and external nature. [compare =ii.= i. 44, 101, 198, +221, 263; =ii.= ii.] Brutus reads the secret missives by the light of +exhalations whizzing through the air; when some of the conspirators step +aside, to occupy a few moments while the rest are conferring apart, it +is to the sky their thoughts naturally seem to turn, and they with +difficulty can make out the East from the West; the discussion of the +conspirators includes the effect on Cæsar of the night's prodigies. +Later Portia remonstrates against her husband's exposure to the raw and +dank morning, to the rheumy and unpurged air; even when daylight has +fully returned, the conversation is of Calpurnia's dream and the +terrible prodigies. + +[=i.= iii.] + +Against this background are displayed, first single figures of Cassius +and other conspirators; [=ii.= i. 1-85.] then Brutus alone in calm +deliberation: [=ii.= i. 86-228.] then the whole band of conspirators, +their wild excitement side by side with Brutus's immovable moderation. +[=ii.= i, from 233.] Then the Conspiracy Scene fades in the early +morning light into a display of Brutus in his softer relations; [=ii.= +ii.] and with complete return of day changes to the house of Cæsar on +the fatal morning. Cæsar also is displayed in contact with the +supernatural, as represented by Calpurnia's terrors and repeated +messages of omens that forbid his venturing upon public action for that +day. [_Cæsar still seen at a disadvantage;_] Cæsar faces all this with +his usual loftiness of mind; yet the scene is so contrived that, as far +as immediate effect is concerned, this very loftiness is made to tell +against him. The unflinching courage that overrides and interprets +otherwise the prodigies and warnings seems presumption to us who know +the reality of the danger. [=ii.= ii. 8-56.] It is the same with his +yielding to the humour of his wife. Why should he not? his is not the +conscious weakness that must be firm to show that it is not afraid. Yet +when, upon Decius's explaining away the dream and satisfying Calpurnia's +fears, Cæsar's own attraction to danger leads him to persevere in his +first intention, this change of purpose seems to us, [=ii.= i. 202.] who +have heard Decius's boast that he can o'ersway Cæsar with flattery, a +confirmation of Cæsar's weakness. So in accordance with the purpose that +reigns through the first half of the play the victim is made to appear +at his worst: the _passing_ effect of the scene is to suggest weakness +in Cæsar, while it is in fact furnishing elements which, upon +reflection, go to build up a character of strength. [_and the +justification of the conspirators still rising._] On the other hand, +throughout this stage the justification of the conspirators' cause gains +by their confidence and their high tone; in particular by the way in +which they interpret to their own advantage the supernatural element. +[=i.= iii. 42-79.] Cassius feels the wildness of the night as in perfect +harmony with his own spirit. + +[=i.= iii. 46.] + + For my part, I have walk'd about the streets, + Submitting me unto the perilous night, + And, thus unbraced, Casca, as you see, + Have bared my bosom to the thunder-stone; + And when the cross blue lightning seem'd to open + The breast of heaven, I did present myself + Even in the aim and very flash of it. + +And it needs only a word from him to communicate his confidence to his +comrades. + +[=i.= iii. 72.] + + _Cassius._ Now could I, Casca, name to thee a man + Most like this dreadful night, + That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars + As doth the lion in the Capitol, + A man no mightier than thyself or me + In personal action, yet prodigious grown + And fearful, as these strange eruptions are-- + + _Casca._ 'Tis Cæsar that you mean; is it not, Cassius? + +[_Third stage. The Crisis: the passion-strain rises to a Climax._] + +The third stage of the action brings us to the climax of the passion; +the strain upon our emotions now rises to a height of agitation. The +exact commencement of the crisis seems to be marked by the soothsayer's +words at the opening of Act III. [=ii.= iii--=iii.= i. 121.] Cæsar +observes on entering the Capitol the soothsayer who had warned him to +beware of this very day. + + _Cæsar._ The ides of March are come. + + _Sooth._ Ay, Cæsar; but not gone. + +Such words seem to measure out a narrow area of time in which the crisis +is to work itself out. There is however no distinct break between +different stages of a dramatic movement like that in the present play; +[_Devices for working up the agitation._] and two short incidents have +preceded this scene which have served as emotional devices to bring +about a distinct advance in the intensification of the strain. +[_Artemidorus_; =ii.= iii. and =iii.= i. 3.] In the first, Artemidorus +appeared reading a letter of warning which he purposed to present to +Cæsar on his way to the fatal spot. In the Capitol Scene he presents it, +while the ready Decius hastens to interpose another petition to take off +Cæsar's attention. Artemidorus conjures Cæsar to read his first for 'it +touches him nearer'; but the imperial chivalry of Cæsar forbids: + + What touches us ourself shall be last served. + +[_Portia;_ =ii.= iv.] + +The momentary hope of rescue is dashed. In the second incident Portia +has been displayed completely unnerved by the weight of a secret to the +anxiety of which she is not equal; she sends messengers to the Capitol +and recalls them as she recollects that she dare give them no message; +her agitation has communicated itself to us, besides suggesting the fear +that it may betray to others what she is anxious to conceal. Our +sympathy has thus been tossed from side to side, although in its +general direction it still moves on the side of the conspirators. +[_Popilius Lena._] In the crisis itself the agitation becomes painful as +the entrance of Popilius [=iii.= i. 13.] Lena and his secret +communication to Cæsar cause a panic that threatens to wreck the whole +plot on the verge of its success. Brutus's nerve sustains even this +trial, and the way for the accomplishment of the deed is again clear. +Emotional devices like these have carried the passion up to a climax of +agitation; and the conspirators now advance to present their pretended +suit and achieve the bloody deed. To the last the double effect of +Cæsar's demeanour continues. Considered in itself, his unrelenting +firmness of principle exhibits the highest model of a ruler; yet to us, +who know the purpose lurking behind the hypocritical intercession of the +conspirators, Cæsar's self-confidence resembles the infatuation that +goes before Nemesis. [from 58.] He scorns the fickle politicians before +him as mere wandering sparks of heavenly fire, while he is left alone as +a pole-star of true-fixed and resting quality:--and in answer to his +presumptuous boast that he can never be moved come the blows of the +assassins which strike him down; [compare 115.] while there is a flash +of irony as he is seen to have fallen beside the statue of Pompey, and +the marble seems to gleam in cold triumph over the rival at last lying +bleeding at its feet. The assassination is accomplished, the cause of +the conspirators is won: pity notwithstanding we are swept along with +the current of their enthusiasm; [_The justification at its height in +the appeal to all time._] and the justification that has been steadily +rising from the commencement reaches its climax as, their adversaries +dispersing in terror, the conspirators dip their hands in their victim's +blood, and make their triumphant appeal to the whole world and all time. + +[111.] + + _Cassius_. Stoop, then, and wash. How many ages hence + Shall this our lofty scene be acted over + In states unborn and accents yet unknown! + + _Brutus_. How many times shall Cæsar bleed in sport, + That now on Pompey's basis lies along, + No worthier than the dust! + + _Cassius._ So oft as that shall be, + So often shall the knot of us be call'd + The men that gave their country LIBERTY! + +[_Catastrophe, and commencement of the Reaction._] + +_Enter a servant:_ this simple stage-direction is the 'catastrophe,' the +turning-round of the whole action; the arch has reached its apex and the +Reaction has begun. [=iii.= i, from 122.] So instantaneous is the +change, that though it is only the servant of Antony who speaks, yet the +first words of his message ring with the peculiar tone of subtly-poised +sentences which are inseparably associated with Antony's eloquence; it +is like the first announcement of that which is to be a final theme in +music, and from this point this tone dominates the scene to the very +end. + +[125.] + + Thus he bade me say: + Brutus is noble, wise, valiant, and honest, + Cæsar was mighty, bold, royal, and loving, + Say I love Brutus, and I honour him; + Say I fear'd Cæsar, honour'd him, and lov'd him. + If Brutus will vouchsafe that Antony + May safely come to him, and be resolv'd + How Cæsar hath deserved to lie in death, + Mark Antony shall not love Cæsar dead + So well as Brutus living. + +In the whole Shakespearean Drama there is nowhere such a swift swinging +round of a dramatic action as is here marked by this sudden up-springing +of the suppressed individuality in Antony's character, [=ii.= i. 165.] +hitherto so colourless that he has been spared by the conspirators as a +mere limb of Cæsar. [=iii.= i. 144.] The tone of exultant triumph in the +conspirators has in an instant given place to Cassius's 'misgiving' as +Brutus grants Antony an audience; [from 164.] and when Antony enters, +Brutus's first words to him fall into the form of apology. The quick +subtlety of Antony's intellect has grasped the whole situation, and with +irresistible force he slowly feels his way towards using the +conspirators' aid for crushing themselves and avenging their victim. +[=iii.= i. 211, compare 177.] The bewilderment of the conspirators in +the presence of this unlooked-for force is seen in Cassius's unavailing +attempt to bring Antony to the point, as to what compact he will make +with them. Antony, on the contrary, reads his men with such nicety that +he can indulge himself in sailing close to the wind, [from 184.] and +grasps fervently the hands of the assassins while he pours out a flood +of bitter grief over the corpse. It is not hypocrisy, nor a trick to +gain time, this conciliation of his enemies. Steeped in the political +spirit of the age, Antony knows, as no other man, the mob which governs +Rome, and is conscious of the mighty engine he possesses in his oratory +to sway that mob in what direction he pleases; when his bold plan has +succeeded, and his adversaries have consented to meet him in contest of +oratory, then ironical conciliation becomes the natural relief to his +pent-up passion. + +[220.] + + Friends am I with you all and love you all, + _Upon this hope, that you shall give me reasons_ + Why and wherein Cæsar was dangerous. + +It is as he feels the sense of innate oratorical power and of the +opportunity his enemies have given to that power, that he exaggerates +his temporary amity with the men he is about to crush: it is the +executioner arranging his victim comfortably on the rack before he +proceeds to apply the levers. Already the passion of the drama has +fallen under the guidance of Antony. The view of Cæsar as an innocent +victim is now allowed full play upon our sympathies when Antony, [from +254.] left alone with the corpse, can drop the artificial mask and give +vent to his love and vengeance. [231-243.] The success of the conspiracy +had begun to decline as we marked Brutus's ill-timed generosity to +Antony in granting him the funeral oration; [=iii.= ii, from 13.] it +crumbles away through the cold unnatural euphuism of Brutus's speech in +its defence; [=iii.= ii, from 78.] it is hurried to its ruin when Antony +at last exercises his spell upon the Roman people and upon the reader. +The speech of Antony, with its mastery of every phase of feeling, is a +perfect sonata upon the instrument of the human emotions. [=iii.= ii. +78.] Its opening theme is sympathy with bereavement, against which are +working as if in conflict anticipations of future themes, doubt and +compunction. [95, 109, &c.] A distinct change of movement comes with the +first introduction of what is to be the final subject, [133.] the +mention of the will. But when this new movement has worked up from +curiosity to impatience, [177.] there is a diversion: the mention of the +victory over the Nervii turns the emotions in the direction of historic +pride, [178.] which harmonises well with the opposite emotions roused as +the orator fingers hole after hole in Cæsar's mantle made by the daggers +of his false friends, [200.] and so leads up to a sudden shock when he +uncovers the body itself and displays the popular idol and its bloody +defacement. [243.] Then the finale begins: the forgotten theme of the +will is again started, and from a burst of gratitude the passion +quickens and intensifies to rage, to fury, to mutiny. [_The mob won to +the Reaction._] The mob is won to the Reaction; [=iii.= iii.] and the +curtain that falls upon the third Act rises for a moment to display the +populace tearing a man to pieces simply because he bears the same name +as one of the conspirators. + +[_Last stage. Development of an inevitable fate: passion-strain +ceases._] + +The final stage of the action works out the development of an inevitable +fate. The emotional strain now ceases, and, as in the first stage, the +passion is of the calmer order, the calmness in this case of pity +balanced by a sense of justice. From the opening of the fourth Act the +decline in the justification of the conspirators is intimated by the +logic of events. The first scene exhibits to us the triumvirate that now +governs Rome, and shows that in this triumvirate Antony is supreme: +[Acts =iv, v. iv.= i.] with the man who is the embodiment of the +Reaction thus appearing at the head of the world, the fall of the +conspirators is seen to be inevitable. [=iv.= ii. 3.] The decline of our +sympathy with them continues in the following scenes. The Quarrel Scene +shows how low the tone of Cassius has fallen since he has dealt with +assassination as a political weapon; and even Brutus's moderation has +hardened into unpleasing harshness. [=iv.= iii. 148, &c.] There is at +this point plenty of relief to such unpleasing effects: [=iv.= iii. from +239.] there is the exhibition of the tender side of Brutus's character +as shown in his relations with his page, [=iv.= iii.] and the display of +friendship maintained between Brutus and Cassius amid falling fortunes. +But such incidents as these have a different effect upon us from that +which they would have had at an earlier period; the justification of the +conspirators has so far declined that now attractive touches in them +serve only to increase the pathos of a fate which, however, our sympathy +no longer seeks to resist. [=iv.= iii. 275.] We get a supernatural +foreshadowing of the end in the appearance to Brutus of Cæsar's Ghost, +[=v.= i. 80.] and the omen Cassius sees of the eagles that had consorted +his army to Philippi giving place to ravens, crows, and kites on the +morning of battle: this lends the authority of the invisible world to +our sense that the conspirators' cause is doomed. [=iv.= iii. 196-230.] +And judicial blindness overtakes them as Brutus's authority in council +overweighs in point after point the shrewder advice of Cassius. Through +the scenes of the fifth Act we see the republican leaders fighting on +without hope. [_Justification entirely vanishes as the conspirators +recognise Cæsar's victory._] The last remnant of justification for their +cause ceases as the conspirators themselves seem to acknowledge their +error and fate. Cassius as he feels his death-blow recognises the very +weapon with which he had committed the crime: + +[=v.= iii. 45.] + + Cæsar, thou art revenged, + Even with the sword that kill'd thee. + +And at last even the firm spirit of Brutus yields: + +[=v.= v. 94.] + + O Julius Cæsar, thou art mighty yet! + Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swords + In our own proper entrails. + + + + +X. + +HOW CLIMAX MEETS CLIMAX IN THE CENTRE OF LEAR. + +_A Study in more complex Passion and Movement._ + + +[_The plot of Lear highly complex_.] + +IN _Julius Cæsar_ we have seen how, in the case of a very simple play, a +few simple devices are sufficient to produce a regular rise and fall in +the passion. We now turn to a highly elaborate plot and trace how, +notwithstanding the elaborateness, a similar concentration of the +passion in the centre of the play can be secured. _King Lear_ is one of +the most complex of Shakespeare's tragedies; its plot is made up of a +number of separate actions, with their combinations accurately carried +out, the whole impressing us with a sense of artistic involution similar +to that of an elaborate musical fugue. Here, however, we are concerned +only indirectly with the plot of the play: we need review it no further +than may suffice to show what distinct interests enter into it, and +enable us to observe how the separate trains of passion work toward a +common climax at the centre. + +Starting from the notion of pattern as a fundamental idea we have seen +how Plot presents trains of events in human life taking form and shape +as a crime and its nemesis, an oracle and its fulfilment, the rise and +fall of an individual, or even as simply a story. [_The main plot +exhibits the Problem form of dramatic action._] The particular form of +action underlying the main plot of _King Lear_ is different from any we +have yet noticed. It may be described as a _Problem Action_. A +mathematician in his problem assumes some unusual combination of forces +to have come about, and then proceeds to trace its consequences: so the +Drama often deals with problems in history and life, setting up, before +the commencement of the play or early in the action, some peculiar +arrangement of moral relations, and then throughout the rest of the +action developing the consequences of these to the personages involved. +Thus the opening scene of _King Lear_ is occupied in bringing before us +a pregnant and suggestive state of affairs: imperiousness is represented +as overthrowing conscience and setting up an unnatural distribution of +power. [_The problem stated._] A human problem has thus been enunciated +which the remainder of the play has to work out to its natural solution. + +Imperiousness seems to be the term appropriate to Lear's conduct in the +first scene. This is no case of dotage dividing an inheritance according +to public declarations of affection. The division had already been made +according to the best advice: [=i.= i. 3, &c.] in the case of two of the +daughters 'equalities had been so weighed that curiosity in neither +could make choice of either's moiety'; and if the portion of the +youngest and best loved of the three was the richest, this is a +partiality natural enough to absolute power. The opening scene of the +play is simply the court ceremony in which the formal transfer is to be +made. [38.] Lear is already handing to his daughters the carefully drawn +maps which mark the boundaries of the provinces, [49.] when he suddenly +pauses, and, with the yearning of age and authority for testimonies of +devotion, calls upon his daughters for declarations of affection, the +easiest of returns for the substantial gifts he is giving them, and +which Goneril and Regan pour forth with glib eloquence. [84.] Then Lear +turns to Cordelia, and, thinking delightedly of the special prize he has +marked out for the pet of his old age, asks her: + + What can you say to draw + A third more opulent than your sisters? + +But Cordelia has been revolted by the fulsome flattery of the sisters +whose hypocrisy she knows so well, and she bluntly refuses to be drawn +into any declaration of affection at all. Cordelia might well have found +some other method of separating herself from her false sisters, without +thus flouting her father before his whole court in a moment of +tenderness to herself; or, if carried away by the indignation of the +moment, a sign of submission would have won her a ready pardon. [compare +=i.= i. 131.] But Cordelia, sweet and strong as her character is in +great things, has yet inherited a touch of her father's temper, and the +moment's sullenness is protracted into obstinacy. Cordelia then has +committed an offence of manner; Lear's passion vents itself in a +sentence proper only to a moral crime: now the punishment of a minute +offence with wholly disproportionate severity simply because it is an +offence against personal will is an exact description of imperiousness. + +As Lear stands for imperiousness, so conscience is represented by Kent, +who, with the voice of authority derived from lifelong intimacy and +service, interposes to check the King's passion in its headlong course. + +[141-190.] + + _Kent._ Royal Lear, + Whom I have ever honour'd as my king, + Loved as my father, as my master follow'd, + As my great patron thought on in my prayers,-- + + _Lear._ The bow is bent and drawn, make from the shaft. + + _Kent._ Let it fall rather, though the fork invade + The region of my heart: be Kent unmannerly + When Lear is mad. What wilt thou do, old man? + Think'st thou that duty shall have dread to speak, + When power to flattery bows? To plainness honour's bound, + When majesty stoops to folly. Reverse thy doom.... + + _Lear._ Kent, on thy life, no more. + + _Kent._ My life I never held but as a pawn + To wage against thy enemies, nor fear to lose it, + Thy safety being the motive.... + + _Lear._ O, vassal! miscreant! + + [_Laying his hand on his sword._ + + _Albany._ } Dear sir, forbear. + _Cornwall._ } + + _Kent._ Do: + Kill thy physician, and the fee bestow + Upon thy foul disease. Revoke thy doom; + Or, whilst I can vent clamour from my throat, + I'll tell thee thou dost evil. + +In the banishment of this Kent, then, the resistance of Lear's +conscience is overcome, and his imperious passion has full swing in +transferring Cordelia's kingdom to her treacherous sisters. + +The opening scene has put before us, not in words but figured in action, +a problem in human affairs: the violation of moral equity has set up an +unnatural arrangement of power--power taken from the good and lodged in +the hands of the bad. Here is, so to speak, a piece of moral unstable +equilibrium, and the rebound from it is to furnish the remainder of the +action. The very structure of the plot corresponds with the simple +structure of a scientific proposition. The latter consists of two +unequal parts: a few lines are sufficient to enunciate the problem, +while a whole treatise may be required for its solution. So in _King +Lear_ a single scene brings about the unnatural state of affairs, the +consequences of which it takes the rest of the play to trace. The +'catastrophe,' or turning-point of the play at which the ultimate issues +are decided, appears in the present case, not close to the end of the +play, nor (as in _Julius Cæsar_) in the centre, but close to the +commencement: at the end of the opening scene Lear's act of folly has in +reality determined the issue of the whole action; the scenes which +follow are only working out a determined issue to its full realisation. + +[_The solution of the problem in a triple tragedy._] + +We have seen the problem itself, the overthrow of conscience by +imperiousness and the transfer of power from the good to the bad: what +is the solution of it as presented by the incidents of the play? The +consequences flowing from what Lear has done make up three distinct +tragedies, which go on working side by side, and all of which are +essential to the full solution of the problem. First, there is the +nemesis upon Lear himself--the double retribution of receiving nothing +but evil from those he has unrighteously rewarded, [(1) _Tragedy of +Lear._] and nothing but good from her whom, he bitterly feels, he has +cruelly wronged. [(2) _Tragedy of Cordelia and Kent._] But the +punishment of the wrong-doer is only one element in the consequences of +wrong; the innocent also are involved, and we get a second tragedy in +the sufferings of the faithful Kent and the loving Cordelia, who, +through Kent as her representative, watches over her father's safety, +until at the end she appears in person to follow up her devotion to the +death. When, however, the incidents making up the sufferings of Lear, of +Kent, and of Cordelia are taken out of the main plot, there is still a +considerable section left--[(3) _Tragedy of Goneril and Regan._] that +which is occupied with the mutual intrigues of Goneril and Regan, +intrigues ending in their common ruin. This constitutes a third tragedy +which, it will be seen, is as necessary to the solution of our problem +as the other two. To place power in the hands of the bad is an injury +not only to others, but also to the bad themselves, as giving fuel to +the fire of their wickedness: so in the tragedy of Goneril and Regan we +see evil passions placed in improper authority using this authority to +work out their own destruction. + +[_An underplot on the same basis as the main plot._] + +To this main plot is added an underplot equally elaborate. As in _The +Merchant of Venice_, the stories borrowed from two distinct sources are +worked into a common design: and the interweaving in the case of the +present play is perhaps Shakespeare's greatest triumph of constructive +skill. The two stories are made to rest upon the same fundamental +idea--[compare =i.= i, fin.] that of undutifulness to old age: what +Lear's daughters actually do is that which is insinuated by Edmund as +his false charge against his brother. + +[=i.= ii. 76, &c.] + + I have heard him oft maintain it to be fit, that, sons at perfect + age, and fathers declining, the father should be as ward to the son, + and the son manage his revenue. + +So obvious is this fundamental connection between the main and the +underplot, that our attention is called to it by a personage in the +play itself: [=iii.= vi. 117.] 'he childed as I father'd,' is Edgar's +pithy summary of it when he is brought into contact with Lear. [_The +main and underplot parallel and contrasted throughout._] But in this +double tragedy, drawn from the two families of Lear and of Gloucester, +the chief bond between its two sides consists in the sharp contrast +which extends to every detail of the two stories. In the main plot we +have a daughter, who has received nothing but harm from her father, who +has unjustly had her position torn from her and given to undeserving +sisters: nevertheless she sacrifices herself to save the father who did +the injury from the sisters who profited by it. In the underplot we have +a son, who has received nothing but good from his father, who has, +contrary to justice, been advanced by him to the position of an elder +brother whom he has slandered: nevertheless, he is seeking the +destruction of the father who did him the unjust kindness, when he falls +by the hand of the brother who was wronged by it. Thus as the main and +underplot go on working side by side, they are at every turn by their +antithesis throwing up one another's effect; the contrast is like the +reversing of the original subject in a musical fugue. [_The underplot an +Intrigue Action:_] Again, as the main plot consisted in the initiation +of a problem and its solution, so the underplot consists in the +development of an intrigue and its consequences. The tragedy of the +Gloucester family will, if stated from the point of view of the father, +correspond in its parts with the tragedy in the family of Lear. It must +be remembered, however, that the position of the father is different in +the two cases; Gloucester is not, as Lear, the agent of the crime, but +only a deceived instrument in the hands of the villain Edmund, who is +the real agent; if the proper allowance be made for this difference, +[_involving a triple tragedy parallel with that of the main plot._] it +will be seen that the three tragedies which make up the consequences of +Lear's error have their analogies in the three tragedies which flow from +the intrigue of Edmund. [(1) _Tragedy of Gloucester._] First, we have +the nemesis on Gloucester, and this, in analogy with the nemesis on +Lear, consists in receiving nothing but evil from the son he has so +hastily advanced, and nothing but good from the other son whom, he comes +gradually to feel, he has unintentionally wronged. [(2) _Tragedy of +Edgar._] In the next place we have the sufferings of the innocent Edgar. +[(3) _Tragedy of Edmund._] Then, as we before saw a third tragedy in the +way in which the power conferred upon Goneril and Regan is used to work +out their destruction, so in the underplot we find that the position +which Edmund has gained involves him in intrigues, which by the +development of the play are made to result in a nemesis upon his +original intrigue. And it is a nemesis of exquisite exactness: for he +meets his death in the very moment of his success, at the hands of the +brother he has maligned and robbed, while the father he has deceived and +sought to destroy is the means by which the avenger has been brought to +the scene. + +[_Complexity of plot not inconsistent with simplicity of movement._] + +We have gone far enough into the construction of the plot to perceive +its complexity and the principal elements into which that complexity can +be analysed. Two separate systems, each consisting of an initial action +and three resulting tragedies, eight actions in all, are woven together +by common personages and incidents, by parallelism of spirit, and by +movement to a common climax; not to speak of lesser Link Actions which +assist in drawing the different stories closer together. As with plot +generally, these separate elements are fully manifest only to the eye of +analysis; in following the course of the drama itself, they make +themselves felt only in a continued sense of involution and harmonious +symmetry. It is with passion, not with plot, that the present study is +concerned; and the train of passion which the common movement of these +various actions calls out in the sympathy of the reader is as simple as +the plot itself is intricate. In the case both of the main plot and the +underplot the emotional effect rises in intensity; moreover at this +central height of intensity the two merge in a common Climax. The +construction of the play resembles, if such a comparison may be allowed, +the patent gas-apparatus, which secures a high illuminating power by +the simple device of several ordinary burners inclined to one another at +such an angle that the apexes of their flames meet in a point. [from +=ii.= iv. 290 to =iii.= vi. with the interruption of =iii.= iii, =iii.