3. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE,

1564-1616.

THE brightest name that adorns the Elizabethan period of English literature, indeed one of the brightest in the whole history of English letters, is that of WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, who was born on the 23d of April, 1564, at Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire, England. His father, John Shakespeare, was a wool-comber or glover, whose social position had been somewhat elevated by his marriage with a rustic heiress, Mary Arden.

But little is known of the boyhood of Shakespeare The morals of the time were not of a high standard, and Shakespeare's youthful life was not above the average. At the age of eighteen he married Anne Hathaway, who was almost eight years older than himself. She was the daughter of a yeoman living within a mile of Stratford.

About the year 1587 he removed to London, where he became a member of the Globe Theatre, with which he retained connection as an actor and a stockholder to the time of his retirement to Stratford in 1611, nearly twenty-five years later. As an actor, however, Shakespeare never became either remarkably successful or popular. Like most young men of his calling at that time, he rendered himself doubly useful in his connection with the theatre as an actor and as an arranger of pieces.

Shakespeare's first successful literary work was, doubtless, that of adapting old plays to the requirements of his own theatre. But he soon tired of this sort of work, and, relying upon his own genius, he soon surpassed

both his predecessors and his contemporaries as a writer of dramatic poetry. Most of his plots are borrowedsome from Plutarch, some from Holinshed's Chronicle, some from novels and romances, and some from older dramas.

Shakespeare's best-known works consist of thirty. seven dramas, which may be divided into tragedies, comedies, and historical plays. Among his best tragedies are Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear; among the comedies, The Merchant of Venice, Midsummer Night's Dream, and As You Like It; and among the historical plays, King Richard III., King Henry VI., Julius Cæsar, and King Henry V.

Shakespeare died at Stratford in the year 1616, on the 23d of April, the fifty-second anniversary of his birthday, and was buried in that village. His grave was first marked by a plain stone, the inscription on which, said to have been written by Shakespeare himself, was as follows:

"Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones!"

CRITICISM BY DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON.

THIS, therefore, is the praise of Shakespeare, that his drama is the mirror of life; that he who has mazed his imagination, in following the phantoms which other writers raise up before him, may here be cured of his delirious ecstasies by reading human sentiments in human language, by scenes from which a hermit may estimate the transactions of the world, and a confessor predict the progress of the passions.

If there be, what I believe there is, in every nation, a

style which never becomes obsolete, a certain mode of phraseology so consonant and congenial to the analogy and principles of its respective language as to remain settled and unaltered, this style is probably to be sought in the common intercourse of life among those who speak only to be understood, without ambition of elegance. The polite are always catching modish innovations, and the learned depart from established forms of speech in hope of finding or making better; those who wish for distinction forsake the vulgar when the vulgar is right; but there is a conversation, above grossness and below refinement, where propriety resides, and where this poet seems to have gathered his comic dialogue. He is, therefore, more agreeable to the ears of the present age than any other author equally remote, and, among his other excellences, deserves to be studied as one of the original masters of our language.

TRIAL-SCENE FROM "THE MERCHANT OF VENICE." The following extract is taken from Scene 2, Act IV., of the Mer chant of Venice, one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies.

Enter PORTIA, dressed like a doctor of laws.

Duke. Give me your hand. Come you from old Bellario? Portia. I did, my lord.

Duke. You are welcome.

Are you acquainted with the difference

That holds this present question in the court?
Por. I am informed throughly of the cause.

Which is the merchant here and which the Jew?
Duke. Antonio and Shylock, both stand forth.
Por Is your name Shylock?

NOTES.-4, 5. the difference that 6. throughly, thoroughly.
holds, etc. That is, the cause 8. Antonio, the merchant.
of the dispute.
Shylock, 'he Jew.

Shylock. Shylock is my name.

Por. Of a strange nature is the suit you follow,
Yet in such rule that the Venetian law

Cannot impugn you, as you do proceed.

13

You stand within his danger, do you not?
Antonio. Ay, so he says.

[TO ANTONIO.

15

Por.

Do you confess the bond?

Then must the Jew be merciful.

Shy. On what compulsion must I? Tell me that.
Por. The quality of mercy is not strained;

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath; it is twice blessed;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes;
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptered sway,

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;

And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,

NOTES.-12. in such rule, strictly | 22. twice blessed, doubly blessed.

according to the form.

13. impugn, call in question.

26. shows, expresses, symbolizes.

32. show, appear.

ANALYSIS.-10. What is the subject of the sentence?

14. within his danger. Explain.

18 19. In which, line does must express obligation or compulsica 21. Give the case of rain.

22 Upon the place beneath. What does this phrase modify?

24. 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest. Explain.

28. Wherein doth sit, etc. Is the sentence correct?

30. enthroned. Why is the accent-mark placed on ed? What

figure in the line?

34. What is the mode of be?

That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation; we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea,

Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.
Shy. My deeds upon my head! I crave the law,
The penalty and forfeit of my bond.

Por. Is he not able to discharge the money?

Bassanio. Yes, here I tender it for him in the court;
Yea, twice the sum; if that will not suffice,

45

I will be bound to pay it ten times o'er,

On forfeit of my hands, my head, my heart.

If this will not suffice, it must appear

That malice bears down truth. And I beseech you,

50

Wrest once the law to your authority:
To do a great right, do a little wrong,
And curb this cruel devil of his will.

Por. It must not be. There is no power in Venice

Can alter a decree established:

55

"Twill be recorded for a precedent,

And many an error by the same example

Will rush into the state. It cannot be.

Shy. A Daniel come to judgment; yea, a Daniel!
O wise young judge, how I do honor thee!

60

NOTES. 37. that same prayer, | 50. malice bears down truth,

the Lord's Prayer.

charge the debt.

malice overcomes honesty.

44. discharge the money, dis- 51. Wrest once, turn aside for

once.

ANALYSIS. 38. I have spoke. Modernize.

40. What is the case of Which? What is the meaning of the ex

pression, Which if thou follow, etc.?

41. What is the use of the apostrophe in 'gainst?

42. Supply the ellipsis.

52. to do, etc. What does it modify?

55. What is the subject of can alter !