ACT V

THE DOUBLE WEDDING

The valor and humor of the two old men against the two young ones has

especial value in restoring the comic vein. How does this somewhat

belated loyalty of Leonato act upon our sympathy with him? Does the

forbearance of Claudio and the Prince toward the two men raise our

esteem of them or lead to further dislike?

What effect has the mock heroics of their ineffective challenge on

Benedicke's earnest championship of Hero? Is the Prince's satiric

speech (V, i, 208-209) to be interpreted as complimentary to

Benedicke? Notice Claudio's next speech in comment upon it, and

explain the implications intended.

What does Leonato mean by blaming Borachio less than the three nobles?

How far do you think him justified--the relations of master to man at

the time being considered?

Was Margaret to blame? Why did she not make the cheat known? (Cf. V,

iv, 5-7 with V, i, 311-314). Is it worth while to spend much time on

making all minor details clear?

Is Claudio's consent to a second marriage creditable, natural, or a

clumsy expedient which only the entire hollowness of the whole plot of

false noting as to Hero renders endurable? Can you imagine any way of

acting the part of Claudio that would make it seem attractive?

Do you find it in character at the wedding that one couple says so

little, the other so much?

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Is the ending of the Plot happily contrived in too forced and unreal a

way?

Which is the most stirring scheme in the Play and why?

Which is the funniest, and is it possible to say why?

THE CHARACTERS

Does this Play succeed in giving so extremely definite and varied an

impression of the characters that it is chiefly notable for that? To

bring out this idea of the plot as successful less in itself than

because it illuminates the quality and humor of the characters,

compare with the "Comedie of Errors" or any of the Plays where events

figure more prominently. Show how the events of this Play may be said

to be created by the Characters. The Prince and his Brother (and their

tools on each side who lend themselves to their plans with Dogberry,

the highly unconscious, and the Friar, the highly conscious character)

by being what they are constitute the diverse means of influencing the

whole turn of events. These persons may all be considered with

reference to what they are themselves, in character, and through that,

in relation to the other characters of the Comedy.

BENEDICKE AND BEATRICE, CLAUDIO AND HERO

These two loving couples reveal their special characters most vividly

by means of their contrasting and supplementary relations to each

other. Show how Benedicke and Beatrice do not throw Claudio and Hero

too much in the shade by their superior brilliancy, because through

the love of the minor couple their own love is enabled to ripen. Is

their character heightened or lessened in wit and individual interest

by love?

The minor characters: Show how the adversity of the family brings out

the heroic element lying unobserved in Brother Anthony of the "dry

hand," and kindles his philosophy into something martial.

The merry maids, Ursula and Margaret and their light-hearted parts in

the plot.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Beatrice "is a tarter,--and, if a natural woman, is not a pleasing

representative of her sex." She "will provoke her Benedicke to give

her much and just conjugal castigation," says Campbell. Is he right,

and will Benedicke feel so?--or is Swinburne right, who says she is "a

decidedly more perfect woman than could properly or permissibly have

trod the stage of Congreve or Molière" and who speaks of her "light

true heart"?

Is the superficial Claudio worthy of Hero?

Are the faults in the plot of the Play, such as are necessitated by

the design of using the characters themselves and their "noting" of

one another as the source of events, and, therefore, in the last

analysis not faults, a study of their relation to the design leading

us, as Hartley Coleridge puts it, never to censure Shakespeare without

finding reason to eat our words?

A MIDSOMMER NIGHTS DREAME

Having read "A Midsommer Nights Dreame" as a whole, if it be not

already fresh in the mind, or, if possible, having seen it acted, then

consider more carefully the characteristics of its dramatic structure,

studying the plot and progress of the story as it is unfolded act by

act, also the sources, the characters, and so forth, as suggested in

the following study.

ACT I

THE CROSSED LOVERS

Sum up the incidents and characters introduced in the first Act and

ascertain which are most important in influencing the rest of the

story.

It may be noticed that Theseus and Hippolyta and their marriage

festivities are personages and events which make up a decorative

external sort of frame for the whole play, but that the centre of the

action takes its start, primarily, from the conflict of Hermia's love

for Lysander with her father's choice of Demetrius, and, secondarily,

from the clash of Helena's love for Demetrius with his suit for

Hermia. Show how the brisk bit of dialogue between Hermia and Lysander

(I. i. 141-166) implies the forthcoming plot. For example, it may be

shown that 'to be enthrall'd to love' (the first folio reading is

_love_ instead of _low_, which was an emendation of Theobald's,)

[Footnote: See foot note in First Folio edition.] and to have

'sympathy in choice' made as 'momentary as a sound, swift as a shadow,

short as any dream,' is to be the fate of all the lovers in the play,

except Theseus and Hippolyta, and to constitute the substance of the

action.

Consider what relation the second scene has to the story. Is it more

extraneous to the movement than the scene presenting the Duke and his

bride? It is linked to the crossed lovers group, on the one side, by

the part the chief of the 'rude mechanicals,' Bottom, is to assume

with Titania, although this does not appear in the first Act, and

Shakespeare's intention to do something special with this character is

only shadowed forth here by its prominence. On the other side it is

linked to the ducal group still more superficially, merely by the

rehearsal of a piece to be played at the wedding. It may be contrasted

with the preparation in 'Hamlet' for a piece similarly played before

the Court, but which had a vital connection with the action and

characters which is lacking here. Can there be said to be an artistic

design, however, though of a more external sort, in the contrast

between the Court scene and the rehearsal scene, and the realistic

offset the latter scene supplies to the fairy fantasies that are to

follow in the next acts? For instance, it may be shown that the

merriment the clownish scene provides balances the dignity of the

ducal scene. His audience, having put a yoke upon the dramatists by

requiring a clown, his genius is betokened here by his making it an

artistic advantage.

POINTS 1. 'The ancient privilege of Athens,' I. i. 49. What was the

position of the father toward the family in Attica? 2. 'On Dian's

altar to protest,' i. 98. Did the service of Diana offer women a

respite from masculine dictation? Compare the myth of Iphigenia's

salvation by Diana. 3. 'To that place the sharp Athenian law cannot

pursue,' i. 172. What Grecian states had laws more lenient to women?

4. What traces can be found in history or legend of the victory of

Theseus over the Amazons, and the rise of a new civic order on the

ruins of a matriarchate? 5. The story of Pyramus and Thisbe (see

Chaucer's 'Legend of Good Women' for an early English use of the

story). 6. Explanation of allusions to Phoebe, Cupid, Ercles, etc.

ACT I

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Upon what does the interest centre in Act I? In the marriage of

Hippolyta and Theseus, or the love affairs of the four lovers?

Is Hermia, whose determination not to be forced to marry starts the

plot, the best-drawn character in the first Act?

ACT II

THE FAIRIES' QUARREL

Show how in this Act a new agency of a fairies' quarrel is devised and

set forth.

Point out how this is made to crystallize in Oberon's scheme for

revenge on Titania, and also how, in the course of disentangling their

own love-snarl, it is made to develop the conflict between the crossed

lovers. This, it may be emphasized, is the second step in the

movement, as Hermia's and Helena's love was the first, and these two

main factors of the action are taken up together in this act.

Are the other two groups which were introduced in the first act, the

Duke's party and Bottom's set, interwoven with the new fairy group in

any way in this Act? See if the new fairy element now shows any

disposition in the person of Oberon to smooth out the difficulties of

the mortals.

Oberon's intentions, however, were one thing, and his deeds another.

Through Puck as his instrument, his jealousy at once begins to make

matters worse instead of better for the lovers. Notice the delicate

appropriateness of Oberon's means of influence, namely Puck and the

two flowers, the first being 'Cupid's flower,'--Love in idleness--the

second 'Dian's bud,' introduced later to correct the influence of the

first. The first flower assists in the development of a plot which is

to enact the 'momentariness' of 'sympathy in choice.' The

cross-purpose, fostered by Puck's mistake, seems to provide the

comparatively grosser sort of merriment for this Act which Bottom and

his friends supplied for the first; and the dainty humor and sprightly

novelty attending the introduction of the fairies on the scene, the

description of their quarrel, and the foreshadowing of the influence

they are to have on the next stages of the story, may be shown to

occupy the chief place in the plot at this period, the crossed lovers,

who predominated in the first Act, now falling into a relatively

subordinate position.

POINTS 1. Robin Goodfellow and the traditions about him. 2. Fairies

and changelings. 3. The stories of Theseus's loves. 4. Explanation of

allusions to nine men's morris, old Hiems, etc. 5. Account of theories

as to meaning of references to _the imperiall votresse, a little

westerne flower, a mearemaide on a dolphins backe_, etc. Warburton

says the mermaid was meant for Mary Queen of Scots. N.H. Halpin thinks

that by Cynthia is meant Queen Elizabeth; by Tellus, Lady Douglas; by

the little 'western flower,' Lettice, wife of Walter, Earl of Essex,

while Cupid is Leicester. (See "First Folio Edition" for particulars).

6. Explain use of 'Lob,' II. i. 15; 'wodde,' 200. 7. 'The starres shot

madly from their Spheares,' i. 159. Look up Ptolemaic system of

astronomy for explanation of the idea. Compare "Merchant of Venice,"

V. i. 71-75, and notes on same in "First Folio Edition" of that play.

8. What is "Love in idleness"? (See Introduction to "First Folio

Edition" of "A Midsommer Nights Dreame" for references to this flower

in Chaucer's poem of "The Flower and the Leaf.") Compare "The Taming

of the Shrew," I. i. 156. 9. What are "Cankers" in the musk rosebuds?

II. ii. 4.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Is it probable that the various passages in this act said to allude to

current incidents were so intended? In that case what effect do they

have upon the beauty of a Play set in Athens?

Is the interest of this Act a divided one?

ACT III

CROSS-EFFECTS OF OBERON'S SPELL

Analyze the scenes constituting this Act. Observe that scene i. takes

up Bottom and his fellows, the group not as yet brought into relation

with the fairy group, and initiates them in the magic of fairy land by

means of the new but appropriate head Puck bestows upon Bottom. Why is

Bottom picked out for this favor? The 'ass-head' as a symbolic piece

of stage furniture. Show how this transformation makes the mismating

of Titania with Bottom more gross and obvious to the audience; also

how this is the next direct effect of Oberon's revenge.

Notice that scene ii. takes up the cross-effect already worked upon

Lysander by Puck's mistake, instead of on Demetrius, as Oberon

intended, and sets forth its further effects upon Helena and Hermia.

The dialogues between the two pairs of lovers now overheard by Oberon

makes the error clear, and so enables him to take the first step in

clearing up the tangle. Meantime, the poet and his audience agree with

Puck that they are so far 'glad it so did sort, As this their

jangling' is esteemed 'a sport.'

POINTS 1. Explain 'It shall be written in eight and sixe,' III. i.

23-4. 2. The custom in Shakespeare's day as to the women's parts.

Would it have been as amusing to the audience then as it would be to

us when Quince says 'Robin Starveling, you play Thisbies mother'? 3.