= +v.] So the present play contains a Centrepiece of some three scenes, +marked off (at least at the commencement) decisively, in which the main +and underplot unite in a common Climax, with special devices to increase +its effect; [_The different trains of passion focussed in a central +Climax._] the diverse interests to which our sympathy was called out at +the commencement, and which analysis can keep distinct to the end, are +_focussed_, so far as passion is concerned, in this Centrepiece, in +which human emotion is carried to the highest pitch of tragic agitation +that the world of art has yet exhibited. + +[_The passions of the main plot gather to a common Climax in the madness +of Lear._] + +The emotional effect of the main plot rises to a climax in the madness +of Lear. This, as the highest form of human agitation, is obviously a +climax to the story of Lear himself. It is equally a climax to the story +of Kent and Cordelia, who suffer solely through their devoted watching +over Lear, and to whom the bitterest point in their sufferings is that +they feel over again all that their fallen master has to endure. +Finally, in the madness of Lear the third of the three tragedies, the +Goneril and Regan action, appears throughout in the background as the +cause of all that is happening. If we keep our eye upon this madness of +Lear the movement of the play assumes the form we have so often had to +notice--the regular arch. The first half of the arch, or rise in +emotional strain, we get in symptoms of mental disturbance preparing us +for actual madness which is to come. It is important to note the +difference between passion and madness: passion is a disease of the +mind, madness is a disease extending to the mysterious linking of mind +and body. At the commencement Lear is dominated by the passion of +imperiousness, an imperiousness born of his absolute power as king and +father; he has never learned from discipline restraint of his passion, +but has been accustomed to fling himself upon obstacles and see them +give way before him. Now the tragical situation is prepared for him of +meeting with obstacles which will not give way, but from which his +passion rebounds upon himself with a physical shock. As thus opposition +follows opposition, we see _waves_ of physical, that is of hysterical, +passion, sweeping over Lear, until, as it were, a tenth wave lands him +in the full disease of madness. + +[=i.= iv.] + +The first case occurs in his interview with Goneril after that which is +the first check he has received in his new life, the insolence shown to +his retinue. Goneril enters his presence with a frown. The wont had been +that Lear frowned and all cowered before him: and now he waits for his +daughter to remember herself with a rising passion ill concealed under +the forced calmness with which he enquires, 'Are you our daughter?' +'Doth any here know me?' But Goneril, on the contrary, calmly assumes +the position of reprover, and details her unfounded charges of insolence +against her father's sober followers, until at last he hears himself +desired + + By her, that else will take the thing she begs, + +to disquantity his train. Then Lear breaks out: + + Darkness and devils! + Saddle my horses; call my train together. + Degenerate bastard! I'll not trouble thee: + Yet have I left a daughter. + +In a moment the thought of Cordelia's 'most small fault' and how it had +been visited upon her occurs to condense into a single pang the whole +sense of his folly; and here it is that the first of these waves of +physical passion comes over Lear, its physical character marked by the +physical action which accompanies it: + +[=i.= iv. 292.] + + O Lear, Lear, Lear! + Beat at this gate, that let thy folly in, [_Striking his head._ + And thy dear judgement out. + +It lasts but for a moment: but it is a wave, and it will return. [=i.= +v.] Accordingly in the next scene we see Lear on his journey from one +daughter to the other. He is brooding over the scene he is leaving +behind, and he cannot disguise a shade of anxiety, in his awakened +judgment, that some such scene may be reserved for him in the goal to +which he is journeying. He is half listening, moreover, to the Fool, who +harps on the same thought, that the King is suffering what he might have +expected, that the other daughter will be like the first:--until there +comes another of these sudden outbursts of passion, in which Lear for a +moment half foresees the end to which he is being carried. + +[=i.= v. 49.] + + O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven! + Keep me in temper: I would not be mad! + +Imperiousness is especially attached to outward signs of reverence: +[=ii.= iv. 4.] it is reserved for Lear when he arrives at Regan's palace +to find the messenger he has sent on to announce him suffering the +indignity of the stocks. At first he will not believe that this has been +done by order of his daughter and son. + +[13.] + + _Kent._ It is both he and she; + Your son and daughter. + + _Lear._ No. + + _Kent._ Yes. + + _Lear._ No, I say. + + _Kent._ I say, yea. + + _Lear._ No, no, they would not. + + _Kent._ Yes, they have. + + _Lear._ By Jupiter, I swear, no. + + _Kent._ By Juno, I swear, ay. + + _Lear._ They durst not do't; + They could not, would not do't; 'tis worse than murder, + To do upon respect such violent outrage. + +But he has to listen to a circumstantial account of the insult, and, +further, reminded by the Fool that + + Fathers that wear rags + Do make their children blind, + +he comes at last to realise it all,--and then there sweeps over him a +third and more violent wave of hysterical agitation. + +[56.] + + O, how this mother swells up toward my heart! + Hysterica passio, down, thou climbing sorrow, + Thy element's below! + +[=ii.= iv. 89.] + +He has mastered the passion by a strong effort: but it is a wave, and it +will return. He has mastered himself in order to confront the culprits +face to face: his altered position is brought home to him when they +refuse to receive him. And the refusal is made the worse by the +well-meant attempt of Gloucester to palliate it, in which he +unfortunately speaks of the 'fiery quality' of the duke. + + _Lear._ Vengeance! plague! death! confusion! + Fiery? what quality? + +Nothing is harder than to endure what one is in the habit of inflicting +on others; it was Lear's own 'fiery quality' by which he had been +accustomed to scorch all opposition out of his way; now he has to hear +another man's 'fiery quality' quoted to him. But this outburst is only +momentary; the very extremity of the case seems to calm Lear, and he +begins himself to frame excuses for the duke, how sickness and infirmity +neglect the 'office' to which health is bound--until his eye lights +again upon his messenger sitting in the stocks, and the recollection of +this deliberate affront brings back again the wave of passion. + +[122.] + + O me, my heart, my rising heart! but, down! + +Lear had a strange confidence in his daughter Regan. As we see the two +women in the play, Regan appears the more cold-blooded; nothing in +Goneril is more cruel than Regan's + +[204.] + + I pray you, father, being weak, seem so; + +or her meeting Lear's 'I gave you all' with the rejoinder, + +[253.] + + And in good time you gave it. + +But there was something in Regan's personal appearance that belied her +real character; her father says to her in this scene: + +[173.] + + Her eyes are fierce, but thine + Do comfort and not burn. + +Judas betrayed with a kiss, and Regan persecutes her father in tears. +But Regan has scarcely entered her father's presence when the trumpet +announces the arrival of Goneril, and [185.] Lear has to see the Regan +[197.] in whom he is trusting take Goneril's hand before his eyes in +token that she is making common cause with her. When following this the +words 'indiscretion,' 'dotage,' reach his ear there is a momentary +swelling of the physical passion within: + +[200.] + + O sides, you are too tough; + Will you yet hold? + +He has mastered it for the last time: for now his whole world seems to +be closing in around him; he has committed his all to the two daughters +standing before him, [from 233.] and they unite to beat him down, from +fifty knights to twenty-five, from twenty-five to ten, to five, until +the soft-eyed Regan asks, 'What need one?' A sense of crushing +oppression stifles his anger, and Lear begins to answer with the same +calmness with which the question had been asked: + + O, reason not the need: our basest beggars + Are in the poorest thing superfluous: + Allow not nature more than nature needs, + Man's life's as cheap as beast's: thou art a lady; + If only to go warm were gorgeous, + Why, nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st, + Which scarcely keeps thee warm. But, for true need,-- + +He breaks off at finding himself actually pleading: and the blinding +tears come as he recognises that the kingly passion in which he had +found support at every cross has now deserted him in his extremity. He +appeals to heaven against the injustice. + + You heavens, give me that patience, patience I need! + You see me here, you gods, a poor old man, + As full of grief as age; wretched in both! + If it be you that stir these daughters' hearts + Against their father, fool me not so much + To bear it tamely; touch me with noble anger, + And let not women's weapons, water-drops, + Stain my man's cheeks! + +The prayer is answered; the passion returns in full flood, and at last +brings Lear face to face with the madness which has threatened from a +distance. + + No, you unnatural hags, + I will have such revenges on you both, + That all the world shall--I will do such things,-- + What they are, yet I know not; but they shall be + The terrors of the earth. You think I'll weep; + No, I'll not weep: + I have full cause of weeping; but this heart + Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws, + Or ere I'll weep. O fool, I SHALL go mad! + +[=ii.= iv. 290. _The storm marks off the Centrepiece of the play._] + +As Lear with these words rushes out into the night, we hear the first +sound of the storm--the storm which here, as in _Julius Cæsar_, will be +recognised as the dramatic background to the tempest of human emotions; +it is the signal that we have now entered upon the mysterious +Centrepiece of the play, in which the gathering passions of the whole +drama are to be allowed to vent themselves without check or bound. And +it is no ordinary storm: it is a night of bleak winds sorely ruffling, +of cataracts and hurricanoes, of curled waters swelling above the main, +of thought-executing fires and oak-cleaving thunderbolts; a night + +[=iii.= i. 12, &c.] + + wherein the cub-drawn bear would couch, + The lion and the belly-pinched wolf + Keep their fur dry. + +And all of it is needed to harmonise with the whirlwind of human +passions which finds relief only in outscorning its fury. The purpose of +the storm is not confined to this of marking the emotional climax: it is +one of the agencies which assist in carrying it to its height. Experts +in mental disease have noted amongst the causes which convert mere +mental excitement into actual madness two leading ones, external +physical shocks and imitation. Shakespeare has made use of both in the +central scenes of this play. [=iii.= i. 3: =iii.= ii. &c.] For the +first, Lear is exposed without shelter to the pelting of the pitiless +storm, and he waxes wilder with its wildness. [=iii.= iv, from 39.] +Again when all this is at its height he is suddenly brought into contact +with a half-naked Tom o'Bedlam. This gives the final shock. So far he had +not gone beyond ungovernable rage; he had not lost self-consciousness, +and could say, 'My wits begin to turn'; [=iii.= iv. 66.] but the sight +of Edgar completely unhinges his mind, and hallucinations set in; a +moment after he has seen him the spirit of imitation begins to work, and +Lear commences to strip off his clothes. Thus perfect is the regular +arch of effect which is connected with Lear's madness. We have its +gradual rise in the waves of hysterical passion which ebbed after they +had flowed, until, at the point separating the Centrepiece from the rest +of the play, Lear's 'O fool I _shall_ go mad' seems to mark a change +from which he never goes back. Through these central scenes exposure to +the storm is fanning his passion more and more irretrievably into +madness; [=iii.= iii. 39.] at the exact centre of all, imitation of +Edgar comes to make the insanity acute. [_Decline after the Centrepiece +from violent madness to shattered intellect._] After the Centrepiece +Lear disappears for a time, and when we next see him agitation has +declined into what is more pathetic: the acute mania has given place to +the pitiful spectacle of a shattered intellect; there is no longer sharp +suffering, [=iv.= vi. 81.] but the whole mind is wrecked, gleams of +coherence coming at intervals to mark what a fall there has been; +[compare =iv.= vi. 178; =v.= iii. 314.] the strain upon our emotions +sinks into the calm of hopelessness. + + He hates him much + That would upon the rack of this tough world + Stretch him out longer. + +[_The passions of the underplot gather to a common Climax in the madness +of Edgar._] + +But who is this madman with whom Lear meets at the turning-point of the +play? It is Edgar, the victim of the underplot, whose life has been +sought by his brother and father until he can find no way of saving +himself but the disguise of feigned madness. This feigned madness of +Edgar, as it appears in the central scenes, serves as emotional climax +to the underplot, just as the madness of Lear is the emotional climax of +the main plot. Edgar's madness is obviously the climax to the tragedy of +his own sufferings, but it is also a central point to the movement of +the other two tragedies which with that of Edgar make up the underplot. +One of these is the nemesis upon Gloucester, and this, we have seen, is +double, that he receives good from the son he has wronged and evil from +the son he has favoured. [=iii.= iv. 170.] The turning-point of such a +nemesis is reached in the Hovel Scene, where Gloucester says: + + I'll tell thee, friend, + I am almost mad myself: I had a son, + Now outlaw'd from my blood; he sought my life, + But lately, very late: I loved him, friend: + No father his son dearer: truth to tell thee, + This grief hath crazed my wits! + +He says this in the presence of the very Edgar, disguised under the form +of the wretched idiot he hardly marks. Edgar now learns how his father +has been deceived; [compare =iii.= iii. 15.] in his heart he is +re-united to him, and from this point of re-union springs the devotion +he lavishes upon his father in the affliction that presently falls upon +him. [=iii.= iii. 22; =iii.= vii.] On the other hand, that which brings +Gloucester to this Hovel Scene, the attempt to save the King, is +betrayed by Edmund, who becomes thereby the cause of the vengeance which +puts out his father's eyes. Thus from this meeting of the mad Edgar with +the mad Lear there springs at once the final stroke in the misery +Gloucester suffers from the son he has favoured, and the beginning of +the forgiving love he is to experience from the son he has wronged: that +meeting then is certainly the central climax to the double nemesis which +makes up the Gloucester action. The remaining tragedy of the underplot +embraces the series of incidents by the combination of which the success +of Edmund's intrigue becomes gradually converted into the nemesis which +punishes it. Now the squalid wretchedness of a Bedlamite, together with +the painful strain of supporting the assumed character amidst the +conflicting emotions which the unexpected meeting of the Hovel Scene has +aroused, represent the highest point to which the misery resulting from +the intrigue can rise. [=iv.= i, &c.] At the same time the use Edgar +makes of this madness after hearing Gloucester's confession is to fasten +himself in attendance upon his afflicted father, and proves in the +sequel the means by which he is brought to be the instrument of the +vengeance that overtakes Edmund. The central climax of a tragedy like +this of intrigue and nemesis cannot be more clearly marked than in the +incident in which are combined the summit of the injury and the +foundation of the retribution. Thus all three tragedies which together +make up the resultant of the intrigue constituting the underplot reach +their climax of agitation in the scene in which Lear and Edgar meet. + +[_The Centrepiece a duet, or by the addition of the Fool, a trio of +madness.]_ + +It appears, then, that the Centrepiece of the play is occupied with the +contact of two madnesses, the madness of Lear and the madness of Edgar; +that of Lear gathering up into a climax trains of passion from all the +three tragedies of the main plot, and that of Edgar holding a similar +position to the three tragedies of the underplot. Further, these +madnesses do not merely go on side by side; as they meet they mutually +affect one another, and throw up each other's intensity. By the mere +sight of the Bedlamite, Lear, already tottering upon the verge of +insanity, is driven really and incurably mad; while in the case of +Edgar, the meeting with Lear, and through Lear with Gloucester, converts +the burden of feigning idiocy from a cruel stroke of unjust fate into a +hardship voluntarily undergone for the sake of ministering to a father +now forgiven and pitied. And so far as the general effect of the play is +concerned this central Climax presents a terrible _duet of madness_, the +wild ravings and mutual interworkings of two distinct strains of +insanity, each answering and outbidding the other. The distinctness is +the greater as the two are different in kind. In Lear we have the +madness of passion, exaggeration of ordinary emotions; Edgar's is the +madness of idiocy, as idiocy was in early ages when the cruel neglect of +society added physical hardship to mental affliction. In Edgar's frenzy +we trace rapid irrelevance with gleams of unexpected relevance, just +sufficient to partly answer a question and go off again into wandering; +a sense of ill-treatment and of being an outcast; remorse and thoughts +as to close connection of sin and retribution; visions of fiends as in +bodily presence; cold, hunger: these alternating with mere gibberish, +and all perhaps within the compass of a few lines. + +[=iii.= iv. 51.] + + Who gives anything to poor Tom? whom the foul fiend hath led through + fire and through flame, and through ford and whirlipool, o'er bog + and quagmire; that hath laid knives under his pillow, and halters in + his pew; set ratsbane by his porridge; made him proud of heart, to + ride on a bay trotting-horse over four-inched bridges, to course his + own shadow for a traitor. Bless thy five wits! Tom's a-cold,--O, do + de, do de, do de. Bless thee from whirlwinds, star-blasting, and + taking! Do poor Tom some charity, whom the foul fiend vexes: there + could I have him now,--and there,--and there again, and there. + +But this is not all. When examined more closely this Centrepiece +exhibits not a duet but a _trio of madness_; with the other two there +mingles a third form of what may be called madness, the professional +madness of the court fool. [_Institution of the court fool._] This court +fool or jester is an institution of considerable interest. It seems to +rest upon three mediæval and ancient notions. The first is the barbarism +of enjoying personal defects, illustrated in the large number of Roman +names derived from bodily infirmities, Varus the bandy-legged, Balbus +the stammerer, and the like; this led our ancestors to find fun in the +incoherence of natural idiocy, and finally made the imitation of it a +profession. A second notion underlying the institution of a jester is +the connection to the ancient mind between madness and inspiration; the +same Greek word _entheos_ stands for both, and to this day the idiot of +a Scotch village is believed in some way to see further than sane folk. +A third idea to be kept in mind is the mediæval conception of wit. With +us wit is weighed by its intrinsic worth; the old idea, appearing +repeatedly in Shakespeare's scenes, was that wit was a mental game, a +sort of battledore and shuttlecock, in which the jokes themselves might +be indifferent since the point of the game lay in keeping it up as +smartly and as long as possible. The fool, whose title and motley dress +suggested the absence of ordinary sense or propriety, combines in his +office all three notions: from the last he was bound to keep up the fire +of badinage, even though it were with witless nonsense; from the second +he was expected at times to give utterance to deep truths; and in virtue +of the first he had license to make hard hits under protection of the +'folly' which all were supposed to enjoy. + + He that hath a fool doth very wisely hit, + Doth very foolishly, although he smart, + Not to seem senseless of the bob. + +[_The institution adapted to modern times in Punch._] + +The institution, if it has died out as a personal office attached to +kings or nobles, has perhaps been preserved by the nation as a whole in +a form analogous to other modern institutions: the all-embracing +newspaper has absorbed this element of life, and Mr. Punch is the +national jester. His figure and face are an improvement on the old +motley habit; his fixed number of pages have to be filled, if not always +with wit, yet with passable padding: no one dare other than enjoy the +compliment of his notice, under penalty of showing that 'the cap has +fitted'; and certainly Mr. Punch finds ways of conveying to statesmen +criticisms to which the proprieties of parliament would be impervious. +The institution of the court fool is eagerly utilised by Shakespeare, +and is the source of some of his finest effects: he treats it as a sort +of chronic Comedy, the function of which may be described as that of +translating deep truths of human nature into the language of laughter. + +In applying, then, this general view of the court fool to the present +case we must avoid two opposite errors. We must not pass over all his +utterances as unmeaning folly, nor, on the other hand, must we insist +upon seeing a meaning in everything that he says: what truth he speaks +must be expected to make its appearance amidst a cloud of nonsense. +[_The function of the Fool in Lear is to keep before us the original +problem:_] Making this proviso we may lay down that the function of the +Fool in _King Lear_ is to keep vividly before the minds of the audience +(as well as of his master) the idea at the root of the main plot--that +unstable moral equilibrium, that unnatural distribution of power which +Lear has set up, and of which the whole tragedy is the rebound. [=i.= +iv.] In the first scene in which he appears before us he is, amid all +his nonsense, harping upon the idea that Lear has committed the folly of +trusting to the gratitude of the ungrateful, and is reaping the +inevitable consequences. As he enters he hands his coxcomb, the symbol +of folly, to the King, and to Kent for taking the King's part. His first +jingling song, + + Have more than thou showest, + Speak less than thou knowest, + Lend less than thou owest, &c., + +is an expansion of the maxim, Trust nobody. And however irrelevant he +becomes, he can in a moment get back to this root idea. They tell him +his song is nothing: + + _Fool._ Then 'tis like the breath of an unfee'd lawyer; you gave me + nothing for 't. Can you make no use of nothing, nuncle? + _Lear._ Why, no, boy; nothing can be made out of nothing. + _Fool_ [_to Kent_]. Prithee, tell him, so much the rent of his land + comes to: he will not believe a fool. + +[=i.= i. 92.] + +'Nothing will come of nothing' had been the words Lear had used to +Cordelia; now he is bidden to see how they have become the exact +description of his own fortune. No wonder Lear exclaims, 'A bitter +fool!' + + _Fool._ Dost thou know the difference, my boy, between a bitter fool + and a sweet one? + _Lear._ No, lad; teach me. + _Fool._ That lord that counsell'd thee + To give away thy land, + Come place him here by me, + Do thou for him stand: + The sweet and bitter fool + Will presently appear; + The one in motley here. + The other found out there. + + _Lear._ Dost thou call me fool, boy? + _Fool._ All thy other titles thou hast given away; that thou wast + born with. + +Again and again he turns to other topics and comes suddenly back to the +main thought. + +[=i.= iv. 195.] + + _Fool._ Prithee, nuncle, keep a schoolmaster that can teach thy fool + to lie: I would fain learn to lie. + + _Lear._ An you lie, sirrah, we'll have you whipped. + + _Fool._ I marvel what kin thou and thy daughters are: they'll have + me whipped for speaking true, thou'lt have me whipped for lying; and + sometimes I am whipped for holding my peace. I had rather be any + kind o' thing than a fool: and yet I would not be thee, nuncle; thou + hast pared thy wit o' both sides, and left nothing i' the middle: + here comes one o' the parings. + +[=i.= iv. 207.] + +It is Goneril who enters, and who proceeds to state her case in the tone +of injury, detailing how the order of her household state has been +outraged, but ignoring the source from which she has received the power +to keep up state at all: what she has omitted the Fool supplies in +parable, as if continuing her sentence-- + + For, you trow, nuncle, + The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long, + That it's had it head bit off by it young, + +and then instantly involves himself in a cloud of irrelevance, + + So, out went the candle, and we were left darkling. + +[=i.= v.] + +In the scene which follows, the Fool is performing a variation on the +same theme: the sudden removal from one sister to the other is no real +escape from the original foolish situation. + +[=i.= v. 8.] + + _Fool._ If a man's brains were in 's heels, were 't not in danger of + kibes? + _Lear._ Ay, boy. + _Fool._ Then, I prithee, be merry; thy wit shall ne'er go slip-shod. + +To say that Lear is in no danger of suffering from brains in his heels +is another way of saying that his flight is folly. He goes on to insist +that the other daughter will treat her father 'kindly,' that 'she's as +like this as a crab's like an apple.' His laying down that the reason +why the nose is in the middle of the face is to keep the eyes on either +side of the nose, and that the reason why the seven stars are no more +than seven is 'a pretty reason--because they are not eight,' suggests +(if it be not pressing it too far) that we must not look for depth where +there is only shallowness--the mistake Lear has made in trusting to the +gratitude of his daughters. And the general thought of Lear's original +folly he brings out, true to the fool's office, from the most unlikely +beginnings. + +[=i.= v. 26.] + + _Fool._ Canst tell how an oyster makes his shell? + _Lear._ No. + +'Nor I neither,' answers the Fool, with a clown's impudence; 'but,' he +adds, 'I can tell why a snail has a house.' + + _Lear._ Why? + _Fool._ Why, to put his head in; not to give it away to his + daughters. + +[=ii.= iv. 1-128.] + +All through the scene in front of the stocks the Fool is harping on the +folly of expecting gratitude from such as Goneril and Regan. It is +fathers who bear bags that see their children kind; the wise man lets go +his hold on a great wheel running down hill, but lets himself be drawn +after by the great wheel that goes up the hill; he himself, the Fool +hints, is a fool for staying with Lear; to cry out at Goneril and +Regan's behaviour is as unreasonable as for the cook to be impatient +with the eels for wriggling; to have trusted the two daughters with +power at all was like the folly of the man that, 'in pure kindness to +his horse, buttered his hay.' + +The one idea, then, stationary amidst all the Fool's gyrations of folly +is the idea of Lear's original sin of passion, from the consequences of +which he can never escape; [_but in an emotional form as adapted to the +agitation of the Centrepiece._] only the idea is put, not rationally, +but translated into an emotional form which makes it fit to mingle with +the agitation of the central scenes. The emotional form consists partly +in the irrelevance amid which the idea is brought out, producing +continual shocks of surprise. But more than this an emotional form is +given to the utterances of the Fool by his very position with reference +to Lear. [=iii.= i. 16; =iii.= ii. 10, 25, 68; =iii.= iv. 80, 150.] +There is a pathos that mingles with his humour, where the Fool, a tender +and delicate youth, is found the only attendant who clings to Lear amid +the rigour of the storm, labouring with visibly decreasing vigour to +out-jest his master's heart-struck injuries, and to keep up holiday +abandon amidst surrounding realities. [=i.= iv. 107; =iii.= ii. 68, 72, +&c.] Throughout he is Lear's best friend, and epithets of endearment are +continually passing between them: he has been Cordelia's friend (as +Touchstone was the friend of Rosalind), [=i.