William Shakespeare, Player, Playmaker, and Poet
Format: Paperback
ISBN13: 9780217656900
Paperback|9780217656900
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: III. THE CHARACTER OF THE DRAMATIST The problem to which we are now to address ourselves is the question whether it is possible from an examination of Shakespeare's writings to arrive at any conclusion as to his personal character and view of life. Let us begin at the bottom with some questions as to his personal tastes and habits. And first, as to drinking. Readers have been struck with one or two passages?one in Hamlet, 1 one in Othello, and one in As You Like It 3? censuring the English habit of drinking to excess; passages which have no relevancy to the plot of the play, and seem spoken over the footlights directly to the audience. This heavy-headed revel, east and west, Makes us traduced and taxed of other nations. Now the interest of these passages is considerable taken by themselves, but they become more interesting still in the light of certain local traditions that Shakespeare's convivial habits occasionally led him into intemperance. So that what on the surface ' i. 4, 17- - 3. 78. ' ii- 3. 48- looks merely like the voice of Shakespeare's contempt for a silly custom may be interpreted, and by some critics is interpreted, as the voice of the dramatist's self-accusation. Which is it ? Let me say, unhesitatingly, that I have no faith in the traditions. One is connected with a local crab-tree; we know how a tradition of that sort never dies; it passes from generation to generation not only of men but of trees, and is attached in each age to the most prominent memory, being probably in origin as old as Thor. The other tradition is recorded by a vicar of Stratford under the Commonwealth, and is to the effect that Shakespeare died of a fever caught of drinking too much wine at a merrymaking with Ben Jonson and Dray ton.1 But doctors tell us...
| ISBN-13 | 9780217656900 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 0217656900 |
| Weight | 0.24 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.15 In |
| List Price | $14.14 |
| Format | Paperback |
|---|---|
| Pages | 64 pages |
| Publisher | |
| Published On | 2009-08-01 |
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