Pyramus and Thisbe. This may have been derived from Ovid, or from

Chaucer's "Legend of Good Women," or C. Robinson's "Handful of

Pleasant Delights." (1504.) 4. Explain 'Two of the first like coats in

heraldry,' III. ii. 220. 5. Describe the personal appearance of the

heroines from the references made.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Is Puck or Bottom the presiding genius of this act?

Does the jangling between the two women belittle them as heroines, and

is it, therefore, a blot upon the beauty of the play?

ACT IV

HARMONIZING EFFECTS OF OBERON'S SPELL

Trace throughout this act the smoothing-out process.

Why does Oberon himself release Titania while Puck is made to minister

to the other victims of the charm? Is Oberon's explanation of the

Fairy Queen's sudden change of heart about the changeling quite

satisfactory, or does it simply appear so by a sort of artistic

sleight-of-hand characteristic of Shakespeare in small touches at the

close of a plot?

Show how poetically suitable as a stage effect the entry of Theseus

and his huntsmen is,--shedding the first rays of morning on the

night-enchanted lovers.

Why is Bottom made to waken last? Perhaps because he helps to denote

the prose of broad daylight. Show what relation scene ii. has to the

completion of the smoothing-out process.

POINTS. 1. 'I was with Hercules and Cadmus once,' IV. i. 126. What

relation had Hippolyta to these Greek heroes? 2. Account of May-day

rites. 3. Traditions of St. Valentine. 4. Rites of Midsummer Eve.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Why is the choice of Hermia's father for her no longer supported by

the Duke? Does this imply a criticism on the inconsistency of allowing

men their choice, and their brides none, with which Shakespeare was in

sympathy, or is this only apparent to some modern minds?

ACT V

THE THREEFOLD MASK

If the central action of the play be considered as virtually concluded

with the fourth Act, what office is performed by the fifth Act?

Notice that in it the three groups of characters constituting the

play--the court group with the lovers; the 'rude mechanicals' and

their 'tedious brief scene,' and the fairy train--are in this Act all

brought upon the stage, the whole spectacle being set in the palace at

Athens, in celebration of the wedding festivities of the ducal pair,

which, as before noticed, is used as a sort of decorative frame for

the play as a whole.

Examine the working-out of this unified presentation of all the

personages. How are we to account for the silence of the women who

were made to do so much towards the institution of the action? Show

the poetic reasons for the entrance of Puck and the fairies last of

all, and when the stage is empty.

POINTS. 1. Explanation of all mythical allusions. 2. Account of

theories as to meaning of 'The thrice three muses,' etc., V. i. 59. 3.

What is a 'Bergomask dance'? 4. The date and occasion of the play:

This play appears in Meres's list of 1598 and in the Quartos of 1600.

Titania's description of the unseasonable weather (II. i. 92, foll.)

may refer to the year 1594. Note that Chaucer in the 'Knight's Tale'

speaks of the tempest at Hippolyta's home-coming. Many critics have

believed that the play was written on the occasion of some marriage in

high life, but they do not agree as to whose it was.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Upon what does the interest of the last Act centre? How does the

ending suit the various threads of the Play?

Is Theseus or Hippolyta the wiser critic of 'the story of the night';

and which of them is the wiser critic of the play of Pyramus and

Thisbe?

SOURCES OF THE PLAY

1. WHERE SHAKESPEARE FOUND SUGGESTIONS FOR HIS MORTALS

In Plutarch's 'Life of Theseus' will be found passages which furnished

Shakespeare with some points for his drama. Chaucer's 'Knight's Tale'

is also said to have given him material. The editor of the "First

Folio Edition" suggests in the introduction that a reading by

Shakespeare of a poem in his day supposed to be Chaucer's, 'The Flower

and the Leaf,' gave him an important hint for his plot. Examine for

yourself, and state what indebtedness you find in any of these

sources. In I. i. 20, Theseus says to Hippolyta, 'I woo'd thee with my

sword.' Compare this with the account given in Chaucer. According to

another version of the story Hercules gave Hippolyta to his kinsman

Theseus in marriage. Compare 'The Two Noble Kinsmen' and the 'Knight's

Tale' with Shakespeare's 'Dreame.'

2. WHERE SHAKESPEARE FOUND SUGGESTIONS FOR HIS FAIRIES

The models in literature from which Shakespeare drew may have been

'Huon of Bordeaux,' where he got little, however, but the name Oberon.

The name Titania may have been derived from Ovid's 'Metamorphoses.'

The Fairy Queen in Shakespeare's day usually went by the name of Queen

Mab. Puck's characteristics seem to have been derived from the little

tract of 'Robin Goodfellow, His Mad Pranks and Merry Jests.' Rolfe, in

the notes to his edition of the play, says that White argues that this

was probably written after "A Midsommer Nights Dreame." Ward thinks

that the entire machinery of Oberon and his court may have been

derived from Greene's 'Scottish History of James IV,' and that Titania

may have been suggested by Chaucer's 'Wife of Bath's Tale.' He

probably owed his fairies in great measure to tradition or folk-lore.

The folk-lore of England was originally made up of Teutonic elements,

which have been modified by Danish and Norman invasions, by remnants

of old Keltic belief, and by the introduction of Christianity, which

last degraded the good fairies into mischievous elves. (See Hazlitt,

'Fairy Mythology of Shakespeare,' Halliwell's 'Illustrations of the

Fairy Mythology of Midsummer Night's Dream,' also _Poet-Lore_, April,

1891, 'Fairy-lore in Midsummer Night's Dream.')

3. SOLAR ORIGIN OF THE FAIRIES

According to some authorities the Teutonic mythology was of cosmic

origin. In the fairies may be seen many reflections of cosmic

characteristics. Oberon and Titania are fairies of the night, and the

old battle between light and darkness shows itself in the mad pranks

which they play on unsuspecting mortals. But as the daylight comes

they are obliged to flee. Puck reflects the characteristics of a wind

god. (See Cox, 'Myths of the Aryan Nations;' also Korner, 'Solar Myths

in Midsummer Night's Dream,' _Poet-Lore_, Jan., 1891). Compare his

character with that of Hermes in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes (Shelley's

Translation).

SYMPOSIUM OF OPINION ON THE CHARACTERS

1. THE LOVERS

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

1. Hermia and Helena are hardly worth considering, but if anything

Helena is to be preferred to Hermia because she is so humble, and

shows no sign of jealousy of Hermia. 2. If Hermia had been more

dignified when she found that both the lovers had turned their

attention to Helena, she would better have carried out the promise of

her character in the first Act when she declared she would rather die

than wed the man chosen by her father.

2. HIPPOLYTA AND THESEUS

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

1. The only indication we have of the character of Hippolyta is in the

last act, where she is so bored by the play of 'Pyramus and Thisbe.'

Does this show stupidity on her part or exceptional development? 2. Do

you agree with Dowden that there is no figure in the early drama of

Shakespeare so magnificent as Theseus? His insistence in Act I. that

Hermia should obey her father against her own inclinations is

certainly not very praiseworthy, but might be excused on the score of

the times in which he lived. 3. His complaisance toward Quince and his

companions has been considered an indication that he was a most

perfect gentleman; does he not rather conceitedly patronize them?

3. THE FAIRIES

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

1. Have the Fairies any idea of morality? 2. Oberon was perfectly

justified in wishing to get the changeling from his wife, and shows

himself worthy of becoming a mortal for insisting on his rights as a

husband. 3. Titania is the most developed woman character in the play,

because she insists on her individual right to the changeling. 4. Is

Puck a more developed fairy than Ariel in 'The Tempest'?

4. THE PLAYERS

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

1. Is Shakespeare making fun of the stupidity of Quince and his

companions, or is he gently satirizing the stage and the exaggerated

style of writing for the stage which prevailed at this time? 2. If the

last is true, is not Shakespeare in the last act making fun of the

audience, as well as of the players, who with a superior air pass

judgment upon the play and indulge in very lame wit, while the real

meaning of it quite escapes them.

SYMPOSIUM OF OPINION ON FAVORITE PASSAGES

Every member of the class or club should bring in a short paper giving

his favorite passage in the play and why he likes it, including his

criticism of the metre, of the metaphors and similes, and the thought

contained.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

1. Which characters in the play are original with Shakespeare? 2. What

is to be thought of Shakespeare for bringing together in one play

Greek mythology, English folk-lore, and English workmen of his own

age? Does this commixture of elements make the Play seem unnatural or

incongruous? Has he skilfully harmonised these diverse elements by

giving the Play its dream-like character? 3. That this play is

charming cannot be disputed. Is its chief charm its humor, its fancy,

its dramatic construction, or subtle developments of character?

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

Sufficiently indirect use of contemporary political events in a Play

was a cause of popularity without seeming dangerous to the State.

As "Love's Labour's Lost" is an early example of a plot woven out of

masked allusions to current topics, so even as definitely plotted a

comedy as "The Merchant of Venice" here and there worked in an

animating shred of contemporary reference.

After Dr. Roderigo Lopez, the Queen's physician, was accused by Don

Antonio of Portugal, and executed June 7, 1594, on the charge of being

bribed by the King of Spain to poison Queen Elizabeth, the story of a

Shylock's defeat and the rescue from his clutches of an Anthonio had

just enough relevance to be popular without definiteness enough to be

obtrusive.

ACT I

SHYLOCK'S "MERRIE BOND"

Why is Anthonio sad? Is it presentiment? Is it, despite his unselfish

willingness to furnish forth Bassanio to sue at Belmont for Portia,

some sense of loss in friendship through this love? Anthonio and

Bassanio may be considered as examples of that devoted friendship

illustrated by Valentine's feelings towards Protheus in "The Two

Gentlemen of Verona."

The group of young and gay courtiers circling about the two friends

bring them into brighter relief.

Unlike Protheus, though perhaps younger and less wrapped up in the

sense of friendship than Anthonio is, Bassanio is worthy of such

regard. Do the "faire speechless messages" he has received from

Portia's eyes and his praise of her as "nothing undervalued to

Brutus's Portia" tell the cause of his quest better than what is said

of her wealth? Notice that even what he says of that is as a mere

grace of her person: "her sunny locks Hang on her temples," etc. (I.

i. 177-181).

What reasons had Shylock for hating Anthonio?

Does Anthonio's demand that he lend the money to him as an enemy

justify the terms of the bond?

Is Bassanio right in distrusting, and wrong in accepting such a bond?

The long pedigree of Jewish and Christian antipathy and its

illustration in this bond by the characters that are its exemplars.

What is to be gathered of Portia in this Act before she meets again

with Bassanio?

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Are Anthonio and Shylock more individual than typical?

Does the Act close with assurance of good luck or foreboding of bad?

Is Bassanio a fortune hunter?

Is he to blame for what follows?

ACT II

PORTIA'S CASKETS

Why is Jessica's story intertwined with Portia's? What dramatic

purposes does it serve? Are Jessica and Launce alike justified in

leaving Shylock? Why? (See Introduction to the Play in First Folio

Edition for suggestion). Is the Jew's lament for his daughter although

piteous, inadequate.