= iv. 79.] and pined for +Cordelia after her banishment. Nevertheless he is the only one who can +deliver hard thrusts at Lear, and bring home to him, under protection of +his double relation to wisdom and folly, Lear's original error and sin. +So faithful and so severe, the Fool becomes an outward conscience to his +master: he keeps before Lear the unnatural act from which the whole +tragedy springs, but he converts the thought of it into the emotion of +self-reproach. + +[_Summary._] + +Our total result then is this. The intricate drama of _King Lear_ has a +general movement which centres the passion of the play in a single +Climax. Throughout a Centrepiece of a few scenes, against a background +of storm and tempest is thrown up a tempest of human passion--a madness +trio, or mutual play of three sorts of madness, the real madness of +passion in Lear, the feigned madness of idiocy in Edgar, and the +professional madness of the court fool. When the elements of this +madness trio are analysed, the first is found to gather up into itself +the passion of the three tragedies which form the main plot; the second +is a similar climax to the passion of the three tragedies which make up +the underplot; the third is an expression, in the form of passion, of +the original problem out of which the whole action has sprung. Thus +intricacy of plot has been found not inconsistent with simplicity of +movement, and from the various parts of the drama the complex trains of +passion have been brought to a focus in the centre. + + + + +PART SECOND. + +SURVEY OF DRAMATIC CRITICISM AS AN INDUCTIVE SCIENCE. + + + + +XI. + +TOPICS OF DRAMATIC CRITICISM. + + +[_Purpose: to survey Dramatic Criticism as an inductive science._] + +IN the Introduction to this book I pleaded that a regular inductive +science of literary criticism was a possibility. In the preceding ten +chapters I have endeavoured to exhibit such a regular method at work on +the dramatic analysis of leading points in Shakespeare's plays. The +design of the whole work will not be complete without an attempt to +present our results in complete form, in fact to map out a Science of +Dramatic Art. I hope this may not seem too pretentious an undertaking in +the case of a science yet in its infancy; while it may be useful at all +events to the young student to have suggested to him a methodical +treatment with which he may exercise himself on the literature he +studies. Moreover the reproach against literary criticism is, not that +there has not been plenty of inductive work done in this department, but +that the assertion of its inductive character has been lacking; and I +believe a critic does good service by throwing his results into a formal +shape, however imperfectly he may be able to accomplish his task. It +will be understood that the survey of Dramatic Science is here attempted +only in the merest outline: it is a glimpse, not a view, of a new +science that is proposed. Not even a survey would be possible within the +limits of a few short chapters except by confining the matter introduced +to that previously laid before the reader in a different form. The +leading features of Dramatic Art have already been explained in the +application of them to particular plays: they are now included in a +single view, so arranged that their mutual connection may be seen to be +building up this singleness of view. Such a survey, like a microscopic +lens of low power, must sacrifice detail to secure a wider field. Its +compensating gain will consist in what it can contribute to the orderly +product of methodised enquiry which is the essence of science, and the +interest in which becomes associated with the interest of curiosity when +the method has been applied in a region not usually acknowledging its +reign. + +[_Definition of Dramatic Criticism:_] + +The starting-point in the exposition of any science is naturally its +definition. But this first step is sufficient to divide inductive +criticism from the treatment of literature mostly in vogue. I have +already protested against the criticism which starts with the assumption +of some 'object' or 'fundamental purpose' in the Drama from which to +deduce binding canons. Such an all-embracing definition, if it is +possible at all, will come as the final, not the first, step of +investigation. [_as to its field and its method._] Inductive criticism, +on the contrary, will seek its point of departure from outside. On the +one hand it will consider the relation of the matter which it proposes +to treat to other matter which is the subject of scientific enquiry; on +the other hand it will fix the nature of the treatment it proposes to +apply by a reference to scientific method in general. That is to say, +its definition will be based upon differentiation of matter and +development in method. + +[_Stages of development in inductive method._] + +To begin with the latter. There are three well-marked stages in the +development of sciences. The first consists in the mere observation of +the subject-matter. The second is distinguished by arrangement of +observations, by analysis and classification. The third stage reaches +systematisation--the wider arrangement which satisfies our sense of +explanation, that curiosity as to causes which is the instinct specially +developed by scientific enquiry. Astronomy remained for long ages in the +first stage, while it was occupied with the observation of the heavenly +bodies and the naming of the constellations. It would pass into the +second stage with division of labour and the study of solar, lunar, +planetary, and cometary phenomena separately. But by such discoveries as +that of the laws of motion, or of gravitation, the great mass of +astronomical knowledge was bound together in a system which at the same +time satisfied the sense of causation, and astronomy was fully developed +as an inductive science. Or to take a more modern instance: comparative +philology has attained completeness in our own day. Philology was in its +first stage at the Renaissance, when 'learning' meant the mere +accumulation of detailed knowledge connected with the Classical +languages; Grimm's Law may illustrate the second stage, a classification +comprehensive but purely empiric; the principle of phonetic decay with +its allied recuperative processes has struck a unity through the laws of +philology which stamps it as a full-grown science. [_Dramatic Criticism +in the intermediate_] Applying this to our present subject, I do not +pretend that Literary Criticism has reached the third of these three +stages: but materials are ready for giving it a secure place in the +second stage. In time, no doubt, literary science must be able to +explain the modus operandi of literary production, and show how +different classes of writing come to produce their different effects. +But at present such explanation belongs mostly to the region of +speculation; and before the science of criticism is ripe for this final +stage much work has to be done in the way of methodising observation as +to literary matter and form. + +Dramatic Criticism, then, is still in the stage of provisional +arrangement. [_or 'topical' stage._] Its exact position is expressed by +the technical term 'topical.' Where accumulation of observations is +great enough to necessitate methodical arrangement, yet progress is +insufficient to suggest final bases of arrangement which will +crystallise the whole into a system, science takes refuge in 'topics.' +These have been aptly described as intellectual pigeon-holes--convenient +headings under which materials may be digested, with strict adherence to +method, yet only as a provisional arrangement until further progress +shall bring more stable organisation. This topical treatment may seem an +unambitious stage in scientific advance, the goal and reward of which is +insight into wide laws and far-reaching systematisations. Still it is a +stage directly in the line of sound method: and the judicious choice of +main and subordinate topics is systematisation in embryo. The present +enquiry looks no further than this stage in its analysis of Dramatic +Art. It endeavours to find convenient headings under which to set forth +its observations of Shakespeare's plays. It also seeks an arrangement of +these topics that will at once cover the field of the subject, and also +carry on the face of it such an economy of mutual connection as may make +the topics, what they ought to be, a natural bridge between the general +idea which the mind forms of Drama and the realisation of this idea in +the details of actual dramatic works. + +[_Continuous differentiation of scientific subject-matter._] + +But the definition of our subject involves further that we should +measure out the exact field within which this method is to be applied. +Science, like every other product of the human mind, marks its progress +by continuous differentiation: the perpetual subdivision of the field of +enquiry, the rise of separate and ever minuter departments as time goes +on. Originally all knowledge was one and undivided. The name of Socrates +is connected with a great revolution which separated moral science from +physics, the study of man from the study of nature. With Aristotle and +inductive method the process became rapid: and under his guidance +ethics, as the science of conduct, became distinct from mental science; +and still further, political science, treating man in his relations with +the state, was distinguished from the more general science of conduct. +When thought awoke at the Renaissance after the sleep of the Dark Ages, +political science threw off as a distinct branch political economy; and +by our own day particular branches of economy, finance, for example, +have practically become independent sciences. This characteristic of +science in general, the perpetual tendency to separate more confined +from more general lines of investigation, will apply in an especial +degree to literature, [_Dramatic Criticism branches off on the one side +from the wider Literary Criticism._] which covers so wide an area of the +mind and is the meeting-ground of so many separate interests. Thus +Shakespeare is a poet, and his works afford a field for considering +poetry in general, both as a mode of thought and a mode of expression. +Again, no writer could go so deeply into human nature as Shakespeare has +done without betraying his philosophy and moral system. Once more, +Shakespeare must afford a specimen of literary tendencies in general, +and that particular modification of them we call Elizabethan; besides +that the language which is the vehicle of this literature has an +interest of its own over and above that of the thought which it conveys. +All this and more belongs properly to 'Shakespeare-Criticism': but from +Literary Criticism as a whole a branch is being gradually +differentiated, Dramatic Criticism, and its province is to deal with the +question, how much of the total effect of Shakespeare's works arises +from the fact of his ideas being conveyed to us in the form of dramas, +and not of lyric or epic poems, of essays or moral and philosophical +treatises. It is with this branch alone that the present enquiry is +concerned. + +[_On the other side from the allied art of Stage-Representation._] + +But more than this goes to the definition of Dramatic Criticism. Drama +is not, like Epic, merely a branch of literature: it is a compound art. +The literary works which in ordinary speech we call dramas, are in +strictness only potential dramas waiting for their realisation on the +stage. And this stage-representation is not a mere accessory of +literature, but is an independent art, having a field where literature +has no place, in dumb show, in pantomime, in mimicry, and in the lost +art of Greek 'dancing.' + +The question arises then, what is to be the relation of Dramatic +Criticism to the companion art of Stage-Representation? Aristotle, the +father of Dramatic Criticism, made Stage-Representation one of the +departments of the science; but we shall be only following the law of +differentiation if we separate the two. This is especially appropriate +in the case of the Shakespearean Drama. The Puritan Revolution, which +has played such a part in its history, was in effect an attack rather on +the Theatre than on the Drama itself. No doubt when the movement became +violent the two were not discriminated, and the Drama was made a +'vanity' as well as the Stage. Still the one interest was never so +thoroughly dropped by the nation and was more readily taken up again +than the other; so that from the point of view of the Stage our +continuity with the Elizabethan age has been severed, from the point of +view of the literary Drama it has not. The Shakespearean Drama has made +a field for itself as a branch of literature quite apart from the Stage; +and, however we may regret the severance and look forward to a completer +appreciation of Shakespeare, yet it can hardly be doubted that at the +present moment as earnest and comprehensive an interest in our great +dramatist is to be found in the study as in the theatre. + +Dramatic Criticism, then, is to be separated, on the one side, from the +wider Literary Criticism which must include a review of language, +ethics, philosophy, and general art; and, on the other hand, from the +companion art of Stage-Representation. But here caution is required; for +all these are so closely and so organically connected with the Drama +that there cannot but exist a mutual reaction. [_Topics common to Drama +and art in general._] Thus we have already had to treat of topics which +belong to the Drama only as a part of literature and art in general. In +the first chapter we had occasion to notice how even the raw material +out of which the Shakespearean Drama is constructed itself forms another +species in literature. When we proceeded to watch the process of working +up this Story into dramatic form we were led on to what was common +ground between Drama and the other arts. In such process we saw +illustrated the 'hedging,' or double process which leaves monstrosity +to produce its full impression and yet provides by special means against +any natural reaction; the reduction of improbabilities, by which +difficulties in the subject-matter are evaded or met; the utilisation of +mechanical details to assist more important effects; the multiplication +and interweaving of different interests by which each is made to assist +the rest. Such points of Mechanical Construction, together with the +general principles of balance and symmetry, are not special to any one +branch of art: in all alike the artist will contrive not wholly to +conceal his processes, but by occasional glimpses will add to higher +effects the satisfaction of our sense of neat workmanship. + +[_Drama and its Representation separate in exposition, not in idea._] + +Similarly, it may be convenient to make Literary Drama and +Stage-Representation separate branches of enquiry: it is totally +inadmissible and highly misleading to divorce the two in idea. The +literary play must be throughout read _relatively_ to its +representation. In actual practice the separation of the two has +produced the greatest obstacles in the way of sound appreciation. +Amongst ordinary readers of Shakespeare Character-Interest, which is +largely independent of performance, has swallowed up all other +interests; and most of the effects which depend upon the connection and +relative force of incidents, and on the compression of the details into +a given space, have been completely lost. Shakespeare is popularly +regarded as supreme in the painting of human nature, but careless in the +construction of Plot: and, worst of all, Plot itself, which it has been +the mission of the English Drama to elevate into the position of the +most intellectual of all elements in literary effect, has become +degraded in conception to the level of a mere juggler's mystery. It must +then be laid down distinctly at the outset of the present enquiry that +the Drama is to be considered throughout relatively to its acting. Much +of dramatic effect that is special to Stage-Representation will be here +ignored: the whole mechanism of elocution, effects of light, colour and +costume, the greater portion of what constitutes _mise-en-scène_. But in +dealing with any play the fullest scope is assumed for ideal acting. The +interpretation of a character must include what an actor can put into +it; in dealing with effects regard must be had to surroundings which a +reader might easily overlook, but which would be present to the eye of a +spectator; and no conception of the movement of a drama will be adequate +which has not appreciated the rapid sequence of incidents that crowds +the crisis of a life-time or a national revolution into two or three +hours of actual time. The relation of Drama to its acting will be +exactly similar to that of music to its performance, the two being +perfectly separable in their exposition, but never disunited in idea. + +[_Fundamental division of Dramatic Criticism into Human Interest and +Action._] + +Dramatic Art, then, as thus defined, is to be the field of our enquiry, +and its method is to be the discovery and arrangement of topics. For a +fundamental basis of such analysis we shall naturally look to the other +arts. Now all the arts agree in being the union of two elements, +abstract and concrete. Music takes sensuous sounds, and adds a purely +abstract element by disposing these sounds in harmonies and melodies; +architecture applies abstract design to a concrete medium of stone and +wood; painting gives us objects of real life arranged in abstract +groupings: in dancing we have moving figures confined in artistic bonds +of rhythm; sculpture traces in still figures ideas of shape and +attitude. So Drama has its two elements of Human Interest and Action: on +the one hand life _presented in action_--so the word 'Drama' may be +translated; on the other hand the _action_ itself, that is, the +concurrence of all that is presented in an abstract unity of design. The +two fundamental divisions of dramatic interest, and consequently the two +fundamental divisions of Dramatic Criticism, will thus be Human Interest +and Action. But each of these has its different sides, the distinction +of which is essential before we can arrive at an arrangement of topics +that will be of practical value in the methodisation of criticism. +[_Twofold division of Human Interest._] The interest of the life +presented is twofold. There is our interest in the separate personages +who enter into it, as so many varieties of the _genus homo_: this is +Interest of _Character_. There is again our interest in the experience +these personages are made to undergo, their conduct and fate: +technically, Interest of _Passion_. + + Human Interest { Character. + { Passion. + +[_Threefold division of Action._] + +It is the same with the other fundamental element of art, the working +together of all the details so as to leave an impression of unity: while +in practice the sense of this unity, say in a piece of music or a play, +is one of the simplest of instincts, yet upon analysis it is seen to +imply three separate mental impressions. The mind, it implies, must be +conscious of a unity. It must also be conscious of a complexity of +details without which the unity could not be perceptible. But the mere +perception of unity and of complexity would give no art-pleasure unless +the unity were seen to be _developed_ out of the complexity, and this +brings in a third idea of progress and gradual _Movement_. + + { Unity. + Action { Complexity. + { Development or Movement. + +[_Application of the threefold division of Action to the twofold +division of Human Interest._] + +Now if we apply the threefold idea involved in Action to the twofold +idea involved in Human Interest we shall get the natural divisions of +dramatic analysis. One element of Human Interest was Character: looking +at this in the threefold aspect which is given to it when it is +connected with Action we shall have to notice the interest of single +characters, or _Character-Interpretation_, the more complex interest of +_Character-Contrast_, and in the third place _Character-Development_. +Applying a similar treatment to the other side of Human Interest, +Passion, we shall review single elements of Passion, that is to say, +_Incidents and Effects_; the mixture of various passions to express which +the term _Passion-Tones_ will be used; and again _Passion-Movement_. But +Action has an interest of its own, considered in the abstract and as +separate from Human Interest. This is _Plot_; and it will lend itself to +the same triple treatment, falling into the natural divisions of _Single +Action_, _Complex Action_, and that development of Plot which +constitutes dramatic _Movement_ in the most important sense. At this +point it is possible only to name these leading topics of Dramatic +Criticism: to explain each, and to trace them further into their lesser +ramifications will be the work of the remaining three chapters. + +[_Elementary Topics of Dramatic Criticism._] + + +--Single Character-Interest, or + | _Character-Interpretation_. + +--Character +--Complex Character-Interest, or + | | _Character-Contrast_. + | +--_Character-Development._ + | + | +--Single Passion-Interest, or + The Literary | | _Incident and Effect_. + Drama +--Passion +--Complex Passion-Interest, or + | | _Passion-Tone_. + | +--_Passion-Movement._ + | + | +--_Single Action._ + +--Plot (or Pure +--_Complex Action._ + Action) +--_Plot-Movement._ + + + + +XII. + +Interest of Character. + + +[_Unity applied to Character: Character Interpretation._] + +OF the main divisions of dramatic interest Character stands first for +consideration: and we are to view it under the three aspects of unity, +complexity, and movement. The application of the idea unity to the idea +character suggests at once our interest in single personages. This +interest becomes more defined when we take into account the medium +through which the personages are presented to us: characters in Drama +are not brought out by abstract discussion or description, but are +presented to us concretely, self-pourtrayed by their own actions without +the assistance of comments from the author. + +Accordingly, the leading interest of character is _Interpretation_, the +mental process of turning from the concrete to the abstract: from the +most diverse details of conduct and impression Interpretation extracts a +unity of conception which we call a character. [_Interpretation of the +nature of an hypothesis._] Interpretation when scientifically handled +must be, we have seen, of the nature of an hypothesis, the value of +which depends upon the degree in which it explains whatever details have +any bearing upon the character. Such an hypothesis may be a simple idea: +and we have seen at length how the whole portraiture of Richard +precipitates into the notion of Ideal Villainy, ideal on the subjective +side in an artist who follows crime for its own sake, and on the +objective side in a success that works by fascination. But the student +must beware of the temptation to grasp at epigrammatic labels as +sufficient solutions of character; in the great majority of cases +Interpretation can become complete only by recognising and harmonising +various and even conflicting elements. + +[_Canons of Interpretation._] + +Incidentally we have noticed some of the principles governing careful +Interpretation. [_It must be Exhaustive._] One of these principles is +that it must take into consideration all that is presented of a +personage. It is unscientific on the face of it to say (as is repeatedly +said) that Shakespeare is 'inconsistent' in ascribing deep musical +sympathies to so thin a character as Lorenzo. Such allegation of +inconsistency means that the process of Interpretation is unfinished; it +can be paralleled only by the astronomer who should complain of eclipses +as 'inconsistent' with his view of the moon's movements. In the +particular case we found no difficulty in harmonising the apparent +conflict: the details of Lorenzo's portraiture fit in well with the not +uncommon type of nature that is so deeply touched by art sensibilities +as to have a languid interest in life outside art. [_It must take in +indirect evidence;_] Again: Interpretation must look for _indirect_ +evidence of character, such as the impression a personage seems to have +made on other personages in the story, or the effect of action outside +the field of view. It is impatient induction to pronounce Bassanio +unworthy of Portia merely from comparison of the parts played by the two +in the drama itself. It happens from the nature of the story that the +incidents actually represented in the drama are such as always display +Bassanio in an exceptional and dependent position; but we have an +opportunity of getting to the other side of our hero's character by +observing the attitude held to him by others in the play, an attitude +founded not on the incidents of the drama alone, but upon the sum total +of his life and behaviour in the Venetian world. This gives a very +different impression; and when we take into consideration the force with +which his personality sways all who approach him, from the strong +Antonio and the intellectual Lorenzo to giddy Gratiano and the rough +common sense of Launcelot, then the character comes out in its proper +scale. [_and the degree to which the character is displayed._] As a +third principle, it is perhaps too obvious to be worth formulating that +Interpretation must allow for the degree to which the character is +displayed by the action: that Brutus's frigid eloquence at the funeral +of Cæsar means not coldness of feeling but stoicism of public demeanour. +[_Interpretation reacting on the details._] It is a less obvious +principle that the very details which are to be unified into a +conception of character may have a different complexion given to them +when they are looked at in the light of the whole. It has been noticed +how Richard seems to manifest in some scenes a slovenliness of intrigue +that might be a stumbling-block to the general impression of his +character. But when in our view of him as a whole we see what a large +part is played by the invincibility that is stamped on his very +demeanour, it becomes clear how this slovenliness can be interpreted by +the analyst, and represented by the actor, not as a defect of power, but +as a trick of bearing which measures his own sense of his +irresistibility. Principles like these flow naturally from the +fundamental idea of character and its unity. Their practical use however +will be mainly that of tests for suggested interpretations: to the +actual reading of character in Drama, as in real life, the safest guide +is sympathetic insight. + +[_Complexity applied to Character._] + +The second element underlying all dramatic effect was complexity; when +complexity is applied to Character we get Character-Contrast. +[_Character-Foils._] In its lowest degree this appears in the form of +_Character-Foils_: by the side of some prominent character is placed +another of less force and interest but cast in the same mould, or +perhaps moulded by the influence of its principal, just as by the side +of a lofty mountain are often to be seen smaller hills of the same +formation. Thus beside Portia is placed Nerissa, beside Bassanio +Gratiano, beside Shylock Tubal; Richard's villainy stands out by +comparison with Buckingham, Hastings, Tyrrel, Catesby, any one of whom +would have given blackness enough to an ordinary drama. It is quite +possible that minute examination may find differences between such +companion figures: but the general effect of the combination is that the +lesser serves as foil to throw up the scale on which the other is +framed. The more pronounced effects of Character-Contrast depend upon +differences of kind as distinguished from differences of degree. +[_Character-Contrast._] In this form it is clear how _Character-Contrast_ +is only an extension of Character-Interpretation: it implies that some +single conception explains, that is, gives unity to, the actions of more +than one person. A whole chapter has been devoted to bringing out such +contrast in the case of Lord and Lady Macbeth: to accept these as types +of the practical and inner life, cast in such an age and involved in +such an undertaking, furnishes a conception sufficient to make clear and +intelligible all that the two say and do in the scenes of the drama. +[_Duplication._] Character-Contrast is especially common amongst the +minor effects in a Shakespearean drama. In the case of personages +demanded by the necessities of the story rather than introduced for +their own sake Shakespeare has a tendency to double the number of such +personages for the sake of getting effects of contrast. We have two +unsuccessful suitors in _The Merchant of Venice_ bringing out, the one +the unconscious pride of royal birth, the other the pride of intense +self-consciousness; two wicked daughters of Lear, Goneril with no +shading in her harshness, Regan who is in reality a degree more +calculating in her cruelty than her sister, but conceals it under a +charm of manner, 'eyes that comfort and not burn.' [=iii.= i.] Of the +two princes in _Richard III_ the one has a gravity beyond his years, +while York overflows with not ungraceful pertness. Especially +interesting are the two murderers in that play. [=i.= iv, from 84.] The +first is a dull, 'strong-framed' man, without any better nature. The +second has had culture, and been accustomed to reflect; his better +nature has been vanquished by love of greed, and now asserts itself to +prevent his sinning with equanimity. [110.] It is the second murderer +whose conscience is set in activity by the word 'judgment'; and he +discourses on conscience, deeply, [124-157.] yet not without humour, as +he recognises the power of the expected reward over the oft-vanquished +compunctions. [167.] He catches, as a thoughtful man, the irony of the +duke's cry for wine when they are about to drown him in the butt of +malmsey. [165.] Again, instead of hurrying to the deed while Clarence is +waking he cannot resist the temptation to argue with him, and so, as a +man open to argument, [263.] he feels the force of Clarence's unexpected +suggestion: + + He that set you on + To do this deed will hate you for the deed. + +Thus he exhibits the weakness of all thinking men in a moment of action, +the capacity to see two sides of a question; and, trying at the critical +moment to alter his course, [284.] he ends by losing the reward of crime +without escaping the guilt. + +[_Character-Grouping._] + +Character-Contrast is carried forward into _Character-Grouping_ when the +field is still further enlarged, and a single conception is found to +give unity to more than two personages of a drama. A chapter has been +devoted to showing how the same antithesis of outer and inner life which +made the conception of Macbeth and his wife intelligible would serve, +when adapted to the widely different world of Roman political life, to +explain the characters of the leading conspirators in _Julius Cæsar_, of +their victim and of his avenger: while, over and above the satisfaction +of Interpretation, the Grouping of these four figures, so colossal and +so impressive, round a single idea is an interest in itself. [_Dramatic +Colouring._] The effect is carried a stage further still when some +single phase of human interest tends, in a greater or less degree, to +give a common feature to all the personages of a play; the whole +dramatic field is _coloured_ by some idea, though of course the +interpretative significance of such an idea is weakened in proportion to +the area over which it is distributed. The five plays to which our +attention is confined do not afford the best examples of Dramatic +Colouring. It is a point, however, of common remark how the play of +_Macbeth_ is coloured by the superstition and violence of the Dark Ages. +The world of this drama seems given over to powers of darkness who can +read, if not mould, destiny; witchcraft appears as an instrument of +crime and ghostly agency of punishment. We have rebellion without any +suggestion of cause to ennoble it, terminated by executions without the +pomp of justice; we have a long reign of terror in which massacre is a +measure of daily administration and murder is a profession. With all +this there is a total absence of relief in any picture of settled life: +there is no rallying-point for order and purity. The very agent of +retribution gets the impulse to his task in a reaction from a shock of +bereavement that has come down upon him as a natural punishment for an +act of indecisive folly. + +[compare =iv.= iii. 26; =iv.= ii. 1-22.] + +There are, then, three different effects that arise when complexity +enters into Character-Interest. The complexity is one never separable +from the unity which binds it together: in the first effect the +diversity is stronger than the unity, and the whole manifests itself as +Character-Contrast; in Character-Grouping the contrast of the separate +figures is an equal element with the unity which binds them all into a +group; in the third case the diversity is lost in the unity, and a +uniformity of colouring is seized by the dramatic sense as an effect +apart from the individual varieties without which such colouring would +not be remarkable. + +[_Movement applied to Character: Character-Development._] + +When to Character-Interpretation, the formation of a single conception +out of a multitude of concrete details, the further idea of growth and +progress is added, we get the third variety of Character-Interest-- +_Character-Development_. In the preceding chapters this has received +only negative notice, its absence being a salient feature in the +portraiture of Richard. For a positive illustration no better example +could be desired than the character of Macbeth. Three features, we have +seen, stand out clear in the general conception of Macbeth. There is his +eminently practical nature, which is the key to the whole. And the +absence in him of the inner life adds two special features: one is his +helplessness under suspense, the other is the activity of his +imagination with its susceptibility to supernatural terrors. Now, if we +fix our attention on these three points they become three threads of +development as we trace Macbeth through the stages of his career. His +practical power developes as capacity for crime. Macbeth undertook his +first crime only after a protracted and terrible struggle; the murder of +the grooms was a crime of impulse; the murder of Banquo appears a thing +of contrivance, in which Macbeth is a deliberate planner directing the +agency of others, [=iii.