SHAKESPEARE-CHARACTERS; CHIEFLY THOSE SUBORDINATE. BY CHARLES COWDEN CLARKE, AUTHOR OF THE "RICHES OF CHAUCER," etc. "Alas! There are no more such masters: I may wander From east to occident, cry out for service, Try many, all good, serve truly, never LONDON: SMITH, ELDER, & CO. 1863. [The right of Translation is reserved.] Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Clarke, Charles Cowden, 1787-1877. Shakespeare characters; chiefly those subordinate. 1. Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616-Characters. PR2989.C5 1974 822.3'3 72-961 PR 2989 Reprinted from the edition of 1863, London AMS PRESS INC. NEW YORK, N.Y. 10003 PREFACE. UPON various occasions, after I had quitted the profession of public lecturer upon dramatic and general poetic literature, applications came to me, from both friends and strangers, to print the courses I had formerly delivered upon "The Subordinate Characters in the Plays of Shakespeare." I heeded, and not heeded, one after another, those gentle admonitions, until, some time since, an accomplished friend made me the same recommendation; and having had full experience of his judgment, also firmly believing in the sincerity of his appeal, I have revised and remodelled my manuscripts, for the purpose of presenting them to the reading public. It became evident, in the course of a careful scrutiny, that the form in which I had addressed my observations to a popular audience would be advantageously exchanged for one more suited to perusal; and also, that while in my lectures it was not necessary to treat of more than the subordinate characters in each play, far greater completeness and interest would be secured by including an examination of the more prominent characters. I have therefore prepared the following Essays, with the hope that they will aid in directing attention to the ethical scope and design of the several dramas, and to the sustained |