IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 ^1^ IM iti lU Li ■^1^ I.I L2I II u 11.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14S80 (716) 872-4503 ^ fA iV «v / SHAKESPEARE: THE MAN AN ATTEMPT TO FIND TRACES OF THE dramatist's CHARACTER IN HIS DRAMAS By GOLDWIN SMITH New York Doubleday & McClure Co. 1900 % 4 Copyright, 1899, by DOUBLEDAY & McClURE CO I t i Preface I An attempt to find traces of the per- sonal character of Shakespeare under the dramatist is, it need hardly be said, a dif- ferent thing from an interpretation of Shakespeare's art. In making it the writer does not trespass on the ground occupied by Coleridge, Gervinus, Dow- den, and Hiram Corson. An apology may seem necessary for quoting in full some well-known pas- sages of Shakespeare; but the writer does not feel sure that "in these most brisk and giddy-paced times," when a tidal-wave of popular and sensational fic- tion is flowing, familiarity with Shakes- peare is so common as it was in former days. - ^ i Shakespeare: the Man Such materials as there are for Shakes- peare's personal history, or for the history of any one connected with him, have been gathered with the most loving and persevering industry. Unhappily, they amount to very little. Entries in munic- ipal records, names in a will, a lease, or an inventory, tell hardly anything of the life or character of the man. That orange has now been squeezed dry. It would seem better worth while to consider under what general influences- social, political, and religious— the life was passed. Shakespeare was a poet of the Renais- sance and of the Elizabethan era. Of the Renaissance, with its passion for beauty and art, its joyous release from 7 Shakespeare: the Man asceticism, and not only from asceticism, but from strict morality, its tendency to scepticism in ♦'eligion; of the Elizabethan era with its springtide of national life, its heroic struggle against the powers of the past, its love of adventure, its galaxy of active and aspiring spirits in every sphere. Born in 1 564, he would by 1 580 be ob- servant and open to impressions. Be- tween 1 580 and his death there are thirty- six years full of momentous events; the struggle with Spain ; the proclamation of the Papal curse against England in her Queen; the Armada; the conflict in France between the League and the Huguenots; the insurrection and tragic end of Essex; the death of Elizabeth; the accession of James; the union of the Crowns; the Gunpowder Plot; the open- ing of the contest between the Stuart King and his Parliament; the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth with the Elector Palatine; the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. During the last two decades 8 Shakespeare: the Man i i the scene had been changing. Tudor monarchy and the Renaissance had been passing away, Puritanism had developed its force, and the struggle between a Puritan Parliament and the Crown for supreme power had begun. Surroundings must tell, and in the work even of the most dramatic of dramatists the man can hardly fail sometimes to ap- pear. There are things which strike us as said for their own sake more than be- cause they fit the particular character; things which seem said with special feel- ing and emphasis; things which connect themselves naturally with the writer's personal history. There are things which could not be written, even dramatically, by one to whose beliefs and sentiments they were repugnant. Any knowledge which is displayed must of course be the writer's own; so must any proofs of in- sight, social or of other kinds. Inference as to the writer's character from such passages are precarious, no doubt; yet they may not be altogether futile. Thor- 9 'n Shakespeare: the Man oughly dramatic as was the genius of y^schylus and Sophocles, we do not doubt that tiie character of each, as de- picted by Aristophanes in The Frogs, is shown, hi Corneille and Racine we see little beyond the full-bottomed wig; but in Moliere character, sympathies, and an- tipathies appear. h must be remembered that Shakes- peare had been a poet before he became a playwright. Lorenzo. — How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank ! Here will we sit, and let the sounds of musick Creep in our ears ; soft stillness, and the night, Become the touches of sweet harmony. Sit, Jessica : Look how the floor of heaven Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold ; There's not the smallest orb, which thou behold'st, But in his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring to the young-ey'd cherubins: Such harmony is in immortal souls ; But, whilst this muddy vesture of decay Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it. — — Merchant of Venice, V., it. These lovely lines in The Merchant of 10 i • Shakespeare: the Man Venice have no special connection with the characters of Lorenzo and Jessica or with the action. They are a poetic vol- untary. Some things in Shakespeare transcend any stage, and would utterly transcend the stage of the Globe theatre. The Midsummer -Ni gM s Dream is a su- preme creation of aerial fancy, which no gross company of actors and actresses can ever worthily present. In Hamlet there is a philosophic poem. All actors fail in the leading part. The man who had the sensibility to feel the part would hardly have stage assurance to act it. The boyish and girlish passion of Romeo and Juliet, again, is poetry. No mature actor or actress could feel the passion or present it on the stage. Ben Jonson says that Shakespeare had "small Latin and less Greek"; Milton says of him that he "warbled his native wood notes wild"; in other words, was not, like Ben Jonson, classically cultured. He had in fact received a common grs i- mar school education, and knew some- 11 I ) ■ Shakespeare: the Man thing of Latin and the Latin poets; as in Love's Labour's Lost and elsewhere ap- pears. In Sonnet No. CIV., Three winters' cold Have from the forests shook three summers' pride, is probably a version of Horace's Sylvis hone rem decittit. Shylock's injunction to Jessica recalls the injunction of Horace {Odes, IIL, 7) to Asterie; and the descrip- tion of the horse in Mentis and Adonis is evidently suggested by a pas^^age in the third Georgic. Of the ** small Latin" there is abundant proof. Of the ** less Greek" there is not a trace. Nothing can be less Hellenic than Troihts and Cress/da or Tirnon of Athens. French, Shakespeare evidently understood. He had read Rabelais, at least he mentions Gargantua. It can hardly be doubted that he understood Italian. But the knowledge which he had practically ac- quired and carried with him to Town was mainly that of country occupations, 12 I Shakespeare : the Man of horses and hounds, and of all the flowers upon the bank where the wild thyme grew. To this in Town and after- wards at Court he added a thorough in- sight into the social world, which shows itself in the well-known advice of Polo- nius to Laertes, and other passages, such as the advice of Bertram's mother to Bertram in All's Well that Ends Well— Love all, trust a few, Do wrong to none : be able for thine enemy Rather in power than use ; and keep thy friend Under thy own life's key : be check'd for silence, But never tax'd for speech. — /., i. The advice of Polonius to Laertes may be more certainly set down to the credit of Shakespeare himself, because it really does not well suit the character of Polo- nius, who is generally represented as a pompous old fool. A manual of man- ners and social conduct might almost be gleaned out of Shakespeare; and Shakes- peare's social teaching is not like that of Chesterfield; it hrs for its basis genuine qualities, — 13 \ I Shakespeare: the Man This above all, — To thine o\mi self be true ; And it must follow as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. — llatnlct^ /., Hi, That Shakespeare had a cultivated taste for music, if he was not himself a musi- cian, appears not only from his anathema upon the man who has no music in his soul, which would have borne hard on Dr. Johnson, but from passages