= ii. 40, &c.] while his dark hints to his wife +suggest the beginning of a relish for such deeds. This capacity for +crime continues to grow, until slaughter becomes an end in itself: + +[=iv.= iii. 4.] + + Each new morn + New widows howl, new orphans cry: + +and then a mania: + +[=v.= ii. 13.] + + Some say he's mad; others that lesser hate him + Do call it valiant fury. + +We see a parallel development in Macbeth's impatience of suspense. Just +after his first temptation he is able to brace himself to suspense for +an indefinite period: + +[=i.= iii. 143.] + + If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, + Without my stir. + +[=i.= vii.] + +On the eve of his great crime the suspense of the few hours that must +intervene before the banquet can be despatched and Duncan can retire +becomes intolerable to Macbeth, and he is for abandoning the treason. +In the next stage it is the suspense of a single moment that impels him +to stab the grooms. From this point suspense no longer comes by fits and +starts, but is a settled disease: [=iii.= ii. 13, 36, &c.] his mind is +as scorpions; it is tortured in restless ecstasy. Suspense has +undermined his judgment and brought on him the gambler's fever--the +haunting thought that just one more venture will make him safe; in spite +of the opposition of his reason--[=iii.= ii. 45.] which his +unwillingness to confide the murder of Banquo to his wife betrays--he is +carried on to work the additional crime which unmasks the rest. And +finally suspense intensifies to a panic, and he himself feels that his +deeds-- + +[=iii.= iv. 140.] + + must be acted ere they may be scann'd. + +The third feature in Macbeth is the quickening of his sensitiveness to +the supernatural side by side with the deadening of his conscience. +Imagination becomes, as it were, a pictorial conscience for one to whom +its more rational channels have been closed: the man who 'would jump the +world to come' accepts implicitly every word that falls from a witch. +Now this imagination is at first a restraining force in Macbeth: [=i.= +iii. 134.] the thought whose image unfixes his hair leads him to abandon +the treason. When later he has, under pressure, delivered himself again +to the temptation, there are still signs that imagination is a force on +the other side that has to be overcome: + +[=i.= iv. 50.] + + Stars, hide your fires; + Let not light see my black and deep desires: + The eye wink at the hand. + +Once passed the boundary of the accomplished deed he becomes an absolute +victim to terrors of conscience in supernatural form. [=ii.= ii. 22-46.] +In the very first moment they reach so near the boundary that separates +subjective and objective that a real voice appears to be denouncing the +issue of his crime: + + _Macbeth._ Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more.'... + _Lady M._ Who was it that thus cried? + +In the reaction from the murder of Banquo the supernatural +appearance--which no eye sees but his own--[=iii.= iv.] appears more +real to him than the real life around him. And from this point he +_seeks_ the supernatural, [=iv.= i. 48.] forces it to disclose its +terrors, and thrusts himself into an agonised vision of generations that +are to witness the triumph of his foes. + + + + +XIII. + +INTEREST OF PASSION. + + +[PASSION.] + +HUMAN Interest includes not only varieties of human nature, or +Character, but also items of human experience, or Passion. Passion is +the second great topic of Dramatic Criticism. It is concerned with the +life that is lived through the scenes of the story, as distinguished +from the personages who live it; not treating this with the abstract +treatment that belongs to Plot, but reviewing it in the light of its +human interest; it embraces conduct still alive with the motives which +have actuated it--fate in the process of forging. The word 'passion' +signifies primarily what is suffered of good or bad; secondarily the +emotions generated by suffering, whether in the sufferer or in +bystanders. Its use as a dramatic term thus suggests how in Drama an +experience can be grasped by us through our emotional nature, through +our sympathy, our antagonism, and all the varieties of emotional +interest that lie between. To this Passion we have to apply the +threefold division of unity, complexity, and movement. + +[_Unity applied to Passion._] + +When unity is applied to Passion we get a series of details bound +together into a singleness of impression as an Incident, a Situation, or +an Effect. The distinction of the three rests largely on their different +degrees of fragmentariness. [_Incident._] _Incidents_ are groups of +continuous details forming a complete interest in themselves as +ministering to our sense of story. The suit of Shylock against Antonio +in the course of which fate swings right round; the murder of Clarence +with its long-drawn agony; Richard and Buckingham with the Lord Mayor +and Citizens exhibiting a picture of political manipulation in the +fifteenth century; the startling sight of a Lady Anne wooed beside the +bier of her murdered husband's murdered father, by a murderer who rests +his suit on the murders themselves; Banquo's Ghost appearing at the +feast at which Banquo's presence had been so vehemently called for; +Lear's faithful Gloucester so brutally blinded and so instantly +avenged:--all these are complete stories presented in a single view, and +suggest how Shakespeare's dramas are constructed out of materials which +are themselves dramas in miniature. [_Situation._] In _Situation_, on +the other hand, a series of details cohere into a single impression +without losing the sense of incompleteness. The two central personages +of _The Merchant of Venice_, around whom brightness and gloom have been +revolving in such contrast, at last brought to face one another from the +judgment-seat and the dock; Lorenzo and Jessica wrapped in moonlight and +music, with the rest of the universe for the hour blotted out into a +background for their love; Margaret like an apparition of the sleeping +Nemesis of Lancaster flashed into the midst of the Yorkist courtiers +while they are bickering through very wantonness of victory; Shylock +pitted against Tubal, Jew against Jew, the nature not too narrow to mix +affection with avarice, mocked from passion to passion by the nature +only wide enough to take in greed; Richard waking on Bosworth morning, +and miserably piecing together the wreck of his invincible will which a +sleeping vision has shattered; Macbeth's moment of rapture in following +the airy dagger, while the very night holds its breath, to break out +again presently into voices of doom; the panic mist of universal +suspicion amidst which Malcolm blasts his own character to feel after +the fidelity of Macduff; Edgar from his ambush of outcast idiocy +watching the sad marvel of his father's love restored to him:--all these +brilliant Situations are fragments of dramatic continuity in which the +fragmentariness is a part of the interest. Just as the sense of +sculpture might seek to arrest and perpetuate a casual moment in the +evolutions of a dance, so in Dramatic Situation the mind is conscious of +isolating something from what precedes and what follows so as to extract +out of it an additional impression; the morsel has its purpose in +ministering to a complete process of digestion, but it gets a sensation +of its own by momentary delay in contact with the palate. + +[_Effect._] + +Of a still more fragmentary nature is _Dramatic Effect_--Effect strictly +so called, and as distinguished from the looser use of the term for +dramatic impressions in general. Such Effect seems to attach itself to +single momentary details, though in reality these details owe their +impressiveness to their connection with others: the final detail has +completed an electric circle and a shock is given. No element of the +Drama is of so miscellaneous a character and so defies analysis: all +that can be done here is to notice three special Dramatic Effects. +[_Irony as an Effect._] _Dramatic Irony_ is a sudden appearance of +double-dealing in surrounding events: a dramatic situation accidentally +starts up and produces a shock by its bearing upon conflicting states of +affairs, both known to the audience, but one of them hidden from some of +the parties to the scene. This is the special contribution to dramatic +effect of Greek tragedy. The ancient stage was tied down in its +subject-matter to stories perfectly familiar to the audience as sacred +legends, and so almost excluding the effect of surprise: in Irony it +found some compensation. The ancient tragedies harp upon human blindness +to the future, and delight to exhibit a hero speculating about, or +struggling with, or perhaps in careless talk stumbling upon, the final +issue of events which the audience know so well--Oedipus, for example, +through great part of a play moving heaven and earth to pierce the +mystery of the judgment that has come upon his city, while according to +the familiar sacred story the offender can be none other than himself. +Shakespeare has used to almost as great an extent as the Greek +dramatists this effect of Irony. His most characteristic handling of it +belongs to the lighter plays; yet in the group of dramas dealt with in +this work it is prominent amongst his effects. It has been pointed out +how _Macbeth_ and _Richard III_ are saturated with it. There are casual +illustrations in _Julius Cæsar_, as when the dictator bids his intended +murderer + +[=ii.= ii. 123.] + + Be near me, that I may remember you; + +or in _Lear_, when Edmund, intriguing guiltily with Goneril, in a chance +expression of tenderness unconsciously paints the final issue of that +intrigue: + +[=iv.= ii. 25.] + + Yours in the ranks of death! + +A comic variety of Irony occurs in the Trial Scene of _The Merchant of +Venice_, [=iv.= i. 282.] when Bassanio and Gratiano in their distracted +grief are willing to sacrifice their new wives if this could save their +friend--little thinking these wives are so near to record the vow. The +doubleness of Irony is one which attaches to a situation as a whole: +[=iii.= ii. 60-73.] the effect however is especially keen when a scene +is so impregnated with it that the very language is true in a double +sense. + + _Catesby._ 'Tis a vile thing to die, my gracious lord, + When men are unprepared and look not for it. + + _Hastings._ O monstrous, monstrous! and so falls it out + With Rivers, Vaughan, Grey: _and so 'twill do + With some men else, who think themselves as safe + As thou and I._ + +[_Nemesis as an Effect._] + +_Nemesis_, though usually extending to the general movement of a drama, +and so considered below, may sometimes be only an effect of detail--a +sign connecting very closely retribution with sin or reaction with +triumph. [=v.= iii. 45.] Such a Nemesis may be seen where Cassius in the +act of falling on his sword recognises the weapon as the same with which +he stabbed Cæsar. [_Dramatic Foreshadowing._] Another special variety of +effect is _Dramatic Foreshadowing_--mysterious details pointing to an +explanation in the sequel, a realisation in action of the saying that +coming events cast their shadows before them. [=i.= i. 1.] The +unaccountable 'sadness' of Antonio at the opening of _The Merchant of +Venice_ is a typical illustration. [=iii.= i. 68.] Others will readily +suggest themselves--[=i.= i. 39.] the Prince's shuddering aversion to +the Tower in _Richard III_, [=v.= i. 77-90.] the letter G that of +Edward's heirs the murderer should be, the crows substituted for +Cassius's eagles on the morning of the final battle. A more elaborate +example is seen in _Julius Cæsar_, [=i.= ii. 18.] where the soothsayer's +vague warning 'Beware the Ides of March'--a solitary voice that could +yet arrest the hero through the shouting of the crowd--is later on +found, not to have become dissipated, but to have gathered definiteness +as the moment comes nearer: + +[=iii.= i. 1.] + + _Cæsar._ The Ides of March are come. + _Soothsayer._ Ay, Cæsar; but not gone. + +These three leading Effects may be sufficient to illustrate a branch of +dramatic analysis in which the variety is endless. + +[_Complexity applied to Passion._] + +We are next to consider the application of complexity to Passion, and +the contrasts of passion that so arise. Here care is necessary to avoid +confusion with a complexity of passion that hardly comes within the +sphere of dramatic criticism. [=iii.= i.] In the scene in which Shylock +is being teased by Tubal it is easy to note the conflict between the +passions of greed and paternal affection: such analysis is outside +dramatic criticism and belongs to psychology. In its dramatic sense +Passion applies to experience, not decomposed into its emotional +elements, but grasped as a whole by our emotional nature: there is still +room for complexity of such passion in the appeal made _to different +sides of our emotional nature, the serious and the gay_. +[_Passion-Tone._] In dealing with this element of dramatic effect a +convenient technical term is _Tone_. The deep insight of metaphorical +word-coining has given universal sanction to the expression of emotional +differences by analogies of music: our emotional nature is exalted with +mirth and depressed with sorrow, we speak of a chord of sympathy, a +strain of triumph, a note of despair; we are in a serious mood, or pitch +our appeal in a higher key. These expressions are clearly musical, and +there is probably a half association of music in many others, such as a +theme of sorrow, acute anguish and profound despair, response of +gratitude, or even the working of our feelings. Most exactly to the +purpose is a phrase of frequent occurrence, the 'gamut of the passions,' +which brings out with emphasis how our emotional nature in its capacity +for different kinds of impressions suggests a _scale_ of +passion-contrasts, [_Scale of Passion-Tones._] not to be sharply defined +but shading off into one another like the tones of a musical +scale--Tragic, Heroic, Serious, Elevated, Light, Comic, Farcical. It is +with such complexity of tones that Dramatic Passion is concerned. + +[_Mixture of Tones:_] + +Now the mere _Mixture of Tones_ is an effect in itself. For the present +I am not referring to the combination of one tone with another in the +same incident (which will be treated as a distinct variety): I apply it +more widely to the inclusion of different tones in the field of the same +play. Such mixture is best illustrated by music, which gives us an +adagio and an allegro, a fantastic scherzo and a pompous march, within +the same symphony or sonata, though in separate movements. In _The +Merchant of Venice_, as often in plays of Shakespeare, every tone in the +scale is represented. [=iv.= i.] When Antonio is enduring through the +long suspense, and triumphant malignity is gaining point after point +against helpless friendship, we have travelled far into the Tragic; +[=iv.= i. 184.] the woman-nature of Portia calling Venetian justice from +judicial murder to the divine prerogative of mercy throws in a touch of +the Heroic; a great part of what centres around Shylock, [=ii.= v; +=iii.= i, &c.] when he is crushing the brightness out of Jessica or +defying the Christian world, is pitched in the Serious strain; [=ii.= i, +vii; =ii.= ix.] the incidents of the unsuccessful suitors, the warm +exuberance of Oriental courtesy and the less grateful loftiness of +Spanish family pride, might be a model for the Elevated drama of the +English Restoration; [=i.= i, &c.] the infinite nothings of Gratiano, +prince of diners-out, [=i.= ii.] the more piquant small talk of Portia +and Nerissa when they criticise the man-world from the secrecy of a +maiden-bower--these throw a tone of Lightness over their sections of the +drama; [=ii.= ii, iii; =iii.= v, &c.] Launcelot is an incarnation of the +conventional Comic serving-man, [=ii.= ii, from 34.] and his Comedy +becomes broad Farce where he teases the sand-blind Gobbo and draws him +on to bless his astonishing beard. [_a distinction of the modern +Drama._] How distinct an effect is this mere Mixture of Tones within the +same play may be seen in the fact that the Classical Drama found it +impossible. The exclusive and uncompromising spirit of antiquity carried +caste into art itself, and their Tragedy and Comedy were kept rigidly +separate, and indeed were connected with different rituals. The spirit +of modern life is marked by its comprehensiveness and reconciliation of +opposites; and nothing is more important in dramatic history than the +way in which Shakespeare and his contemporaries created a new departure +in art, by seizing upon the rude jumble of sport and earnest which the +mob loved, and converting it into a source of stirring passion-effects. +For a new faculty of mental grasp is generated by this harmony of tones +in the English Drama. If the artist introduces every tone into the story +he thereby gets hold of every tone in the spectators' emotional nature; +the world of the play is presented from every point of view as it works +upon the various passions, and the difference this makes is the +difference between simply looking down upon a surface and viewing a +solid from all round:--the mixture of tones, so to speak, makes passion +of three dimensions. Moreover it brings the world of fiction nearer to +the world of nature, which has never yet evolved an experience in which +brightness was dissevered from gloom: half the pleasure of the world is +wrung out of others' pain; the two jostle in the street, house together +under every roof, share every stage of life, and refuse to be sundered +even in the mysteries of death. + +Quite a distinct class of effects is produced when the contrasting tones +are not only included in the same drama but are further brought into +immediate contact and made to react upon each other. [_Tone-Play._] +_Tone-Play_ is made by simple variety and alternation of light and +serious passions. It has been pointed out in a previous chapter what a +striking example of this is _The Merchant of Venice_, in which scene by +scene two stories of youthful love and of deadly feud alternate with one +another as they progress to their climaxes, [=iii.= ii. 221.] until from +the rapture of Portia united to Bassanio we drop to the full realisation +of Antonio in the grasp of Shylock; and again the cruel anxiety of the +trial [=iv.= i. 408.] and its breathless shock of deliverance are +balanced by the mad fun of the ring trick [=v.= i.] and the joy of the +moonlight scene which Jessica feels is too deep for merriment. +[_Tone-Relief._] A slight variation of this is _Tone-Relief_: in an +action which is cast in a uniform tone the continuity is broken by a +brief spell of a contrary passion, the contrast at once relieving and +intensifying the prevailing tone. One of the best examples +(notwithstanding its coarseness) is the introduction in _Macbeth_ of the +jolly Porter, [=ii.= iii. 1.] who keeps the impatient nobles outside in +the storm till his jest is comfortably finished, making each furious +knock fit in to his elaborate conceit of Hell-gate. This tone of broad +farce, with nothing else like it in the whole play, comes as a single +ray of common daylight to separate the agony of the dark night's murder +from the agony of the struggle for concealment. [_Tone-Clash._] The +mixture of tones goes a stage further when opposing tones of passion +_clash_ in the same incident and are _fused_ together. These terms are, +I think, scarcely metaphorical: as a physiological fact we see our +physical susceptibility to pleasurable and painful emotions drawn into +conflict with one another in the phenomena of hysteria; and their mental +analogues must be capable of much closer union. As examples of these +effects resting upon an appeal to opposite sides of our emotional +nature at the same time may be instanced the flash of comic irony, +[=iv.= i. 288, &c.] already referred to more than once, that starts up +in the most pathetic moment of Antonio's trial by his friend's allusion +to his newly wedded wife. Of the same double nature are the strokes of +pathetic humour in this play; [=iii.= iii. 32.] as where Antonio +describes himself so worn with grief that he will hardly spare a pound +of flesh to his bloody creditor; or again his pun, + +[=iv.= i. 280.] + + For if the Jew do cut but deep enough + I'll pay it presently with all my heart! + +Shakespeare is very true to nature in thus borrowing the language of +word-play to express suffering so exquisite as to leave sober language +far behind. [_Tone-Storm._] Finally Tone-Clash rises into _Tone-Storm_ +in such rare climaxes as the centrepiece of _Lear_, [=iii.= i-vi.] where +against a tempest of nature as a fitting background we have the conflict +of three madnesses, passion, idiocy, and folly, bidding against one +another, and inflaming each other's wildness into an inextricable whirl +of frenzy. + +[_Movement applied to Passion._] + +The idea of movement has next to be applied to Passion. Passion is +experience as grasped by our emotional nature: this will be sensitive +not only to isolated fragments of experience, but equally to the +succession of incidents. The movement of events will produce a +corresponding movement in our emotional nature as this is variously +affected by them; and as the succession of incidents seems to take +direction so the play of our sympathies will seem to take form. Again, +events cannot succeed one another without suggesting causes at work and +controlling forces: when such causes and forces are of a nature to work +upon our sympathy another element of Passion will appear. [_Motive Form +and Motive Force._] Under Passion-Movement then are comprehended two +things--_Motive Form_ and _Motive Force_. [page 278.] The first of these +is a thing in which two of the great elements of Drama, Passion, and +Plot, overlap, and it will be best considered in connection with Plot +which takes in dramatic form as a whole. Here we have to consider the +Motive Forces of dramatic passion. The dramatist is, as it were, a God +in his universe, and disposes the ultimate issues of human experience at +his pleasure: what then are the principles which are found to have +governed his ordering of events? to personages in a drama what are the +great determinants of fate? + +[_Poetic Justice a form of art-beauty._] + +The first of the great determinants of fate in the Drama is _Poetic +Justice_. What exactly is the meaning of this term? It is often +understood to mean the correction of justice, as if justice in poetry +were more just than the justice of real life. But this is not supported +by the facts of dramatic story. An English judge and jury would revolt +against measuring out to Shylock the justice that is meted to him by the +court of Venice, though the same persons beholding the scene in a +theatre might feel their sense of Poetic Justice satisfied; unless, +indeed, which might easily happen, the confusion of ideas suggested by +this term operated to check their acquiescence in the issue of the play. +A better notion of Poetic Justice is to understand it as the +modification of justice by considerations of art. This holds good even +where justice and retribution do determine the fate of individuals in +the Drama; in these cases our dramatic satisfaction still rests, not on +the high degree of justice exhibited, but on the artistic mode in which +it works. A policeman catching a thief with his hand in a neighbour's +pocket and bringing him to summary punishment affords an example of +complete justice, yet its very success robs it of all poetic qualities; +the same thief defeating all the natural machinery of the law, yet +overtaken after all by a questionable ruse would be to the poetic sense +far more interesting. + +[_Nemesis as a dramatic motive._] + +Treating Poetic Justice, then, as the application of art to morals, its +most important phase will be _Nemesis_, which we have already seen +involves an artistic link between sin and retribution. The artistic +connection may be of the most varied description. [_Varieties of +Nemesis._] There is a Nemesis of perfect equality, Shylock reaping +measure for measure as he has sown. [compare =iii.= i. 118 and 165.] +When Nemesis overtook the Roman conspirators it was partly its +suddenness that made it impressive: within fifty lines of their appeal +to all time they have fallen into an attitude of deprecation. For +Richard, on the contrary, retribution was delayed to the last moment: to +have escaped to the eleventh hour is shown to be no security. + + Jove strikes the Titans down + Not when they first begin their mountain piling, + But when another rock would crown their work. + +Nemesis may be emphasised by repetition and multiplication; in the world +in which Richard is plunged there appears to be no event which is not a +nemesis. Or the point may be the unlooked-for source from which the +nemesis comes; as when upon the murder of Cæsar a colossus of energy and +resource starts up in the time-serving and frivolous Antony, [=ii.= i. +165.] whom the conspirators had spared for his insignificance. Or again, +retribution may be made bitter to the sinner by his tracing in it his +own act and deed: from Lear himself, and from no other source, Goneril +and Regan have received the power they use to crush his spirit. Nay, the +very prize for which the sinner has sinned turns out in some cases the +nemesis fate has provided for him; as when Goneril and Regan use their +ill-gotten power for the state intrigues which work their death. And +most keenly pointed of all comes the nemesis that is combined with +mockery: [=iii.= i. 49.] Macbeth, if he had not essayed the murder of +Banquo as an _extra_ precaution, might have enjoyed his stolen crown in +safety; [=iv.= iii. 219.] his expedition against Macduff's castle slays +all _except_ the fate-appointed avenger; [=iv.= ii. 46.] Richard +disposes of his enemies with flawless success until _the last_, Dorset, +escapes to his rival. + +Such is Nemesis, and such are some of the modes in which the connection +between sin and retribution may be made artistically impressive. Poetic +Justice, however, is a wider term than Nemesis. The latter implies some +offence, as an occasion for the operation of judicial machinery. +[_Poetic Justice other than Nemesis._] But, apart from sin, fate may be +out of accord with character, and the correction of this ill +distribution will satisfy the dramatic sense. But here again the +practice of dramatic providence appears regulated, not with a view to +abstract justice, but to justice modified by dramatic sympathy: Poetic +Justice extends to the exhibition of fate moving in the interests of +those with whom we sympathise and to the confusion of those with whom we +are in antagonism. [=iv.= i. 346-363.] Viewed as a piece of equity the +sentence on Shylock--a plaintiff who has lost his suit by an accident of +statute-law--seems highly questionable. On the other hand, this sentence +brings a fortune to a girl who has won our sympathies in spite of her +faults; it makes provision for those for whom there is a dramatic +necessity of providing; above all it is in accord with our secret liking +that good fortune should go with the bright and happy, and sever itself +from the mean and sordid. Whether this last is justice, I will not +discuss: it is enough that it is one of the instincts of the +imagination, and in creative literature justice must pay tribute to art. + +[_Pathos as a dramatic motive._] + +But however widely the term be stretched, justice is only one of the +determinants of fate in the Drama: confusion on this point has led to +many errors of criticism. The case of Cordelia is in point. Because she +is involved in the ruin of Lear it is felt by some commentators that a +consideration of justice must be sought to explain her death: they find +it perhaps in her original resistance to her father; or the ingenious +suggestion has been made that Cordelia, in her measures to save her +father, invades England, and this breach of patriotism needs atonement. +But this is surely twisting the story to an explanation, not extracting +an explanation from the details of the story. It would be a violation of +all dramatic proportion, needing the strongest evidence from the details +of the play, if Cordelia's 'most small fault' betrayed her to dramatic +execution. [=iv.= iv. 27.] And as to the sin against patriotism, the +whole notion of it is foreign to the play itself, [=ii.= ii. 170-177[4]; +=iii.= i, v.] in which the truest patriots, such as Kent and Gloucester, +are secretly confederate with Cordelia and look upon her as the hope of +their unhappy country; [=iv.= ii. 2-10 (compare 55, 95); =v.