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♦ KNOW^LEDGE ♦ 



[June 1, 1888. 



But -while the sigus of revision ai-e thus evident in 

 " Love's Labour's Lost," it is Shakespeare's self that 

 Shakespeare thus revised : while the signs of inexperience 

 are thus clear, vre have in this play inexperience^ striving 

 by self-study to grow into experience, not borrowing from 

 the experience of others. " Titus Andronicus " shows us 

 Shakespeare striving to write a tragedy after the style 

 approved in his day, and erring more through the modesty 

 which led him to accept the ideas of others than through 

 the daring which led him, as yet a beginner, to adopt the 

 strongly-marked style of older writers. In the earlier- 

 written among the historic plays we see Shakespeare 

 directly copying the manner of Marlowe, whose " mighty 

 line " doubtless seemed to him at that stage of his career 

 not easily to be matched, nor to be possibly surpassed. 

 But, so far as is known, Shakespeare was working alone 

 and without the guidance of others in his first comedy. 



It is true Shakespeare introduces into this conversational 

 comedy several of the characters of the Italian drama which 

 he was at this very time studying under Florio. But 

 althougli it has been said by Gervinus that the tone of the 

 Italian school prevails in '-Love's Labour's Lost" more 

 than in any other of Shakespeare's plays, this is only true 

 in a very limited sense. Holofernes may correspond in a 

 sense with the pedant familiar in contemporary Italian 

 drama, but he is as thoroughly English as Fielding's 

 Adams; Sir Nathaniel, the Curate, may be paralleled by 

 similar characters in Italian plays, but George Eliot's Amos 

 Barton is not more obviously drawn from the life than Sir 

 Nathaniel from a Warwickshire curate whom Shakespeare 

 had known in his youthful days. As for Armado — the 

 Braggart of the folio — Shakespeare, short as had been his 

 stay in London when this play was written, had evidently 

 made the acquaintance of Euphuisto such as London knew 

 in those days, Piercie Shaftons such as then infested 

 Elizabeth's court ; and we need go no more to the Italian 

 drama for the original of Armado than for the original of 

 " Eare Ben's " Bobadil. 



Still more obviously drawn from Shakespeare's own, and 

 at the time still recent, experience are the characters Dull 

 and Costard (in the folio simply Constable and Clown), 

 Jaquenetta and Moth. Costard is own brother, by the 

 way, to the Clown in " Titus Andronicus," a character 

 which of itself would suffice to disprove the theory that 

 Shakespeare was not (as INIeres described him) the author 

 of that crude and repulsive, yet (in many passages) powerful, 

 tragedy. Compare their talk, and the resemblance will be as 

 obvious (while the individuality of each is as distinct) as in 

 the case of Launce and Launcelot. " Didst not thou come 

 from heaven]" Titus asks the Clown. "From heaven I 

 Alas, sir, I never came there ! " says the poor fellow 

 (presently to be hanged). " God forbid I should be so bold 

 as to press to heaven in my young days." Costard is not 

 readier to be unduly pressing heavenwards : " Did you hear 

 the proclamation 1 " asks Navarre ; "I do confess mtich of 

 the hearing it, but little of the marking of it." " Sir," says 

 the king, " I will pronounce your sentence : \'ou shall fast a 

 week with bran and water." " I had rather pray a month," 

 saj's the Clown, whose tendencies are nevertheless by no 

 means towards prayer, '• I had rather pray a month with 

 mutton and porridge." 



But it is worthy of notice how little of that power which 

 later he possessed in such marked degree — the power of 

 truthful and consistent drawing — Shakespeare possessed, or 

 at any rate .showed, when delineating Costard. For in 

 places Costard is as dull a rogue as Dull the Constable — a 

 heavier Dogberry — while elsewhere he is as ready and apt 

 in response as Touchstone. " Thev have lived long on the 

 alms-basket of words," he says of the pedant and the curate ; 



yet the man who could thus in ten preguant words picture 

 the folly of Holofernes and Nathaniel, and could answer 

 Armado's threat that he should be heavily punished with 

 neat sarcasm — " I am more bound to you than your fellows,* 

 for they are but lightly rewarded " — blunders in the use of 

 words as foolishly as Dogberry or Elbow. 



