all works of art are to be first tried by their art-qualities, their image-forming talent, and their dramatic, pictorial, plot-constructing, euphonious, and other talents. Then, whenever claiming to be first-class works, they are to be strictly and sternly tried by their foundation in, and radiation (in the highest sense, and always indirectly) of, the ethic principles, and eligibility to free, arouse, dilate.”*
What shall be said of Shakspere's radiation, through art, of the ultimate truths of conscience and of conduct? What shall be said of his power of freeing, arousing, dilating? Something may be gathered out of the foregoing chapters in answer to these questions. But the answers remain insufficient. There is an admirable sentence by Emerson: "A good reader can in a sort nestle into Plato's brain, and think from thence; but not into Shakspere's. We are still out of doors."
We are still out of doors; and, for the present, let us cheerfully remain in the large, good space. Let us not attenuate Shakspere to a theory. He is careful that we shall not thus lose our true reward: "The secrets of nature have not more gift in taciturnity."+ Shakspere does not supply us with a doctrine, with an interpretation, with a revelation. What he brings to us is this-to each one, courage and energy and strength to dedicate himself and his work to that, whatever it be, which life has revealed to him as best and highest and most real.
* Whitman, "Democratic Vistas," p. 67.
+ Troilus and Cressida, act iv., sc. 2.
Alcibiades, practical wisdom of, 347. |
All's Well that Ends Well, date of, 75.
Antony and Cleopatra, contrasted with
Julius Cæsar, 273; linked with Co-
riolanus, 248.
Antony, character of, 256; failure of,
As You Like It, characteristics of,
70; and Winter's Tale, date of, 67.
Aufidius and Coriolanus, 296.
Autolycus, 335.
Bacon and Shakspere compared, 16.
Bagehot, W., on Shakspere's politics,
291; on religious teaching of Shak-
spere, 34.
Beauty, feeling for, in last plays, 369.
Berowne as exponent of Shakspere's
mind, 57.
Bolingbroke, causes of success of,
182; strength of, and weakness of
Richard II. contrasted, 175.
Bottom and Titania, bumor and fancy
combined in, 321.
Broglie, Duc de, on Iago, 212.
Brutus, mistakes of, 271.
Brutus and Cassius, 268; contrasted,
251; speeches of, apologetic, 267.
Cæsar, character of, 252; weakness
of, 253.
Capulet and Montague, strife of, 93.
Chasles, M., criticism of Romeo and
Juliet by, 89.
Chronological arrangement, value of,
337; study of Shakspere, 6; groups
of plays, Preface.
Clarke, C. C., on notes of time in
Romeo and Juliet, 105,
Cleopatra, and Cæsar, 280; death of,
281; feeling of, to Antony, 277.
Coleridge, on cause of failure of Rich-
ard II., 178; on Hamlet, 116.
Comedy of Errors, source of, 50.
Cordelia, Shakspere's fidelity to fact
in, 202.
Coriolanus, egoism of, 298; himself
central point of play, 292; pride
of, twofold, 293.
Culture, Shakspere's idea of, 57.
Denmark, state of, in Hamlet's time,
120.
De Quincey, on the knocking in Mac-
beth, 331.
Desdemona, love to Othello of, 207;
weakness of, 210.
Dickens, Charles, humor of, 303.
Early and later writings of Shak-
spere, difference between, 251.
Early plays, characteristics of, 52.
Edmund, inhumanity of, 237.
Edward IV., Shakspere's opinion of,
171.
Elizabethan drama, as remedy for cyn-
icism, 26; ethics and effect of, 25;
realistic quality of, 8; vigor of, 22.
Environment, influence on the man
of his, 7.
Experiments, dramatic, of Shakspere,
External nature, treatment of, by
Shakspere, 91.
Faerie Queene, object of, self-culture,
13; exponent of Renascence ideas,
12.
Falstaff, ethics of, 325; view of life | Henry VI., as a prisoner, 159; causes
Farce unpleasing to Shakspere, 304.
Female characters, change in type
of, 80.