= i. 21-27.] +while even Albany himself, however necessary he finds it to repel the +invader, yet distinctly feels that justice is on the other side. The +fact is that in Cordelia's case, as in countless other cases, motives +determine fate which have in them no relation to justice; fiction being +in this matter in harmony with real life, where in only a minority of +instances can we recognise any element of justice or injustice as +entering into the fates of individuals. When in real life a little child +dies, what consideration of justice is there that bears on such an +experience? Nevertheless there is an irresistible sense of beauty in +the idea of the fleeting child-life arrested while yet in its +completeness, before the rude hand of time has begun to trace lines of +passion or hardness; the parent indeed may not feel this in the case of +his own child, but in art, where there is no mist of individual feeling +to blind, the sense of beauty comes out stronger than the sense of loss. +It is the mission of the Drama thus to interpret the beauty of fate: it +seeks, as Aristotle puts it, to purify our emotions by healthy exercise. +The Drama does with human experience what Painting does with external +nature. There are landscapes whose beauty is obvious to all; but it is +one of the privileges of the artist to reveal the charm that lies in the +most ordinary scenery, until the ideal can be recognised everywhere, and +nature itself becomes art. Similarly there are striking points in life, +such as the vindication of justice, which all can catch: but it is for +the dramatist, as the artist in life, to arrange the experience he +depicts so as to bring out the hidden beauties of fate, until the +trained eye sees a meaning in all that happens;--until indeed the word +'suffering' itself has only to be translated into its Greek equivalent, +and _pathos_ is recognised as a form of beauty. Accumulation of Pathos +then must be added to Poetic Justice as a determinant of fate in the +Drama. And our sensitiveness to this form of beauty is nowhere more +signally satisfied than when we see Cordelia dead in the arms of Lear: +fate having mysteriously seconded her self-devotion, and nothing, not +even her life, being left out to make her sacrifice complete. + +[_The Supernatural as a dramatic motive._] + +There remains a third great determinant of fate in the Drama--the +Supernatural. I have in a former chapter pointed out how in relation to +this topic the modern Drama stands in a different position from that of +ancient Tragedy. In the Drama of antiquity the leading motive forces +were supernatural, either the secret force of Destiny, or the +interposition of supernatural beings who directly interfered with human +events. We are separated from this view of life by a revolution of +thought which has substituted Providence for Destiny as the controller +of the universe, and absorbed the supernatural within the domain of Law. +[_The Supernatural rationalised in modern Drama._] Yet elements that had +once entered so deeply into the Drama would not be easily lost to the +machinery of Passion-Movement; supernatural agency has a degree of +recognition in modern thought, and even Destiny may still be utilised if +it can be stripped of antagonism to the idea of a benevolent Providence. +To begin with the latter: the problem for a modern dramatist is to +reconcile Destiny with Law. The characteristics which made the ancient +conception of fate dramatically impressive--its irresistibility, its +unintelligibility, and its suggestion of personal hostility--he may +still insinuate into the working of events: only the destiny must be +rationalised, that is, the course of events must at the same time be +explicable by natural causes. + +[_As an objective force in Irony._] + +First: Shakespeare gives us Destiny acting objectively, as an external +force, in the form of _Irony_, already discussed in connection with the +standard illustration of it in _Macbeth_. In the movement of this play +Destiny appears in the most pronounced form of mockery: every difficulty +and check being in the issue converted into an instrument for furthering +the course of events. Yet this mockery is wholly without any suggestion +of malignity in the governing power of the universe; its effect being +rather to measure the irresistibility of righteous retribution. This +Irony makes just the difference between the ordinary operations of Law +or Providence and the suggestion of Destiny: yet each step in the action +is sufficiently explained by rational considerations. [=i.= iv. 37.] +What more natural than that Duncan should proclaim his son heir-apparent +to check any hopes that too successful service might excite? [=i.= iv. +48.] Yet what more natural than that this loss of Macbeth's remote +chance of the crown should be the occasion of his resolve no longer to +be content with chances? [=ii.= iii. 141.] What more natural than that +the sons of the murdered king should take flight upon the revelation of +a treason useless to its perpetrator as long as they were living? Yet +what again more natural than that the momentary reaction consequent upon +this flight should, [=ii.= iv. 21-41.] in the general fog of suspicion +and terror, give opportunity to the object of universal dread himself to +take the reins of government? The Irony is throughout no more than a +garb worn by rational history. + +[_As a subjective force in Infatuation._] + +Or, again, Destiny may be exhibited as a subjective force in +_Infatuation_, or _Judicial Blindness_: 'whom the gods would destroy +they first blind.' This was a conception specially impressive to ancient +ethics; the lesson it gathered from almost every great fall was that of +a spiritual darkening which hid from the sinner his own danger, obvious +to every other eye, till he had been tempted beyond the possibility of +retreat. + + Falling in frenzied guilt, he knows it not; + So thick the blinding cloud + That o'er him floats; and Rumour widely spread + With many a sigh repeats the dreary doom, + A mist that o'er the house + In gathering darkness broods. + +Such Infatuation is very far from being inconsistent with the idea of +Law; indeed, it appears repeatedly in the strong figures of Scriptural +speech, by which the ripening of sin to its own destruction--a merciful +law of a righteously-ordered universe--is suggested as the direct act of +Him who is the founder of the universe and its laws. By such figures God +is represented as hardening Pharaoh's heart; or, again, an almost +technical description of Infatuation is put by the fervour of prophecy +into the mouth of God: + + Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and + shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their + ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. + +[=v.= viii. 13.] + +In the case of Macbeth the judicial blindness is maintained to the last +moment, and he pauses in the final combat to taunt Macduff with certain +destruction. Yet, while we thus get the full dramatic effect of +Infatuation, it is so far rationalised that we are allowed to see the +machinery by which the Infatuation has been brought about: [=iii.= v. +16.] we have heard the Witches arrange to deceive Macbeth with false +oracles. A very dramatic, but wholly natural, example of Infatuation +appears at the turning-point of Richard's career, where, when he has +just discovered that Richmond is the point from which the storm of +Nemesis threatens to break upon him, [=iv.= ii. 98, &c.] prophecies +throng upon his memory which might have all his life warned him of this +issue, had he not been blind to them till this moment. [=i.= iii. 131.] +Again, Antonio's challenge to Shylock to do his worst is, as I have +already pointed out, an outburst of _hybris_, the insolence of +Infatuation: but this is no more than a natural outcome of a conflict +between two implacable temperaments. In Infatuation, then, as in all its +other forms, Destiny is exhibited by Shakespeare as harmonised with +natural law. + +[_Supernatural agencies._] + +Besides Destiny the Shakespearean Drama admits direct supernatural +agencies--witches, ghosts, apparitions, as well as portents and +violations of natural law. It appears to me idle to contend that these +in Shakespeare are not really supernatural, but must be interpreted as +delusions of their victims. There may be single cases, such as the +appearance of Banquo to Macbeth, where, as no eye sees it but his own, +the apparition may be resolved into an hallucination. But to determine +Shakespeare's general practice it is enough to point to the Ghost in +_Hamlet_, which, as seen by three persons at once and on separate +occasions, is indisputably objective: and a single instance is +sufficient to establish the assumption in the Shakespearean Drama of +supernatural beings with a real existence. Zeal for Shakespeare's +rationality is a main source of the opposite view; but for the +assumption of such supernatural existences the responsibility lies not +with Shakespeare, but with the opinion of the age he is pourtraying. A +more important question is how far Shakespeare uses such supernatural +agency as a motive force in his plays; how far does he allow it to enter +into the working of events, for the interpretation of which he is +responsible? On this point Shakespeare's usage is clear and subtle: he +uses the agency of the supernatural to intensify and to illuminate human +action, not to determine it. + +[_Intensifying human action._] + +Supernatural agency intensifying human action is illustrated in +_Macbeth_. No one can seriously doubt the objective existence of the +Witches in this play, or that they are endowed with superhuman sources +of knowledge. But the question is, do they in reality turn Macbeth to +crime? In one of the chapters devoted to this play I have dwelt on the +importance of the point that Macbeth has been already meditating treason +in his heart when he meets the Witches on the heath. His secret +thoughts--which he betrays in his guilty start--[=i.= iii. 51.] have +been an invitation to the powers of evil, and they have obeyed the +summons: Macbeth has already ventured a descent, and they add an impulse +downward. To bring this out the more clearly, Shakespeare keeps Banquo +side by side with Macbeth through the critical stages of the temptation: +Banquo has made no overtures to temptation, and to him the tempters have +no mission. It is noticeable that where the two warriors meet the +Witches on the heath it is Banquo who begins the conversation. + +[=i.= iii. 38-50.] + + _Banquo._ How far is 't called to Forres? + +No answer. The silence attracts his attention to those he is addressing. + + What are these + So wither'd and so wild in their attire, + That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth, + And yet are on 't? + +Still no answer. + + Live you? or are you aught + That man may question? + +They signify in dumb show that they may not answer. + + You seem to understand me, + By each at once her chappy finger laying + Upon her skinny lips: you should be women, + And yet your beards forbid me to interpret + That you are so. + +Still he can draw no answer. At last Macbeth chimes in: + + Speak, if you can: what are you? + +The tamperer with temptation has spoken, and in a moment they break out, +'All hail, Macbeth!' and ply their supernatural task. [57.] Later on in +the scene, when directly challenged by Banquo, they do respond and give +out an oracle for him. But into his upright mind the poison-germs of +insight into the future fall harmlessly; it is because Macbeth is +already tainted that these breed in him a fever of crime. [=iii.= v. and +=iv.= i.] In the second incident of the Witches, so far from their being +the tempters, it is Macbeth who seeks them and forces from them +knowledge of the future. Yet, even here, what is the actual effect of +their revelation upon Macbeth? It is, like that of his air-drawn dagger, +only to marshal him along the way that he is going. [=iv.= i. 74.] They +bid him beware Macduff: he answers, 'Thou hast harp'd my fear aright.' +They give him preternatural pledges of safety: are these a help to him +in enjoying the rewards of sin? [=iv.= iii. 4, &c.] On the contrary, as +a matter of fact we find Macbeth, in panic of suspicion, seeking +security by means of daily butchery; the oracles have produced in him +confidence enough to give agony to the bitterness of his betrayal, but +not such confidence as to lead him to dispense with a single one of the +natural bulwarks to tyranny. The function of the Witches throughout the +action of this play is exactly expressed by a phrase Banquo uses in +connection with them: [=i.= iii. 124.] they are only 'instruments of +darkness,' assisting to carry forward courses of conduct initiated +independently of them. Macbeth has made the destiny which the Witches +reveal. + +[_Illuminating human action._] + +Again, supernatural agency is used to illuminate human action: the +course of events in a drama not ceasing to obey natural causes, but +becoming, by the addition of the supernatural agency, endowed with a new +art-beauty. [_The Oracular Action._] The great example of this is the +_Oracular Action_. This important element of dramatic effect--how it +consists in the working out of Destiny from mystery to clearness, and +the different forms it assumes--has been discussed at length in a former +chapter. The question here is, how far do we find such superhuman +knowledge used as a force in the movement of events? As Shakespeare +handles oracular machinery, the conditions of natural working in the +course of events are not in the least degree altered by the revelation +of the future. The actor's belief (or disbelief) in the oracle may be +one of the circumstances which have influenced his action--as it would +have done in the real life of the age--but to the spectator, to whom the +Drama is to reveal the real governing forces of the world, the oracular +action is presented not as a force but as a light. It gives to a course +of events the illumination that can be in actual fact given to it by +History, the office of which is to make each detail of a story +interesting in the light of the explanation that comes when all the +details are complete. Only it uses the supernatural agency to project +this illumination into the midst of the events themselves, which History +cannot give till they are concluded; and also it carries the art-effect +of such illumination a stage further than History could carry it, by +making it progressive in intelligibility, and making this progress keep +pace with the progress of the events themselves. Fate will allow none +but Macduff to be the slayer of Macbeth. True: but Macduff (who moreover +knows nothing of his destiny) is the most deeply injured of Macbeth's +subjects, and as a fact we find it needs the news of his injury to rouse +him to his task; [=iv.= iii.] as he approaches the battle he feels that +the ghosts of his wife [=v.= vii. 15.] and children will haunt him if he +allows any other to be the tyrant's executioner. Thus far the +interpretation of History might go: but the oracular machinery +introduced points dimly to Macduff before the first breath of the King's +suspicion has assailed him, and the suggestiveness becomes clearer and +clearer as the convergence of events carries the action to its climax. +The natural working of human events has been undisturbed: only the +spectator's mind has been endowed with a special illumination for +receiving them. + +[_The Supernatural as Dramatic Background._] + +In another and very different way we have supernatural agency called in +to throw a peculiar illumination over human events. In dealing with the +movement of _Julius Cæsar_ I have described at length the _Supernatural +Background_ of storm, tempest, and portent, which assist the emotional +agitation throughout the second stage of the action. These are clearly +supernatural in that they are made to suggest a mystic sympathy with, +and indeed prescience of, mutations in human life. Yet their function is +simply that of illumination: they cast a glow of emotion over the +spectator as he watches the train of events, though all the while the +action of these events remains within the sphere of natural causes. In +narrative and lyric poetry this endowment of nature with human +sympathies becomes the commonest of poetic devices, personification; and +here it never suggests anything supernatural because it is so clearly +recognised as belonging to expression. But 'expression' in the Drama +extends beyond language, and takes in presentation; and it is only a +device in presentation that tumult in nature and tumult in history, each +perfectly natural by itself, are made to have a suggestion of the +supernatural by their coincidence in time. After all there is no real +meaning in storm any more than in calm weather, only that contemplative +observers have transferred their own emotions to particular phases of +nature: it would seem, then, a very slight and natural reversal of the +process to call in this humanised nature to assist the emotions which +have created it. + +In these various forms Shakespeare introduces supernatural agency into +his dramas. In my discussion of them it will be understood that I am not +in the least endeavouring to explain away the reality of their +supernatural character. My purpose is to show for how small a proportion +of his total effect Shakespeare draws on the supernatural, allowing it +to carry further or to illustrate, but not to mould or determine a +course of events. It will readily be granted that he brings effect +enough out of a supernatural incident to justify the use of it to our +rational sense of economy. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] The text in this passage is regarded as difficult by many editors, +and is marked in the Globe Edition as corrupt. I do not see the +difficulty of taking it as it stands, if regard be had to the general +situation, in which (as Steevens has pointed out) Kent is reading the +letter in disjointed snatches by the dim moonlight. Commentators seem to +me to have increased the obscurity by taking 'enormous' in its rare +sense of 'irregular,' 'out of order,' and making it refer to the state +of England. Surely it is used in its ordinary meaning, and applies to +France; the clause in which it occurs being part of the _actual words_ +of Cordelia's letter, who naturally uses 'this' of the country from +which she writes. Inverted commas would make the connection clear. + + Approach, thou beacon to this under globe, + That by thy comfortable beams I may + Peruse this letter!--'Nothing almost sees miracles'-- + 'But misery'--I know 'tis from Cordelia, + Who hath 'most fortunately been inform'd' + Of my 'obscured course, and shall find time + From this enormous state'--'seeking to give + Losses their remedies,' &c. + +I.e. Cordelia promises she will find leisure from the oppressive cares +of her new kingdom to remedy the evils of England. Kent gives up the +attempt to read; but enough has been brought out for the dramatist's +purpose at that particular stage, viz. to hint that Kent was in +correspondence with Cordelia, and looked to her as the deliverer of +England. + + + + +XIV. + +INTEREST OF PLOT. + + +[_Idea of Plot as the application of design to human life._] + +WE now come to the third great division of Dramatic Criticism--Plot, or +the purely intellectual side of action. Action itself has been treated +above as the mutual connection and interweaving of all the details in a +work of art so as to unite in an impression of unity. But we have found +it impossible to discuss Character and Passion entirely apart from such +action and interworking: the details of human interest become dramatic +by being permeated with action-force. When however this mutual relation +of all the parts is looked at by itself, as an abstract interest of +design, the human life being no more than the material to which this +design is applied, then we get the interest of Plot. So defined, I hope +Plot is sufficiently removed from the vulgar conception of it as +sensational mystery, which has done so much to lower this element of +dramatic effect in the eyes of literary students. If Plot be understood +as the extension of design to the sphere of human life, threads of +experience being woven into a symmetrical pattern as truly as +vari-coloured threads of wool are woven into a piece of wool-work, then +the conception of it will come out in its true dignity. What else is +such reduction to order than the meeting-point of science and art? +Science is engaged in tracing rhythmic movements in the beautiful +confusion of the heavenly bodies, or reducing the bewildering variety of +external nature to regular species and nice gradations of life. +Similarly, art continues the work of creation in calling ideal order +out of the chaos of things as they are. And so the tangle of life, with +its jumble of conflicting aspirations, its crossing and twisting of +contrary motives, its struggle and partnership of the whole human race, +in which no two individuals are perfectly alike and no one is wholly +independent of the rest--this has gradually in the course of ages been +laboriously traced by the scientific historian into some such harmonious +plan as evolution. But he finds himself long ago anticipated by the +dramatic artist, who has touched crime and seen it link itself with +nemesis, who has transformed passion into pathos, who has received the +shapeless facts of reality and returned them as an ordered economy of +design. This application of form to human life is Plot: and Shakespeare +has had no higher task to accomplish than in his revolutionising our +ideas of Plot, until the old critical conceptions of it completely broke +down when applied to his dramas. The appreciation of Shakespeare will +not be complete until he is seen to be as subtle a weaver of plots as he +is a deep reader of the human heart. + +[_Unity applied to Plot._] + +We have to consider Plot in its three aspects of unity, complexity, and +development. [_The Single Action._] The simplest element of Plot is the +_Single Action_, which may be defined as any train of incidents in a +drama which can be conceived as a separate whole. Thus a series of +details bringing out the idea of a crime and its nemesis will constitute +a Nemesis Action, an oracle and its fulfilment will make up an Oracular +Action, a problem and its solution a Problem Action. Throughout the +treatment of Plot the root idea of _pattern_ should be steadily kept in +mind: in the case of these Single Actions--the units of Plot--we have as +it were the lines of a geometrical design, made up of their details as a +geometrical line is made up of separate points. [_Forms of Dramatic +Action._] The _Form_ of a dramatic action--the shape of the line, so to +speak--will be that which gives the train of incidents its +distinctiveness: the nemesis, the oracle, the problem. An action may get +its distinctiveness from its tone as a Comic Action or a Tragic Action; +or it may be a Character Action, when a series of details acquire a +unity in bringing out the character of Hastings or Lady Macbeth; an +action may be an Intrigue, or the Rise and Fall of a person, or simply a +Story like the Caskets Story. Finally, an action may combine several +different forms at the same time, just as a geometrical line may be at +once, say, an arch and a spiral. The action that traces Macbeth's career +has been treated as exhibiting a triple form of Nemesis, Irony, and +Oracular Action; further, it is a Tragic Action in tone, it is a +Character Action in its contrast with the career of Lady Macbeth, and it +stands in the relation of Main Action to others in the play. + +[_Complexity applied to Action: a distinction of Modern Drama._] + +Now what I have called Single Action constituted the whole conception of +Plot in ancient Tragedy; in the Shakespearean Drama it exists only as a +unit of Complex Action. The application of complexity to action is +rendered particularly easy by the idea of pattern, patterns which appeal +to the eye being more often made up of several lines crossing and +interweaving than of single lines. Ancient tragedy clung to 'unity of +action,' and excluded such matter as threatened to set up a second +interest in a play. Modern Plot has a unity of a much more elaborate +order, perhaps best expressed by the word _harmony_--a harmony of +distinct actions, each of which has its separate unity. The illustration +of harmony is suggestive. Just as in musical harmony each part is a +melody of itself, though one of them leads and is _the_ melody, so a +modern plot draws together into a common system a Main Action and other +inferior yet distinct actions. Moreover the step from melody alone to +melody harmonised, or that from the single instruments of the ancient +world to the combinations of a modern orchestra, marks just the +difference between ancient and modern art which we find reflected in the +different conception of Plot held by Sophocles and by Shakespeare. +Shakespeare's plots are federations of plots: in his ordering of +dramatic events we trace a common self-government made out of elements +which have an independence of their own, and at the same time merge a +part of their independence in common action. + +[_Analysis of Action._] + +The foundation of critical treatment in the matter of Plot is the +_Analysis_ of Complex Action into its constituent Single[5] Actions. +This is easy in such a play as _The Merchant of Venice_. Here two of the +actions are stories, a form of unity readily grasped, and which in the +present case had an independent existence outside the play. These +identified and separated, it is easy also to see that Jessica +constitutes a fresh centre of interest around which other details gather +themselves; that the incidents in which Launcelot and Gobbo are +concerned are separable from these; while the matter of the rings +constitutes a distinct episode of the Caskets Story: already the +junction of so many separate stories in a common working gratifies our +sense of design. In other plays where the elements are not stories the +individuality of the Single Actions will not always be so positive: all +would readily distinguish the Lear Main plot from the Underplot of +Gloucester, but in the subdivision of these difference of opinion +arises. [_Canons of Analysis._] In an Appendix to this chapter I have +suggested schemes of Analysis for each of the five plays treated in this +work: [_Analysis tentative not positive._] I may here add four remarks. +(1) Any series of details which can be collected from various parts of a +drama to make up a common interest may be recognised in Analysis as a +separate action. It follows from this that there may be very different +modes of dividing and arranging the elements of the same plot: such +Analysis is not a matter in which we are to look for right or wrong, but +simply for better or worse. No scheme will ever exhaust the wealth of +design which reveals itself in a play of Shakespeare; and the value of +Analysis as a critical process is not confined to the scheme it +produces, but includes also the insight which the mere effort to analyse +a drama gives into the harmony and connection of its parts. [_Design as +the test of Analysis._] (2) The essence of Plot being design, that will +be the best scheme of Analysis which best brings out the idea of +symmetry and design. [_Analysis exhaustive._] (3) Analysis must be +exhaustive: every detail in the drama must find a place in some one of +the actions. [_The elementary actions not mutually exclusive._] (4) The +constituent actions will of course not be mutually exclusive, many +details being common to several actions: these details are so many +meeting-points, in which the lines of action cross one another.--With +these sufficiently obvious principles I must leave the schemes of +analysis in the Appendix to justify themselves. + +[_The Enveloping Action._] + +In the process of analysis we are led to notice special forms of action: +in particular, the _Enveloping Action_. This interesting element of Plot +may be described as the fringe, or border, or frame, of a dramatic +pattern. It appears when the personages and incidents which make up the +essential interest of a play are more or less loosely involved with some +interest more wide-reaching than their own, though more vaguely +presented. It is seen in its simplest form where a story occupied with +private personages connects itself at points with public history: homely +life being thus wrapped round with life of the great world; fiction +having reality given to it by its being set in a frame of accepted fact. +We are familiar enough with it in prose fiction. Almost all the Waverley +Novels have Enveloping Actions, Scott's regular plan being to entangle +the fortunes of individuals, which are to be the main interest of the +story, with public events which make known history. Thus in _Woodstock_ +a Cavalier maiden and her Puritan lover become, as the story proceeds, +mixed up in incidents of the Commonwealth and Restoration; or again, the +plot of _Redgauntlet_, which consists in the separate adventures of a +pair of Scotch friends, is brought to an issue in a Jacobite rising in +which both become involved. The Enveloping Action is a favourite element +in Shakespeare's plots. In the former part of the book I have pointed +out how the War of the Roses forms an Enveloping Action to _Richard +III_; how its connection with the other actions is close enough for it +to catch the common feature of Nemesis; and how it is marked with +special clearness by the introduction of Queen Margaret and the Duchess +of York to bring out its opposite sides. In _Macbeth_ there is an +Enveloping Action of the supernatural centring round the Witches: the +human workings of the play are wrapped in a deeper working out of +destiny, with prophetic beings to keep it before us. _Julius Cæsar_, as +a story of political conspiracy and political reaction, is furnished +with a loose Enveloping Action in the passions of the Roman mob: this is +a vague power outside recognised political forces, appearing at the +beginning to mark that uncertainty in public life which can drive even +good men to conspiracy, while from the turning-point it furnishes the +force the explosion of which is made to secure the conspirators' +downfall. A typical example is to be found in _Lear_, all the more +typical from the fact that it is by no means a prominent interest in the +play. The Enveloping Action in this drama is the French War. The seeds +of this war are sown in the opening incident, [=i.= i. 265.] in which +the French King receives his wife from Lear with scarcely veiled insult: +[=i.= ii. 23.] it troubles Gloucester in the next scene that France is +'in choler parted.' Then we get, in the second Act, a distant hint of +rupture from the letter of Cordelia read by Kent in the stocks. [=ii.= +ii. 172.] In the other scenes of this Act the only political question is +of 'likely wars toward' between the English dukes; [=ii.= i. 11.] but at +the beginning of the third Act Kent directly connects these quarrels of +the dukes with the growing chance of a war with France: [=iii.= i. +19-34.] the French have had intelligence of the 'scattered kingdom,' and +have been 'wise in our negligence.' In this Act Gloucester confides to +Edmund the feeler he has received from France, [=iii.= iii.] and his +trustfulness is the cause of his downfall; [=iii.= iii. 22.] Edmund +treacherously reveals the confidence to Cornwall, [=iii.= v. 18.] and +makes it the occasion of his rise. Gloucester's measures for the safety +of Lear have naturally a connection with the expected invasion, [=iii.= +vi. 95-108.] and he sends him to Dover to find welcome and protection. +[=iii.= vii. 2, &c.] The final scene of this Act, devoted to the cruel +outrage on Gloucester, shows from its very commencement the important +connection of the Enveloping Action with the rest of the play: the +French army has landed, and it is this which is felt to make Lear's +escape so important, and which causes such signal revenge to be taken on +Gloucester. Throughout the fourth Act all the threads of interest are +becoming connected with the invading army at Dover; if this Act has a +separate interest of its own in Edmund's intrigues with both Goneril and +Regan at once, [=iv.= ii. 11, 15; =iv.= v. 12, 30 &c.] yet these +intrigues are possible only because Edmund is hurrying backwards and +forwards between the princesses in the measures of military preparation +for the battle. The fifth Act has its scene on the battlefield, and the +double issue of the battle stamps itself on the whole issue of the play: +the death of Lear and Cordelia is the result of the French defeat, +while, on the other hand, [=v.