Is the choice of the gold and the silver by the Moor and Spaniard

significant of their natures?

What reason is there to find in the symbolism and the persuasion to

choice each suitor employs that Portia's father has used the wisdom of

a seer in prescribing the choice from the three caskets?

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Do you like Jessica? Why? In what ways are Portia and Jessica alike in

the generousness of love though opposite in circumstances?

Is Jessica's elopement to blame for her father's joy in the wreckage

of Anthonio's ships and his final exaction of the bond? Was it

introduced in the Plot for this purpose?

ACT III

BASSANIO'S LUCK AND ANTHONIO'S LOSS

Shakespeare's creed of love as engendered in the eyes may be

illustrated by passages in many other plays as well as this. What is

meant by it?

Is Bassanio's daring in venturing so much for his chance with Portia

itself a sign of his fitness, or the reverse? How is his casket

significant of this test-stone--i.e., adventurousness?

Is the match of Nerissa and Gratiano an irrelevance to Portia's and

Bassanio's courtship or an enhancement of their happiness? Show how

the two points of climax in event and feeling balance absolutely but

do not sacrifice each other? Are Shakespeare's experiments in bold

juxtaposition of extreme fortune and happiness and utterly

irretrievable devastation anywhere so poignant as the arrival of

Anthonio's letter at the betrothal of Bassanio and Portia?

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Is the secret of Bassanio's adventurousness the supreme honor in which

he holds love? Nothing else being of so much consequence, he yields

everything to love. Does Jessica, also?

The "manners" of Portia, according to Gildon, "are not always

agreeable or convenient to her Sex and Quality; particularly where she

scarce preserves her modesty in the expression." What is to be thought

of this?

Is Anthonio's letter characteristic of his nobleness as a friend, or

is it too insistent upon bringing Bassanio to him, since to send such

a letter was equivalent to fetching him?

Is it Portia's best warrant as a noble bride and wife that she

appreciates Anthonio's message and friendship?

ACT IV

THE LUCK REDEEMS THE LOSS

By means of Bassanio's luck in winning Portia's love and hand Shylock

is finally defeated of his malicious purpose. Portia considered as the

embodiment of Bassanio's luck and the instrument bringing Shylock to

confusion.

Does it matter whether the law-point is disputable or not since the

traditional stories on which the Play is built up afford the

opportunity for its use?

Does Shylock get Justice, since he had refused mercy?

Illustrate the legal knowledge and studies of Italian women of the

Renaissance affording a parallel for Portia's sagacity and leadership.

(For hints see pp. 256-260 in "First Folio Edition.")

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Do you think Shylock is wronged?

Does Shylock so preponderate the Play as to destroy its balance, and

outweighing all other characters make them insignificant?

Are Actors justified in acting the Play so as to dwarf the Love plot

and cut out Act V as needless?

Is Portia the proper counterpart in consummate character creation to

Shylock? To whom does, if properly played, the ultimate interest of

the Play belong?

Why does this position belong to no other character's part?

ACT V

THE RINGS

What is the business of Act V?

How is it linked to the preceding Act? Since reunion and rejoicing are

not alone the business of the plot; since recognition and declaration

to the two husbands, and to Anthonio, especially, are needed, as well

as to the others, of the part played by the wives in solving the

difficulties of the plot, the Ring scenes constitute the due dramatic

conclusion of the Play. Note that the threat of quarrel over the

reluctant but requisite giving away of the rings in the preceding Act

makes a deceptively serious difficulty. It is happily to be solved as

a result of the wives' preceding action. This difficulty and this

solution at this final stage of the plot constitute a little character

play that is an epitome of the action. The whole is the more happily

and amusingly solved that the Audience is wise and the characters

still in the dark are really perplexed.

Point out the value of the exchange of Rings as made clear in these

two ways, by bringing out the characters of Gratiano, Bassanio, and

especially of Anthonio as peace-maker; and by bringing out to them the

fact that to the wives' love and skill the victory over the

difficulties they suffered is due.

Are the rings the sole test of this?

What other news adds to the general denouement of all difficulties?

Is the summing up of the Play a victory of love and intelligence over

hate and narrow-mindedness?

Show how the rings symbolize this, and music and moonlight provide the

proper atmosphere for its operation. The appropriateness of the

moonlight for a calm out of strife, brought about by women, is matched

by the fitness of music and the reference to the harmony of the

spheres to suggest that earth-harmony to which Portia was presiding

Angel.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Is any incident of Act V without relevance to the plot?

Is the Play the nobler or the weaker dramatically for the poetic and

symbolic influence shed upon it by Act V?

THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR

If this Comedy was written, as tradition reports at the bidding of

Queen Elizabeth in order to show Falstaffe in love, it is interesting

to see that Shakespeare confines his love-making to mercenary motives,

and by causing him to make love to two at once renders him as a lover

merely a cheat.

So keeping the word of promise to the ear, he obeys by breaking it to

the sense. To show Falstaffe as a lover amounts to showing him as no

lover at all.

In this sense, the Play might be called a courteous satire upon the

Queen's request.

THE STORY OF ACT I

FALSTAFFE IS FORCED TO "CONICATCH"

How Falstaffe falls into trouble, turns away his followers and begins

a new enterprise: How do his followers take revenge? What light upon

this opening of the story do scenes i. and iii. show?

What is the underplot as shown in scenes ii. and iv and a part of

scene i?

Do they appear to have anything to do with each other?

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Which of her suitors does Anne prefer? Which is to be preferred?

Is the grievance of Shallow against Falstaffe a necessity of the plot

to show the fat knight in love, or an episode introduced out of

Shakespeare's grudge towards Sir Thomas Lucy? (See pp. 117-119,

138-141, etc., "First Folio Edition.")

THE STORY OF ACT II

THE MERRY WIVES AND FORD LAY PLOTS

In Act II a third under-intrigue that of Ford with Falstaffe is added

to the two before introduced.

Show how the Merry Wives reveal their separate personalities in their

reception of the duplicate letters, and their plot to dupe Falstaffe.

Contrast their two husbands as their natures and marital relations are

shown by their different manner of taking the information given them

by Nym and Pistol. Ford, considered as Shakespeare's first study of

jealousy. How does he compare with Leontes?

How does Ford assist in the plot of the Play?

What pertinence to Ford's jealousy is there in the allusion to Queen

Elizabeth's Sonnet? (II, ii, 199-200).

The Sources of the Merry Wives' intrigue and what Shakespeare has done

with them. (See "Sources," First Folio Edition). How is the Duel scene

related to the underplot?

What characters belong in common to plot and counterplot?

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Does Falstaffe show any material differences in character as he

appears in this Play, in comparison with the way he appears in "Henry

IV?"

THE STORY OF ACT III

THE DOUBLE DUPERY

Contrast the feelings of Falstaffe before and after the Buckbasket

episode?

In which scene is Ford the worst duped?

Give an account of Dame Quickly's relations to the intrigues, and show

how her multitudinous offices as go-between interfere with each other

so that she is "slacke" in one of her errands. What is the effect of

her slackness on the contradictions in the time of the action. (See

Duration of the Action, in "First Folio Edition"). Are they only

seeming contradictions? The Sources of the Ford intrigue and what

Shakespeare has done with them.

Anne and her father and mother as characterized in this act, with

relation to the suitors.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Is Anne the only character one can thoroughly sympathize with?

Are the situations such as owe their fun largely to coincidence, like

those in the "Comedie of Errors," or to a teeming variousness in the

human naturalness of all the characters?

THE STORY OF ACT IV

FORD'S ENLIGHTENMENT

Why is the Old Woman of Brentford trick a climax upon that of the

Buckbasket?

Falstaffe's wish that all the world might be cheated is true to the

method of the Play. Show in exemplification of this, how a fourth

intrigue grows out of the third, and is introduced as late as this

fourth Act. How is the joke of the Host against Dr. Caius and Sir Hugh

Evans avenged? Is this reference to the "three Cozen Jermans" that are

said to run away with the Host's horses, liklier to be an allusion

seriously made to a real event or to make use of it as an entirely

fictitious intrigue and practical joke in the Play? Is this mock

happening such as could be clear by the method of enacting it and one

entirely consonant with this Comedy as a farce-mosaic of laughable

tricks? (See pp. 120-121, 179-180, also Note on IV. iii. 6). Discuss

probabilities. The turn taken in the plot: Show how all combine

against Falstaffe; also the place of this intrigue in making material

for Act V.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Has the "Merry Wives" any serious or tragic moments such as belong

usually to Shakespeare's Comedies?

Compare the jealousy of Ford with the jealousy of Adriana in the

"Comedie of Errors." Which exemplifies the riper treatment and why?

THE STORY OF ACT V

THE DEFEAT OF MERCENARY LOVEMAKING

Make clear the ins and outs of the Fairy trap, first for its actors,

then for the dupes? Can the apparent inconsistencies in the wearing of

green or white and the mention of "Quickly" for "Queene" be accounted

for on the supposition that everybody is deceived except Nan and

Fenton? (See Notes on V. v. 421, 205-209).

The compliments to Queen Elizabeth in the Play: What are they and how

is their appropriateness to the Plot made good?

Consider the "humors" of the Welsh and French speeches and episodes as

exploitations and developments of the similar humors of Fluellen and

the Frenchmen of "Henry V."

The fairy scenes and effects of this Play compared with those of the

wedding night feast at the end of "A Midsommer Nights Dreame."

What indications are there in the Falstaffe of "Henry IV." that he is

superficially affected by the Puritanism about him? Is he any more

deeply affected by it in the present Play? What is the difference in

his appearance in this Play with respect to Puritanic morals: Is he

more affected by them, at the last, when he is so grossly their

victim, or have they grown, and put him out of date in England except

as an atavism?

Have Page and his Wife any loftier standpoint as to mercenary love

than Falstaffe himself? Is Fenton's speech (V. v. 225-235) the moral

of the last Act or is Ford's (237-238)?

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Is the main design of the Play to "cure Ford of his unreasonable

jealousy," as Rowe says, or to dupe and reform Falstaffe? Is the total

aim sport to laugh over "by a Countrie fire?" Is it a Comedy of irony

turned against all mercenary motives in love?

AS YOU LIKE IT

I

THE DRAMATIC CONDUCT OF THE PLAY: THE WRESTLING MATCH

How much of the situation existing in the play comes out in Act I. i.?

And what action takes place?

The strained relation existing between the brothers Orlando and Oliver

is revealed through Orlando's conversation with Adam and with his

brother Oliver. The situation at court is also revealed through the

conversation of Oliver with the wrestler Charles, and also the loving

relation existing between Celia and Rosalind; thus we are at once put

into the possession of three emotional or passional causes for

action--Oliver's hatred of his younger brother, the younger Duke's

hatred of his older brother, and the love of Celia for Rosalind. Of

these causes for action only one bears any fruit in this scene,

namely, Oliver arranges with the wrestler to kill Orlando. What are

the connections existing between sc. ii. and sc. i.? First there is a

picture of the loving relationship existing between Rosalind and Celia

(already mentioned by Oliver in sc. i.) which reveals very subtly

differences in their natures. The action set going by Oliver in sc. i.

is consummated in the wrestling match, but with a result different

from that hoped for by Oliver, thus leaving Oliver's hatred still

present as a cause of action. Out of the wrestling match what further

passional and emotional causes of action are set up? Duke Frederick's

hatred for Orlando is aroused because he learns he is the son of a man

he had considered his enemy, and action against him is the immediate

result. Orlando is warned by Le Beau that he is not safe at the court.