such as the speech of the Duke in Twelfth Night and that, already mentioned, of Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice. Fine music seems to have been Shakespeare's acme of enjoyment. The attempts to make out that Shakes- peare knew law come to nothing. Liv- ing in London, he no doubt mingled with Templars as well as with other people, and might easily pick up some phrases. There is no proof of anything more. It is deemed by the biographers im- probable that Shakespeare had travelled. In Love's Labour's Lost, Act III., Scene i., the old reading is 14 I Shakespeare: the Man This Sigiiior Julio's giant-chvarf, Dan Cupid. For this has been conjecturally substituted by critics who did not understand the allusion, This senior-junior, giant-dwarf, Dan Cupid, which is nonsense. Julio Romano, in a fresco in the Vati- can, introduced the figure of Gradasso, "a giant-dwarf" of pigmy stature but great muscular power, thus resembling Cupid in the combination of diminutive- ness and might. To this fresco Shakes- peare evidently refers. Had he seen it? In the Winter's Tale, Act V., Scene ii., he expresses his admiration of Ro- mano, though, curiously enough, not as a painter but as a sculptor — Third Gentleman. — No : the princess hearing of her mother's statue, which is in the keeping of Pau- lina, — a piece many years in doing, and now newly performed by that rare Italian master, Julio Romano ; who, had he himself eternity, and could put breath into his work, would beguile natu^'e of her custom, so perfectly he is her ape. 15 Shakespeare: the Man Shakespeare's j^.tcures of kalian life seem to show familiarity with it, and his epithets, such as "old Verona," are ap- posite. Looseness about Italian geog- raphy, if it can be proved, would not be a strong argument on the other side. If an Englishman had travelled anywhere in those days, it would probably have been in Italy. In history Shakespeare was not learned. He makes the Duke of Austria responsible for the death of Richard I. He follows the chroniclers blindly. On the other hand, he had a wonderful eye for his- torical character. He dresses his Romans in cloaks and hats ; but his delineation of Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, and Mark Antony cannot be surpassed. "Speak; Caesar is turned to hear" ; and "I rather tell thee what is to be feared. Than what I fear ; for always I am Caesar." He sometimes betrays what seems strange ignorance. He introduces artil- lery in the reign of John ; gives Bohemia a seacoast ; and introduces nunneries at 16 Shakespeare: the Man Athens. But may not this rather be said to be simple disregard of the limitations of time and place ? Athens in the Mid- summer-Night's Dream is not the classic city, but an kalian Duchy of which Theseus is the Duke. When the fashion was introduced of a spectacular repre- sentation of Shakespeare's plays and the manager aimed at being strictly historical, some of the results were grotesque. In the Midsummer-Nighf s Dream Lysander and Demetrius were represented as going to fight a duel, a thing wholly foreign to Hellenic ideas, with their Hellenic swords ; and Theseus, in classic attire, threatened to put Hermia, a o in classic attire, into a nunnery, in Macbeth, Shakespeare's idea of the Scotch mon- archy no doubt was something magnifi- cently royal, such as might tempt am- bition. But the spectacular manager thought he vvas showing his fidelity to history by introducing the barbarous simplicity of primeval Scotland, and Mac- beth was represented as climbing through 17 Shakespeare: the Man regicide and crime to the dazzling eleva- tion of a king enthroned on a wooden stool and banqueting on apples. The mystery of Shakespeare's Sonnets will never be solved. Whit is certain is that the series is a product of the Renais- sance, sometimes burning with intense and irregular passion. Morals of the Court of Elizabeth were loose, like those of other Courts of Europe at the time, the vestal virginity of the Queen not- withstanding. It seems to be proved that the poet's marriage with Anne Hath- away took place not before it was neces- sary; that it was enforced, and that he afterwards saw little of his wife and chil- dren for eleven years, so that he might write with feeling. War is no strife To the dark house and the detested wife. —AlPs IVell that Ends Well, //., Hi. Prospero's injunction to Ferdinand in The Tempest is so strange and apparently gratuitous, that we can hardly help re- 18 Shakespeare : the Man garding it as an outpouring of the poet's bitter experience. — Proapero, — Then, as luy gift, and thine own acqui- sition Worthily purchased, take my daughter : But If thou dost break lier virgin knot before All sanctimonious ceremonies may With full and holy rite be minister'd, No sweet aspersion shall the heavens let fall To make this contract grow ; but barren hate, Sour-ey'd disdain, and discord, shall bestrew The union of your bed with weeds so loathly. That you shall hate it both : therefore, take heed, As Hymen's lamps shall light you. — The Tempest ^ IV., i. All this considered, we have reason to be thankful for the essential soundness of Shakespeare's morality, especially with regard to marriage. There is not in him anything of the evil spirit of the Restora- tion drama. Matrimony with him is al- ways holy, and though attacks upon its sanctity form the subject of more than one of his plots, he carries it through them inviolate. There is no Don Juan among his heroes. 19 Shakespeare: the Man It must be owned that in Measure for Measure, in some of the Falstaff scenes, and elsewhere, Shakespeare plays with certain subjects in a way suggestive of looseness in sexual morality. There is a curious passage in Hamlet (II., i.), where Polonius seems to think "drabbing" would not disgrace his son, but that incontinence, by which appears to be meant illicit intercourse with other than courtesans, would. Opinion on these points has greatly advanced since Shakes- peare, though governments still bow to supposed necessity. Too often the poet stoops to obscen- ities. This is partly the vice of the Renaissance, which shows itself to an extreme extent in Rabelais. Partly, it is the mark of the ages before delicacy, which gave birth to Boccaccio. Partly, perhaps principally, it is a condescension to the tastes of the audience of the Globe theatre. From Hamlet's advice to the Players, we see that there was a great demand for buffoonery. Perhaps it 20 Shakespeare: the Man would be charitable to surmise that Shakespeare sought to embrace ihe whole of human nature as it presented itself in his time. His obscenity is mere gross- ness; it is not provocative of lust. At worst, in him all is nature. He is never procurer to the lords of Hell. There is nothing in him so disgusting as the laborious filth offered by Massinger as a tribute to the taste of a vulgar audience in the comic scenes of The Virgin Martyr. Shakespeare is said to have died of the effects of a drinking bout. But if the tradition is true the drinking bout was probably an exception, for he evidently abhors excess. Horatio. Is it a custom ? Hajulet. Ay, marry, is't : But to my mind,— though I am native here, And to the manner born, — it is a custom More honour'd in the breach, tlian the observance. This heavy-headed revel, east and west, Makes us traduc'd, and tax'd of other nations : They clepe us, drunkards, and with s\\ inish phrase 21 Shakespeare: the Man Soil our addition ; and, indeed, it takes From our achievements, though perform'd at height, The pith and marrow of our attribute. — Hamlet^ I., w. He refers to the same national disgrace in Othello, Act II., Scene iii. In same scene we have — the Cassio. — Not to-night, good lago; I have very poor and unliappy brains for drinking : I could well wish courtesy would invent some other custom of en- tertainment. Cassio,— O thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee devil ! Cassio.— \ remember a mass of things, but nothing distinctly; a quarrel, but nothing wherefore.