= iii. 238, 256.] all who were to reap the +fruits of guilt die in the hour of victory. Thus this French War is a +model of Enveloping Action--outside the main issues, yet loosely +connecting itself with every phase of the movement; originating in the +incident which is the origin of the whole action; the possibility of it +developed by the progress of the Main story, alike by the cruelty shown +to Lear and by the rivalry between his daughters; the fear of it playing +a main part in the tragic side of the Underplot, and the preparation for +it serving as occasion for the remaining interest of intrigue; finally, +breaking out as a reality in which the whole action of the play merges. + +[_Economy: supplementary to Analysis._] + +From Analysis we pass naturally to _Economy_. Considered in the +abstract, as a phase of plot-beauty, Economy may be defined as that +perfection of design which lies midway between incompleteness and waste. +Its formula is that a play must be seen to contain all the details +necessary to the unity, no detail superfluous to the unity, and each +detail expanded in exact proportion to its bearing on the unity. In +practice, as a branch of treatment in Shakespeare-Criticism, Economy, +like Analysis, deals with complexity of plot. The two are supplementary +to one another. The one resolves a complexity into its elements, the +other traces the unity running through these elements. Analysis +distinguishes the separate actions which make up a plot, while Economy +notes the various bonds between these actions and the way in which they +are brought into a common system: it being clear that the more the +separateness of the different interests can be reduced the richer will +be the economy of design. + +[_Economic Forms._] + +It will be enough to note three Economic Forms. [_Connection_] The first +is simple _Connection_: the actual contact of action with action, the +separate lines of the pattern meeting at various points. In other words, +the different actions have details or personages in common. Bassanio is +clearly a bond between the two main stories of _The Merchant of Venice_, +in both of which he figures so prominently; and it has been pointed out +that the scene of Bassanio's successful choice is an incident with which +all the stories which enter into the action of the play connect +themselves. [_and Linking._] There are _Link Personages,_ who have a +special function so to connect stories, and similarly _Link Actions_: +Gloucester in the play of _Lear_ and the Jessica Story in _The Merchant +of Venice_ are examples. Or Connection may come by the interweaving of +stories as they progress: they alternate, or fill, so to speak, each +other's interstices. [from =ii.= i. to =iii.= ii. 319.] Where the Story +of the Jew halts for a period of three months, the elopement of Jessica +comes to occupy the interval; or again, scenes from the tragedy of the +Gloucester family separate scenes from the tragedy of Lear, until the +two tragedies have become mutually entangled. Envelopment too serves as +a kind of Connection: the actions which make up such a play as _Richard +III_ gain additional compactness by their being merged in a common +Enveloping Action. + +[_Dependence._] + +Another Form of Economy is _Dependence_. This term expresses the +relation between an underplot and main plot, or between subactions and +the actions to which they are subordinate. [compare =i.= i. 35, 191.] +The fact that Gloucester is a follower of Lear--he would appear to have +been his court chamberlain--makes the story of the Gloucester family +seem to spring out of the story of the Lear family; that we are not +called upon to initiate a fresh train of interest ministers to our sense +of Economy. + +[_Symmetry._] + +But in the Shakespearean Drama the most important Economic Form is +_Symmetry_: between different parts of a design symmetry is the closest +of bonds. [_Balance._] A simple form of Symmetry is the _Balance_ of +actions, by which, as it were, the mass of one story is made to +counterpoise that of another. If the Caskets Story, moving so simply to +its goal of success, seems over-weighted by the thrilling incidents of +the Jew Story, we find that the former has by way of compensation the +Episode of the Rings rising out of its close, while the elopement of +Jessica and her reception at Belmont transfers a whole batch of +interests from the Jew side of the play to the Christian side. Or again, +in a play such as _Macbeth_, which traces the Rise and Fall of a +personage, the Rise is accompanied by the separate interest of Banquo +till he falls a victim to its success; to balance this we have in the +Fall Macduff, who becomes important only after Banquo's death, and from +that point occupies more and more of the field of view until he brings +the action to a close. Similarly in _Julius Cæsar_ the victim himself +dominates the first half; Antony, his avenger, succeeds to his position +for the second half. [_Parallelism and Contrast._] More important than +Balance as forms of Symmetry are _Parallelism_ and _Contrast_ of +actions. Both are, to a certain extent, exemplified in the plot of +_Macbeth_: the triple form of Nemesis, Irony, and Oracular binding +together all the elements of the plot down to the Enveloping Action +illustrates Parallelism, and Contrast has been shown to be a bond +between the interest of Lady Macbeth and of her husband. But Parallelism +and Contrast are united in their most typical forms in _Lear_, which is +at once the most intricate and the most symmetrical of Shakespearean +dramas. A glance at the scheme of this plot shows its deep-seated +parallelism. A Main story in the family of Lear has an Underplot in the +family of Gloucester. The Main plot is a problem and its solution, the +Underplot is an intrigue and its nemesis. Each is a system of four +actions: there is the action initiating the problem with the three +tragedies which make up its solution, there is again the action +generating the intrigue and the three tragedies which constitute its +nemesis. The threefold tragedy in the Main plot has its elements exactly +analogous, each to each, to the threefold tragedy of the Underplot: Lear +and Gloucester alike reap a double nemesis of evil from the children +they have favoured, and good from the children they have wronged; the +innocent Cordelia has to suffer like the innocent Edgar; alike in both +stories the gains of the wicked are found to be the means of their +destruction. Even in the subactions, which have only a temporary +distinctness in carrying out such elaborate interworking, the same +Parallelism manifests itself. [e.g. =i.= iv. 85-104; =ii.= ii, &c.] They +run in pairs: where Kent has an individual mission as an agency for +good, Oswald runs a course parallel with him as an agency for evil; +[e.g. =iv.= ii. 29; =v.= iii, from 59.] of the two heirs of Lear, +Albany, after passively representing the good side of the Main plot, has +the function of presiding over the nemesis which comes on the evil +agents of the Underplot, while Cornwall, who is active in the evil of +the [=iii.= vii.] Main plot, is the agent in bringing suffering on the +good victims of the Underplot; [=iv.= ii; =iv.= v; =v.= iii. 238.] once +more from opposite sides of the Lear story Goneril and Regan work in +parallel intrigues to their destruction. Every line of the pattern runs +parallel to some distant line. Further, so fundamental is the symmetry +that we have only to shift the point of view and the Parallelism becomes +Contrast. If the family histories be arranged around Cordelia and +Edmund, as centres of good and evil in their different spheres, we +perceive a sharp antithesis between the two stories extending to every +detail: though stated already in the chapter on _Lear_, I should like to +state it again in parallel columns to do it full justice. + + In the MAIN PLOT a Daughter, In the UNDERPLOT a Son, + + Who has received nothing Who has received nothing + but Harm from her father, but Good from his father, + + Who has had her position Who has, contrary to justice, been + unjustly torn from her advanced to the position of an + and given to her innocent elder Brother he had maligned, + undeserving elder Sisters, + + Nevertheless sacrifices Nevertheless is seeking the destruction + herself to save the Father of the Father who _did_ him the + who _did_ the injury from unjust kindness, when he falls by the + the Sisters who _profited_ hand of the Brother who _was wronged_ + by it. by it. + +The play of _Lear_ is itself sufficient to suggest to the critic that in +the analysis of Shakespeare's plots he may safely expect to find +symmetry in proportion to their intricacy. + +[_Movement applied to Plot: Motive Form._] + +Movement applied to Plot becomes _Motive Form_: without its being +necessary to take the play to pieces Motive Form is the impression of +design left by the succession of incidents in the order in which they +actually stand. [_Simple Movement: the Line of Motion a straight line._] +The succession of incidents may suggest progress to a goal, as in the +Caskets Story. This is preeminently Simple[6] Movement: the Line of +Motion becomes a straight line. [_Complicated Movement: the Line of +Motion a curve._] We get the next step by the variation that is made +when a curved line is substituted for a straight line: in other words, +when the succession of incidents reaches its goal, but only after a +diversion. This is what is known as _Complication and Resolution_. A +train of events is obstructed and diverted from what appears its natural +course, which gives the interest of Complication: after a time the +obstruction is removed and the natural course is restored, which is the +Resolution of the action: the Complication, like a musical discord, +having existed only for the sake of being resolved. No clearer example +could be desired than that of Antonio, whose career when we are +introduced to it appears to be that of leading the money-market of +Venice and extending patronage and protection all around; by the +entanglement of the bond this career is checked and Antonio turned into +a prisoner and bankrupt; then Portia cuts the knot and Antonio becomes +all he has been before. [=iii.= ii. 173.] Or again, the affianced +intercourse of Portia and Bassanio begins with an exchange of rings; +[=iv.= ii.] by the cross circumstances connected with Antonio's trial +one of them parts with this token, and the result is a comic +interruption to the smoothness of lovers' life, [=v.= i. 266.] until by +Portia's confession of the ruse the old footing is restored. + +[_Action-Movement distinguished from Passion-Movement._] + +Such Complicated Movement belongs entirely to the Action side of +dramatic effect. It rests upon design and the interworking of details; +its interest lies in obstacles interposed to be removed, doing for the +sake of undoing, entanglement for its own sake; in its total effect it +ministers to a sense of intellectual satisfaction, like that belonging +to a musical fugue, in which every opening suggested has been +sufficiently followed up. We get a movement of quite a different kind +when the sense of design is inseparable from effects of passion, and the +movement is, as it were, traced in our emotional nature. In this case a +growing strain is put upon our sympathy which is not unlike +Complication. But no Resolution follows: the rise is made to end in +fall, the progress leads to ruin; in place of the satisfaction that +comes from restoring and unloosing is substituted a fresh appeal to our +emotional nature, and from agitation we pass only to the calmer emotions +of pity and awe. There is thus a _Passion-Movement_ distinct from +_Action-Movement_; and, analogous to the Complication and Resolution of +the latter, Passion-Movement has its _Strain and Reaction_. [_The Line +of Passion a Regular Arch,_] The Line of Passion has its various forms. +A chapter has been devoted to illustrating one form of Passion-Movement, +which may be called the _Regular Arch_--if we may found a technical term +on the happy illustration of Gervinus. The example was taken from the +play of _Julius Cæsar_, the emotional effect in which was shown to pass +from calm interest to greater and greater degree of agitation, until +after culminating in the centre it softens down and yields to the +different calmness of pity and acquiescence. [_an Inclined Plane_] The +movement of _Richard III_ and many other dramas more resembles the form +of an _Inclined Plane_, [=iv.= ii. 46.] the turn in the emotion +occurring long past the centre of the play. [_or a Wave Line._] Or +again, there is the _Wave Line_ of emotional distribution, made by +repeated alternations of strain and relief. This is a form of +Passion-Movement that nearly approaches Action-Movement, and readily +goes with it in the same play; in _The Merchant of Venice_ the union of +the two stories gives such alternate Strain and Relief, and the Episode +of the Rings comes as final Relief to the final Strain of the trial. + +[_For 'Comedy,' 'Tragedy,' substitute, in the case of Shakespeare,_] + +The distinction between Action-Movement and Passion-Movement is of +special importance in Shakespeare-Criticism, inasmuch as it is the real +basis of distinction between the two main classes of Shakespearean +dramas. Every one feels that the terms Comedy and Tragedy are +inadequate, and indeed absurd, when applied to Shakespeare. The +distinction these terms express is one of Tone, and they were quite in +place in the ancient Drama, in which the comic and tragic tones were +kept rigidly distinct and were not allowed to mingle in the same play. +Applied to a branch of Drama of which the leading characteristic is the +complete Mixture of Tones the terms necessarily break down, and the +so-called 'Comedies' of _The Merchant of Venice_ and _Measure for +Measure_ contain some of the most tragic effects in Shakespeare. The +true distinction between the two kinds of plays is one of Movement, not +Tone. In _The Merchant of Venice_ the leading interest is in the +complication of Antonio's fortunes and its resolution by the device of +Portia. In all such cases, however perplexing the entanglement of the +complication may have become, the ultimate effect of the whole lies in +the resolution of this complication; and this is an intellectual effect +of satisfaction. In the plays called Tragedies there is no such return +from distraction to recovery: our sympathy having been worked up to the +emotion of agitation is relieved only by the emotion of pathos or +despair. Thus in these two kinds of dramas the impression which to the +spectator overpowers all other impressions, and gives individuality to +the particular play, is this sense of intellectual or of emotional unity +in the movement:--is, in other words, Action-Movement or +Passion-Movement. [_'Action-Drama,' 'Passion-Drama.'_] The two may be +united, as remarked above in the case of _The Merchant of Venice_; but +one or the other will be predominant and will give to the play its unity +of impression. The distinction, then, which the terms Comedy and Tragedy +fail to mark would be accurately brought out by substituting for them +the terms Action-Drama and Passion-Drama. + +[_Compound Movement._] + +With complexity of action comes complexity of movement. _Compound +Movement_ takes in the idea of the relative motion amongst the different +actions into which a plot can be analysed. A play of Shakespeare +presents a system of wheels within wheels, like a solar system in motion +as a whole while the separate members of it have their own orbits to +follow. [_Its three Modes of Motion: Similar Motion,_] The nature of +Compound Movement can be most simply brought out by describing its three +leading Modes of Motion. In _Similar Motion_ the actions of a system are +moving in the same form. The plot of _Richard III_, for example, is a +general rise and fall of Nemesis made up of elements which are +themselves rising and falling Nemeses. Such Similar Motion is only +Parallelism looked at from the side of movement. A variation of it +occurs when the form of one action is distributed amongst the rest: the +main action of _Julius Cæsar_ is a Nemesis Action, the two subactions +are the separate interests of Cæsar and Antony, which put together +amount to Nemesis. + +[_Contrary Motion,_] + +In _Contrary Motion_ the separate actions as they move on interfere with +one another, that is, each acts as complicating force to the other, +turning it out of its course; in reality they are helping one another's +advance, seeing that complication is a step in dramatic progress. _The +Merchant of Venice_ furnishes an example. The Caskets Story progresses +without check to its climax; in starting it complicates the Jew +action--for before Bassanio can get to Belmont he borrows of Antonio the +loan which is to entangle him in the meshes of the Jew's revenge; then +the Caskets Story as a result of its climax resolves this complication +in the Story of the Jew--for the union of Portia with Bassanio provides +the deliverer for Bassanio's friend. But in thus resolving the Story of +the Jew the Caskets Story, in the new phase of it that has commenced +with the exchange of betrothal rings, itself suffers complication--the +circumstances of the trial offering the suggestion to Portia to make the +demand for Bassanio's ring. Thus of the two actions moving on side by +side the one interferes with and diverts the other from its course, and +again in restoring it gets itself diverted. This mutual interference +makes up Contrary Motion. + +[_Convergent Motion._] + +A third mode of Compound movement is _Convergent Motion_, by which +actions, or systems of actions, at first separate, become drawn together +as they move on, and assist one another's progress. Once more the play +of _Lear_ furnishes a typical example. This play, it will be +recollected, includes two distinct systems of actions tracing the story +of two separate families. Moreover the main story after its opening +incident presents, so far as movement is concerned, three different +sides, according as its incidents centre around Lear, Goneril, or Regan. +The first link between these diverse actions is Gloucester, the central +personage of the whole plot. [=i.= i. 35, 191.] Gloucester has been the +King's chamberlain and his close friend, [=ii.= i. 93.] the King having +been godfather to his son. Accordingly, in the highly unstable political +condition of a kingdom divided equally between two unprincipled sisters, +Gloucester represents a third party, the party of Lear: he holds the +balance of power, and the effort to secure him draws the separate +interests together. [=i.= v. 1.] Thus as soon as Lear and Goneril have +quarrelled Lear sends Kent to Gloucester, and our actions begin to +approach one another. [=ii.= i. 9.] Before this messenger can arrive we +hear of 'hints and ear-kissing arguments' as to rupture between the +dukes, and we see Regan and her husband making a hasty journey--'out of +season threading dark-eyed night'--[=ii.= i. 121.] in order to be the +first at Gloucester's castle; [=ii.= iv. 192.] when Goneril in +self-defence follows, all the separate elements of the main plot have +found a meeting-point. But this castle of Gloucester in which they meet +is the seat of the underplot, and the two systems become united in the +closest manner by this central linking. [=ii.= i. 88-131, esp. 112.] +Regan arrives in time to use her authority in furthering the intrigue +against Edgar as a means of recommending herself to the deceived +Gloucester; the other intrigue of the underplot, [=iii.= v, &c.] that +against Gloucester himself, is promoted by the same means when Edmund +has betrayed to Regan his father's protection of Lear; while the meeting +of both sisters with Edmund lays the foundation of the mutual +intriguing which forms the further interest of the entanglement between +underplot and main story. All the separate lines of action have thus +moved to a common centre, and their concentration in a common focus +gives opportunity for the climax of passion which forms the centrepiece +of the play. Then the Enveloping Action comes in as a further binding +force, and it has been pointed out above how throughout the fourth and +fifth Acts all the separate actions, whatever their immediate purpose, +have an ultimate reference to Dover as the landing-place of the invading +army: in military phrase Dover is the common _objective_ on which all +the separate trains of interest are concentrating. In this way have the +actions of this intricate plot, so numerous and so separate at first, +been found to converge to a common centre and then move together to a +common _dénouement_. + +[_Turning-points._] + +The distinction of movement from the other elements of Plot leads also +to the question of _Turning-points_, an idea equally connected with +movement and with design. In the movement of every play a Turning-point +is implied: movement could not have dramatic interest unless there were +a change in the direction of events, and such change implies a point at +which the change becomes apparent. Changes of a kind may be frequent +through the progress of a play, but one notable point will stand out at +which the ultimate issues present themselves as decided, the line of +motion changing from complication to resolution, the line of passion +from strain to reaction. [_The Catastrophe: or Focus of Movement._] Such +a point is technically a _Catastrophe_: a word whose etymological +meaning suggests a turning round so as to come down. [_The Centre of +Plot._] In Shakespeare's dramatic practice we find a not less important +Turning-point in relation to the design of the plot. This is always at +the exact centre--the middle of the middle Act--and serves as a +balancing-point about which the plot may be seen to be symmetrical: it +is a _Centre of Plot_ as the Catastrophe is a Focus of Movement. The +Catastrophe of _The Merchant of Venice_ is clearly Portia's judgment in +the Trial Scene, by which in a moment the whole entanglement is +resolved. [=iv.= i. 305.] In an earlier chapter it has been pointed out +how the union of Portia and Bassanio--[=iii.= ii.] at the exact centre +of the play--is the real determinant of the whole plot, uniting the +complicating and resolving forces, and constituting a scene in which all +the four stories find a meeting-point. In _Richard III_, [=iv.= ii. 45.] +while the Catastrophe comes in the hero's late recognition of his own +nemesis, yet there has been, before this and in the exact centre, a turn +in the Enveloping Action, [=iii.= iii. 15.] which includes all the rest, +shown by the recognition that Margaret's curses have now begun to be +fulfilled. The exact centre of _Macbeth_, as pointed out above, [=iii.= +iv. 20.] marks the hero's passage from rise to fall, that is from +unbroken success to unbroken failure: the corresponding Catastrophe in +this play is double, [=iii.= iv. 49; =v.= viii. 13.] a first appearance +of Nemesis in Banquo's ghost, its final stroke in the revelation of +Macduff's secret of birth. [=iii.= i. 122.] _Julius Cæsar_ presents the +interesting feature of the Catastrophe and Central Turning-point exactly +coinciding, in the triumphant appeal of the conspirators to future +history. _Lear_, according to the scheme of analysis suggested in this +work, has its Catastrophe at the close of the initial scene, by which +time the problem in experience has been set up in action, and the +tragedies arising out of it thenceforward work on without break to its +solution. [=iii.= iv. 45.] A Centre of Plot is found for this play +where, in the middle Scene of the middle Act, the third of the three +forms of madness is brought into contact with the other two and makes +the climax of passion complete. This regular union by Shakespeare of a +marked catastrophe, appealing to every spectator, with a subtle +dividing-point, interesting to the intellectual sense of analysis, +illustrates the combination of force with symmetry, which is the genius +of the Shakespearean Drama: it throughout presents a body of warm human +interest governed by a mind of intricate design. + +[_Conclusion._] + +The plan laid down for this work has now been followed to its +completion. The object I have had in view throughout has been the +_recognition_ of inductive treatment in literary study. For this purpose +it was first necessary to distinguish the inductive method from other +modes of treatment founded on arbitrary canons of taste and comparisons +of merit, so natural in view of the popularity of the subject-matter, +and to which the history of Literary Criticism has given an unfortunate +impetus. This having been done in the Introduction, the body of the work +has been occupied in applying the inductive treatment to some of the +masterpieces of Shakespeare. The practical effect of such exposition has +been, it may be hoped, to intensify the reader's appreciation of the +poet, and also to suggest that the detailed and methodical analysis +which in literary study is usually reserved for points of language is no +less applicable to a writer's subject-matter and art. But to entitle +Dramatic Criticism to a place in the circle of the inductive sciences it +has further appeared necessary to lay down a scheme for the study as a +whole, that should be scientific both in the relation of its parts to +one another, and in the attainment of a completeness proportioned to the +area to which the enquiry was limited and the degree of development to +which literary method has at present attained. The proper method for the +nascent science was fixed as the enumeration and arrangement of topics; +and by analogy with the other arts a simple scheme for Dramatic +Criticism was found, in which all the results of the analysis performed +in the first part of the book could be readily distributed under one or +other of the main topics--Character, Passion, and Plot. Incidentally the +discussion of Shakespeare has again and again reminded us of just that +greatness in the modern Drama which judicial criticism with its +inflexibility of standard so persistently missed. Everywhere early +criticism recognised our poet's grasp of human nature, yet its almost +universal verdict of him was that he was both irregular in his art as a +whole, and in particular careless in the construction of his plots. We +have seen, on the contrary, that Shakespeare has elevated the whole +conception of Plot, from that of a mere unity of action obtained by +reduction of the amount of matter presented, to that of a harmony of +design binding together concurrent actions from which no degree of +complexity was excluded. And, finally, instead of his being a despiser +of law, we have had suggested to us how Shakespeare and his brother +artists of the Renaissance form a point of departure in legitimate +Drama, so important as amply to justify the instinct of history which +named that age the Second Birth of literature. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] See note on page 74. + +[6] See note on page 74. + + + + +TABULAR DIGEST OF THE PRINCIPAL TOPICS IN DRAMATIC SCIENCE. + + + +--Single Character-Interest +--Interpretation + | or Character-Interpretation | as an hypotheis + | +--Canons of + | Interpretation + +--Character| + | | +--Character-Contrast + | | | and Duplication + | +--Complex Character-Interest +--Character-Grouping + | | +--Dramatic Colouring + | +--Character-Development + | +--Incident and Situation + | +--Single Passion-Interest | +--Irony + | | +--Effect +--Nemesis + | | +--Dramatic + | | Foreshadowing + | | +--Scale of Passion-Tones + | +--Complex Passion-Interest +--Mixture of Tones + | | or Passion-Tone +--Tone-Play and + | | | Tone-Relief + | | +--Tone-Clash and + | | Tone-Storm + +--Passion| +--Poetic Justice: or Retribution as a + | | | form of Art-beaty + | | | Pathos: or [unretributive] Fate as a + | | | form of Art-beauty + | | | + Dramatic | +--Movement | +--Destiny + Criticism| [Motive | | rationalised + | Force] | | +--Objectively + | | | | in Irony + | | | +--Subjectively + | | | in Infatuation + | +--The Supernatural | + | +--Supernatural + | Agency + | +--Intensifying + | | human action + | +--Illuminating + | | human action + | +--The Oracular + | +--Supernatural + | Background + | + | +--Single Action +--General conception of Single + | | | Actions + | | +--Forms of Dramatic Action + | | + | | +--General conception of Complex + | | | Action + | | +--Analysis of Complex Action + | | | into Single Actions, with + | | | Canons of Analysis + | +--Complex Action | + | | | +--Contact + | | | and Linking + | | | +--Connection + | | | | +--Interweaving + | | +--Economy | +--Envelopment + | | +--Dependence + | | | + | | | +--Balance + +--Plot | +--Symmetry +--Parallelism + | and Contrast + | + | +--Simple Movement: the Line of Motion a + | | straight line + | +--Action-Movement or Complication and + | | Resolution: the Line of Motion a curve + | +--Passion Movement or Strain and + +--Movement | Reaction: the Line of Passion a + [Motive Form] | +--Regular Arch + | +--Inclined Plane + | +--Wave Line + | + | +--Similar Motion + +--Compound (or +--Contrary Motion + | Relative Movement) +--Convergent Motion + | + | +--Catastrophe: + +--Turning-points | or Focus of Movement + +--Centre of Plot + To which may be added +--Mechanical Construction [belonging to Art in + general] + +--Story as Raw Material [belonging to Literary + History] + + + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XIV. + +TECHNICAL ANALYSIS OF THE PLOT OF THE FIVE PLAYS. + + + + +THE MERCHANT OF VENICE. + +AN ACTION-DRAMA. + + +_Scheme of Actions_. + + +--First Main =Cross Nemesis= Action: Story of the Jew: + | complicated and resolved. + | + |+--Sub-Action to First Main, also Link | + | Action: Jessica and Lorenzo: simple | + | movement. | + Main Plot.|+--_Comic Relief Action: Launcelot; +--Underplot. + | stationary_[7]. | + |+--Sub-Action to Second Main: Episode of the | + | Rings: complicated and resolved. | + | + +--Second Main =Problem= Action: Caskets Story: simple + movement. + + External Circumstance[8]: The (rumoured) Shipwrecks. + +_Economy_. + + Two Main Actions connected by Common Personage [Bassanio] and by + Link Action [Jessica]. + + General Interweaving. + + Balance. The First Main Action, which is complicated, balances the + Second, which is simple, by the additions to the latter of the + Jessica interest transferred to it, and the Episode of the Rings + generated out of it. [Pages 82, 88.] + +_Movement_. + + Action-Movement: with Contrary Motion between the two Main Actions. + The First Main complicated and resolved by the Second + + Main [hero of Second, Bassanio, is Complicating Force; heroine of + Second, Portia, is Resolving Force], the Complication assisted by + the External Circumstance of the Shipwrecks--in process of + resolving the First generates a Complication to the Second in the + form of the Episode of the Rings, which is self-resolved. + [Pages 66, 282.] + + Passion-Movement in the background: Wave-Line of Strain and Relief + by alternation of the two main Stories; the Episode of the Rings + is Final Relief to the Final Strain of the Trial. + +_Turning-points._ + + Centre of Plot: Scene of Bassanio's Choice (=iii.= ii.) in which the + Complicating and Resolving Forces are united and all the Four + Actions meet. [Pages 67-8.] + + Catastrophe: Portia's Judgment in the Trial (=iv.