The Duke's hatred of his brother bears further fruit in its extension

to Rosalind. The meeting of Rosalind and Orlando brought about by the

wrestling match gives rise to a fresh emotional force in their budding

love for each other. In Sc. iii., the state of Rosalind's heart as to

Orlando, hinted at in sc. ii., is fully revealed; the Duke's hatred

takes shape in his sentence of banishment or death, giving rise to a

new direction for action, and the emotion of Celia's love for Rosalind

bears fruit in her determination to go with Rosalind into banishment.

II

LIFE IN THE FOREST OF ARDEN

In Act II. how are the elements of action, character delineation and

emotion intermingled?

Sc. i. gives us a picture of the banished Duke and his followers in

the Forest of Arden, already prepared for in Act I., introduces us to

the personality of the Duke, and in the conversation with the lords

prepares us for coming delights in the personality of Jaques. It does

not advance the action, at all. In sc. ii., the result of Celia's act

in going with Rosalind is shown in the bad Duke's consternation, who

determines that they shall be found, thus starting another thread of

action to be developed later. Sc. iii. the passional cause of action

in Oliver's hatred of Orlando reaches a crisis; Orlando is obliged to

flee to save himself from death. Sc. iv. shows Celia and Rosalind

arrived at their journey's end in the Forest of Arden, and making

arrangements with a shepherd for a comfortable little house to

rusticate in; thus is closed the thread of action started by the Duke

in banishing Rosalind. In the conversation of their new companions,

Corin and Silvius, we learn of the love of Silvius for the scornful

Phebe, which is another emotional impulse to action, later blending

itself with the plot. In sc. v. we meet Jaques, already mentioned, and

get another glimpse of the pleasant company in the forest, but they

are still quite detached from the active elements of the play. Sc. vi.

shows us how far Orlando and Adam have gone in their flight, and sc.

vii. presents again the good Duke's court, develops further the

personality of Jaques, and prepares us, through his conversation about

the fool whom he had met in the forest, for the contact of one of the

threads of action with the element of inaction represented by this

good Duke's forest court, while in the sudden breaking in upon them of

Orlando it is brought into contact with another of the threads of

action.

III

LOVE IN THE FOREST OF ARDEN

At the opening of Act III. what results have been brought about by the

action so far? Everybody in the play except Oliver and the bad Duke

has arrived in the Forest of Arden. In sc. i. of Act III. the hatred

of the Duke is still active as a force, and Oliver through this means

is also sent off to finally bring up in the Forest of Arden. The

Duke's attitude as a motive force having worked itself out in its

relation to Orlando and Rosalind, the emotional cause of action in the

love of Rosalind and Orlando is free to develop, and the remainder of

Act III. is devoted chiefly to the presentation of the situation

between the lovers, which, owing to the disguise assumed by Rosalind,

gives rise to the charming inconsistencies attending the wooing of a

proxy Rosalind who is in reality Rosalind herself. Around these

central lovers, whose characters Shakespeare unfolds, revolve other

interesting personalities. Touchstone meets his fate in Audrey. Phebe

still scorns Corin and perversely falls in love with Ganymede. The

action is only advanced to the extent that Rosalind learns the state

of Orlando's mind while he still remains in ignorance as to hers.

IV

HATRED BECOMES LOVE IN ARDEN

Are there any fresh elements or developments in Act IV.?

Sc. i. merely continues the love-making of Act III. Sc. ii. gives

another glimpse of the good Duke's court; in sc. iii. the love of

Phebe bears fruit in a letter to Ganymede, and Oliver finds his way to

the forest. The bad Duke's intentions toward Orlando in sending Oliver

after him are, however, frustrated by the sudden change of heart

against a bad Duke is a good Duke. Contrast their actions throughout

the play. Contrast also the two brothers, Orlando and Oliver. What are

the resemblances between the characters of Oliver and Duke

Frederick?--between Orlando and the banished Duke? Is Orlando's

rebellion against his brother's injustice or the banished Duke's

acceptance of _his_ brother's injustice the more to be praised?

Compare his attitude with that of Prospero under similar

circumstances. Whose repentance is the more sincere, Oliver's or Duke

Frederick's? Note that Oliver has lost all when he repents, while the

Duke gives up everything just as he is about to realize his aim. Is

the repentance of the usurping Duke merely a _ruse_ of Shakespeare's

to bring the play to a happy ending? In Lodge's story he does not

repent, but is proceeded against by his brother. Contrast Jaques and

Touchstone. Is Jaques's melancholy affected? What is the main

difference between Rosalind and Celia? Which is the more the friend of

the other? (For valuable suggestions on these points see 'Characters

in "As You Like It,"' _Poet-lore_, Vol. IV. pp. 31 and 81, Jan. and

Feb., 1892.)

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Which is the better philosopher, Jaques or Touchstone, and which is

more closely related to the philosophy of the play?

The characters of the two Dukes are not developed; they are merely

walking gentlemen, whose office it is to keep the play in motion.

2. The Lovers of the Play.

The Different Kinds of Love in 'As You Like It.' Examples of love at

first sight in Shakespeare. Note Orlando's surprise at the suddenness

of Oliver's and Celia's love. Was his own less sudden? Consider

Hymen's song and Jaques's remarks in the last scene as descriptive of

the various couples. Does the comic element of the play, as

represented by Touchstone, discredit sentiment in the play? Notice the

madrigal in Lodge's novel (given in _Poet-lore_, Vol. III., in the

article on Lodge, Dec, 1891), and consider whether Shakespeare has

borrowed anything from it in characterizing Rosalind's wooing?

Contrast Lodge's Montanus as a lover with Shakespeare's Silvius. Is

Montanus too much of a "tame snake" to be natural? Or does this

constancy in love make him a superior figure? Is it a sign of

Silvius's inferiority that love has its own way with him? Can love be

true that changes if it is unrequited?

Are those actors right, do you think, who play Oliver as guessing who

Ganymede is when she swoons? Is Rosalind's conduct unwomanly? Is her

disguise unlikely?

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

It is best for the man to love the most; and therefore has Silvius and

Phebe's unequal love-match a better chance for happiness than

Rosalind's and Orlando's?

VII

THE PASTORAL ELOPMENT

The Rise of Pastoral Poetry, and Shakespeare's Use of it in 'As You

Like It.'

Compare Spenser's 'Shepherd's Calendar,' Fletcher's 'Faithful

Shepherdess,' etc. Point out any differences you find between

Shakespeare's and Spenser's pastoral poetry. Modern literary use of

the pastoral element, Wordsworth's 'Michael.' Is the pastoral life of

literature always artificial? Can a progress toward realism be shown?

The humor of the play. Discuss in particular the humorous comments on

contrasts between court and country life. Compare modern instances of

the refinements and artifices of city life and the crudeness of work

and pleasure in the country.

_Special Points_.--1. The Forest of Arden: Is it in England, France,

or Shakespeare's imagination? 2. "Old Robin Hood of England." What are

the legends concerning him? 3. The archaic words in the play. (See

Prof. Sinclair Korner's 'Shakespeare's Inheritance from the Fourteenth

Century,' in _Poet-lore_, Vol. II., p. 410, Aug., 1890.)

QUERY FOR DISCUSSION

Is the opposition shown in the play between life at court and in the

country truly shown to be to the advantage of the country.

VIII

THE MORAL ELEMENT

The moral side of the Play consists, according to the Introduction in

the First Folio Edition, in its persuasion toward an Arden of the

disposition, or a spirit of happy good will toward all men. How far

does this cover the lesson of the Play?

What is to be thought of the idea in the 'Ethics of "As You Like It"'

(_Poet-lore_, Vol. III., p. 498, Oct., 1891), that Touchstone's

opinion of a shepherd's life (III. ii.) is the key-note of the play?

Are the references to fortune in the play significant? Dr. F.J.

Furnivall says: "What we most prize is misfortune borne with cheery

mind, the sun of man's spirit shining through and dispersing the

clouds which try to shade it. This is the spirit of the play." Of this

Dr. Ingleby says: "The moral of the play is much more concrete than

this. It is not how to bear misfortune with a cheery mind, but _how to

read_ the lessons in the vicissitudes of physical nature." C.A.

Wurtzburg says: "The deep truths that may be gathered from the play

are the innate dignity of the human spirit, before which every

conventionality of birth, rank, education, even of natural ties, must

give way." Give arguments drawn from the play in favor of or against

all of these suggestions. Is it an evidence of Shakespeare's intention

to be a moral teacher that he altered the fate of Duke Frederick?

QUERY FOR DISCUSSION

Has the play any moral that is not gently satirized in it?

IX

THE SOURCE OF THE PLOT

Shakespeare's Variations from Lodge.

Compare Lodge's 'Rosalind' with 'As You Like It.'

(For this story, see "Shakespeare's Library" or Extracts in Notes and

Comment in Sources in "First Folio Edition").

Is the story better without the parts Shakespeare leaves out (_e. g._,

Adam's proposal to Rosader to cut his veins and suck the blood; his

nose-bleed; the incident of the robbers accounting for Aliena's sudden

love, etc.)? Why is the "Green and gilded snake" added? Isn't the

"lioness" enough? Is Rosader or Orlando the finer character, and why?

The new characters introduced--Audrey and William--considered as

embodying real instead of ideal pastoral life. Do Shakespeare's

changes affect the plot, the characters, or the moral of the story?

(For an examination of the plot of the play, see 'An Inductive Study

of "As You Like It,"' in _Poet-lore_, Vol. III., p. 341.)

A Sketch of Lodge's Life and Work. (See 'An Elizabethan Lyrist: Thomas

Lodge,' in _Poet-lore_, Vol. III., p. 593, Dec, 1891.)

QUERY FOR DISCUSSION

Is Shakespeare's framing of the plot of 'As You Like It' not to be

admired, because it is borrowed?

X

THE MUSIC OF THE PLAY

This may consist of a brief paper on the subject illustrated by a

program of the songs with the old and more modern settings. (See New

Shakespeare Society's Papers, on this subject; 'Shakespeare and

Music,' by E.W. Naylor.)

TWELFE NIGHT

The winsomeness of this poetic comedy rightly makes the reader or the

hearer hesitate to count its petals or scrutinize the stages of its

growth, which are marked by its acts as symmetrically as leaf buds are

ranged about a stalk. And yet, one may find that to take note of such

beautiful orderliness in the delicate structure and sprightly

blossoming of the poet's design enhances the appreciation of its

artistic quality. Regarding it first as a whole, sum up the stages of

the action, first; then the caprices its allusions denote; then the

characters; and finally the poetic fancy and wit exhaled by the whole

play like a fragrance.