Fleay, Mr., on Witches of Macbeth,218.
Friar Laurence, position of, in play,
107.
Furnivall, on Shakspere's part in The
Taming of the Shrew, 305; on Ve-
nus and Adonis, and Lucrece, 43.
Gertrude, Queen, emptiness of char-
acter of, 120.
Goethe, criticism of Hamlet of, 114.
Goneril and Regan compared, 234.
Great minds, belief in supernatural
of, 221.
Greatness of Shakspere's heroes, 282.
Grotesque, perception of, useful, 315.
Hamlet, indications of later style in,
111; literature, 142; turning-point
in career of Shakspere, 198.
Hamlet, compared with Romeo, 117;
causes of failure of, 138; cause of
weakness of, 130; conduct of, at
the play, 137; effect of Ghost on,
127; fatalism of, 139; love of truth
of, 134; madness of, 128; mind of,
incapable of certitude, 118; posi-
tion of, at opening of play, 119;
Shakspere's own character illus
trated by, 142.
Hazlitt, W., on love of Desdemona,
208; on Venus and Adonis, and
Lucrece, 46.
Hebler, on symmetry of some plays, 54.
Helena, Bertram's good sole aim of,
76; energy of, 76.
Henry V., conduct in war of, 195;
double character of, 188; hearty
piety of, 191; hero of historical
plays, 195; his realization of fact,
189; inner character of, 187; re-
lentlessness of wrath of, 194; Shak-
spere's ideal of practical character,
66.
Henry VI., authorship of first part,
153; origin of second part and of
third part, 160.
of failure of, 154; timid saintliness
of, 155; vacillation of, 157.
Henry VIII., authorship of, 368.
Hermione, calm justice of, 366.
Hogarth, study of laughter by, 301.
Hooker, influence of, on Reformation,
Horatio and Hamlet, 136.
Hudson, Mr., on Fool in Lear, 243.
Humor of Shakspere, influence of,
300; innocence of, 320; two stages
of, 316.
Iago, personification of fraudful evil,
212.
Ideal and Real, conflict of, in mind
of Shakspere, 31, 41.
Imogen, 413.
Impartiality of Shakspere, source of,
307.
Incongruity, tragic and comic, 312.
Ingram, Professor, on chronology of
last plays, 338.
Interest of Shakspere in his art di-
minishing, 359.
Interpenetration of humor, pathos,
and tragedy, 332.
Isabella, energy and will of, 72.
Jameson, Mrs., on Cleopatra, 279.
Juliet, state of mind of, when taking
the poison, 102.
Julius Cæsar, date of, Preface; dom.
inant power of, 255; apparent in-
consistency of character of, 258.
Katharine, love of Henry V. to,
169.
King John, substance of, misery and
failure, 153.
King John, fails from weakness of
his wickedness, 150; strength in
early scenes not real, 151.
King Lear, creed of leading persons
in, 240; ethics of, 239; great-
est Teutonic poem, 229; irony of,
230; Shakspere's treatment of his-
tory in, 232; significance of sec
ondary plot in, 236; teaching of,
232.
Knowledge of a great mind a great | Prospero, conduct of, to his enemies,
Kreyssig, on Shakspere's freedom
from party spirit, 288.
Lady Macbeth, appearance of, 224.
Lady Percy and Portia contrasted,
264.
Laertes, superficiality of, 121.
Last Plays, characteristics of, 358.
Laughter, of men of genius, 302;
Shakspere's, history of, 317.
Leontes and Othello contrasted, 362.
Love's Labor's Lost, character and
design of, 55,
Macbeth, motto of, 217.
Macbeth, and the Witches, 222; and
Lady M. contrasted, 223; dishon-
orable death of, 227; weakness of,
Maginn on Theseus, 61.
Margaret, Queen, an avenging fury,
170.
Marlowe, influence of, on Shakspere,
Mental progress, style a sign of, 54.
Mercutio, character of, 103.
Merry Wives of Windsor, criticism
of, 328.
Middle Ages, ethics and idealism of, 9.