= i, from 299). + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[7] Stationary, as having no place in the movement of the plot: its +separateness from the rest of the Jessica Action only for purposes of +Tone-effect, as Comic Relief. + +[8] 'External' as not included in any Action, 'Circumstance' because it +presents itself as a single detail instead of the series of details +necessary to make up an Action. An External Circumstance is analogous to +an Enveloping Action: outside the other Actions, yet in contact with +them at certain points. + + + + +RICHARD THE THIRD. + +A PASSION-DRAMA. + + +_Scheme of Actions._ + +Main =Nemesis= Action: Life and Death of Richard. + + +--CLARENCE has betrayed the Lancastrians + | for the sake of the House of York: + | + | He falls by a treacherous death + | from the KING of the House of + | York.--To this the QUEEN and her + | kindredh ave been assenting + | parties [=ii.= ii. 62-5]: + | + +--The shock of Clarence's death as announced + | by Gloster kills the King (=ii.= i. 131), + | leaving the Queen and her kindred at the + | mercy of their enemies.--Unseemly Exultation + Underplot: System of | of their great enemy HASTINGS: + =Cross Nemesis= | + Actions connecting | The same treachery step by step + Main with YORK side | overtakes Hastings in his + of Enveloping Action. | Exultation [=iii.= iv. 15-95].--In + | this treacherous casting off of + | Hastings when he will no longer + | support them BUCKINGHAM has + | been a prime agent [=iii.= i, + | from 157, =iii.= ii. 114]: + | + +--By precisely similar treachery Buckingham + | himself is cast off when he hesitates to go + | further with Richard [=iv.= ii. and =v.= i.] + +Link =Nemesis= Action connecting Main with LANCASTER side of Enveloping +Action: Marriage of Richard and Anne (p. 113). + +Enveloping =Nemesis= Action: The War of the Roses [the Duchess of York +introduced to mark the York side, Queen Margaret to mark the Lancastrian +side]. + +_Economy_. + + All the Actions bound together by the Enveloping Action of which + they make up a phase. + + Parallelism: the common form of Nemesis. + + Central Personage: Richard. + +_Movement_. + + Passion-Movement, with Similar Motion [form Nemesis repeated + throughout (page 282)]. + +_Turning-points_. + + Centre of Plot: Realisation of Margaret's Curses [turn of Enveloping + Action] in =iii.= iii. 15. + + Catastrophe: Realisation of Nemesis in the Main Action: =iv.= ii, + from 45. + + + + +MACBETH. + +A PASSION-DRAMA. + + +_Scheme of Actions._ + + +--Main =Character= Action: Rise and Fall of Macbeth. + +--=Character= Counter-Action: Lady Macbeth. + + +--=Character= Sub-Action: covering and involved in the Rise: + | Banquo. + +--=Character= Sub-Action: covering and involving the Fall: + Macduff. [Pages 129, 142.] + + Enveloping =Supernatural= Action: The Witches. + +_Economy._ + + Parallelism: Triple form of Nemesis, Irony and Oracular Action + extending to the Main Action, to its parts the Rise and Fall + separately, and through to the Enveloping Action. + + Contrast as a bond between the Main and Counter-Action. + + Balance: the Rise by the Fall, the Sub-Action to the Rise by the + Sub-Action to the Fall. [Page 276.] + +_Movement._ + + Passion Movement, with Similar Motion between all. + +_Turning-points._ + + Centre of Plot: Change from unbroken success to unbroken failure: + =iii.= iii. 18. [Page 127.] + + Catastrophe: Divided: First Shock of Nemesis; Appearance of Banquo's + Ghost: =iii.= iv. + + Final Accumulation of Nemesis: Revelation of + Macduff's birth: =v.= viii. 12. + + + + +JULIUS CÆSAR. + +A PASSION-DRAMA. + + +_Scheme of Actions._ + +Main =Nemesis= Action: Rise and Fall of the Republican Conspirators. + + +--Sub-Action to the Rise [=Character-decline=]: The Victim Cæsar. + +--Sub-Action to the Fall [=Character-rise=]: The Avenger Antony. + +Enveloping Action: the Roman Mob. + +_Economy._ + + Balance about the Centre: the Rise by the Fall, the Sub-Action to + the Rise by the Sub-Action to the Fall. + +_Movement._ + + Passion-Movement, with Similar Motion between the Main and + Sub-Actions. [The form of the Main is distributed between the two + Sub-Actions: compare page 282.] + +_Turning-points._ + + The Centre of Plot and Catastrophe coincide: =iii.= i. between 121 + and 122. + + + + +KING LEAR. + +A PASSION-DRAMA. + + +_Scheme of Actions._ + + Main Plot: a =Problem= Action: Family of Lear: falling into + + Generating Action: Lear's unstable settlement of the kingdom, + [the Problem]. power transferred from the good to the bad. + + +--=Double Nemesis= Action: Lear receiving + | good from the injured and evil from the + | favoured children. + | + System of Tragedies +--=Tragic= Action: Cordelia: Suffering of the + [the Solution]. | innocent. + | + +--=Tragic= Action: Goneril and Regan: Evil + | passions endowed with power using it + | to work their own destruction. + + Underplot: an =Intrigue= Action: Family of Gloucester: falling into + + Generating Action: Gloucester deceived into reversing the positions + [the Intrigue]. of Edgar and Edmund. + + +--=Double Nemesis= Action: Gloucester receiving + | good from the injured and evil from the favoured + | child. + | + System of Tragedies +--=Tragic= Action: Edgar: Suffering of the + [its Nemesis]. | innocent. + | + +--=Tragic= Action: Edmund: Power gained + | by intrigue used for the destruction of + | the intriguer. + +Central Link Personage between Main Plot and Underplot: Gloucester (page +283). + + +--From the good side of | + +--First | the Main: Kent. +--Crossing + | Pair: | | & complicating + | +--From the evil side of | one another. + | | the Main: Oswald. | + | + | +--From the good side of the Main + Sub-Actions, linking | | assisting Nemesis on Evil Agent + Main and Underplot, +--Second | of the Underplot: Albany. + or different | Pair: | + elements of the | +--From the evil side of the Main + Main together. | | assisting Nemesis on Good Victim + | | of the Underplot: Cornwall. + | + +--Third Pair: Cross Intrigues between + | the Evil sides of Main and Underplot + | {Goneril and Edmund} + | {Regan and Edmund } culminating in + | destruction of all three (=v.= iii. 96, 221-7, + | and compare 82 with 160). + +_Farcical Relief Action: The Fool: Stationary._ + +Enveloping Action: The French War: originating ultimately in the Initial +Action and becoming the Objective of the _Dénouement_. [Page 273.] + +_Economy._ + + The Underplot dependent to the Main (page 276). + + Especially: Parallelism and Contrast (page 277). + + Central Linking by Gloucester. + + Interweaving: Linking by Sub-Actions, &c., and movement to a common + Objective. + + Envelopment in Common Enveloping Action. + +_Movement._ + + Passion-Movement, with Convergent Motion between the Main and + Underplot, and their parts: the Lear and Gloucester systems by the + visit to Gloucester's Castle drawn to a Central Focus and then + moving towards a common Objective in the Enveloping Action. [Page + 282.] + +_Turning-points._ + + Catastrophe: at the end of the Initial Action, the Problem being set + up in practical action. [Page 205.] + + Centre of Plot: the summit of emotional agitation when three + madnesses are brought into contact (page 223). + + + + +INDEXES. + + + + +GENERAL INDEX. + + +_For particular Characters or Scenes see under their respective plays._ + + Abbott, Dr., quoted 15. + + Academy, French 18. + + Achilles and the River-god 193. + + + Action a fundamental element of Drama 234-6 + its threefold division 235 + Plot as pure Action 236 + or the intellectual side of Action 268. + + Action, Analysis of: 271-4 + canons of Analysis 271-2 + Enveloping Action 272-4 + =Illustrations= of Enveloping Action: _Richard III_ 273, _Macbeth_ + 273, _Julius Cæsar_ 273, _King Lear_ 273-4. + + 'Action-Drama' as substitute for 'Comedy' 280-1. + + Action, Economy of: 274-8. + General notion and connection with Analysis 274-5 + Economic Forms 275-8 + Connection and Linking 275 + Dependence 276 + Symmetry 276-8 + Balance 276 + Parallelism and Contrast 276-8 + Economy in Technical Analyses of the five plays 291-8. + + Actions, focussing of: 209. + + Action, Forms of Dramatic: 269-70, 125, 202. + + Action, Schemes of in Technical Analyses, 291-8. + + Action, Single and Complex 236, 270, &c. + + Action, Systems of: 108, 110, 208. + + Action, Unity of: 14, 235, 269-71 + unity of action in Modern Drama becomes harmony 270. + + Actions, Varieties of: Character-Action 270; Comic Action 270, + 291; Farcical 291; Generating 297; Initial and Resultant 208; + Intrigue 270, 207; Irony 269; Link 81, 208; Main and Subordinate + 270; Nemesis 269 &c.; Oracular 269 &c.; Problem 269, 202; Relief + 291, 298; Rise and Fall 270, 119, 127; Stationary 291; Story 270; + Tragic 270, 297; Triple 270, 125, 142. + + + Actor, Acting 98, 231. [_See_ Stage-Representation.] + + Addison: + on scientific progress 5 + his Critique of _Paradise Lost_ 16 + his list of English poets 16 + his _Cato_ 17, 19 + on rules of art 20 + on Rymer 21. + + Analysis as a stage in scientific development 228-9. + + Analysis, Dramatic: 227, 271. [_See_ Action, Analysis of.] + + Ancient Drama 125, 259-60 + Mixture of Tones an impossibility 252 + the Supernatural its leading Motive 259 + its unity of action different from that of the Modern Drama 270. + + Ancient Thought, points of difference from Modern: 44, 125-7, 137. + + Antithesis of Outer and Inner (or Practical and Intellectual) Life + 144-6 + as an element in Character-Interpretation 146 + applied to the age of Macbeth 147 + key to the portraiture of Macbeth and his wife 147-167 + applied to the age of Julius Cæsar in the form of policy _v._ + justice 168-71 + connected with character of Antony 182, Brutus 171-6, Cæsar 176-81, + Cassius 181 + applied to the group as a whole 183-4. + + Apparitions: + _Richard III_ 122, + _Macbeth_ 135-6, 140, 167, 262-4. [_See_ Supernatural.] + + Apuleianism 15. + + Arch as an illustration of dramatic form 127, 280 + applied to the Movement in Julius Cæsar 186, 280 + to King Lear: Main Plot 209, + Underplot 215-17. + + Aristotle: his criticism inductive 16 + judicial 16 + his position in the progress of Induction 230 + made Stage-Representation a division of Dramatic Criticism 231 + on the purification of our emotions in the Drama 259. + + Art applied to the repulsive and trivial 90 + common terms in the different arts 168 + Dramatic Art 40, 227 &c. + topics common to the Drama and other arts 232 + Art in general affords a fundamental basis for the Analysis of Drama + 234 + concrete and abstract elements in all the arts alike 234. + + + Background of Nature as an element in dramatic effect 192-4 + its widespread use in poetry 192 + analysed 192 + illustrated in _Julius Cæsar_ in connection with the Supernatural + 193-6 + used in Centrepiece of King Lear 214 + considered as an example of the Supernatural illuminating human + action 266. + + Bacon 28. + + Balance 82, 233 + as an Economic form 276 + in Technical Analyses 291, 295, 296. + + Barbarism of enjoying personal defects 218. + + Beaumont and Fletcher 13. + + _Betrothed, The_: as example of Oracular Action 132. + + Biblical citations: _Psalm_ II (Irony) 138 + conclusion of _Job_ (Dramatic Background) 192. + + Blank Verse 13. + + Boileau on Terence 16 + on Corneille 18. + + Bossu 17, 18. + + Brontë, Charlotte: 30. + + Buckingham 17. + + Byron 14. + + + Caro, Hannibal: 17. + + Catastrophe, or Focus of Movement: 284-5 + =Examples=: _Merchant of Venice_ 285; _Richard III_ 285, 120; + _Macbeth_ 285; _Julius Cæsar_ 285, 198; _King Lear_ 285, 205 + in Technical Analyses 291-8. + + Central Personages 119 + Gloucester in _King Lear_ 206, 207 + Richard 291. + + Centre, Dramatic: 67, 186 + Shakespeare's fondness for central effects 186, 284. + + Centre of Plot 284 + =Examples= 285 + in Technical Analyses 291-8. + + + Character: as an element in Judgment 56 + as an Elementary Topic of Dramatic Criticism 235 + subdivided 235. + + Character, Interest of: 237 and Chapter XII. Character in Drama + presented concretely 237. + Unity in Character-Interest 237-9 + Complexity in Character-Interest 239-242 + Development in Character-Interest 242-5. + Character-Interpretation 237-9. + Character-Foils 239 + Contrast 240 + Duplication 240 + Grouping 241 + Dramatic Colouring 241. + Character-Development 242-5. + + Character-Contrast as a general term 239-42 + strictly so-called 240, 144 and Chapter VII + general and from special standpoints 144 + from standpoint of Outer and Inner Life 144-7, 168-71 + as an Elementary Topic of Dramatic Criticism 236 + =Illustrations=: _Merchant of Venice_ 82-7 _Macbeth_ 144 and Chapter + VII _Julius Cæsar_ 178, &c. + + Character-Development 242-5 + =Illustration=: _Macbeth_ ib. + + Character-Duplication 240 + =Illustrations=: Murderers in _Richard III_ &c. 240-1. + + Character-Foils 239 + Illustrations: Jessica to Lorenzo 85 + Jessica and Lorenzo to Portia and Bassanio 86 + Cassius and Cæsar 179. + + Character-Grouping described 168 + =Illustration=: _Julius Cæsar_ 169 and Chapter VIII. + + Character-Interpretation 236, 237-9 + of the nature of a scientific hypothesis 237 + canons of interpretation 238-9 + applied to more than one Character becomes Character-Contrast 240 + analytical in its nature 186 + has swallowed up other elements of dramatic effect in the popular + estimation of Shakespeare 233 + =Illustration=: _Richard III_ 90 and Chapter IV. + + + Chess with living pieces, an illustration of Passion 185. + + Cibber 17. + + Ciceronianism 15. + + Circumstance External 291. + + Clash of Tones: 253. [_See_ Tone.] + + Classical Drama: _see_ Ancient. + + Classification a stage in development of Inductive Method 228, 229. + + Climax in Passion-Movement 185-7 + applied to _Julius Cæsar_ 186-8 and Chapter IX. + Illustrated in _King Lear_ 202 and Chapter X. + Gradual rise to the climax of the Main Plot 209-15 + the climax itself 215 + climax of Underplot 215-8 + climax of the play double 217 + and triple 218, 223. + + Coleridge 11. + + Collier, Jeremy: 35. + + Colouring. Dramatic: 241-2. + =Illustration=: _Macbeth_ ib. + + 'Comedy' unsuitable as a term in Shakespeare-Criticism 280-1. + + Comic as a Tone 251-2. + + Complex distinguished from Complicated 74 (note) + applied to Plot of _Merchant of Venice_ 74 and Chapter III + Complexity distinguishes the plot of _King Lear_ as compared with + that of _Julius Cæsar_ 186 + traced in plot of _King Lear_ 202, 208-9, &c. + not inconsistent with simplicity 208, 74 + an element of Action 235, 236 + applied to Character 239, Passion 250, Plot 270. + + Complicated distinguished from Complex 74 (note) + Complicated Movement 279. + + Complicating Force 67. + + Complication and Resolution 66, 279 + =Illustration=: _Merchant of Venice_ 67. + + Connection as an Economic form 275 + by Link Personages and Actions 275 + by Interweaving _ib._ + by common Envelopment 276. + + Construction and Creation as processes in Character-Painting 30. + + Contrast as an Economic form 277, 295-8. [_See_ Character-Contrast.] + + Corneille: the Corneille Incident 18 + his _Clitandre_ ib. + + Courage, active and passive 146, 179. + + Cowley 16. + + Creation and Construction as processes in Character-Painting 30. + + + Criticism _à priori_ 24, 37. [_See_ Criticism Judicial.] + + Criticism, Dramatic: as an Inductive Science 40, 227, &c. + surveyed in outline 227 + indirectly by Studies _ib._ + its definition 228-34 + its method 228-30 + its field 230-4 + distinguished from Literary Criticism in general 231 + need not include Stage-Representation 231-2 + common ground between Literary and Dramatic Criticism 232 + between Dramatic Art and Stage-Representation 232-3 + Drama and Representation separable in exposition not in idea 233-4 + fundamental divisions of Dramatic Criticism 234-6 + its elementary Topics tabulated 236 + General Table of its Topics 288. + + Criticism: History of 7-21. [_See_ Criticism, Judicial, + Shakespeare-Criticism.] + + Criticism, Inductive: distinguished from Judicial 2 + the two illustrated by the case of Ben Jonson 2-4 + confusion of the two 4 + gradual development of Inductive method in the history of Criticism + 17-21 + sphere of Inductive Criticism separate from that of the Criticism of + Taste 21 + three main points of contrast between Inductive and Judicial + Criticism 27-40 + (1) as to comparisons of merit 27-32 + (2) as to the 'laws' of Art 32-7 + (3) as to fixity of standard 37-40. + =Difficulties= of Inductive Criticism: want of positiveness in the + subject-matter 23-5 + absence of 'design' in authors 26 + objection as to the ignoring of moral purpose 35 + arbitrariness of literary creation 35-7. + =Principles= and =Axioms= of Inductive Criticism. Its foundation + Axiom: _Interpretation is of the nature of a scientific hypothesis_ + 25 + its antagonism to comparisons of merit 27-9 + concerned with differences of kind rather than degree 29-32 + Axiom: _Its function to distinguish literary species_ 32 + principle that each writer is a species to himself 30-2 + the laws of Art: scientific laws 32-7 + Inductive Criticism has no province to deal with faults 34 + Axiom: _Art a part of Nature_ 36 + Axiom: _Literature a thing of development_ 36 + development to be applied equally to past and new literature 38. + =Illustrations= of Inductive Criticism. Applied by Addison 16, 20; + Aristotle 16; Fontenelle 19; Perrault 19; Gervinus 20; Dr. Johnson + 16. + Applied to the character of Macbeth 24; Music 29; to Charlotte + Brontë and George Eliot 30; Beethoven 34. + + Criticism, Judicial: distinguished from Inductive 2 + the two illustrated by the case of Ben Jonson 2-4 + confusion of the two 4 + three main points of contrast between Judicial and Inductive + Criticism 27-40 + (1) as to comparisons of merit 27-32 + (2) as to the 'laws' of Art 32-7 + (3) as to fixity of standard 37-40. + Illegitimate supremacy of Judicial method in Criticism 4 + connected with influence of the Renaissance 4 + and Journalism 5 + defence: Theory of Taste as condensed experience 6 + the theory examined: judicial spirit a limit on appreciation 6. + =History= of Judicial Criticism a triumph of authors over critics 7-21. + Case of Shakespeare-Criticism 7-11 + other authors 11-13 + defeat of Judicial Criticism in the great literary questions 13-15 + its failure to distinguish the permanent and transitory 15 + its tendency to become obsolete 16 + its gradual modification in the direction of Inductive method + 17-21. + Proper sphere of Judicial Criticism 21 + outside science _ib._ + and belonging to creative literature _ib._ + Vices of Judicial Criticism: + its arbitrary method of eliminating variability of impression in + literary effect 24 + its fondness for comparisons of merit 27 + its attempt to limit by 'laws' 32-5 + its assumption of fixed standards 37-9 + its confusion of development with improvement 39. + =Illustrations= of Judicial Criticism: applied by the French Academy + 18; Aristotle 16; Boileau 16, 18; Byron 14; Dennis 19; Dryden 9, 12, + 13, 17; Edwards 9; Hallam 12; Heywood 10; Jeffrey 12; Dr. Johnson + 10, 12, 16, 19, 20; Lansdowne 9; Macaulay 13; Otway 9; Pope 10, 19; + Rymer 8, 14, 17; Steevens 12, 15; Theobald 10; Voltaire 9, 14, 17. + Applied to Addison's _Cato_ 17; Beethoven 34; Brontë 30; Buckingham + 17; Eliot (Geo.) 30; Gray 12; Greek Drama 30; Herodotus 39; Jonson + (Ben) 2, 17; Keats 12; Milton 11, 12, 14, 17, 39; Montgomery 13; + Roscommon 17; Shakespeare's Plays 8-11, &c.; Shakespeare's Sonnets + 12; Spenser 12, 17; Taylor (Jeremy) 39; Waller 17; Walsh 17; + Waverley Novels 12; Wordsworth 12. + + Criticism of Assaying 2, 6. [_See_ Criticism, Judicial.] + + Criticism of Taste 2, 6, 21-2. [_See_ Criticism, Judicial.] + + Cross Nemeses 291, 293, 47, 51. + + + Dancing (Greek) 231. + + Dennis 19. + + Dependence as an Economic form 276. + + Design, its significance in Criticism 26. + + Destiny interwoven with Nemesis in _Macbeth_ 125 and Chapter VI + conception of it in Ancient and Modern Thought 125, 259-60 + phases of Destiny in Modern Drama 127 + the Oracular Action one phase of Destiny 130 + Irony as a phase of Destiny 137-43 + Destiny acting objectively 260 + rationalised in Modern Drama 260 + as a subjective force, Infatuation 261-2 + rationalised in Shakespeare _ib._ + + Development in literature 37-9 + as an element of Action 235, 236 + applied to Character 242. + + Devices for increasing emotional strain 196. + + Differentiation of matter accompanying progress of Inductive Science + 230 + applied to Dramatic Criticism 231-4. + + Dover as the objective of the plot in _King Lear_ 274, 284. + + Drama: the word 'drama' 234 + Drama a compound art 231 + the Shakespearean a branch of the Romantic Drama 43 + its relations with Stage-Representation 231-2, 233-4, 98 + one of its purposes to interpret the beauty of fate 259. + + Dramatic Satire 3. + + Dryden on Spenser 12, 17 + on Blank Verse 13 + his _Essay on the Drama_ ib. + his _Essay on Satire_ ib. + on Milton's Blank Verse 17 + on Shakespeare's English 15. + + Duplication 240. + + + Economy of Action 274-8 [_see_ Action] + an economy in Richard's Villainy 100. + + Edwards 9. + + Effect as a general term in Dramatic Criticism 248 + strictly so-called _ib._ + an element of Passion _ib._ + distinguished from Situation and Incident 246 + described 248-50 + special Effects: Irony 248, Nemesis 249, Dramatic Foreshadowing 249. + + Elevated as a Tone 251. + + Eliot (Geo.) 30. + + Emerson, quoted 7. + + Emotion as a barrier to crime 93. + + Enveloping Action 273-4, 111 + =Illustrations=: _Richard III_ 111-12; _King Lear_ 273-4 Analogous + to External Circumstance 291 note in Technical Analyses 291-8. + + Envelopment as a kind of Connection 276. + + Euphuism utilised in Brutus's oration 175. + + Eusden 17. + + External Circumstance 291. + + + Farcical as a Tone 251, 252. + + Fascination as an element in human influence 97. + + Fate, determinants of in Drama 255 [_see_ Motive Force] + fate other than retributive included in Poetic Justice 257 + function of Drama to interpret beauty of fate 259. + + Fault as a critical term 32, 34. + + Focussing of trains of passion in _King Lear_ 209. + + Foils 239. [_See_ Character.] + + Fontenelle 19. + + Foreshadowing, Dramatic: 249, 201. + + Free Trade and Free Art 35. + + + Gervinus 11, 20, 127, 280. + + Gloucester: _see King Lear_ and _Richard III_. + + Goethe 11. + + Goldsmith 33. + + Gray 12. + + Grouping 241. [_See_ Character.] + + + Hallam 11, 12. + + _Hamlet_, Play of 262. + + Hedging, Dramatic: 60, 78, 232-3. + =Illustrations=: Shylock 58-61; Richard III, 105; Brutus 176. + + Heraclitus 28. + + Herodotus 39. + + Heroic as a Tone 251. + + Heroic couplet 30. + + Heywood 10. + + Hippolyta 111. + + Hippolytus 45, 126. + + History, its interpretation of events compared with the effect of + the Oracular Action 265. + + Hogarth 7. + + Homer: Episode of Achilles and the River-god 193 + _Iliad_ 23. + + Hugo, Victor: 11. + + Human Interest one of the two leading divisions of Drama 234 + further divided, 235. + + Humour in agony 162-3 + an example of Tone-Clash 254. + + Hybris 49, 262. + + Hysterical passion in _King Lear_ 210-15. + + + Iago compared with Richard III 92 + self-deceived 101. + + Idealisation as a dramatic effect 51 + applied to the Caskets Story 51-4 + of Incident 97. + + _Iliad_ 23, 193. + + Imitation as a force in developing madness 214-15. + + Incident as a division of Passion 246 + distinguished from Situation and Effect _ib._ + =Illustrations=: 246-7. + + Inclined Plane as a form of Passion-Movement 280. + + Inconsistency in characters a mark of unfinished Interpretation 238. + + Indirect elements of Character-Interpretation 238, 86. + + Individuality of authorship corresponds to differentiation of + species 39 + individuality an element in the Inner Life 169. + + Induction: its connection with facts 1 + application to literature 22-40. [_See_ Criticism Inductive.] + Stages in the development of Inductive Science 228-9 + its progress accompanied by differentiation of subject-matter 230 + application to Science of Dramatic Criticism 227 and Chapters XI + to XIV + to the definition of Dramatic Criticism 228. + + Infatuation: Destiny acting as a subjective force 261 + prominence in Ancient Ethics 261 + traces in Scripture expression 261 + rationalised by Shakespeare 261-2. + =Illustrations=: Antonio 262, 49; Cæsar 197; Macbeth 261-2. + + Inner Life 144-6. [_See_ Antithesis of, &c.] + + Interpretation by the actor an element in dramatic analysis 98 + _see_ Character-Interpretation. + + Interweaving of Stories 43-4, 58, 66-73, 74 and Chapter III, 81-2, 87-8 + of light and serious Stories 69-73. [_See_ Story.] + Interweaving as a kind of Connection 275 + in Technical Analyses 291, 298. + + Intrigue Action 207-8 + the Underplot of _King Lear_ 207-8 + Intrigues of Goneril and Regan, 206, 298. + + Irony as a phase of Destiny 137-9 + the word 'irony' 137 + Irony of Socrates, _ib._ + illustrated by Story of Oedipus 138 + in language of Scripture 138 + modified in modern conception 138-9 + connected with Oracular Action 139 + combined with Nemesis 256 + as an objective presentation of Destiny 260-1. + Dramatic Irony as example of mixed Passion 73 + as a mode of emphasising Nemesis 115-119, 120 + as one of the triple Forms of Action in _Macbeth_ 139-42 + as a Dramatic Effect 248-9 + this a contribution of the Greek Stage 248. + Dramatic Irony extended to the language of a scene 249 + Comic Irony 249. + =Illustrations=: in _Merchant of Venice_ 73, 249; _Richard III_ + 115-19, 120, 121, 249, 256; _Macbeth_ 139-142, 256; Macduff 143; + Banquo 142; the Witches Action 143; proclamation of Cumberland 260; + _Julius Cæsar_ 249, 197; _King Lear_ 249; Story of Oedipus 248. + + + Jeffrey 12. + + Jester 218. [_See_ King Lear: Fool.] + + Jew, Story of: 44, &c. [_See_ Story.] + Feud of Jew and Gentile 60 + Jews viewed as social outcasts, 83. + + Job, Book of: its conclusion as an example of Dramatic Background of + Nature 192. + + Johnson, Dr.: on Shakespeare 10-11, 20 + on Milton's minor poems 11 + on Blank Verse 14 + on Metaphysical Poetry 16 + on Addison's _Cato_ 19 + on the Unities 20. + + Jonson, Ben: 2-4 + his Dramatic Satires 3 + his Blank Verse 13 + his _Catiline_ 17. + + Journalism: its influence on critical method 5 + place of Reviewing in literary classification 21-2. + + Judicial Blindness 201, 261. [_See_ Infatuation.] + + + _Julius Cæsar_, Play of: 168-201, Chapters VIII and IX. As an example + of Character-Grouping 168 and Chapter VIII, 241 + example of Enveloping Action 273 + Balance 276 + Regular Arch Movement 280 + Similar Motion 282 + Turning-points 285 + Technical Analysis 296. + + _Julius Cæsar_, Characters in: + Antony balances Cæsar 129 + spared by the Conspirators 171 + contrasted by Cæsar with Cassius 179-80 + his general character 182-3 + its culture 179-80 + self-seeking 182 + affection for Cæsar 183, 199 + his position in the group of characters 183, 184 + peculiar tone of his oratory 198 + dominant spirit of the reaction 198 + upspringing of a character in him 198 + his ironical conciliation of the conspirators 199 + his oration 199-200 + Antony's servant 198. + Artemidorus 196. + Brutus: general character 171-6 + its equal balance 171-5 + its force 171 + softness 173 + this concealed under Stoicism 173, 174-5, 239 + his culture 173 + relations with his Page 173-4 + with Portia 173, 174 + with Cæsar 175 + slays Cæsar for what he might become 175 + position in the State 176 + relations with Cassius 172, 173, 182 + overrules Cassius in council 172 + his general position in the Grouping 183. + Cæsar: a balance to Antony 129 + general discussion of his character 176-81 + its difficulty and contradictions 176-8 + his vacillation 176-7 + explained by the antithesis of Practical and Inner Life 178 + Cæsar pre-eminently the Practical man 178-9 + strong side of his character 176-7 + lacking in the Inner Life 178-9 + compared with Macbeth 178 + a change in Cæsar and his world 180-1 + his superstition 180-1 + position in the Grouping 183 + different effect of his personality in the earlier and later half + of the play 188, 195, 197. + Calpurnia 194-5. + Casca 172, 194, 195. + Cassius: his relations with Brutus 172, 182 + brings out the defective side of Cæsar 179 + contrasted by Cæsar with Antony 179-80 + his character discussed 181-2 + Republicanism his grand passion, _ib._ + a professional politician 182 + his tact 182 + his position in the Grouping 183-4 + his relish for the supernatural portents 195 + his nemesis 249 + Cassius and the eagles 250. + Decius 181, 195. + Ligarius 172. + Page of Brutus 173-4, 201. + Popilius Lena 172, 197. + Portia 173, 174, 196. + Roman Mob 188, 200. + Soothsayer 196, 250. + Trebonius 249. + + _Julius Cæsar_, Incidents and Scenes. + Capitol Scene 196-200 + Conspiracy Scene 171, 172, 176, 181 + its connection with storm and portents 193-4 + Incidents of the Fever and Flood 178, 179 + Funeral and Will of Cæsar 175, 199-200, 239. + + _Julius Cæsar_, Movement of: compared with movement of _King Lear_ 186 + its simplicity and form of Regular Arch 186, 280 + key to the movement the justification of the conspirators' cause 187. + Stages of its Movement: Rise 188-96 + Crisis 196-8 + Catastrophe and Decline 198-201. + Starting-point in popular reaction against Cæsar 188 + Crescendo in the Rise 189-91 + the Conspiracy formed and developing the Strain begins 191-6 + suspense an element in Strain 191 + Strain increased by background of the Supernatural 192-6, 266 + the conspirators and the victim compared in this stage 194-6. + Crisis, the Strain rising to a climax 196-200 + exact commencement of the Crisis is marked 196 + devices for heightening the Strain 196 + the conspirators and victim just before the Catastrophe 197 + the justification at its height 197 + Catastrophe and commencement of the Decline 198 + Antony dominating the Reaction 198 + the Mob won to the Reaction 200. + Final stage of an Inevitable Fate: the Strain ceasing 200-1 + the representative of the Reaction supreme 200 + the position of Conspirators and Cæsar reversed 201 + judicial blindness 201 + the justification ceases 201. + + + Justice Poetic, as a Dramatic Motive 255-7 + the term discussed 255 + Nemesis as a form of Poetic Justice 255-6 + Poetic Justice other than Nemesis 256-7. + + + Keats 12. + + 'Kindness': the word discussed 149-50, 222 + 'milk of human kindness' 149-50. + + + _King Lear_, Play of: as a study in complex Passion and Movement 202 + and Chapter X + compared with _Julius Cæsar_ 186 + affording examples of Plot-Analysis 271 + of Enveloping Action in the French War 273-4 + of Parallelism and Contrast 277-8 + of Convergent Motion 283-4 + Turning-points 285 + Technical Analysis 297-8. + + _King Lear_, Characters in. + Cordelia: her conduct in the Opening Scene 203-4 + her Tragedy 206 + friendship for the Fool 223 + question of her patriotism 257-8 + an illustration of Pathos as a Dramatic Motive 257-9 + connection with the Enveloping Action 274. + Cornwall 212. + Edgar: his Tragedy 208 + his feigned madness and position in the Centrepiece 215-8, 223 + his contact with his father and Lear in the hovel 215-8, 247 + his madness an emotional climax to the Underplot 216. + Edmund compared with Richard III 92 + his charge against Edgar 206 + an agent in the Underplot 207-8 + his Tragedy 208, 216 + example of Irony 249 + connected with the Enveloping Action 274. + The Fool: Institution of the Fool or Jester 218-20 + modern