I

THE STORY OF THE PLAY

Act I. scene i. puts us in possession of what facts concerning the

Duke and Olivia? What do we learn from the conversation of Viola and

the Captain in scene ii., and what course does Viola decide upon? What

do we discover from scene iii. in regard to the state of things in

Olivia's household? In scene iv., what relation has been established

between the Duke and Viola? What three new characters are introduced

in scene v., and what is the event of the scene? Act II. scene i.:

What is learned of Sebastian and his intentions? In scene ii., what

are shown to be the feelings of Olivia? In what previous scene was

this prepared for? Does scene iii. advance the story at all? What is

it taken up with? Does scene iv. advance the story? Of what scene is

it almost a repetition? If it does not advance the action, what does

it do? Of what previous scene is scene v. the result? What previous

scene leads up to scene i. of Act III? and of what scene is it in

purpose a repetition? What new turn is given to affairs in scene ii.,

and through whom is it brought about? Whose doings do we get a glimpse

of in scene iii? Of whose plot do we see further developments in scene

iv? What other issues in the progress of events come to a climax in

this Act? Act IV. scene i.: Describe the complication of affairs which

arises in this scene. What previous scenes do we see the result of in

scene ii? and what happens that will bring about a change in the

situation? What important event occurs in this scene iii? Act V. scene

i.: Describe how in this scene all the complications are unravelled,

and by what means all the characters are brought upon the stage. What

do you think of the device to call Malvolio upon the stage? Does it

not seem rather clumsy, or do you think it a further humorous touch

that Viola should have to depend on Malvolio to find her 'woman's

weeds again'?

What becomes evident after tracing the events of the play through in

this way? That the interest of the play does not depend so much upon

the story itself, as, first, upon the amusing situations resultant

from the story, and, second, upon the scenes which introduce the

characters in Olivia's household who are really not at all concerned

in the development of the plot, but who are the occasion of many added

amusing situations.

What constitutes the real interest of the two short scenes between

Sebastian and Antonio? Their bearing, mainly, on scene iv. of Act III.

By means of them we are shown that Antonio has an enemy in Orsino, and

thus his arrest is prepared for, also how Antonio gives his purse to

Sebastian, the real purpose of the arrest being to bring about a

reason for Antonio's requiring his purse again from Cesario, whom he

takes for Sebastian, and so to add complication to the situation

arising from the resemblance between the brother and sister.

What are the situations which the story gives Shakespeare a chance to

develop? On the one hand, is the Duke pouring out his love for another

woman to his supposed page, who is in love with him, and thus giving

rise to the series of scenes between the Duke and Viola. On the other

hand, is the supposed page pressing his master's suit to a woman who

loves the supposed page, and thus giving rise to the series of scenes

between Viola and Olivia. Out of this love of Olivia for Viola grows

the absurd situation of Viola's being obliged to fight a duel, which

is made still more ridiculous through the circumstance of her

challenger being a fool. Out of Viola's resemblance to her brother and

her disguise grows the absurd situation of Olivia's claiming her as a

husband, and that of Sir Andrew taking for his unwilling duellist the

all-too-willing Sebastian.

To these situations which naturally result from the story, Shakespeare

has added in Olivia's household a set of characters whose personality

is such that amusing situations are multiplied. Thus we may say that

the play is one of situation rather than of action, since whatever of

action there is in it leads to situation, and whatever of character

there is in it leads also to situation.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

1. If attention is constantly given to creating humorous situations,

will character-development necessarily suffer? 2. Do you agree with

the Shakespearian critic Verplanck that this play bears no indication

either of an original groundwork of incident, afterwards enriched by

the additions of a fuller mind, or of thoughts, situations, and

characters accidentally suggested, or growing unexpectedly out of the

story, as the author proceeded?

II

THE WHIMSICAL AND OTHER ALLUSIONS IN THE PLAY

Pick out and explain the curious allusions in the play, noticing that

these may be classed as geographical, mythological, astrological, or

referable to persons or customs of the time, or books of the day. For

examples of the latter class, note Sir Toby's 'diluculo surgere' (II.

iii.), for 'Saluberrimum est dilucolu surgere,' an adage from Lilly's

Grammar, doubtless one of Shakespeare's text-books at the Edward VI.

School in Stratford; and Viola's 'Some Mollification for your giant

sweet lady' (I. v.),--an allusion to the innumerable romances whose

fair ladies are guarded by giants; for Maria, being very small, Viola

ironically calls her giant, and asks Olivia to pacify her because she

has opposed her message. (For Shakespeare's education and

school-books, see Bayne's remarks on this subject in Brit. Encyc. art.

Shakespeare.) The whole incident of the 'possession' of Malvolio, and

the visit of Sir Topas, probably alludes to a tract published in 1599

by Dr. Harsnett,--'A Discovery of the Fraudulent Practices of John

Darrel,'--in which is narrated how the Starkeys' children were

possessed by a demon, and how the Puritan minister, Mr. Darrel, was

concerned in it. For examples of allusions to contemporary customs,

see Sir Toby's mention of dances no longer known,--'Galliard,'

'Coranto,' etc. As an example of allusions to persons of that time,

Sir Toby's reference to 'Mistress Mall's picture,'--Mary Frith, born

in 1584, died in 1659, a notorious woman who used to go about in man's

clothing and was the target for much abuse. Astrological allusions:

'Were we not born under Taurus?' 'That's sides and hearts,' which

refers to the medical astrology still preserved in patent-medicine

almanacs, where the figure of a man has his various parts named by the

signs of the Zodiac. 'Diana's lip' (I. iv.), ('Arion on the Dolphin's

back' I. ii.), are examples of mythological allusions. Of the

geographical allusions there are two kinds, the real and the

sportive,--Illyria, an example of the one, the 'Vapians' and the

'Equinoctial of Queubus,' of the other. Go on through the play

classifying and commenting on the allusions. What was a 'catch'? Give

an example.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Are the odd allusions in the play a result of the corrupt text,

ignorance, ridicule of learning? Or are they introduced to give a

lively and contemporaneous effect?

III

THE DUKE AND SEBASTIAN

How does the play set off these two lovers against each other? Which

has the more constant nature? Note the evidences of the Duke's

restlessness and changeableness; how soon he tires of the music he

calls for, of the clown's song (II. iv.). Is his first speech to

Viola, on woman's constancy before the song, consistent with his

second, after it? Is his own report of himself true,--'Unstaid and

skittish in all motions else Save in the constant image of the one

beloved'? Is Olivia's unattainableness the main source of her

desirableness for him? How is it with Sebastian? Does his loyalty in

love seem to be of the sort that suffers impairment when he can win

love easily? The Duke craves excess in music in order that his

'appetite may sicken and so die;' Sebastian wishes 'to steep his soul

in Lethe.' Do you think Sebastian and Viola alike in more than

appearance? Which is the quicker-witted? Is the Duke's amicable

acceptance of the inevitable and transference of his love to Viola in

keeping with his character? Do you think Viola shows promise of

special facility for preventing the moody Duke from tiring of her?

Note that he calls her his 'fancy's queen.'

QUERY FOR DISCUSSION

Is the Duke important chiefly as the inspirer of Viola's devoted love?

IV

VIOLA AND OLIVIA

In what respects are the situations of Viola and Olivia alike? When

the play opens, both are mourning the loss of a brother, and while

this is made to point out the individuality of Olivia, after the first

few lines we hear little more of Viola's grief. Can you suggest any

reason for this? Does Viola's love for the Duke absorb her any more

than Olivia's love absorbs her when she comes to feel the same? Viola

and Olivia are also alike in giving their love without solicitation;

but Olivia woos directly, Viola, in disguise, implies her love, and

though her innuendoes are all understood by the audience, they are

unappreciated by the Duke. What justification can be made for the

unblushing love-making of Olivia? It could be justified by her rank,

which was so much higher than that of the supposed page that advances

should come from her. What signs are there that Viola's love was

superior to Olivia's? Olivia's seems to have been founded on external

liking, else she would not have been as satisfied with Sebastian as

with Cesario; while Viola's, though it may have had no deeper

foundation, was signalized by unselfishness, for she used every

eloquent art of which she was capable to urge her master's suit.

Notice in the first scene between Viola and the Duke how she tries to

get out of going to Olivia, doubting her own ability, etc. Do you

think she really doubted it, or that it was difficult for her on

account of her own love for the Duke? Notice in the scene with Olivia

her woman's anxiety to see her rival's face. What do you think

instigated her remark, 'Excellently done, if God did all.' Was it a

sudden touch of jealousy? It was clearly not the proper thing for an

ambassador pressing his master's suit to say. How is it with the rest

of the interview? Is her sarcastic tone judicious? Does it pique the

nonchalant Olivia? Does her eloquence later, when she is assured of

Olivia's obstinacy, reflect her own feelings for the Duke? What effect

does it have on Olivia? Is it well-calculated to arouse her interest?

In Act II. scene iv., which do you think had the right conception of

woman's love,--the Duke or Cesario? What do you think of Olivia's

saying that 'Love sought is good, but given unsought is better'? Which

of the two characters show the more humor? Notice Viola's readiness in

parrying questions that trench upon her sex. Olivia, on the other

hand, can hold her own in a bout of wit with the fool, but she is

perhaps not so quick-witted as Viola. We can imagine Viola at once

seeing through Malvolio's attempt at pleasing Olivia, instead of

taking him for mad, as Olivia did.

QUERY FOR DISCUSSION

Which is the best lover, the Duke, Sebastian, Olivia, or Viola?

V

SIR TOBY AND MARIA, AND THEIR BUTTS OR DUPES

Show how the droll situations of the play are mainly contrived by some

of the characters in order to make others their laughing-stocks. Who

are Sir Toby's butts? Is Sir Toby attached to Sir Andrew, or does he

only make use of him for profit as well as fun? (See Sir Toby's reply

to Fabian (III. iii.)). Other instances to the same effect? Why does

Maria join forces with Sir Toby? Is she in fact the leader of the

scheme, or is Fabian's story of its origin true? What part does the

fool play in the game, and why? Note his private grudge against

Malvolio. Is it a dramatic mistake that even the heroine is made the

butt of these merry-makers? Trace Fabian's part in the duelling plot

against Sir Andrew and Viola. Do these plots recoil in any way against

the plotters? Sir Toby and Sir Andrew both get some home-truths from

Malvolio while they are eavesdropping, while for Fabian and Maria

these thrusts of Malvolio's are just as good fun as that which the

knights enjoy better. How does some of the later fun recoil against

Toby and Sir Andrew? Are the Puritans made fun of in Malvolio's

person?

QUERY FOR DISCUSSION

Are the characters least scathed by the fun for that reason superior

to the others?

VI

MINOR CHARACTERS

The fun of the play is capped by the presence of a particularly clever

fool whose function of making every one the butt of his wit makes one

of the least important of the characters represent the special

drollery of the whole play. The only grudge he bears is against the

man who does not appreciate fun--who calls him a 'barren rascal.'