— O, that men should put an enemy in their mouths, to steal away their brains! that we should, with joy, revel, pleasure, and applause, transform ourselves into beasts ! I Portia, sponge. will do anything, Nerissa," says 'ere I will be married to a 22 Shakespeare: the Man Let me be your servant ; Though I look old, yet I am strong and lusty; For in my youth I never did apply Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood ; Nor did not with unbashful forehead woo The means of weakness and debility ; Therefore my age is as a lusty winter, Frosty, but kindly. —As You Like It, II., in. Wiiat were Shakespeare's political sen- timents? In his time, during the early part of it at least, everybody was royalist. Domestic dissensions were suspended by the struggle with Catholic powers, and the Queen was idolized as impersonating the national cause. Supremely royalist, of course, were the Lord Chamberlain's or the King's Players. In three plays prob- ably, in the Midsnmmer-NighV s Dream, in Henry yill., assuming the genuine- ness of the passage, and in The Tempest, the courtier is distinctly seen. The Midsitmmer-Night' s Dream was apparently performed at some Court marriage, and what marriage we can- not now tell, though the author of the 23 Shakespeare: the Man excellent article on Shakespeare in the Dictionary of National Biography con- jectures that it was either that of Lucy Harrington to Edward Russell, third Earl of Bedford, on the 12th of December, 1594, or that of William Stanley, Earl of Derby, at Greenwich, on the 24th of January, 1594-5. There cannot be a doubt that Elizabeth was present and heard the well-known compliment to the " fair vestal throned by the West." But she also heard: " Thrice blessed they, that master so their blood To undergo such maiden pilgrimage. But earthlier happy is the rose distilled Than that, which, withering on the virgin thorn, Grows, lives and dies, in single blessedness." — Midsummer-Night^ s Dream ^ I., i. Was not this advice, most delicately given, to the fair vestal to marry, and thus fulfil the desire of all loyal and Protestant England ? The Tempest was acted before the Court when Frederick, Elector Palatine, afterwards the luckless King of Bohemia, 24 i£ ,*''U. Shakespeare : the Man came over to claim his bride, the Princess Elizabeth, darling of all Protestant hearts. It embodies a Masque, such as was fash- ionable at weddings, and which was perhaps performed, not by the Players, but by lords and ladies of the Court. There cannot be a doubt that these lines refer to England: — Irts. — Ceres, most bounteous lady, thy rich leas Of wheat, rye> barley, vetches, oats, and peas ; Tiiy turfy mountains, where live nibbling sheep, And flat meads, thatch'd with stover, them to keep; Thy banks with peonied and lilied brims, Which spongy April at thy hest betrims. To make cold nymphs chaste crowns : and thy broom groves, Whose shadow the dismissed bachelor loves, Being lass-lorn ; thy pole-clipt vineyard ; And thy sea-marge, steril, and rocky-hard, Where tihou thyself dost air : — Tempest ^ IV., i. The turfy mountains with the nibbling sheep are evidently the downs; and the pole-clipt vineyards are most likely the hop-grounds. The words of Ferdinand, 25 Shakespeare: the Man Let me live here ever; So rare a wonder'd father, and a wife, Make this place Paradise — — Tempest y IV., i, would be very apt in the mouth of the young Elector who had come over to Eng- land to be married to James' daughter. It would have been strange if the learned King James had not taken to himself the character of Prospero, "re- puted in dignity, and for the liberal arts without a parallel " ; or if he had not seen in the conspirators of different grades the authors of the Gunpowder Plot and the enemies of prerogative in the House of Commons. He could not have failed to enjoy such satire on political agitation as — Gonzalo. — I' the commonwealth I would by con- traries Execute all things : for no kind of traffic Would I admit; no name of magistrate ; Letters should not be known ; riches, poverty, And use of service, none ; contract, successions, Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none : No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil : 26 Shakespeare : the Man No occupation ; all men idle, all ; And women too ; but innocent and pure : No sovereignty : — Sebastian. — And yet he would be king on't. Antonio. — The latter end of his commonwealth for- gets the beginning. Gonzalo. — All things in common, nature should produce Without sweat or endeavour : treason, felony, Sword, pike, knife, gun, nor need of any engine, Would I not have ; but nature should bring forth, Of its own kind, all foizon, all abundance, To feed my innocent people. — Tempest ^ II., i. Raleigh, who was a courtie., even to a painful extent, in his Prerogative of Par- liaments sums up a highly royalist history of the origin of the Great Charter by say- ing that it "had first an obscure birth from usurpation, and was secondly fos- tered and showed to the world by rebellion." Shakespeare, in King John, says not a word about the Great Charter, or anything connected with it. If the Barons quarrel with the King, it is not about political rights, but on account of the deposition and murder of Arthur. 27 Shakespeare: the Man Even that crime is softened by reducing it to intention, Arthur's death being represented as an accident. The sub- mission to the Pope is managed in a way as little humiliating as possible. In the end, John is the national King, supported by English patriots against the French pretender and invader. Of Henry J/ 11 1., though by no means the v^hole play is Shakespearian, it is pretty certain that the whole passed under Shakespeare's hand, and in it Henry is presented as an august, magnificent and apparently beneficent lord, without a suggestion of the tyrant. We see, too, where the Merry Wives of Windsor was performed. Mistress Quickly, — About, about; Sear:h Windsor castle, elves, within and out: Strew good luck, ouphes, on every sacred room ; That it may stand till the perpetual doom. In state as wholesome, as in state 'tis fit; Worthy the owner, and the owner it. The several chairs of order look you scour With juice of balm, and every precious flower : 28 ; Shakespeare : the Man I Each fair instalment, coat, and several crest, With loyal blazon, evermore be blest ! And nightly, meadow-fairies, look, you sing, Like to the Garter's compass, in a ring : The expressure that it bears, green let it be. More fertile-fresh than all the field to see ; And, Hony soit qui inal y pense^ write. In emerald tufts, flowers purple, blue and white : Like sapphire, pearl, and rich embroidery, Buckled beiovv fair knighthood's bending knee : Fairies use flowers for their charactery. — Merry Wives of Windsor ^ V.^ v. The strong language about the divine character of royalty, and the indelibility of the coronation balm, put into the mouth of Richard 11. is in character and may be regarded as dramatic. On the other hand, there are pretty strong ex- pressions about the sacredness of royalty elsewhere. To do this deed, Promotion follows • If I could find example Of thousands, that hau struck anointed Kings, And flourished after, I'd not do't : but since Nor brass, nor stone, nor parchment, bears not one, Let villainy itself forswcar't. — Winter'' s Tale, /., iV. 29 Shakespeare: the Man And in Macbeth, Act II., Scene iii. MacDnJf. — Confusion now hath made his master- piece ; Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope The Lord's anointed temple, and stele thence The life o' the building. In Macbeth, Act IV., Scene iii., there is a passage which, if the poet is speaking, intimates his belief in touching for the King's Evil.