SHAKESPEARE 



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SHAKESPEARE 



well. The dramatist Jonson, whose jealousy 

 might have blinded him to some of Shake- 

 speare's good points, wrote enthusiastically of 

 him, as follows: 



I loved the man and do honor to his memory, on 

 this side idolatry, as much as any. ' He was in- 

 deed honest, and of an open and free nature, had 

 an excellent phantasy, brave notions and gentle 

 expressions. 



The Works of Shakespeare 



Nondramatic Works. These were of two 

 kinds narrative poems and sonnets and were 

 in Shakespeare's own day looked upon as of 

 greater value than his dramas. This judgment 

 succeeding generations have by no means con- 



THE ROOM IN WHICH HE WAS BORN 

 Its appearance at the present day. 



firmed. The narrative poems, Venus and 

 Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece, do indeed 

 show much youthful imagination, but they deal 

 with unpleasant subjects and have not the 

 rapid movement which his dramas possess. 



His sonnets, of which there are one hundred 

 fifty-four, rank very high in sonnet literature. 

 Few writers have dealt with love in a more 

 masterly manner or have clothed their thoughts 

 in more exquisite phrases. Much interest has 

 been attached to them because they are the 

 most personal of Shakespeare's works the only 

 ones, indeed, in which any touch of the poet's 

 own feelings appears. All attempts, however, 

 to trace them to their source in emotional 

 events in Shakespeare's life have failed. 



Classification of the Dramas. The simplest 

 method of classification of these plays is a 

 mere division of them into comedies, historical 

 plays and tragedies. The Shakespeare critic, 

 however, prefers to adopt a method based on 

 chronology, because such a grouping shows the 

 development of the creative power. In his 

 work, thus considered, four periods stand out, 

 which may be outlined as follows: 



First Period (1588-1595). This was a period 

 of experimentation and of comparative inex- 

 perience. The exuberance of imagination is 

 evident, but the sure touch in character-drawing 

 is absent, the plots are loosely constructed, and 

 rhymed couplets often appear. To this period 

 belong Titus Andronicus and the three parts of 

 Henry VI, which are not entirely the work of 

 Shakespeare; Love's Labor Lost, The Two 

 Gentlemen of Verona, The Comedy of Errors, 

 Richard HI, Romeo and Juliet and A Midsum- 

 mer Night's Dream. It will be seen that all 

 three types of plays are represented in this list. 



Second Period (1595-1600). Increased sure- 

 ness of touch is noticeable in the works of this 

 period, which also show a growing knowledge of 

 human nature and a consequent lessening of 

 artificiality. The plays which are usually as- 

 signed to this period are Henry IV, Richard II, 

 King John, Henry V, The Merry Wives of 

 Windsor, The Merchant of Venice, The Taming 

 of the Shrew, Much Ado about Nothing, As 

 You Like It, Twelfth Night and Julius Caesar. 

 That is, in these five years he produced many 

 of his greatest historical plays, one powerful 

 tragedy, and a group of the most delightful 

 comedies which he or any other writer ever 

 wrote. 



Third Period (1601-1608). This, for what 

 reason cannot be known, was a period of gloom 



THE ANNE HATHAWAY COTTAGE 



and horror in the poet's life, and the plays 

 reflect his feeling. They mark the very summit 

 of the poet's powers, and include the master- 

 pieces Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, King Lear, 

 Antony and Cleopatra and Coriolanus. There 