Describe the passages in which he particularly shines. Of the minor

characters the fool is minor only through his station and unimportance

in the plot; he really occupies much space in the play and in fact

pervades it. How is Antonio connected with the plot? What traits of

his does the play bring out? Is his fondness for Sebastian unnatural?

How is he concerned in the foolery of the play? Is he necessary to the

plot? As the fool represents the merry-making spirit of the play, so

Malvolio stands for the dupes of it. Does any one sympathize with him?

Who shows the clearest understanding of his faults? (I. v.). What

signs are there in the play of Malvolio's being a Puritan? Is there

any evidence against it? Is Maria right, for example, when she says,

'The Devil a Puritan he is or anything constantly but a time-server,'

etc.? That the character of Malvolio was generally taken on the stage

as a portrait of the Puritan, and that Shakespeare must have known it

would borrow some of its popularity from being so considered, seems

not to be denied; on the other hand, it may hardly seem to be proven

that Shakespeare thought he was drawing a genuine Puritan. Show

Malvolio's character, his connection with the other characters and

with the plot and the foolery of the play, and state the argument for

and against Shakespeare's meaning to make fun of him as a Puritan.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Is it a defect in the play that the fool, who has less to do with the

plot, is more important than Antonio, who has somewhat more to do with

it? Does it show that the main interest of the play is in comic

situation rather than in character or dramatic motive?

VII

THE POETIC FIGURES IN THE PLAY

Observe the various figures used throughout the play, as to whether

they are drawn from nature or from other sources; for example, the

first speech of the Duke bristles with metaphor. Note that he speaks

of music as the _food_ of love, and bids the musicians play on that

the _appetite_ may have a _surfeit_, images drawn from physical

nature; then that the music came o'er his ear _like_ the _sweet sound_

that _breathes_ upon a bank of violets, _stealing_ and _giving_ odor.

We should expect here some continuation in the language of sound; but

the Duke continues as if he had said _wind_ instead of sound, and then

wind is personified, for it _breathes_ instead of _blows_ on the bank

of violets, and it steals their odor and gives it to him,--the music

is so sweet that it seems as if its sounds came laden with the scent

of violets to his ear. Here sound is personified at first as merely

breathing, then it takes on moral attributes and steals and gives.

Pick out and explain other figures in the same way. Which of the

characters use the most beautiful imagery? Are there any who use none

at all?

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Is there any special fitness in the imagery used to the character

using it? Does the imagery used help you to form an opinion of the

characters?

VIII

THE WIT OF THE PLAY

What are the main causes of amusement in the play? The audience,

notice, is not kept in the dark one instant about any of the

characters. Thus one of the sources of amusement lies in the fact that

while the audience occupies somewhat the attitude of omnipotence, it

has the pleasure of observing the characters of the play living their

lives in the purblind way usual to mortals. Lessing said that a comedy

should make us laugh at vices, but the vices must be those of

characters who have good qualities also. Does 'Twelfe Night' answer to

this description? Analyze the causes why the fun of the play is funny.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Which of the characters cause amusement as the result of circumstances

over which they have no control? How do each of these cause amusement

unconsciously? Which of the characters cause amusement through a

conscious intention of making fun?

THE TEMPEST

Until a few years ago no one had succeeded in finding the Play or

Novel on which the European part of the plot of "The Tempest" was

founded.

An early German Play, "The Fair Sidea" had been brought forward on

account of some resemblances to "The Tempest." Yet it is obviously not

its source but rather an imitation or variant indirectly drawn from a

similar foundation story.

Edmund Dorer, a special student of Spanish Literature first called

attention (Jan. 31, 1885,) to the story more closely resembling "The

Tempest" than any other, as it occurs in a collection of tales by

Antonio de Eslava, called _Las Noches de Invierno_, or "Winter

Nights," published in Madrid in 1609.

Like other such collections of stories, such as the Italian collection

of Bandello, and the French of Belleforest, used by Shakespeare,

Eslava's collection was translated, and, in default of the original

from one of the later editions, as translated into German in 1683

(_Noches de Invierno Winternachte aus dem Spanischen in die Deutsche

sprach versetzet_) a summary of this story was given in English for

the first time as a satisfactory source of "The Tempest" in the "First

Folio Edition" of the Play (see pp. 85-93 and Introduction; also for

an extract and summary of "The Fair Sidea," pp. 94-95).

What may be called the American half of the plot evidently owes

suggestions to pamphlet accounts of the storm and wreck and other

experiences met with by Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Sommers and

others during their voyage of discovery to the Bermudas in 1610 (see

pp. 92, 99, and Notes pp. 114, 125-127, etc., for extracts.)

Gonzalo's speech, too, follows pretty closely a passage in Florio's

Montaigue. (For this passage see Note on II. i. 153-160).

ACT I

THE SCHEMES OF PROSPERO.

The first scene shows the storm in progress. Is there any clew given

to the reader that it is a magic tempest? What is Prospero's main

object in having the ship's crew and passengers cast upon his island?

Is it to wreak vengeance on his enemies, to work the charm of love

between Ferdinand and Miranda, or by means of that to reinstate

himself? In what way would this love work to his advantage? Notice the

natural way in which the reader is put in possession of the necessary

information about the past of Prospero and Miranda. Warburton says of

this that it is the finest example he knows of retrospective narration

for the sake of informing the audience of the plot. How much of the

plot is permitted to come out in this act? Why does Prospero so

repeatedly urge Miranda's attention? Is she abstracted, is he, or is

she already beginning to be drowsy? Why was Ferdinand the first to

quit the ship? Since Prospero already knows, why does he ask Ariel

what time it is?

POINTS. 1. Explain the nautical terms. 'Master's whistle.' In

Shakespeare's time naval commanders wore great whistles of gold. A

modern boatswain's badge is a silver whistle suspended to the neck by

a lanyard. Holt extols the excellence of Shakespeare's sea-terms, but

makes an exception of Gonzalo's 'cable,' which he says is of no use

unless the ship is at anchor, and here it is plainly sailing; to which

Furness replies, Shakespeare anchors Gonzalo's hopes on the

boatswain's 'gallows complexion,' and the cable of that anchor was the

hangman's rope. 2. 'Washing of ten tides.' An allusion to the custom

of hanging pirates at low-water mark. (See Notes I. i. 67 First Folio

Edition). 3. Compare this storm with that in 'Pericles,'--'Do not

assist the storm,' etc., with 'Per.' III. i. 51-60. 4. Explain 'To

trash for over-topping,' I. ii. 98, which is a blending of two

metaphors. Trash refers to the habit of hanging a weight round the

neck of the fleetest of a pack of hounds, to keep him from getting

ahead of the rest; and 'overtopping' to trees shooting up above the

others in a grove, which have to be lopped to keep them even. 5. What

does Prospero mean by saying, 'Now I arise'? Simply, now I get up, and

now my fortunes change? 6. 'Still vex'd Bermoothes.' Bermudas, spelled

in several ways in Shakespeare's time, and called 'still vex'd,' from

accounts of tempests prevailing there. 7. 'Argier.' The name of

Algiers till after the Restoration. 8. 'One thing she did.' What? Are

we anywhere told what?

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Does the long monologue of Prospero in this act detract from its

dramatic force? Did the arrangement of Shakespeare's stage make this

convenient. (See description of the threefold stage of the Globe

Theatre in "Anthonie and Cleopatra," pp. 172-173). Is the monologue

rightly disused in modern plays? Why? Compare Ibsen's plays in this

respect.

ACT II

THE COUNTERPLOT

Tell the story of Act II, showing how its main event is the conspiracy

of Antonio and Sebastian against Alonzo and Gonzalo. Is the issue left

undecided long, so that it threatens the result? How and why does

Ariel prevent the success of it? Might it not have been to Prospero's

advantage to have the King killed, since Ferdinand would then succeed

to the throne of Naples? Did Ariel's intervention kill the plot? What

light is thrown on the characters by scene i. of this act? Do you

think it is intended to be shown that Gonzalo is prosy and tiresome,

although good, or only that the lower and more frivolous characters

find him so? Which is the likelier, that Shakespeare intended the

dialogue about Gonzalo's ideal commonwealth to be a satire upon it, or

favorable to Utopian schemes? Which comes out the better at last in

the wit-combat,--the quick Antonio and Sebastian, or the thoughtful

Gonzalo? Is Sebastian's solicitude about Claribel a sign of a kindlier

nature than Antonio's? Are there any indications that Antonio's mind

is more alert than Sebastian's? What purposes of the action or plot

are served by the introduction of Claribel? Is the King's grief as

great for the daughter as for the son? How does his paternal affection

compare with Prospero's? Compare Antonio's speech, suggesting the

murder to Sebastian, with similar speeches in Shakespeare (Macbeth's,

King John's, Oliver's in 'As You Like It,' Claudius' in 'Hamlet'). In

the second scene of this act, how far is a second counter-plot

foreshadowed?

POINTS. 1. The jokes of Act II: their explanation (_i.e._, 'dollar'

and 'dolour,' the 'eye of green,' etc.). 2. When were watches first

used in Europe? 3. Tell the story of Æneas and Dido. 4. What myth is

alluded to in 'his word is more than the miraculous harp'? 5.

Gonzalo's Commonwealth--its origin from Montaigne. It is commonly

supposed that Shakespeare must have borrowed this reference from the

translation. He may have taken it directly from the French. 6. Show

the bearing of Sebastian's phrase, 'I am standing water,' with its

context. (That is, at the turn of the tide between ebb and full.) 7.

'The man i' the moon,' and the folk-lore about it. 8. Natural history

on the island. (_Poet-Lore_, April, 1894. Notes and News).

QUERY FOR DISCUSSION

Is it a defect in the action of the play that the danger arising from

the most important counter-plot is allayed so soon?

ACT III

NEW PLOTS AGAINST PROSPERO

What new turns are given events in Act III? Scene i continues

Ferdinand's love-making, and shows no hinddrances there to Prospero's

plans; but scene ii develops Caliban's plot, and scene iii shows

Sebastian and Antonio making ready to carry out the purpose which had

at first been defeated. Give an account of the scene in Act II which

leads up to this plot in connection with its sequel in this act. Ariel

is baffled in his attempts to breed contention between the

conspirators by Trinculo's good nature, but finally he leads them off

with his music. Scene iii represents Alonzo and his courtiers

bewildered and tired by their fruitless tramps through the island, and

in just the temper to be confused by the dumb-show and the harpies.

Note the dependence placed, throughout 'The Tempest,' on the effect of

'solemn and strange music.' Antonio's plot, being resumed, is blocked

by Ariel's magic show and his accusation. Note how the supernatural

quality of the scene makes his speech affect their consciences as if

they were themselves accusing themselves, and how it drives them into

mental disorder. Dr. Bucknill, a specialist in brain disease, who has

commented on Shakespeare's knowledge of such maladies, explains that

Alonzo's frenzy leads him by an imaginative melancholy to the idea of

suicide, while the madness of Antonio and Sebastian expresses itself

in the idea of desperate fight.