— Doctor. — Ay, sir : there are a crew of wretched souls, That stay his cure : their malady convinces The great array of art ; but, at his touch, Such sanctity hath heaven given his hand, They presently amend. Ox\ the other hand, a popular mon- archy, such as James I.'s was not, but that of his son Henry might have been, is evidently Shakespeare's ideal. He shows it in the dialogue between Henry V. and the soldiers before the battle of Agincourt. His King, however exalted, is a man and not a fetich. "Though I speak it to you," Henry is made to say — 30 1 Shakespeare: the Man " I think, the king is but a man, as I am ; the violet smells to him, as it cloth to me ; the clement shows to him, as it cloth to me ; all his senses luive but human conditions; his ceremonies laid by, in his nakedness he appears but a man ; and though his affections are higher mounted than ours, yet, when they stoop, they stoop with the like wing; therefore when he sees reason of fears, as we do, his fears, out of doubt, be of the same relish as ours are : Yet, in reason, no man should possess him with any appear- ance of fear, lest he, by showing it, should dishearten his army." — Henry f', IV.^ i. The dramatist understands that it was by a noble comradeship between King and soldier and the King's hold upon the soldier's heart that at Agincourt despair was turned into victory. The poor condemned English, Like sacrifices, by their watchful fires Sit patiently, and inly ruminate The morning's danger ; and their gesture sad, Investing lank-lean cheeks, and war-worn coats, Presenteth them unto the gazing moon So many horrid ghosts. O, now, who will behold The royal captain of this ruin'd band, Walking from watch to watch, from tent to tent, 31 Shakespeare: the Man Let him cry — Praise and glory on his head ! For forth he goes, and visits all his host ; Bids them good-morrow, with a modest smile ; And calls them — brothers, friends, and countrymen. Upon his royal face there is no note How dread an army hath enrounded him ; Nor doth he dedicate one jot of color Unto the weary and all-watched night; But freshly looks, and overbears attaint, With cheerful semblance, and sweet majesty ; That every wretch, pining and pale before, Beholding him, plucks comfort from his looks: A largess universal, like the sun, His liberal eye doth give to every one, Thawing cold fear. — Henry F., IV. The worthlessness of mere state is one of his commonplaces. O ceremony, show me but thy worth ! What is the soul of adoraliv :i ? Art thou ^.ught else but pi:'.ce, degree, and form, Creating awe and fear in other men ? Wherein thou art less happy being fear'd, Than they in fearing. — Henry V., IV., i. Shakespeare in his political and social sentiment must have been conservative. 32 Shakespeare : the Man We can scarcely doubt that it is he v/ho speaks in Troihis and Crcssida (I., iii.)— The specialty of rule hath been neglected : And, look, how many Grecian tents do stand Hollow upon this plain, so many hollow factions, When that the general is not like the hive. To whom the foragers shall all repair, What honey is expected? Degree being vizarded, The unworthiest shows as fairly in the mask. The heavens themselves, the planets, and this center, Observe degree, priority, and place, Insisture, course, jn-oportion, season, form, Office, and custom, in all line of order: And therefore is the glorious planet, Sol, In noble eminence enthron'd and spher'd Amidst the other; whose med'cinable eye Corrects the ill aspects of planets evil. And posts, like the commandment of a king, Sans check, to good and bad : But, when the planets. In evil mixture, to disorder wander. What plagues, aiid what portents ? what mutiny ? What ragings of the sea ? shaking of earth ? Commotion in the winds ? frights, changes, horrors. Divert and crack, rend and deracinate The unity and married calm of states Quite from their fixture ? O, when degree is shak'd. Which is the ladder of all high designs. The enterprise is sick I How could communities, 33 Shakespeare: the Man Degrees in schools, and brotherhoods in cities, Peaceful commerce from dividable shores, The primogenitive and due of birth, Prerogative of age, crowns, sceptres, laurels, But by degree, stand in aulhentick place ? Take but degree away, untune that string, And, hark, what discord follows ! each thing meets In mere oppugnancy : The bounded waters Should lift their bosoms higher than the shores, And make a sop of all this solid globe : Strength should be lord of imbecility. And the rude son should strike his father dead : Force should be riglat ; or, rather, right and wrong, (Between whose endless jar justice resides,) Should lose their names, and so should justice too. Then everything includes itself in power, Power into will, will into appetite ; And appetite, an universal wolf. So doubly seconded with will and power, Must make perforce an universal prey, And, last, eat up himself. The following passage, also against de- mocracy, is in the mouth of Coriolanus dramatic, but it is also emphatic, — No, take more : What may be sworn by, both divine and human, Seal what I end withal ! — This double worship, — 34 Shakespeare: the Man Where one part does disdain with cause, the other Insult without all reason ; where gentry, title, wis- dom Cannot conclude, but by the yea and no Of general ignorance,— it must omit Real necessities, and give way the while To unstable slightness; purposes so barr'd, it follows Nothmg is done to purpose: Therefore, beseech you,— You that will be less fearful than discreet That love the fundamental part of state, More than you doubt the change oft; that prefer A noble life before a long, and wish To jump a body with a dangerous physick That's sure of death without it,-at once pluck out Ihe multitudinous tongue, let them not lick The sweet which is their poison : your dishonour Mangles true judgment, and bereaves the state Of that integrity which should become it; Not having the power to do the good it would, For the ill which doth control it. — Coriolanusy III., {. It should be remembered that revolu- tion in its most terrible form, that of the risings of the Anabaptists on the conti- nent, had not been very long laid in its grave. 35 Shakespeare: the Man Some passages are instinct with in- tense dislike of mobs and mob-rule. The words in Coriolanus are in character, but they are strong, — I heard him swear, Were he to stand for consul, never would he Appear i' the n;arket-place, nor on him put The napless vesture of humility ; Nor, showing (as the manner is) his wounds To the people, beg their stinking breaths. — CoriolanuSy II., i. So in Julius Ccvsar, what follows is full of contempt for the folly and fickle- ness of the rabble. — Casca — I can as well be hanged, as tell the man- ner 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: \^ .. he put it by again : but, to my thinking, he v .^« v. ; * loath to lay his fingers off it. And then he ji/ered it the third time ; he put it the third time by : and still as he re- fused it, the rabblemcnt hooted, and clapped their chopped hands, and threw up their sweaty nightcaps, 36 Shakespeare: the Man and uttered such a deal of stinking breath because Coesar refused the crown, that it had ahnost choked Qesar; for he swooned, 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. — Jiclius Cccsar, /., ii. "Stinking breaths," "chopped hands" and "sweaty nightcaps" are terms not only of aversion but of disgust. The travesty of Cade's manifesto in Henry VI. is fresh at the present day and used as ammunition by modern con- servative writers and speakers. Cade. — Be brave then; for your captain is brave, and vows reformation. There shall be, in England, seven half-penny loaves sold for a penny ; the three- hooped pot shall have ten hoops; and I will make it felony, to drink small beer; all the realm shall be in common, and in C'^eapside shall my palfrey go to grass. And, when I am king, (as king I will be) All. — God save your majesty ! Cade. — I thank you, good people ! — there shall be no money ; all shall eat and drink on my score ; and I will apparel them all in one livery, that they may agree like brothers, and worship me their lord. — King Henry VI. ^ Part II., IV., ii. 37 Shakespeare: the Man Demagogism is an object of dislike. "I love the people," says the Duke in Measure for Measure^ But do not like to stage me to their eyes : Tliough it do well, I do not relish well Their loud applause, and aves vehement ; Nor do I think the man of safe discretion, That does affect it. — Measure for Measure j I., i. At the same time there are not want- ing passages breathing a strong sense of the injustice and inequalities of society, such as a social radical might be glad to repeat. A man may see how this world goes, with no eyes. Look with thine eyes: see how yon* justice rails upon yon' simple thief. Hark, in thine ear : change places ; and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief? — King Lear^ IF., vi. Poor naked wretches, whereso er you are, That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm, How shall your houseless heads, and unfed sides. Your loop'd and window'd raggedness defend you From seasons such as these ? O, I have ta'en Too little care of this ! Take physick, pomp ; 38 Shakespeare: the Man Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel ; That thou may'st shake the supertlux to them, And show the heavens more just. — King Lear, III., iv. Gloster.