analogue in _Punch_ 219 + utilised by Shakespeare 219 + function of the Fool in _King Lear_ 220-3 + his personal character 223 + friendship with Lear and Cordelia 223. + Gloucester: the central Personage of the Underplot 206-7 + Link Personage between Main and Underplot 275 + the Chamberlain and friend of Lear 276 + his connection with the Enveloping Action 274, 298 + with the Convergent Motion of the Play 283-4, 298. + Goneril 203, 206, 210, 213, 240, 256, 274, 283-4. + Kent represents Conscience in the Opening of the Problem 204-5 + his Tragedy 206. + Lear: his conduct in the opening scene an + example of imperiousness 203-5, 211 + his nemesis double 205-6 + gradual on-coming of madness 209-15 + Lear in the Centrepiece of the play 214-5 + after the centre madness gives place to shattered intellect 215 + his connection with the Fool 220-3 + with the Enveloping Action 274. + Regan 203, 206, 212, 213, 240, 256, 274, 283-4. + + _King Lear_, Incidents and Scenes of: + Opening Scene 203-5 + Stocks Scene 211, 258 + Outrage on Gloucester 247 + Hovel Scene 215-8, 247. + + _King Lear_, Movement of: 202 and Chapter X + its simplicity 208-9 + Lear's madness a common climax to the trains of passion in the Main + Plot 209 + Rise of the Movement in the waves of on-coming madness 209-15 + form of movement a Regular Arch, _ib._ + connection of the Fool with the Rise of the Movement 220-23 + passage into the Central Climax marked by the Storm 214-5 + Central Climax of the Movement 214-8 + effect on Lear of the Storm 214 + of contact with Edgar 215 + Edgar's madness a common Climax to the trains of passion in the + Underplot 215-7 + the Central Climax a trio of madness 217-23 + an example of Tone-Storm 254. + + _King Lear_, Plot of: + The Main Plot a Problem Action 202-6 + the Problem enunciated in action 203-5 + Solution in a triple Tragedy 205-6 + Parallelism between Main and Underplot 206-8, 277-8, 297. + The Underplot an Intrigue Action 207-8 + its Initial Action 207 + its resultant a triple Tragedy parallel with that of the Main Plot + 207-8 + Main and Underplot drawn together by common Central Climax 208 + by Dependence 276 + by Convergent Motion 282-4, 298. + + + Kriegspiel 185. + + + Laius 134. + + Lansdowne 9. + + Laureate, Poets preceding Southey: 17. + + Law as a term in Criticism and Science generally 32-7. + + Legal evasions 65. + + Lessing 11. + + Light as a Tone 251, 252. + + Line of Motion 278-9. + + Line of Passion 280. + + Linking 275. + + Lycurgus 45. + + Lyrics of Prose 22. + + + Macaulay 2, 3, 13 + on active and passive courage 146. + + + _Macbeth_, Play of: + affords examples of Dramatic Colouring 241-2 + Enveloping Action (the Witches) 273 + Balance 276 + Parallelism and Contrast 277 + Technical Analysis 295. + + Macbeth, Character of: + an illustration of methodical analysis 24 + compared with Richard 92 + with Julius Cæsar 178 + an example of Character-Development 243-5. + General Analysis 147-154, 161, 243-5. + Macbeth as the Practical Man 147-54 + his nobility superficial 148, 161 + his character as analysed by his wife 148-50 + illustrated by his soliloquy 151-3 + compared in action and in mental conflicts 153, 162 + flaws in his completeness as type of the practical 154 + Macbeth's superstition 154, 159, 162, 165-6, 167, 243-5 + his inability to bear suspense 154, 160, 162, 163, 164-5, 243-5. + Macbeth under temptation 158 + in the deed of murder 161 + his break-down and blunder 162 + in the Discovery Scene 163 + his blunder in stabbing the grooms 163 + under the strain of concealment 164 + confronted with the Ghost of Banquo 165 + nemesis in his old age 167 + and his trust in the false oracles 167. + Macbeth an example of Infatuation 261-2 + relations with the Witches 263-4 + not turned from good to evil by their influence 263. + + Macbeth (Lady), Character of: 154-6 + type of the Inner Life 154-6 + her tact 155, 161, 164, 165 + her feminine delicacy 156, 161, 162, 166 + her wifely devotion 156. + Lady Macbeth under temptation 159 + in the deed of murder 161 + in the discovery 163 + her fainting 164 + under the strain of concealment 165 + her tact in the Ghost Scene 165 + her gentleness to Macbeth 166 + her break-down in madness 166. + + Macbeth, Lord and Lady, as a Study in Character-Contrast 144 and + Chapter VII, 240 + rests on the Antithesis of the Practical and Inner Life 147-56. + The Contrast traced through the action of the play 156-67 + relations at the beginning of the play 156-8 + first impulse to crime from Macbeth 156 + the Temptation 158-61 + the meeting after their separate temptations 160-1 + the Deed 161-3 + the Concealment 163-5 + the Nemesis 165-7. + + _Macbeth_, other Characters in. + Banquo: his attitude to the supernatural compared with Macbeth's + 154, 159, 263 + the attempt against Banquo and Fleance the end of Macbeth's success + and beginning of his failure 127 + binds together the Rise and Fall 137 + Macbeth's exultation over it 153 + the Banquo Action balances the Macduff Action 129 + gives unity to the Rise 127-9 + partakes the triple form of the whole play 142. + Fleance: _see_ Banquo. + Lennox 128, 163. + Macduff: massacre of his family 130, 141 + his position in the scene with Malcolm 140, 247 + the Macduff Action balances the Banquo Action 129 + gives unity to the Fall 129-30 + partakes triple form of the whole play 142 + example of Oracular Action 265-6. + Malcolm 139, 247. + The Porter 253. + The Witches 129, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 141 + their use to rationalise Macbeth's Infatuation 262 + an example of the Supernatural intensifying human action 263-4 + their different behaviour to Macbeth and Banquo 263-4 + their exact function in the play 264 + the Witches Action an Enveloping Action 295, 143 + partakes the triple form of the whole play 143. + + _Macbeth_, Incidents and Scenes in: + Witches Scene 158-9, 263-4 + Apparitions Scene 130, 135, 140 + Ghost Scene 165-6, 247 + Proclamation of Cumberland 135, 151, 260 + Dagger Scene 153, 247 + Discovery Scene 163 + Flight of Duncan's Sons 139, 164, 261 + Macduff with Malcolm in England 140, 247 + the Sleep-walking 166-7 + Final Combat 261. + + _Macbeth_, Movement of: its four Stages 158-67 + The Temptation 158-61 + The Deed 161-3 + The Concealment 163-5 + The Nemesis 165-7. + + _Macbeth_, Plot of: the interweaving of Nemesis and Destiny 127 and + Chapter VI + its Action multiple in form 127, 270. + _Macbeth_ as a Nemesis Action 127-30 + the Rise 127 + the Fall 129 + the Rise and Fall together 127. + _Macbeth_ as an Oracular Action 130-7 + the Rise 134 + the Fall 135 + the Rise and Fall together 136. + _Macbeth_ as an Irony Action 139-43 + the Rise 139 + the Fall 140 + the Rise and Fall together 141. + + + Madness distinguished from Passion 209 + connected with inspiration 218 + madness of Lear: its gradual oncoming in waves of hysterical passion + 209 + change in its character after the Centrepiece 215 + it makes the Passion-Climax of the main Plot 209 + the madness of passion 217 + madness of Edgar: the madness of idiocy 217-8 + feigned 216 + common Climax of the passions of the Underplot 215-8 + madness of the Fool: professional madness 218-23 + madness-duett 217-8 + madness-trio 218, 223. + + Malone 15. + + _Measure for Measure_, Play of: 281. + + Mechanical Construction 233, and Chapters II and III generally. + + Mechanical Details utilised 77, 233. + + Mechanical Difficulties, their Reduction: 76-7 + the three months' interval in the Story of the Jew 77 + the loss of Antonio's ships 77 + not always necessary to solve these 77. + + Mechanical Personages 75 + their multiplication in Romantic Drama _ib._ + + Melodrama 118. + + Mephistopheles compared with Richard 92. + + + _Merchant of Venice, The_, Play of: as an illustration of the + construction of Drama out of Story 43-89 + Story as the Raw Material of the Romantic Drama 43 + the two main Stories in the _Merchant of Venice_ considered as Raw + Material 43 + Story of the Jew gives scope for Nemesis 44-51 + Antonio side of the Nemesis 47-9 + Shylock side of the Nemesis 49-51 + Caskets Story gives scope for Idealisation 51-7 + Problem of Judgment by Appearances idealised 52-4 + its solution: Character as an element in Judgment 54-7 + characters of the three Suitors 55-6. + Working up of the two Main Stories 58 and Chapter II. + Reduction of Difficulties 58-66 + Monstrosity in Shylock's Character met by Dramatic Hedging 58-61 + Difficulties as to the pound of flesh 61-6 + significance of the discussion on interest 61-4. + Interweaving of the two Stories 66-73 + assistance it gives to the movement of the play 66 + to the symmetry of the plot 67-9 + union of a light and serious story 69-73. + Further multiplication of Stories by the addition of an Underplot 74 + and Chapter III. + Paradox of simplicity by means of complexity 74-5 + uses of the Jessica Story 75-87 + characters of Jessica and Lorenzo 82-7 + uses of the Rings Episode 87-9. + The play illustrates every variety of Tone 251-2 + Tone-Play 253 + Turning-points 285, 68 + Complication and Resolution 279, 66-7 + Central effects 67-8 + Interweaving 275-6 + Wave Form of Passion-Movement 280 + Contrary Motion 282. + Plot analysed 271 + Technical Analysis 291-2. + + _Merchant of Venice_, Characters in: + Antonio 247 + his nemesis 47-9 + general character 47 + friendship with Bassanio 47, 85 + conduct in Bond Scene 48-9, 61, 262 + centre of the serious side of the play 69-70 + the loss of his ships 77 + his sadness 250 + his pathetic humour 254. + Arragon 55, 240, 251. + Bassanio: friendship with Antonio 47, 85 + as a suitor 56 + his part in the Bond Scene 61 + in the Trial 73 + in the Rings Episode 72, 88 + a scholar 76 + set off by Lorenzo 86 + a Link Personage 88, 275 + seen at a disadvantage in the play 86, 238 + example of Tone-Clash 254. + Bellario 66. + Duke 64, 65. + Gobbo 76, 252. + Gratiano 60, 76, 84, 239, 249, 252. + Jessica, her Story 75-87, 68, &c. + her character 82-7 + a compensation to Shylock 80 + her attraction to Portia 87 + foil to Portia 86 + in Moonlight Scene 247. + Launcelot 76, 83, 84, 252. + Lorenzo: his character 85-7 + its alleged inconsistency 238 + a foil to Bassanio 86 + in Moonlight Scene 247. + Morocco 55, 240, 251. + Nerissa 76, 239, 252. + Portia as centre of the lighter side of the play 69-70, 252 + in the Trial Scene 49-51, 65-6, 70-3 + her plea an evasion 65 + playing with the situation 70-2 + her outburst on mercy 73, 251 + the Rings Stratagem 72 + relations with Jessica 85-6 + her character 88-9. + Salarino 48, 60, 76, 84. + Salanio 60, 76. + Salerio 76. + Shylock as a study of Nemesis 49-51 + in the Trial Scene 49-51, 247 + his character 59-61 + sentence on him 60, 80, 257 + relation with Jessica 78-81, 83. + Tubal 60, 76, 79, 239, 247. + + _Merchant of Venice_, Incidents and Scenes in: + Bond Scene 48-9, 61-4, 262 + Scene of Bassanio's Choice 55, 56, 68, 253, 275 + Scene between Shylock and Tubal 79, 247 + Trial Scene 49 + its difficulties 64-6 + its mixture of passions 70-2, 73 + as an Incident 246 + its Comic Irony 249 + its Tone-Clash 254 + sentence on Shylock 257. + Moonlight Scene 247. + + + Merivale on Roman Life 170. + + _Midsummer Night's Dream_, Play of 111. + + 'Milk of human kindness' 149-50. + + Milton's _Paradise Lost_ 11 + minor poems 11, 12 + versification 12, 13, 14 + his Satan 123 + on the Inner Life 144 + his use of the Background of Nature 192. + + Mixture of Tones 251-3. [_See_ Tone.] + + Mob in _Julius Cæsar_ 296, 188, 200. + + Molière 16. + + Montgomery, Robert 13. + + + Motion, Line of: 278-9. + + Motion, Modes of: 281-4 + Similar Motion 282, 294, 295, 296 + Contrary Motion 282, 291 + Convergent Motion 282-4, 298. [_See_ also Movement.] + + Motive, Dramatic: 255-67. [_See_ Motive Force.] + + Motive Force, or Dramatic Motive: 254-67 + General idea 254-5 + distinguished from Motive Form _ib._ + =Leading Motive Forces=: Poetic Justice 255-7 + Pathos 257-9 + the Supernatural 259-67. + Motive Force in _Richard III_ is Nemesis 119 + in _Macbeth_ the original oracle of the Witches 137. + + Motive Form distinguished from Motive Force 254 + general exposition 278-87. + + Movement: as an element in Drama 185 + Arch form applied to 186 + simple in _Julius Cæsar_, complex in _King Lear_ 186, 202 + traced in _Julius Cæsar_ 185 and Chapter IX + in _King Lear_ 202 and Chapter X. + Movement as one division of Action 235, 236 + applied to Character as Character-Development 242 + applied to Passion 254 [_see_ Motive Force] + applied to Plot 278 [_see_ Motive Form]. + Movement shown in the Technical Analyses 291-8. + + Movement, Centre of, Focus of: 284-5. [_See_ Catastrophe.] + + Movement, Single[9] 278-81 + its division into Simple and Complicated 278-9 + Action-Movement and Passion-Movement 279-80 + this distinction the basis of the main division of Shakespeare's + plays 279-81 + varieties of Passion-Movement 280. + Compound Movement 281-4 + general idea 281 + its three Modes of Motions: + Similar Motion 282 + Contrary Motion 282 + Convergent Motion 282-4. + + Movement, Varieties of: + Single[9] 278 + Compound 281-4 + Simple[9] and Complicated[9] 278-9 + Action and Passion 279-81, 291-8 + Regular Arch 280 + Inclined Plane 280 + Wave 280 + Similar 282 + Contrary 282 + Convergent 282-4. + + + Multiplication of Actions 269-71 + of Stories 74. [_See_ Story.] + + + Nemesis as a dramatic idea 44 + ancient and modern conception 44-5 + its change with change in the idea of Destiny 126 + its distinction from Justice 44 + connection with Fortune 44 + with risk 45 + proverbs of Nemesis 46 + connection with _hybris_ 49. + Nemesis needed to counterbalance Richard's Villainy 106 + woven into history in _Richard III_ 107 and Chapter V + a system of Nemesis Actions in the Underplot of _Richard III_ 108-119 + modes of emphasising 114-18 + its multiplication a suitable background to Richard's character 118. + Nemesis interwoven with Destiny in _Macbeth_ 125 and Chapter VI + applied to the plot of _Macbeth_ 127-30. + Nemesis as a Dramatic Effect 249 + as a Dramatic Motive 255-6. + + Nemesis, Varieties of: + Surprise 47 + Expectation and Satisfaction 49 + Unlooked-for Source 256 + Equality, or Measure for Measure 49, 120, 127, 208, 256 + Sureness or Delay 120, 256 + Suddenness 198, 256 + Repetition and Multiplication 256, 107 and Chapter V generally + Self-inflicted 256 + the Prize of Guilt 256 + Combined with Mockery 256 and compare 115-9 + Double 47, 205-6, 207-8 + Cross Nemeses 291, 293, compare 47, 51. + + Nemesis, =Illustrations= of: + Anne 113 + Antonio 47 + Buckingham 109 + Cæsar 197 + Cassius 249 + Clarence 108 + the Conspirators in _Julius Cæsar_ 201, 256 + Edmund 208, 216-7 + King Edward IV 108 + Gloucester (in _King Lear_) 207-8, 216-7 + Goneril and Regan 206, 256 + Hastings 109 + Hippolytus 45 + in the Story of the Jew 46 + Lear 205-6, 209-15, 220-3, 256 + Lycurgus 45 + Macbeth 217-30, 165-7, 256 + Lady Macbeth 166 + Macduff 129 + Pentheus 45 + Polycrates 45 + Queen and her kindred (_Richard III_) 108 + Regan 206, 256 + Richard III 119-24, 256 + Shylock 49, 256 + Wars of the Roses 111-3. + + + Objective to the plot of _King Lear_ 284, 298. + + Observation as a Stage of Inductive Science 228-9. + + Oedipus as an example of Oracular Action 134 + of Irony 138. + + Omens 193, 201. [_See_ Supernatural.] + + Oracular Action 130-4 + applied to Macbeth 134-7 + as an example of Supernatural agency illuminating human action 265-6 + compared with the illumination of history 265. + =Illustrations=: + of the first type 131, 134, 135 + of the second 132, 134 + of the third 133, 136. + + _Othello_, play of: Rymer on 8, 9 + Iago 92, 101. + + Otway 9. + + Outer and Inner Life 144-6. [_See_ Antithesis.] + + Overwinding as an illustration for the Movement of _Macbeth_ 137. + + + Paradox of simplicity by means of complexity 74. + + Parallelism 276-8 [_see_ Action, Economy of] + between Main and Underplot in _King Lear_ 206-9, 277-8, 297 + other illustrations in the Technical Analyses 291, 295. + + + Passion 246 + as an element in Drama 185-6 + its connection with Movement _ib._ + as an Elementary Topic in Dramatic Criticism 235 + subdivided 236. =Examples:= _Julius Cæsar_ 185 and Chapter IX; + _Lear_ 202 and Chapter X. + + 'Passion-Drama' as substitute for 'Tragedy' 280-1, 293, 295, 296, 297. + + Passion, Interest of: 246 and Chapter XIII + general description 246 + unity in Passion-Interest 246-50 [_see_ Incident, Situation, and + Effect] + complexity in Passion-Interest 250-4 [_see_ Tone] + Movement applied to Passion 254-67, 236 [_see_ Motive Force]. + + Passion, Line of: 280. + + Passion-Movement 254-67, 236. [_See_ Motive Force.] + + Passion-Strain 186 + Strain and Reaction 280. + =Examples:= _Julius Cæsar_ 191-201; _King Lear_ 208, 215. + + + Pathos as a Dramatic Motive 257-9. + + St. Paul and Nemesis 47. + + Pentheus 45. + + Perrault 19. + + Perspective in Plot 118. + + Pharaoh an example of Infatuation 261. + + Physical passion or madness in Lear 210-5 + external shocks as a cause of madness 214. + + Plato's _Republic_ and its treatment of liberty 170. + + + Plot as an Elementary Topic in Dramatic Criticism 236 + the intellectual side of Action, or pure Action 236 + Shakespeare a Master of Plot 69, 269 + close connection between Plot and Character illustrated by _Richard + III_ 107 and Chapter V + this play an example of complexity in Plot 107 + perspective in Plot 118 + _Macbeth_ an example of subtlety in Plot 125, 142 + Plot analytical in its nature 186 + simple in _Julius Cæsar_, complex in _King Lear_ 202 + effect on the estimation of Plot of dissociation from the theatre 233 + the most intellectual of all the elements of Drama 233 + Technical Analyses of Plots 291-8. + + Plot, Interest of: 268 and Chapter XIV. + Definition of Plot 268-9 + its connection with design and pattern 268, 269, 270, 272, 108, + 111, 118, 202 + its dignity 268. + Unity applied to Plot 269-70 [_see_ Action Single; Action, Forms of] + complexity applied to Plot 270-8 [_see_ Action Analysis, Economy] + complexity of Action distinguishes Modern Drama from Ancient 270 + Unity of Action becomes in Modern Drama Harmony of Actions 270 + Shakespeare's plots federations of plots 271. + Movement applied to Plot, or Motive Form 278-85. [_See_ Action + Single and Compound, Turning-points.] + + + Poetic Justice 255-7. [_See_ Justice.] + + Polycrates 45, 126. + + Pope 10, 17, 19. + + Portia: see _Merchant of Venice_ + _Julius Cæsar_. + + Practical Life 144-6. [_See_ Antithesis.] + + Problem Action 202-6, 224, 269 + of Judgment by Appearances 52-6. + + Prometheus 122-3. + + _Proverbs_, Book of: quoted 144. + + Proverbs of Nemesis 46. + + Providence as modern analogue of Destiny 125. + + Puritan Revolution, its effect on Dramatic Criticism 232. + + Pye 17. + + + Quilp compared with Richard III 92, 94. + + + _Rambler_ 17. + + Raw Material of the Romantic Drama 43, 232. + + Reaction 198. [_See_ Passion-Strain.] + + Reduction of Difficulties an element in Dramatic workmanship 58, 233 + illustrated: _Merchant of Venice_ 58-66. + + Reed 8. + + Relief 253. [_See_ Tone.] + + Renaissance and its influence on critical method 4, 18, 230 + Shakespeare a type 287. + + Representation 231. [_See_ Stage.] + + Resolution 67, 279. [_see_ Complication.] + Resolving Force 67. + + Reviewing, the lyrics of prose 22. + + Rhymed couplet 30 + its usage by Shakespeare 135. + + + _Richard III_, Play of: an example of the intimate relation between + Character and Plot 107 + treated from the side of Character 90 and Chapter IV + from the side of Plot 107 and Chapter VI + its Enveloping Action, the wars of the Roses 273, 276 + its Turning-points 285 + its form of Passion-Movement 280 + affords examples of Situations 247 + of Dramatic Foreshadowing 250 + of Similar Motion 282. + + Richard III, Character of: 90 and Chapter IV + Ideal Villainy 90-1, 237 + in scale 91 + development 91, 243 + not explained by sufficient motive 92 + an end in itself 93. + Richard as an Artist in Villainy 93-6 + absence of emotion 93 + intellectual enjoyment of Villainy 95-6. + His Villainy ideal in its success 96-103 + fascination of irresistibility 97, 103 + use of unlikely means 98 + economy 99 + imperturbability and humour 100-1 + fairness 101 + recklessness suggesting resource 101, 239 + inspiration as distinguished from calculation 102 + his keen touch for human nature 102. + Ideal and Real Villainy 104 + Ideal Villainy and Monstrosity 105. [Also called Gloster.] + + _Richard III_, Characters in: + Anne 94, 113, 115 [_see_ Wooing Scene] + Buckingham 91, 96, 100, 109, 115, 118, 121, 240 + Catesby 117, 240 + Clarence 108, 114, 116 + his Children 109 + his Murderers 240-1 + Derby 117 + Dorset 120 + Elizabeth 121 + Ely 100, 121 + Hastings 91, 98, 109, 114, 115, 117, 240, 249 + King Edward IV 99, 108, 114, 117 + King Edward V 100, 240, 250 + Lord Mayor 99 + Margaret 94, 112, 115, 247 + Queen and her kindred 98, 108, 114, 115, 116 + Richmond 120, 121 + Stanley 117, 123 + Tyrrel 94, 240 + York 99, 240 + Duchess of York 95, 111. + + _Richard III_, Incidents and Scenes in: + Wooing Scene 247 + analysed 103-4 + an example of fascination 94, 97 + Richard's blunders 102, 239. + Margaret and the Courtiers 94, 247 + Reconciliation Scene 99, 117 + Murder of Clarence 116, 240-1, 246. + + _Richard III_, Plot of: 107 and Chapter V. + How Shakespeare weaves Nemesis into History _ib._ + Its Underplot as a system of Nemesis 108 + its Enveloping Action a Nemesis 111 + further multiplication of Nemesis 112 + special devices for neutralising the weakening effect of such + multiplication 114-8 + the multiplication needed as a background to the villainy 118 + Motive Force of the whole a Nemesis Action 119. + Fall of Richard 119-23 + protracted not sudden 119, 256 + Turning-point delayed 120 + tantalisation and mockery in Richard's fate 121-4 + Climax in sleep and the Apparitions 122 + final stages 123 + play begins and ends in peace 123. + + + Roman political life 169-71 and Chapter VIII generally + its subordination of the individual to the State 170 + a change during Cæsar's absence 180, 183. + + Romantic Drama: + Shakespeare its Great Master 40, 43 + its connection with Stories of Romance 43. + + _Romeo and Juliet_, Play of: 9. + + Roscommon 17. + + Rowe 17. + + Rymer the champion of 'Regular' Criticism 8 + on Portia 8 + and _Othello_ generally 8 + on _Paradise Lost_ 11 + on Blank Verse 14 + on Modern Drama 17 + on _Catiline_ 17 + on Classical Standards 18 + his _Edgar_ 21. + + + Satire, Dramatic 3. + + Scale of Passion-Tones 251. + + Schlegel 11. + + Science of Dramatic Art 40, 227. [_See_ Criticism.] + + Scudéry 18. + + Serious as a Tone 251. + + Shadwell 17. + + Shakespeare-Criticism, History of, in five stages 8-11. + + Shakespeare's English 15 + his Sonnets 12. + + Situation, Dramatic: 247-8. + + Socrates 230. + + Sophocles 270. + + Spenser 12, 17, 30. + + Sprat 16. + + Stage-Representation: an element in Interpretation 98 + an allied art to Drama 231 + separated in the present treatment 231-2 + in exposition but not in idea 233-4. + + Stationary Action 291 note. + + Steevens 12, 15. + + Stoicism 144, 173, 174, 175, 179, 188. + + Storm in _Julius Cæsar_ 192-6, 214 [_see_ Background of Nature] + in _King Lear_ 214-5. + + + Story as the Raw Material of the Shakespearean Drama 43 and Chapter + I, 232 + construction of Drama out of Stories illustrated in _The Merchant of + Venice_ 43-89 + two Stories worked into one design in _The Merchant of Venice_ 58 + and Chapter II + in _King Lear_ 206 + Multiplication and Interweaving of Stories 66-73 + effects on Movement 66-7 + of Symmetry 67-9 + interweaving of a Light with a Serious Story 69-73 + effects of + Human Interest 70 + of Plot 70 + of Passion 70-3. + + Story of the Jew 43, 44-51. + Its two-fold Nemesis 46-51 + its difficulties met 58-66 + Complicated and Resolved 67 + connection with the Central Scene 68 + its mechanical difficulties 76-7. + + Story of the Caskets 44, 51-6. + An illustration of Idealisation 51 + careful contrivance of inscriptions and scrolls 53, 54 + its problem 52 + and solution 54 + connection with the central scene 68. + + Story of Jessica 75-87. + Its connection with the central scene 68 + an Underplot to _The Merchant of Venice_ 75-87 + its use in attaching to Plot the Mechanical Personages 75 + and generally assisting Mechanism 76-7 + helps to reduce difficulties in the Main Plot 77-80 + a Link Action 81 + assists Symmetry and Balance 82 + assists Characterisation 82-7. + + Story [or Episode] of the Rings: its uses in the Underplot of _The + Merchant of Venice_ 87-9 + compare 68, 72. + + Strain of Passion 186. [_See_ Passion-Strain.] + + Sub-Actions: + Launcelot 76, 291 + Cæsar and Antony 282, 296 + in Technical Analyses 291-8. + + Supernatural, The, as a Dramatic Motive 259-67. + Different use in Ancient and Modern Drama 259 + rationalised in Modern Drama 260. + In an objective form as Destiny 260-1 + in a subjective form as Infatuation 261-2. + Supernatural Agencies 262-7 + not to be explained as hallucinations 262 + Shakespeare's usage of Supernatural Agency: + to intensify human action 263-4 + to illuminate human action 263-4 + the Oracular 265-6 + the Dramatic Background of Nature 266. + =Illustrations=: + the Apparitions to Richard 122 + the Ghost of Banquo 165-6 + the Apparitions in _Macbeth_ 135, &c. + the Witches 158, 263 + portents in _Julius Cæsar_ 193-4 + the Ghost of Cæsar 201 + omen of Eagles to Cassius 201. + + Symmetry as a dramatic effect 68, 233 + as a form of Economy 276-8. + =Illustrations=: _Merchant of Venice_ 67-8; _King Lear_ 207-9, + 277-8. + + Systematisation as a Stage of scientific progress 228, 229. + + + Table of Elementary Topics 236 + of general Topics 288. + + Taste as condensed experience 6. [_See_ Criticism.] + + Tate 17. + + Taylor (Jeremy) 39. + + _Tempest_, Play of: 10. + + Terence 16. + + Thackeray on the Inner Life 144. + + Themistocles, Story of: 131. + + Theobald 10. + + Theseus and Hippolyta 111. + + Tieck 11. + + Tito Melema compared with Richard 91. + + Tone as a dramatic term: + the application of complexity to Passion 236 + Passion-Tones 250-4 + Scale of Tones 251. + Mixture of Tones 251-4 + this unknown to the Ancient Drama 252 + mere mixture in the same field 251-2 + mixture in the same Incident: + Tone-Play 253 + Tone-Relief _ib._ + Tone-Clash _ib._ + Tone-Storm 254. + + Topics as a technical term in science 229-30 + topical stage of development in sciences 229 + applied to Dramatic Criticism 229-30 and Chapter XI + Elementary Topics of Dramatic Criticism 236 + General Table of Topics 288 + Topics common to Dramatic and other arts 232. + + Touchstone 223. + + 'Tragedy' or 'Passion-Drama' 280-1 + Tragedies of Lear 205-6, &c., 209-15, 220-3 + of Cordelia and + Kent 206 + of Goneril and Regan 206 + of Gloucester 207-8, 216-7 + of Edgar 208, 216-7 + of Edmund 208, 216-7 + Systems of Tragedies 208-9. + + Tragic as a Tone 251. + + Turning-points 284-5, 291-8. + Double in Shakespeare's plays: Catastrophe or Focus of Movement and + Centre of Plot 284-5. + =Illustrations= 284-5, compare 68, 120, 127, 186, 198, 205, 216-7. + + Tyrtæus 132. + + + Ulrici 11, 26. + + Underplot 74 and Chapter III + =Illustrations=: _Merchant of Venice_ 74 and Chapter III, 291 + _Richard III_ 108-19, 293 + Lear 206-9, 215-8, 223, 271, 283-4, 297-8. + + Union of Light and Serious Stories 69-73. + + Unity as an element of Action 235 + applied to Character 237 + to Passion 246 + to Plot (Action) 270-71 + the 'three unities' 14. + + Unstable equilibrium in morals 45, 205. + + Utilisation of the Mechanical 76-8, 233. + + + _Variorum Shakespeare_ 8. + + Villainy as a subject for art treatment 90 + Ideal Villainy 90 and Chapter IV. + + Voltaire 9, 14, 17. + + + Waller 17. + + Walsh 17. + + Warton 17. + + Wave-form of Passion-Movement 280, 292 + waves of hysterical passion in Lear 210-5. + + _Waverley Novels_ 12. + + Whitehead 17. + + Wit as a mental game 219. + + Wordsworth 12. + + Workmanship, Dramatic: 58 and Chapter II, 233. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] The reader will remember that 'Single' is used as antithetical to +'Complex,' and 'Simple' to 'Complicated.' See note to page 74. + + + + +INDEX OF SCENES + +ILLUSTRATED IN THE FOREGOING CHAPTERS. + +_Clarendon type is used where the passage referred to approaches the +character of an analysis of the scene._ + + + JULIUS CÆSAR. + + Act I. + + Sc. i. 180, =188-9=. + ii. 172, =178-80=, 180, =189-91=. + iii. =191-4=, =195-6=. + + Act II. + + Sc. i. 171-2, 172, 174, =175-6=, 176, 180-1, 187, 191, =194=. + ii. 177, =194-5=. + iii. 196. + iv. 196-7 + + Act III. + + Sc. i. 172-3, 177, 177-8, 182, 183, =196-9=, 285. + ii. 175, =199-200=. + iii. 180, 200. + + Act IV. + + Sc. i. 200. + ii. and iii. 172, 173-4, 182, =200-1=. + + Act V. + + Scs. iii, v. 171, 172, 201. + + + KING LEAR. + + Act I. + + Sc. i. =203-5=, 206, 285. + ii. 206. + iv. =210=, =220-1=. + v. =210-1=, =221-2=. + + Act II. + + Sc. i. 283. + ii. 258, note. + iv. 209, =211-4=, =222-3=, 283. + + Act III. + + Sc. i. 209, 214, 215, 223. + ii. 209, 215, 223. + iii. 209, =215=, 216. + iv. 209, 215, =216=, 217-8, 223, 285. + v. 209, 283. + vi. 207, 209. + vii. 209, 216, 247. + + Act IV. + + Sc. i. 216, 217. + vi. 215. + + Act V. + + Sc. iii. 208, 215, 259. + + + MACBETH. + + Act I. + + Sc. iii. =135=, 136, 141, 154, =158-9=, 244, =263-4=. + iv. =135=, 150-1, 244, 260. + v. =149-50=, 156, =159-60=. + vii. =151-3=, 157, =160-1=. + + Act II. + + Sc. i. =153-4=. + ii. 154, 155, =161-3=, 244. + iii. =139-40=, =163-4=, 253, 260. + iv. =140=, 164. + + Act III. + + Sc. i. 129, 154, =164-5=. + ii. 154, =164-5=, 244. + iii. =127=, 285. + iv. 130, 154, =165-6=, 285. + v. 262, 264. + vi. =128-9=. + + Act IV. + + Sc. i. 130, =135-6=, 140, 167, 264. + ii. 130, 140. + iii. =140-1=. + + Act V. + + Sc. i. =166-7=. + iii. 167. + v. 167. + vii. and viii. 130, 167, 285. + + + MERCHANT OF VENICE. + + Act I. + + Sc. i. 48, 61, 70, 76. + ii. 54, 56, 70. + iii. 48-9, =61-4=, 262. + + Act II. + + Sc. i. 53. + ii. 76. + iii. 76, 84. + iv. 84, 85. + v. 60, 76, =83=. + vi. 84, 85. + vii. 53, 55. + viii. 78. + ix. 55-6. + + Act III. + + Sc. i. 60, 76, 78, 79, 85. + ii. 54-5, 56, =67-9=, 76, 78. + iii. 60, 76, 78. + iv. 85, 86. + v. 76, 85. + + Act IV. + + Scs. i. and ii. =49-51=, 60, =64-6=, =70-3=, 80, 87-8, 88-9, 254, + 257, 285. + + Act V. + + Sc. i. 85, 247. + + + RICHARD III. + + Act I. + + Sc. i. 92-3, 96, 100, 101, 123. + ii. 93, 94, =96=, =97-8=, 99, 101, 102, =103-4=, 113. + iii. 95, 96, =111-3=, 115. + iv. 108, 114, =116=, 240-1. + + Act II. + + Sc. i. 99, 101, 108, 116, 117-8. + ii. 95, 100, 109, 111-2. + + Act III. + + Sc. i. 91, 99, 100. + ii. 109, =117=, 249. + iii. 114, 115, 120, 285. + iv. 98, 100, 114, 115. + v, vii. 96, 99. + + Act IV. + + Sc. i. 104, 111-2, 116. + ii. 110, 262, 280, 285. + iii. 94, =120-1=. + iv. 91, 95, 111-2, 115, =121-2=. + + Act V. + + Sc. i. 115, 118. + iii. 95, =122-3=. + iv. and v. 123. + + + + +Corrections. + +The first line indicates the original, the second the correction. + + +p. 64: + + It has further been ushered in in a manner + It has further been ushered in a manner + + +p. 310: + + his inability to bear suspense 154, 160, 162, 163, 163, 164-5, 243-5. + his inability to bear suspense 154, 160, 162, 163, 164-5, 243-5. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Shakespeare as a Dramatic Artist, by +Richard G. Moulton + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43435 *** |