POINTS. 1. What is a 'catch,' a 'tabor'? Give an account of the music

in the play, and show the fitness of its different effects on the

different characters. 2. Explain the allusions, 'unicorns,' 'one tree,

the Phoenix throne,' 'mountaineers,' with 'wallets of flesh,' etc. 3.

What is a harpy? Give an account of the mention of harpies in Virgil

(Æneid, Book III), and 'Paradise Regained' (Book II). What

appropriateness to the purpose in this 'quaint device'?

QUERY FOR DISCUSSION

Do the counter-plots introduced in this act mainly affect events or

character?

ACT IV

THE CONFUSION OF THE PLOTTERS

Show how the story of Act IV consists in the smoothing down of all

that disturbs Prospero's designs, and foreshadows the complete

reconciliation of the last act. The lovers, whose readiness to fall in

with Prospero's plan has made his task light so far as they are

concerned, could only imperil his and their future by a premature

union; and Ferdinand, having stood the test of hard work, is now

induced, by an awed and holy mood, produced by art, to keep his good

resolutions. Describe the mask, and show its meaning and fitness for

Prospero's purposes. Why is Prospero so disturbed at the reminder of

so paltry a plot as that of Caliban and his associates? Is it likely

that these drunken fellows could frame any plot that would be but as

gossamer before his art? Is it natural that so low a creature as

Caliban should show more intelligence than Stephano and Trinculo in

disregarding Ariel's 'stale' set to catch them? How do you explain his

superior caution? Describe the device employed by Prospero and Ariel

to rout these plotters. Would it be effective on an English stage?

POINTS. 1. Explanation of classical allusions. 'Hymen's lamps,'

'Phoebus' steeds,' Ceres, Iris, Juno, etc.; 'dusky Dis,' 'Paphos,'

etc. 2. The botany of Act IV. What is 'stover,' 'furze,' gorse? 3. Was

Prospero's 'line' a lime-tree or a clothes-line? 4. Explanation of the

jokes of the act. 5. Natural history on the island again: the 'blind

mole,' 'barnacles,' 'apes,' 'pard,' etc.

QUERY FOR DISCUSSION

Why is the punishment devised for the lesser plotters corporal and for

the greater ones psychical?

ACT V

PROSPERO'S TRIUMPH

Sum up the results consummated by Prospero's magic. Note Gonzalo's

account of the play, and show the ethical results, and Ariel's part in

Prospero's course of reconciliation. Explain how, if Prospero had

regained his dukedom, and yet, if 'all of us,' as Gonzalo says, had

not _found ourselves_, the triumph would have been material, not

ethical. Show how this effect is enhanced by the plan to awaken dismay

and remorse in the minds of the evil-doers and how the climax in

Prospero's triumph is reached by the victory wrought in his own mind

when he determines to take part with his 'nobler reason 'gainst his

fury' in order to restore his enemies to themselves. What indications

are there in the play that Prospero was high-strung and spirited,--a

revenge-loving Italian? Trace the effects of remorse on each of the

ill-doers. Is there any reason to suppose that Antonio, Stephano, or

Trinculo are repentant? Is it out of character for Caliban to be?

POINTS. 1. The 'Faerie' of the play. Compare with that of 'Midsummer

Night's Dream.' (See 'Fairy-lore of Midsummer Night's Dream,' _Poet

Lore_, Vol. III, p. 177, April, 1891.) Victor Hugo notes the contrast

as follows: '"Midsummer Night's Dream" depicts the action of the

invisible world on man; "The Tempest" symbolizes the action of man on

the invisible world.' (See also the 'Supernatural in Shakespeare's

"Midsummer Night's Dream."' in _Poet Lore_, Vol. V, p. 490, October,

1893; in Shakespeare's 'Tempest,' p. 557, November, 1893.)

2. The duration of the play. Explain how it follows the 'unities'; and

in this connection show the probable equality of 'three glasses' to

three hours, and Shakespeare's mistake. (Shakespeare's use of nautical

terms, approved by all seamen, seems to be here at fault in supposing

a 'glass' equal to one, instead of to a half, hour.)

3. The game of chess and its pertinence here: Because so wise a father

would have taught his daughter so intellectual a game; because Queen

Elizabeth was fond of it, and it was _par excellence_ a 'royal game';

or because Naples was the source and center of the chess _furore_ at

just this time?

4. Where is the scene of the 'Tempest' laid? Is the island real or

unreal? (The main conjectures for a known place are Hunter's that it

was Lampedusa, and Elze's that it was Pantelaria. Both argue that each

island was so situated in the Mediterranean, between Milan or its port

and Algiers, whence the sailors landed Sycorax, as to suit the

requirements. Elze further urges the name of a town on the opposite

African coast, Calibia, as suggesting Caliban's name. For an argument

that the island is vaguely placed in the Mediterranean to suit the Old

World plot and yet by many details made suggestive of the New World,

see Introduction to 'The Tempest' in First Folio Edition.)

5. The influence of the New World on the writing of 'The Tempest,' and

all allusions traceable to it. (See Notes of same edition for extracts

from pamphlets on America, etc.)

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

What constitutes the interest in 'The Tempest,'--character, dramatic

situations, movements, plot, poetry, or moral purpose?

VI

CHARACTER STUDIES

I. PROSPERO AND HIS SERVANTS

With the first word Shakespeare introduces Prospero as one who can

raise and calm such a tempest as scene i describes, and the magician

admits the power Miranda ascribes to him. Show from the story what his

plans and motives were likely to prove. Would a sense of his own

former neglect of duty be likely to embitter him against his brother

or make him excuse him? Does he show signs of either? Prospero's

magic, his garment, books, staff. How far is his magic in accord with

the popular notions of such art? (See 'Prospero and Magic,' _Poet

Lore_, Vol. III, p. 144, March, 1891.)

Show Ariel's qualities. What caused his first impatience? Is Prospero

unnecessarily harsh and imperious with him? Aside from the popular

supposition that spirits or familiars obeying magicians were always

reluctant to serve longer than one hour (and, therefore, says Scot's

'Discovery of Witchcraft,' 'the magician must be careful to dismiss

him'), how can you explain this quarrel,--as a dramatic expedient

giving occasion for telling Ariel's story, or revealing the characters

of both Prospero and Ariel? Note, also, its further use in introducing

Prospero's second servant, Caliban, and his story. How do you explain

Ariel's irrelevant rejoinder: 'Yes, Caliban, her son'; and Prospero's

angry, 'Dull thing, I say so,' etc.? Do you think Moulton right in

supposing that Prospero governs 'this incarnation of caprice by

outcapricing him'; Rolfe, in supposing that Prospero is irritable

because under the strain and suspense of conducting affairs within

three hours perfectly, and upon which accuracy hangs his future and

the happiness of his daughter? This was also his only chance of

retrieving his own past error.

Contrast Ariel with Caliban. Show the skill of Caliban's first

appearance as some slow-moving thing, half of water, half of earth, in

contrast with Ariel's second appearance as a nymph. What may be

learned of Caliban's traits from Miranda's speech (as in the Folio,

but by various editors given to Prospero): 'Abhorred slave,' etc.? Do

you think this speech should be given to Prospero? What signs are

there of Caliban's having a good mind? Do you think Prospero's tyranny

over Caliban altogether justified? Is Caliban's penitence consistent

with his nature? How far does Ariel proceed independently of Prospero?

Is he really fond of him?

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Is there any bond of love between Prospero and his servants? Do the

relations between them illustrate the impossibility of gratitude?

2. THE LOVERS

Is the love of Ferdinand and Miranda an enchantment caused by

Prospero, or an emotion he can help, but not cause? If not caused by

him, does Shakespeare depart from magic to the detriment of the play?

Would it be better, for example, if a love philter was introduced for

consistency's sake? (For literary use of the love philter, see

Tennyson's 'Lucretius.') Does it reflect against Ferdinand's courage

that he was first to quit the ship? Are Miranda's speeches about her

grandmother (I, ii, 140) and to Caliban inconsistent with the maidenly

innocence assumed to be characteristic of her? Do you consider her

talk with Ferdinand (III, i) in character? Is she undutiful to her

father? Unmaidenly in her speedy declaration of love (III, i, 67, 89,

94-106, 110)? Should she be represented as ignorant or innocent of the

world, or as in love? Describe the characters and relations to each

other of the lovers from all that is given about them. Compare with

Florizel and Perdita in 'The Winter's Tale.'

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Are Miranda and Ferdinand undeveloped characters whose relation to

each other is more important to the play than they themselves are?

3. THE MINOR CHARACTERS

Which is the most important of the lesser characters and why? Is

Gonzalo blamable at all under the circumstances for following the

command to turn Prospero and Miranda adrift? Why is Gonzalo of better

cheer than his companions? What do you think of his philosophy in

itself and as an index to his character? Is his knowledge superior to

that of his companions? Does he suspect the evil intent of Antonio and

Sebastian? Show how his frankness and loyalty came out in Act III, and

how his uprightness is rewarded in Act V. Do you think it significant

that he closes the play? Francisco considered as the least important

personage in the play: should his speech describing Ferdinand's

swimming be given to Gonzalo? The sailors considered as examples of

Shakespeare's skill in outline portraits. Are Stephano and Trinculo

more highly developed types than Caliban? Would the play be better if

they were left out?

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Is Gonzalo more like Polonius in 'Hamlet' or Rent in 'Lear'?

VII

A STUDY OF ARTISTIC DESIGN

THE SYMBOLISM OF 'THE TEMPEST'

Did Shakespeare typify himself as Prospero? Prospero (says Montégut)

alludes to his own age, and intimates that the time has come for

retirement to private life. What indications can you find that

Prospero images Shakespeare? If he is so interpreted, what parts may

Ariel and Caliban be supposed to play? Is the history of the Enchanted

Island and the transformation wrought a parallel with the history of

the Stage and the transformation Shakespeare wrought? According to

Montégut, Caliban stands for Marlowe, Ariel for the English Genius

which Shakespeare frees from its barbaric prison. Dowden ('Mind and

Art of Shakespeare') fancies Prospero as the great artist lacking at

first in practical faculty, cast out therefore from practical worldly

success; but bearing with him Art in her infancy, the child Miranda,

finds at last an enchanted country where his arts can work their

magic, subduing the grosser appetites and passions (Caliban), and

commanding the offices of the imaginative genius of poetry (Ariel). He

supposes Ferdinand to be Shakespeare's heir as a playwright

(Fletcher). Lowell ('Among my Books') considers that the characters do

not illustrate a class of persons, but belong to universal

nature,--Imagination embodied in Prospero; Fancy in Ariel; brute

understanding in Caliban, who, with his wits liquor-warmed, plots

against his natural lord, the higher reason; Miranda, abstract

Womanhood; Ferdinand, Youth, compelled to drudge till sacrifice of

will and self win him the ideal in Miranda. Browning makes an

incidentally interesting contribution to this subject by symbolizing

in Caliban rudimentary theologizing man, in his poem 'Caliban.' (See

_Poet Lore_, Vol. V, p. 562, November, 1893.)