—\\(t\Q, take this purse, thou whom the heaven's plagues Have humbled to all strokes : that I am wretched. Makes thee the happier :— Heavens, deal so still! Let the superfluous, and lust-dieted man. That slaves your ordinance, that will not see Because he doth not feel, feel your power quickly ; So distribution should undo excess. And each man have enough. — Ki}2g Lear, IV., i. O, that estates, degrees and offices, Were not deriv'd corruptly ! and that clear honour Were purchas'd by the merit of the wearer ! How many then should cover, that stand bare ? How many be commanded, that command ? How much low peasantry would then be glean 'd From the true seed of honour? and how much honour Pick'd from the chaff and ruin of the times, To be new varnish'd ? — Merchant of Venice, II., ix. In a passage in Romeo and Juliet ih^xe. is a touch of sympathy for the castaway. 39 Shakespeare : the Man Art thou so bare, and full of wretchedness, And fear'st to die ? famine is in thy checks, Need and oppression starvetli in thy eyes. Upon thy back hangs rd^^ged misery, The world is not thy friend, nor the world's law : The world affords no law to make thee rich ; Then be not poor, but break it, and take this. — Romeo and Juliet^ F., i. With all his feeling for the glory of Henry V., Shakespeare shows his sense of the waste of lives in iniquitous wars. — Captain. — Trui_,. to speak, sir, and with no addi- tion. We go to gain a little patch of ground. That hath in it no pro'^t but the name. To pay five ducats, five, I would not farm it; Nor will it yield to Norway, or the Pole, A ranker rate, should it be sold in fee. Hamlet. — Why, then the Polack never will de- fend it. Captain. — Yes, 'tis already garrisoned. Hamlet. — Two thousand souls, and twenty thou- sand ducats, Will not debate the question of this straw : This is the imposthume of much wealth and peace ; That inward breaks, and shows no cause without Why the man dies. — Hamlet ^ IV.f iv. 40 Shakespeare: the Man There are passages expressive of a sympathy for the sufferings of animals which appears to be heart-felt. Duke Senior— Come, shall we go and kill us venison ? And yet it irks me, the poor dappled fools,— Being native burghers of this desert city,— Should, in their own confines, with forked heads Have their round haunches gor'd. First Lord.-. Indeed, my lord, The melancholy Jaques grieves at that ; And, in that kind, swears you do more usurp Than doth your brother that hath banish'd you. To-day, my lord of Amiens, and myself, Did steal behind him, as he lay along Under an oak, whose antique root peeps out Upon the brook that brawls along this wood : To the which place a poor sequester'd stag. That from the hunters' aim had ta'en a hurt. Did come to languish ; and, indeed, my lord. The wretched animal heav'd forth such groans. That their discharge did stretch his leathern coat Almost to bursting ; and the big round tears Cours'd one another down his iuLocent nose In piteous chase; and thus the hairy fool, iviuch marked of the melancholy Jaques, Stood on the extremest verge of the swift brook. Augmenting it with tears. —As You Like It, II., L 41 Shakespeare: the Man So the Princess in Love's Labour' s Lost, Act IV., Scene !.,— As I, for praise alone, now seek to spill The poor deer's blood, that my heart means no ill. Of the passage in the second part of Henry K/., (III., i.), pathetically describ- ing the calf driven to the slaughter house of the butcher, and the dam wailing for her young one, perhaps no more can safely be said than tliat it passed under the hand of Shakespeare. The language which passes between men and women in the plays is some- times indelicate and such as at the pres- ent day would imply a low estimate of womanhood. But this is of the time. Queen Elizabeth was no paragon of del- icacy either in manners or in language. That Shakespeare's estimate of woman- hood was not low he has shown by giv- ing us a gallery of female characters ranging in variety, within female limits, from Beatrice to Juliet or Hero ; but all supreme in beauty and loveliness. There 42 Shakespeare: the Man are bad women, of course, such ?s Regan, Goneril, and Lady Macbeth, though in Lady Macbeth, with all her wickedness and masculine daring, there is nothing unqueenly. Brothel-keepers and aban- doned women are a class apart, too fa- miliar to Shakespeare, but not more fa- miliar to him than to other writers and to people generally in that age. We ap- preciate Shakespeare's treatment of the female character more highly when we con:>ider how unfavourable in all proba- bility his experience had been. Shakespeare lived long before the ad- vent of the New Woman, and in a state of society when the weaker vessel was more dependent for protection on the stronger than it is now. But it would be difficult, whatever the state of society might be, to reconcile Shakespeare's view of the relation between husband and wife with that of John Stuart Mill or his fe- male disciples. The Taming of the Shrew is broad farce, though perhaps not with- out a more serious undertone; and we 43 Shakespeare: the Man may set down as dramatic the ultra-con- jugal speech of the Shrew at the end of the play which she ends by putting her hand under her husband's foot; though there are some points in it which might deserve the attention of ladies who de- claim against the tyranny of man, as if he had done nothing for woman. There is nothing farcical, however, in the words of Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothinor, — And, Benedick, love on, I will requite thee ; Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand. —///., i. Or in those of Portia in The Merchant of Venice, — Portia. — You see me, lord Bassanio, where I stand. Such as I am : though, for myself alone, I would not be ambitious in my wish. To wish myself much better ; yet, for you, I would be trebled twenty times myself; A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times More rich ; That only to stand high on your account, 44 hakespeare: the Man I might in virtues, beauties, livings, friends, Exceed account : but the full sum of nie Is sum of something : which, to term in gross, Is an unlesson'd girl, unschool'd, unpraclis'd : Happy in this, she is not yet so old But she may learn : and happier than this, She is not bred so dull but she can learn ; Happiest of all, is, that her gentle spirit Commits itself to yours to be directed, As from her lord, her governor, hfr king. Myself, and what is mine, to you, and yours Is now converted : but now I was the lord Of this fair mansion, master of my servants. Queen o'er myself; and even now, but now. This house, these servants, and this same myself. Are yours, my lord ; I give them with this ring; Which when you part from, lose, or give away. Let it presage the ruin of your love. And be my vantage to exclaim on you. — ///., it. The sanctity of the marriage tie, as was said before, is presented with the poet's full power. Portia's success as an advocate cannot be pleaded as encouraging to ladies to enter the legal profession. It will be