1

4

.

7

9

11

I. The Perils of the Spectacular Method of Production

II. The Need for Simplifying Scenic Appliances .

III. Consequences of Simplification. The Attitude of the

Shakespearean Student

IV. The Pecuniary Experiences of Charles Kean and

Sir Henry Irving ·

V. The Experiment of Samuel Phelps .

VI. The Rightful Supremacy of the Actor

VII. The Example of the French and German Stage

VIII. Shakespeare's Reliance on the "Imaginary Forces

of the Audience

IX. The Patriotic Argument for the Production of

Shakespeare's Plays constantly and in their

variety on the English Stage

12.

16

18

.

28

II

SHAKESPEARE AND THE ELIZABETHAN PLAYGOER

25

I. An Imaginary Discovery of Shakespeare's Journal .

II. Shakespeare in the Rôle of the Ghost on the First

SHAKESPEARE AND THE ELIZABETHAN PLAYGOER—continued

PAGE
31

36

38

IV. At Court in 1594

V. The Theatre an Innovation in Elizabethan England

VI. Elizabethan Methods of Production.

VII. The Contrast between the Elizabethan and the Mod-

ern Methods

VIII. The Fitness of the Audience an Essential Element

in the Success of Shakespeare on the Stage .

43

.

46

49

51

.

57

.

61

III

SHAKESPEARE IN ORAL TRADITION

I. The Reception of the News of Shakespeare's Death
II. The Evolution in England of Formal Biography
III. Oral Tradition concerning Shakespeare in Theatri-

cal Circles

IV. The Testimonies of Seventeenth-century Actors

V. Sir William D'Avenant's Devotion to Shakespeare's

Memory

VI. Early Oral Tradition at Stratford-on-Avon
VII. Shakespeare's Fame among Seventeenth-century

Scholars and Statesmen

VIII. Nicholas Rowe's Place among Shakespeare's Biog-

raphers. The Present State of Knowledge re-

specting Shakespeare's Life .

69

73

78

79

82

85

90

IV

PepyS AND SHAKESPEARE

I. Pepys the Microcosm of the Average Playgoer
II. The London Theatres of Pepys's Diary .

III. Pepys's Enthusiasm for the Later Elizabethan

Drama

IV. Pepys's Criticism of Shakespeare: His Admiration

of Betterton in Shakespearean Rôles
V. The Garbled Versions of Shakespeare on the Stage

of the Restoration .

VI. The Saving Grace of the Restoration Theatre.

Betterton's Masterly Interpretation of Shake-

speare

93

102

109
CONTENTS

xiii

V

MR BENSON AND SHAKESPEAREAN DRAMA

PAGE

111

113

I. A Return to the Ancient Ways .

II. The Advantages of a Constant Change of Pro-

gramme. The Opportunities offered Actors by

Shakespeare's Minor Characters. John of Gaunt

III. The Benefit of Performing the Play of Hamlet with-

out Abbreviation

IV. Mr Benson as a Trainer of Actors. The Succession

to Phelps.

116

119

VI

THE MUNICIPAL THEATRE

122

.

123

I. The True Aim of the Municipal Theatre

II. Private Theatrical Enterprise and Literary Drama.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Actor-

Manager System. The Control of the Capitalist .

III. Possibilities of the Artistic Improvement of Theat-

rical Organisation in England .

IV. Indications of a Demand for a Municipal Theatre

V. The Teaching of Foreign Experience. The Exam-

ple of Vienna

VI. The Conditions of Success in England

127

129

.

134

.

I. The Conflicting Attitudes of Bacon and Shakespeare

to Formal Philosophy

II. Shakespeare's “Natural ” Philosophy. Concealment

of his Personality in his Plays

III. His lofty Conception of Public Virtue. Frequency

of his Denunciation of Royal “ Ceremony” .

IV. The Duty of Obedience to Authority.

V. The Moral Atmosphere of Shakespearean Drama

PAGE

Aspects of SHAKESPEARE's Philosophy—continued

VI. Shakespeare's Insistence on the Freedom of the

Will .

VII. His Humour and Optimism

166

168

VIII

SHAKESPEARE AND PATRIOTISM

170

.

172

.

1. The Natural Instinct of Patriotism. Dangers of

Excess and Defect .

II. An Attempt to Co-ordinate Shakespeare's Detached

Illustrations of the Working of Patriotic Senti-

ment. His Ridicule of Bellicose Ecstasy. Corio-

lanus illustrates the Danger of Disavowing Patri-

otism

III. Criticism of One's Fellow-countrymen Consistent

with Patriotism. Shakespeare on the Political

History of England. The Country's Dependence

on the Command of the Sea. The Respect due

to a Nation's Traditions and Experience

IV. Shakespeare's Exposure of Social Foibles and Errors

V. Relevance of Shakespeare's Doctrine of Patriotism

to Current Affairs .

179

.

184

187

IX

A PERIL OF SHAKESPEAREAN RESEARCH

188

I. An Alleged Meeting of Peele, Ben Jonson, Alleyn,

and Shakespeare at The Globe” in 1600 .

II. The Fabrication by George Steevens in 1763 of a

Letter signed “G. Peel"

III. Popular Acceptance of the Forgery. Its Unchal-

lenged Circulation through the Eighteenth, Nine-

teenth, and Twentieth Centuries

190

194

CONTENTS

XV

X

SHAKESPEARE IN FRANCE

PAGE

198

I. Amicable Literary Relations between France and

England from the Fourteenth to the Present

Century

II. M. Jusserand on Shakespeare in France. French

Knowledge of English Literature in Shake-

speare's day. Shakespeare in Eighteenth-cen-

tury France. Eulogies of Victor Hugo and

Dumas père.

III. French Misapprehensions of Shakespeare's Tragic

Conceptions. Causes of the Misunderstanding

IV. Charles Nodier's Sympathetic Tribute. The Rarity

of his Pensées de Shakespeare, 1801 .

201

206

211

XI

THE COMMEMORATION OF SHAKESPEARE IN LONDON

214

.

215

217

219

226

I. Early Proposals for a National Memorial of Shake-

speare in London .

II. The Cenotaph in Westminster Abbey

III. The Failure of the Nineteenth-century Schemes

IV. The National Memorial at Stratford-on-Avon .

V. Shakespeare's Association with London.

VI. The Value of a London Memorial as a Symbol of

his Universal Influence

VII. The Real Significance of Milton's Warning against

a Monumental Commemoration of Shakespeare .

VIII. The Undesirability of making the Memorial serve

Utilitarian Purposes

IX. The Present State of the Plastic Art. The Im-

perative Need of securing a Supreme Work of

Sculpture

228

230

235

236

INDEX

245