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Is 'The Tempest' an allegory? Is it in any sense an autobiographical

play? Does its symbolism have much in common with that of modern

symbolistic plays, such as Maeterlinck's 'Joyzelle,' for example? In

what respects may it be said, do you think, as Maeterlinck himself has

informed us, that 'Joyzelle' grew from 'The Tempest?'

THE WINTER'S TALE

CONSIDERED IN CONNECTION WITH GREENE'S 'PANDOSTO' AND THE 'ALKESTIS'

OF EURIPIDES

I

SHAKESPEARE'S INDEBTEDNESS TO GREENE

The story of 'Pandosto' falls into two distinct divisions; first, the

story of Pandosto and Bellaria; second, the story of Dorastus and

Fawnia. Compare each of these two stories with the two stories

interwoven in the play, noting all the analogous passages and the use

Shakespeare has made of them. (For Greene's 'Pandosto' or 'History of

Dorastus and Fawnia' see 'Shakespeare's Library,' or pp. 118-125 and

Notes in First Folio Edition.)

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Do Shakespeare's borrowed and additional archaisms and his confusion

of names and places show carelessness? Is his continuation of the

story merely a playwright's device to join the two parts of the plot

and make a good stage piece end happily? (As to Coast of Bohemia see

_Poet Lore_, April, 1894), also in "First Folio Edition," pp. 176-177.

II

THE RESEMBLANCES TO THE 'ALKESTIS' OF EURIPIDES

In Greene and in Shakespeare the King wishes the Queen's death because

he is uncomfortable so long as she lives, and he prefers his comfort

to aught else, taking it as his conjugal right and royal prerogative.

(See ii. 3, 1 and 204.) The Queen, understanding this, says, "My life

stands in the level of your dreams, which I'll lay down." To her she

says, "can life be no commodity" when love, "the crown and comfort of

her life," is gone. So Alkestis (see any translation of Euripides, in

Bohn edition, literal prose translation, vol. i. p. 223) says she "was

not willing to live bereft" of Admetos, therefore she did not spare

herself to die for him, "though possessing the gifts of bloomy youth

wherein" she "delighted." This point of correspondence may have

occurred to Shakespeare and suggested his continuation of Greene's

novel. Admetos' image of his wife, that he would have made by the

cunning hands of artists, is possibly a prototype of the statue of the

Queen in 'The Winter's Tale,' the piece "newly performed by that rare

Italian master, Julio Romano." Compare also, Herakles' trial of

Admetos with Paulina's trial of Leontes (v. i); and Herakles'

restoration of the unknown Alkestis to her husband with Paulina's

bringing the statue of the Queen to life.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Is Shakespeare's use of a striking incident from the 'Alkestis' too

close not to have been suggested by it? Does it show his intention to

portray in Hermione a new Alkestis?

III

SHAKESPEARE'S ORIGINALITY IN WORKING OVER HIS MATERIAL

Note Shakespeare's departures from Greene and their significance. Do

they serve two ends,--make the play more effective for stage

representation, make the characters stronger? Does he make Leontes

more attractive than Greene does in the first part of the play? Does

he make him worse or better than Pandosto in the second part? What is

the sole trace left in Shakespeare of the father's guilty passion for

his daughter? Garinter, in Greene, dies without any cause. See

Shakespeare's explanation of this, also his use of the news of

Mamillius' death to strike shame to the king's heart. Greene makes the

king relent as soon as he hears the oracle. Contrast Shakespeare's

conduct of the scene at this point.

Notice the difference in his treatment of the character of the

cup-bearer. Does he make it his chief care to enhance the character of

the Queen? Note the new characters introduced,--Paulina, Antigonus,

Autolycus, the clown (in place of the wife in Greene). Conjecture any

reason for his different names. The introduction of Autolycus makes

the play more amusing on the stage, but is his part as well planned as

Capnio's for leading up to the _dénouement_? Greene lets his mariners

off alive after they set Fawnia afloat. Shakespeare wrecks his, and

makes a bear eat Antigonus, to what end? What does Shakespeare gain by

prolonging the life of Hermione?

QUERY FOR DISCUSSION

Does Shakespeare's remodelling of Greene's story show chiefly a higher

ideal than Greene's of womanhood and of love?

IV

THE ALKESTIS STORIES IN LITERATURE

The sacrifice of the Queen to ease her husband, and the final

restoration, being the two main points of contact with Euripides'

version of the story, compare with these the stories of Alkestis told

by William Morris in 'The Earthly Paradise,'--'June'; 'The Love of

Alcestis,' by Emma Lazarus, in 'Admetos,'--'Poems,' vol. i.; by Robert

Browning in 'Balustion's Adventure;' by Longfellow in 'The Golden

Legend.' See also articles in _Poet-lore_,--'The Alkestis of Euripides

and of Browning,' July, 1890; 'Old and New Ideals of Womanhood'; 'The

Iphigenia' and 'Alkestis Stories,' May, 1891; 'Longfellow's Golden

Legend and its Analogues,' February, 1892. In comparing, note first

general resemblances, then slighter points of resemblance and of

difference.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Is development in literature of the ideal of womanhood away from

self-sacrifice and toward self-development?

Is woman's task for the future a reconciliation of them?

V

THE OUTCAST CHILD IN CULTURE-LORE AND FOLK-LORE

A few of the outcast children in culture-lore are Krishna, Zeus,

Paris, Oedipus, King Arthur, Claribel's child in the 'Faerie Queene'

(canto xii.), etc. For the stories in folk-lore, see the English

_Folk-lore Journal_. For the solar theory of the origin of this story,

see Cox, 'Mythology of the Aryan Nations.'

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Collier says that Shakespeare changed Greene's pretty description of

turning Fawnia adrift in a boat because he had used much the same

incident in "The Tempest." Does Shakespeare's new treatment of

Greene's "pretty incident" add dramatic force and moral purpose to the

play?

VI

CHARACTER STUDIES

1. PAULINA; LEONTES; HERMIONE

Note Paulina's likeness to Emilia in "Othello." Jealousy in

Shakespeare: Resemblances in Leontes to Posthumus ("Cymbeline") and to

Othello. "The jealousy of Leontes," says Dowden, "is not a detailed

dramatic study like the love and jealousy of Othello. It is a gross

madness, which mounts to the brain and turns his whole nature into

unreasoning passion." Is Hermione more highly developed than others of

Shakespeare's suspected wives,--Desdemona, Imogen? Likeness or

superiority to Alkestis, Compare with Queen Katharine in 'Henry VIII.'

Is she hard, having made her husband do penance for sixteen years?

"Deep and even quick feeling never renders Hermione incapable of an

admirable justice," writes Dowden, "nor deprives her of a true sense

of pity for him who so gravely wrongs both her and himself."

2. THE YOUNG LOVERS

Notice the high and pure character of their love as shown in the facts

that Florizel did not find it fitting to buy pedler's "knacks" for

Perdita,--a trait not in Greene. Her independent and uncringing nature

as shown in another little touch of Shakespeare (see IV. iv. 492-497).

Compare these two lovers with Ferdinand and Miranda in "The Tempest."

3. THE ORIGINALITY OF SHAKESPEARE'S AUTOLYCUS

For suggestions see _Poet-lore_, April, 1891. ('Notes and News.')

Compare the Hermes of the Homeric Hymn with the Autolycus and Sisyphos

of mythology, also the folk-lore tales of the master-thief (Cox). To

discuss the probable originality with Shakespeare of a conception

which is one of the universal inheritances of the Aryan race is

futile; the type existed, and Shakespeare's part was to make an

individual of the type.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Is Leontes' jealousy too gross and unfounded to be likely?

Is Hermione, not hard, but slow to be satisfied, because her love is

noble?

Is Mamillus not too precocious to be natural?

VII

A STUDY OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PLOT

Has Shakespeare welded the two parts of the story together in such a

way as to unify the plot? Does Autolycus contribute anything to the

development of the plot? How does it compare with "Julius Cæsar" or

"Macbeth," for example, in the construction of the plot? Is the

movement more rapid in the last half of the play or in the first? Note

the expedient introduced by Shakespeare to bridge over the lapse of

time between the first part and the last part; compare with other

examples of the same sort in Shakespeare.

QUERY FOR DISCUSSION

Does the dramatic interest of 'The Winter's Tale' suffer because the

plot is of less importance than the incidents and characters.

VIII

SHAKESPEARE'S WORKMANSHIP IN "THE WINTER'S TALE"

The versification is that of Shakespeare's latest group of plays.

Dowden says, "No five-measure lines are rhymed and run on lines, and

double endings are numerous." Give examples of the construction of the

lines from "Love's Labour's Lost" as an earlier play, "Merchant of

Venice" as a riper play. It has been said that the difficulties of

style in the play are accounted for by the endeavor of the author to

reflect the changing moods of Leontes. Compare with Prospero's diction

and construction in "The Tempest." Give examples of these.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Does the lawlessness of poetic workmanship in "The Winter's Tale,"

together with the looseness of the dramatic construction, show a

deterioration from the ripe power of Shakespeare's middle period, or

that practised artistic mastery which is free from art by means of

perfect art?

IX

PERDITA'S GARDEN

The flower-imagery of "The Winter's Tale" compared with other

flower-scenes in Shakespeare,--in "A Midsommer Nights Dreame" and

"Hamlet." The classic and folk-lore allusions. The pastoral element in

"As you Like It" and "Winter's Tale."

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

The rustic scenes have little bearing on the play; are they necessary

to Shakespeare's art in order to throw a clear light on the character

of his protagonists?

X

THE ETHICS OF "THE WINTER'S TALE"

"The Winter's Tale" gives examples of meritorious actions losing their

virtue with the progress of ideas; for example, the civic virtue,

allegiance to the king, is what Leontes depends upon in his talk with

Camillo, with Antigonus, and the other lords. Note Camillo's reason

for not poisoning Polixenes to order,--that it is risky to kill a king

even at command of a king. That such a reason would be considered

small moral support to-day appears, for example, in the indignation or

amusement expressed in the newspapers on the German Emperor's address

to his army on the soldier's duty of obedience. In Shakespeare's day a

king had taken matters in his own hands in the trial of his wife, much

as Leontes did (see "Henry VIII".). The moral significance of

Hermione's patience under accusation appears in the long reparation

she requires. Paulina is made to speak for her during her seclusion.

What are the "secret purposes" which Shakespeare makes her subserve?

Observe that, if the fulfilment of the oracle and the restoration of

the child were all Paulina anticipates, there would be no use in her

remonstrances against a second marriage and in her goading the king to

remorse.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Does Shakespeare's ideal of love and constancy, as revealed in 'The

Winter's Tale,' imply that second marriages are offences against the

first. Has the objection Paulina makes to his re-marriage such a cause

or is it a necessity of the plot?

Does the way of telling "The Winter's Tale" indicate the passing away

of aristocratic and the formation of democratic ideals, and the

dawning change in the _status_ both of woman and the commoner?