observed that she gets not only her gar- 45 Shakespeare : the Man ments but her notes from her cousin Doctor Bcllario at Padua. There is in Loves Labour s Lost a pas- sage highly complimentary to the female intellect. For when would you, my lord, or you, or you, Have found the ground of study's excellence, Without the beauty of a woman's face ? From women's eyes this doctrine I derive : They are the ground, the books, the academes. From whence doth spring the true Promethean fire. Why, universal plodding prisons up The nimble spirits in the arteries; As motion, and long-during action, tires The sinewy vigour of the traveller. Now, for not looking on a woman's face. You have in that forsworn the use of eyes; And study, too, the causer of your vow : For where is any author in the world. Teaches such beauty as a woman's eye ? — IV., lit. Shakespeare's moral philosophy is sound, but tolerant and liberal. He seems to have suspected that the bounds between virtue and vice were less clear, and that characters were more mixed 46 Sliukespeare : the Man than moralists commonly assumed. He sees "a soul of goodness in things evil." " The web of our life," he says, " is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together: our virtues would be proud, if our faults whipp'd them not; and our crimes would despair, if they were not cherished by our virtues " (^All's Well thai Ends Well, IV., Hi.). It has been remarked that there is not the slightest allusion to the grand struggle with Spain or to the Armada. The account of this may be that Shakes- peare was a Court playwright, and that war with Spain was not, of all subjects, the most palatable to the Court. War with Spain was forced on Elizabeth; but her own leanings probably were rather Spanish; so, even more decidedly were those of her successor. Spain was the Grand Monarchy, and the alliance had natural attractions for Princes, especially if their subjects were supposed to be mutinous. Shakespeare, however, like a true dramatist, was unpolitical. 47 Shakespeare : the Man It was not from want of patriotism, at all e^'^nts, that he makes no reference to the war with Spain and the Armada. English feeling in him is very strong. This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise ; This fortress, built by nature for herself. Against infection, and the hand of war : Tins happy breed of men, this little world ; I'his precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall, Or as a moat defensive to a house. Against the envy of less happier lands ; This blcsi.ed plot, this earth, this realm, this Eng- land, This nut:e, this teeming womb of royal Icings, Fear'd by tlicir bree d, and famous by their birth, Renowned foi their deeds as far from home, (For Christian service, and true chivalry,) As is the sepulchre in stubborn Jewry, Of the world's ransom, blessed Mary's son : This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land. Dear for her reputation through the world. Is now leas'd out (I die pronouncing it,) Like to a tenement, or peUing farm : England, bound in with the triumphant sea, Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege 48 Shakespeare: the Man Of watery Neptune, is now bound in with shame, With inky blots, and rotten parchment bonds; That England, that was wont to conquer others, Hath made a shameful conquest of itself: O, would the scandal vanish with my life, How happy then were my ensuing death ! — King Richard 11,^ II., i. Shakespeare's heart evidently goes with Henry V. in his invasion of France and sv^ells with patriotic pride as he recounts the battle of Agincourt. Maritime adventure and discovery were a great feature of the age. About these Shakespeare is rather unaccountably silent, though there are abundant refer- ences to ships and seafaring life. The only apparent allusion is in The Tempest, where they land on an undiscovered island. ' Travellers' tales are more than once subjects of satire, though Othello wins the heart of Desdemona by his story of wanderings which take him among the Anthropophagi and the men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders. A passage in The Tempest 49 Shakespeare: the Man (III., iii.) seems to suggest the idea that a race of men gentler than the people of Europe might be found in new countries. Potatoes, one of the products of dis- covery, are mentioned in The Merry Wives of Windsor (V., v.) and in Troiliis and Cressida (V., ii.). It is evident, however, that Shakespeare's mind did not turn much in that direction. What was Shakespeare in religion ? At the time when his intellectual life be- gan, a series of religious revolutions and counter-revolutions had been closed by the Elizabethan settlement; a compro- mise, framed by politicians for a political object, which failed from the outset, as it has throughout, to satisfy religious aspira- tion, and has appeared to be successful only in periods of spiritual torpor. Pu- riti'nism, with its Genevan theology, was on the scene and was assailing tlie relics of Catholicism in the liturgy or the vestiary, and rebelling against the au- thority of the Bishops. Martin Marpre- late was railing against mitres. More 50 Shakespeare: the Man thoroughgoing than the Puritan, who was always for a national Establishment though purged of Popery, was the Brownist, who, like the Independent of an after day and the Baptist, was for an entire separation of Church from State. Brownism, as a revolutionary movement, was under the ban of the Government. On the other hand, there were Pvoman Catholics of two kinds; those of the old school, national and patriotic, ready to fight for England against the Armada; and those of the new, Ultramontane, and Jesuitical school, who would have been ready to fight with the Armada against England. Conscientious Roman Catho- lics were Recusants, refusing to attend the worship prescribed by lav/ and in- curring fines by their non-attendance. But besides these sects, religious con- troversies and wars had not failed to produce their natural effect in breeding among men of more daring spirit, or per- haps more libertine lives, total scepticism or indifference to religion. Among the 51 Shakespeare: the Man Bohemians of the theatre this tendency was likely to prevail. Marlowe is ma- ligned as a blatant atheist, an utterer of horrible and damnable opinion- who had written a book against the Trinity and defamed Christ. The imputation was extended to other Bohemians. There seems, however, to have been freethinking of a more serious and re- spectable kind. In 1583 Giordano Bruno, in the course of the philosophical wan- derings which ended in Rome and at the stake, visited England. He found much that was not to his liking; dirty streets, insolent domestics, and at Oxford Dons thinking more of their academic robes and their social position than of the ad- vancement of learning, and with minds closed against new truths. But in Lon- don he found to his satisfaction compara- tive freedom of thought and speech. A circle, of which Sir Philip Sidney and Sir Fulke Greville were the chiefs and of which Bruno was a member, discussed questions of philosophy and science with 62 Shakespeare: the Man closed doors. So far as social position was concerned, Shakespeare might pos- sibly have found his way into that circle. The State Church was in a very low condition. The bulk of the clergy had turned their coats under Mary and then again under Elizabeth. Of spiritual life there was probably little among them. They were greatly impoverished, and iconoclasm had dilapidated their churches. Their representatives in the Shakespearian drama are Sir Hugh Evans, who appears in The Merry Wives of Windsor as a boon companion and a butt, quarrelling like a dog and going out to fight a duel; and Sir Nathaniel, who plays a farcical part in Love's Laboiifs Lost. There can be little difficulty in pro- nouncing Shakespeare a Conformist, as a servant of the Court was specially bound to be. At all events he was not a Non- conformist; for he ridicules the Noncon- formists all round. If men could be contented to