Morality of Shakspere's writings, 352.
Morgann, M., criticism of Falstaff, 324.
Mysteries of Life, Shakspere's treat-
ment of, 202.
Ophelia compared with Juliet, 123.
Othello, aim of, to contrast Iago and
Othello, 216.
Othello, forcefulness of, 209; strength
and weakness of, 205.
Periods, four, in art-life of Shakspere,
318, 322, 330.
Polonius, morality of, 125.
Portia, strength of, 266.
Portia and Brutus, noble relations of,
263.
Posthumus, reconciliation of, with
Imogen, 363.
Progress of Shakspere cautious, 47.
365; Shakspere's ideal character,
67; Shakspere seen in, 371.
Queen Katharine, chief interest to
Shakspere in Henry VIII., 368.
Reconciliation, characteristic of last
plays, 361.
Reformation in England, characteris.
tics of, 17.
Renascence, ethics of, 10; positivism
characteristic of, 20.
Richard II., aims at effect without
definite end, 173; and Jaques com
pared, 180; boyishness of, 172;
unreality of, discussed, 178.
Richard III., uniqueness of, and re-
semblance to Marlowe's work, 160.
Richard III., cynicism and devilry of,
164; energy of, best seen in battle,
165; Shakspere's teaching from
character of, 168; sources of pow.
er of, 162.
Roman Plays, measure of greatness
in, 249; Shakspere's and Jonson's,
contrasted, 245; significance of
date of, 246.
Romeo and Juliet, feeling evoked by
last scene of, 109; Shakspere's va
riation from original, 105.
Romeo, contrasted with Mercutio,
102; development of character of,
104; love of, for Rosaline and
Juliet, 94.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, 132.
Rushton on euphuism of Shakspere,
125.
Ruskin on Iago, 212.
| Runnawayes eyes, note on, 110.
Satire, late and early, of Shakspere
contrasted, 332.
Secondary plots, function of, 346.
Second period, characteristics of, 328.
Shakspere, as a poet of feudalism,
284; caution of, in trying styles,
87; character of, 146; character
illustrated by life, 27; develop-
ment of nature of, 39; enormous
receptivity of, 38; ideal of practi-
cal strength of, 197; incapable of |
despair, 203; influence of writings
of, on student, 381; mode of study-
ing, 2; on communism, 289; polit-
ical views of, 286; practical and
ideal sides of character illustrated,
29; relation of his life to his art,144;
religion of, 33; sympathy of, with
ideal, 349; two existences of, 31.
Slender, the comic in, 311.
Sonnets, Shakspere's life at time of
writing the, 353; spirit of, 355;
teaching of, 351; theories of in-
terpretation of, 350.
Spenser, positive character of, 15.
Tempest, allegorical interpretation of,
377; freedom and forgiveness in,
373.
Theseus, example of Shakspere's im-
partiality, 63; man of action, 60.
Timon, a study of self-control, 342;
as an illustration of Shakspere's
mind, 340; conjectures on origin
of, 339; contrasts in, 346.
Timon, fails from ignorance of life,
342; misanthropy of, 345.
Titus Andronicus, pre-Shaksperian in
tone, 48.
Tragedies, deal with deepest passions,
200; engrossed whole nature of
Shakspere, 199; first, influence of
external events on actors in, 115;
first, gradual development of, 50,
84; influence of, on spiritual prog
ress of Shakspere, 204; of Shak-
spere and Restoration contrasted,
309.
Tragedy, first and second contrasted,
88.
Tragic and comic defined, 310.
Troilus and Cressida, difficulties in,
83; significance of, Preface.
Two Gentlemen of Verona, author-
ship of, 51.
Venus and Adonis, and Lucrece, ex-
haustiveness of, 43.
Victor Hugo on King Lear, 244.
West, E. D., on realism of Shakspere,
White, R. Grant, on authorship of
Romeo and Juliet, 84.
Witches of Macbeth, interpretation
of, 218.
Women of Shakspere contrasted with
the men, 97.
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