The Italian touches in this play are, however, worth 

 noticing, as showing that when it was written — probably 

 about 1588 — Shakespeare had already been for some time 

 studying under Florio. He would not otherwise have 

 pictured so thoroughly English a dominie as Holofernes 

 speaking of Venice as Florio might have done (who, despite 

 the strange fancy of Warburton, was no more presented 

 in the character of Holofernes than in that of Berowne) — ■ 

 Yenegia, Venegia, chi non te vede, ci non te pregia.f 



Though the ibur gentlemen whose labours of love are lost 

 have French names given them, they were probably drawn 

 from Warwickshire folk well known to Shakespeare, Biron 

 (Berowne of the folios) was our familiar British Brown, 

 Longueville simple Langton, and Dumain plain Hand (all 

 three are local names). The king, of course, would not be 

 so readily identified by Shakespeare's contemporaries at 

 Stratford ; he may have been either a local king or a local 

 magnate. It is noteworthy that, though he is a gentleman 

 in act and manner, he is somewhat slow of apprehension. 

 Of the four lovers he is the dullest and unreadiest. In one 

 place he shows himself scarce able to count up to five. 

 (The grace with which, after correcting the king's counting, 

 Berowne passes from the mistake is worth noticing ) 



As for the ladies, we have no evidence except that derived 

 from their manner. The princess may pass for a French- 

 woman or Italian — she is not drawn too definitely — but 

 Rosaline, Maria, and Katharine are as thoroughly English 

 as Jaquenetta or Audrey. 



One is tempted to ask whether the black-eyed Rosaline 

 may not tell us something of Shakespeare's weakness for 

 dark women. We know from the later sonnets that after 

 he had passed the days of early youth he was moved, despite 

 bis truer self, to love a dark lady who was not even beauti- 

 ful, and whom by his own admission he could not love 

 without being more seriously forsworn than Biron or his 

 fellows. On revient foujours li ses premii-res amours. May 

 we not imagine that in Biron's weakness, Biron being 

 manifestly the character of all those in the play with whom 

 Shakespeare was most in sympathy, he sketched in some 

 degree his own 1 (Have we any knowledge, by the way, of 

 Anne Hatha way's complexion ?) J 



I forsooth in love ! I that have been love's whip ; 

 What ! I love ! I sue I I seek a wife ! 



* Probably a misprint for " followers." 



t On the folio these words are strongly presented insomuch that 

 one wonders what Shakespeare can possibly have written to be so 

 mistaken. The}' run — " Vemchie, veneha, que non te vnde, que non 

 se perreche." Posi-ibly the MS. had the words—" Venechie, 

 Venechie, que non te vede, ei non te perrechie," corresponding 

 with a method of spelling which was even at that time passing 

 out of vogue. 



J It is worthy of notice with what zest Shakespeare pictures the 

 love of Silvias "for Phebe in " As You Like It." Altogether a minor 

 character, and having but few words to utter, Silvius yet speaks his 

 love more earnestly, if less volubly, than either Rosalind or Celia. 

 Now it is nol eworthy that Rosalind, in appraising Phebe, speaks 

 much as Shakespeare would have presented such as Rosalind 

 speaking of the dark lady of the sonnets : — 



I see no more in you, than in the ordinary 

 Of nature's sale-work. Od's my little life 1 

 I think she means to tangle my eyes too. 

 No faith proud mistress, liope not after it : 

 'Tis not your inky brows and black silk hair. 

 Your bugle eyeballs nor your cheek of cream, 

 That can entame my spirits to your worship. 