be what they are, ther'^ were no fear in marriage : for young Charbon 53 Shakespeare: the Man the Puritan, and old Poysam the Papist, howsoe'er their hearts are severed in rehgion, their heads are both one, they may joll horns together, like any deer i' 'he herd. — All's Well thai Ends Well, /., Hi. Though honesty be no Puritan, yet it will do no hurt ; it will wear the surplice of humility over the black gown of a big heart. — AWs Well that Ends Well, I., in. In Twelfth-Night (III., ii.) Sir Andrew Ague-cheek says "I had as lief be a Brownist as a politician." There is perhaps a slight compliment to the conscientiousness of the Puritans in Twelfth-Night, — Maria. — Marry, sir, sometimes he is a kind of Puritan. Sir Andrew Ague-cheek. — O, if I thought that, I'd beat him like a dog. Sir Toby Belch. — What, for being a Puritan ? thy exquisite reason, dear knight ? Sir Andrew Ague-cheek, — I have no exquisite rea- son for't, but I have reason good enough. Maria. — The devil a Puritan that he is, or any thing constantly but a time pleaser. — //., Hi. Religious pretensions do not escape rid- 54 . Shakespeare: the Man icule. '' Signior Bassanio," says Gratiano in the Merchant of Venice, "hear me: "If I do not put on a sober habit, Talk with respect, and swear but now and then, Wear prayer-books in my pocket, look demurely Nay more, while grace is saying, hood mine eyes Thus with my hat, and sigh, and say, amen ; Use all the observance of civility, Like one well studied in a sad ostent To please his grandam, never trust me more." — //., it. Least of all can it be maintained that Shakespeare was a Roman Catholic. Would it have been possible for a Roman Catholic, even dramatically, to have writ- ten this i' — King Philip. — Here comes the holy legate of the pope. Pandiilph. — Hail, you anointed deputies of heaven ! — To thee king John, my holy errand is. I Pandulph, of fair Milan cardinal. And from pope Innocent the legate here, Do, in his name, religiously demand. Why thou against the church, our holy mother, 55 Shakespeare: the Man So wilfully dost spurn ; and, force perforce, Keep Stephen Langton, chosen archbishop Of Canterbury, from that holy see ? This, in our 'foresaid holy father's name, Pope Innocent, I do demand of thee. King John. — What earthly name to interroga- tories, Can task the free breath of a sacred king ? Thou canst not, cardinal, devise a name So slight, unworthy, and ridiculous. To charge me to an answer, as the pope. Tell him this tale : and from the mouth of Eng- land, Add thus much more, — That no Italian priest Shall tithe or toil in our dominions; But as we under heaven are supreme head. So, under him, that great supremacy, "Where we do reign, we will alone uphold, Without the assistance of a mortal hand : So tell the pope ; all reverence set apart. To him, and his usurp'd authority. King Philip, — Brother in England, you blaspheme in this. King John. — Though you, and all the kings of Christendom, Are led so grossly by this meddling priest, Dreading the curse that money may buy out ; And, by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust. Purchase corrupted pardon of a man, 56 ( Shakespeare : the Man Who, in that sale, sells pardon from himself; Though you, and all the rest, so grossly led. This jugf^ling witchcraft with revenue cherish; Yet I, alone, alone do me oppose Against the pope, and count his friends my foes. — King John, lU.^ i. It is true Shakespeare treats Friars re- spectfully in Romeo and Juliet, and else- where. But this shows that he was a large-minded artist, not that he was a Roman Catholic. The Friars were acces- sories of his Italian scenes. To be sure he might think them, though not minis- ters of a purer religion, characters more poetic, perhaps more spiritual, than Sir Hugh Evans and Sir Nathaniel. That his respect for Friars was not religious seems to bj shown when he says, — Cloivn. — As fit as ten groats is for the hand of an attorney, as your French crown for taffata punk, as Tib's rush for Tom's forefinger, as a pancake for Shrove-Tuesday, a morris for May-day, as the nail to his hole, the cuckold to his horn, as a scolding quean to a wrangling knave, as the nun's lip to the friar's mouth ; nay, as the pudding to his skin —AWs Well that Ends Well, II., it. 57 Shakespeare: the Man The ghost and the purgatory in Hamlet are evidently a mere part of the fiction. No belief is indicated in purgatory any more than in ghosts. A Conformist we may safely take Shakespeare to have been; whether he was a church-goer, we have no means of telling. Atheistical or irreligious, he evidently was not. His general spirit is religious. With him, to be where " holy bells knoll to church," is synonymous with civilized life. The Almighty has fixed his canon against self-slaughter. In Twelfth-Night Malvolio, here evidently serious, when asked whether he assents to a degrading opinion of the soul, an- swers that he thinks nobly of the soul, and by no means assents to the opinion. In Measure for Measure there is a re- spectful allusion to the doctrine of the Redemption. Isabella. — Alas! Alas! Why, all the souls that were, were forfeit once ; And He that might the vantage best have took, Fc 'lid out the remedy. — //., H, 58 / Shakespeare : the Man In The Merchant of l^enice, mercy in man reflects an attribute of God. On the other hand, when Shakespeare touches the problem of human existence or that of the world to come, we cannot help feeling that we are in contact with a mind more like that of Giordano Bruno, or rather that of the Elizabethan liberals, than that of an orthodox Angli- can Divine. The soliloquy in Hamlet presents nothing sceptical; yet it and Hamlet's general utterances are pervaded by the spirit of one to whom the state of man, present and future, is an un- solved mystery. We do not know** in that sleep of death what dreams may come." The world beyond the grave is **the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller returns." To die is to ''go we know not where." "We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep." This globe of ours " like an un- substantial pageant, will vanish and leave not a wreck behind." That Shakes- 59 Shakespeare : the Man pcare himself speaks in such passages cannot be affunicd, but may surely, without much improbability, be divined. Among the absurdities of the Baconian theory, not one is greater than the idea that Bacon could have passed, in chang- ing his kind of composition, from the scientific orthodoxy of his acknowledged works to the frame of mind characteris- tic of the Shakespearian drama. Of the greatness of Shakespeare's genius, this is not, any more than of the features of his art, the place to speak. His genius is so great that it has raised the whole Elizabethan drama to a height of reputation which probably none of its other writers, with the possible excep- tion of Marlowe, could of themselves have attained. 60 " The special characteristic of this book which makes it invaluable for Shakespeare clubs and for schools is its sugs[cstivenei>s. The author does not do the work for the stuilent but directs him how to do it, and stimulates him to do it for himself. . . . We state, without hcsitatioiii that this book will be of the highest usefulness in the study of Shakespeare; and that it is an addition to Shakespearian literature which is of real and permanent value." — Ficdetio C. Smedley, President N. Y. Shakesfearc Club. HOW TO STUDY TEXT BY WILLIAM H. FLEMING Author of "A Bibliography of the First Folios," etc. Introduction by W, J. ROLFE, Litt.D. SPECIFIC A TIONS: She, 5 x 7 / Pages, 4.^?: Binding, linen cloih : Type, Brevier .• Price, Si-oo nut. II "Wi HIS little book has received altogether unusual appreciation from autliorities on Shakespeare work, as the following notices show. It is perhaps as practical and helpful an aid to intclligenv and appreciative study as can anywhere be obtained, and has many unique features of its own. Personal Comments from Weii-known Shakespeare Scholars BARRETT WENDELL Assistant Professor of English, Harvard University " A very fev/ glanccG nufllce to show the admirable spirit of yo'.ir work, in nothing more evident than in the unobtrusiva certainty and brcvityof your touch throughout." GEORGE LANSING RAYMOND, L.H.D. Professor o? /Esthetics, Princeton University '* Mr. Fleming's book seems to me to show not only thorough study and knowledge of the subject in hand, but exceptional poetic insight, keen appreciation of artistic requirements, and remarkable powers of logical analysis. It is well entitled ' How to Study Shakespeare,' and I hope it will make its way into classes organized for that purpose. THOS. R. PRICE, M.A., LL.D. Professor of the English Languaji^e and Literature, Columbia University, New York " When I start my next set of students in their Shakespeare work I shall be so glad to point out your [Mr. Fleming's] book to them as a guide in the methodical study of the p^ays.*^ MRS. MAUD HILLS EWING President Stratford Shakespeare Club, New York " Now that schools are awaking to their responsibilities, and effort is being made to reveal the best in English literature, even to the youngest student, the need for better helps toward this end is sorely felt. This is especially true in the study of Shakespeare. " Hhherto this need has not been so met that the untrained mind would take more than a surface view of what it reads, or would be led into a deeper study of Shakespeare's art. To sttpp'y this need was your purpose and you have succeeded in so doing. "The play should firsst be read entirely through with the study of such notes and suggestions as 'yo^x ha ve offered. After this the student will be ready to begin the more critical study which your questions suggest. " In the hand of the wise teacher or club leader your book will lead to most enjoyable study." FRANKLIN H. SARGENT Fres'dent the Asnerican School of the Draniiitic Arts, New York " I have read with much interest and instruction Mr. Flem- ing's woiic entitled ' How to Study Shakespeare.' " The endorsement of Professor Rolfe alone would prove, without my own personal knov/ledge, the exceptional worth or the book." nRS. ABBY SAGE RICHARDSON "I felt quite sure that anything Mr. Fleming would do would be scholarly, and I find his book both scholarly and practical, i. e., suited to the practical needs of students of Shakespeare. It will, I know, be excellent for use in clubs for Shakespeare study." FRANK S. HOFFHAN, Ph.D. P*'o5e8Sor of Fliiilosophy, Uruon College *' 1 have no hesitation in saying that I regard I\ir. Fleming's 'How to Study Shakespeare' as by far the most serviceable book on thnt subject of which I have any knowledge. His plan is an admirable one, and is carried out witn great clearness and force. It is a model introduction and guide, and its uso ought to become universal." JOHN DENISON CHAMPL5N, M.A. Associate Editor Standard Dictionary "1 have examined with great interest your little book entitled 'How to Study Shakespeare,' and I am astonished at the amount of valuable matter condensed in so small a space. Indeed, I do not see why the ordinary reauer or student should need any notes other than those you have supplied for the eight plays selected. " Your i^p-neral plan seems to me admirable and well cal- culated, from the historical introduction to the conclviding' cjuestions, for the use of teachers and students, to arouse an interest in the subject, and at the same time to satisfy that interest." What the S^^agazines and S^lewspapers Say AMHERST nONTHLY June, 1898 "This volume is an invaluable addition to one's Shakes- peare litrary. Its aim is to make possible to individuals and clubs the intelligent, appreciative study of Shakespeare. "The author has succeeded most admirably in his en- deavor." prove, ,'ortli or would actical, ■speare. jspeare jming's iceable lis plan iarnt-ss its U6C WISCONSIN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION June, 1898 "It illustrates the method bv means of ei^^ht plays, Othello, Twelfth Night, Julius Cfesar, Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, Midsummer Night's Dream, King Richard the Third and The Tempest. The plays are not printed in this book, which may be used wi;h any edition of them. The method begins with a study of tlie sources of the plot, that tlie jrenius of the dramatist may be apparent from a comparison of his work with the crude material which he used. The second part of the method consists of explanatory notes to facilitate the interpretation of the text. The third presents a table of acts and scenes in which each character appears for character studies and groupings of minor characters, so that in clubs a single reader may carry two or three. The fourth part coU" sists of questions so arranged as to direct attention to all the important topics suggested by the play, and especiolly to em- phasize the dramatic construction. This work is very well done and v/ill be appreciated by students and readf^rs, who often miss what is mo!;t essential. One studying with such help will soon learn how to attack a nevv- drama, and will find that his appreciation for the art oi Shakespciire grows rapidly. The concluding section gives a list of books which v/ill be helpful in tlie studies. Among the multitude of works on Sliakespeare wc know of none whch undertakes the kmd of s<"rvice h.-re n ndcred, and most heartilv commend th»» vol- ume to the favor of our readers.'" REVIEW OF REVIEWS July, 1898, P. 115 "This book should prove especially helpful to Shakespeare clubs. It f oi-ms an excellent guide 10 the study of eight of the principal plays. In the case of each play the sourc» of the plot IS first considered ; then follow explanatory notes on the text, a table of acts and scenes in which each character appears (useful in assigning readings to members of clubs), a series of questions on subjects suggested by the play, and finally a list of books for collateral reading." THE CHAUTAUQUAN October, 1898 •' ' How to Study Shakespeare ' is the title of a very valuable guide intended for the Shakespearian student. Eight plays are studied, and each study is divided into four pans. First, there is an explanation, simple and lucid, of the source of the plot. This is followed by notes, which are explanatory and critical in character. The third division is a table of the char- acters, which shows in what acts and scenes each character appears, how many lines each speaks, and what minor charac- ters can be represented by one person in a club or reading circle. In the fourth division are search questions on each act of the drama and on the drama as a whole, some of which are answered. Dr. W. J. Rolfe, the Shakespearian critic, is the author of the introduction, This volume should be in the hands of every student of these dramas." THE CRITIC, NEW YORK " In ' How to Study Shakespeare ' Mr, W. H. Fleming has had especially in mind the wants of Shakespeare clubs. The book contains historical introductions, explanatory notes, and questions for study, review and discussion, on eight of the plays, 'Othello,' 'Twelfth Night,' 'Julius Caesar,* 'The Mer- chant of Venice,' 'Macbeth,' 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' 'Richard the Third' and 'The Tempest.' The annotations are not intended to supersede those in critical editions that also include the text of the plays, but they will be helpful to mem- bers of clubs who may not be able to consult such editions. With each play there is also a table of acts and scenes in which each character appears, and the number of lines spoken by each ; also, groui)ings of minor characters, to be read in a club by one person. This matter will be useful in "casting" the plays for reading. Books for collateral reading are also sug- gested. Dr. Rolfe contributes an introduction mainly devoted to the organization and management of reading? clubs. Mr. Pleining is already known as ttie author of a ' iiibb'ography of the First Folios' and the editor of three plays in the 'Bank- side ' edition of the dramatist. (Doubleday & McClure Co.)" DOUBLEDAY & McCLURE COMPAKY Hl-lSS 033t 2Sth Street, New York City Mr.