Shakespeare and the Modern Stage | Page 2

Kean and Sir Henry Irving 9
V. The Experiment of Samuel Phelps 11
VI. The Rightful Supremacy of the Actor 12
VII. The Example of the French and German Stage 16
VIII. Shakespeare's Reliance on the "Imaginary Forces" of the Audience 18
IX. The Patriotic Argument for the Production of Shakespeare's Plays constantly and in their variety on the English Stage 23
II
SHAKESPEARE AND THE ELIZABETHAN PLAYGOER
I. An Imaginary Discovery of Shakespeare's Journal 25
II. Shakespeare in the r?le of the Ghost on the First Production of Hamlet in 1602 27
III. Shakespeare's Popularity in the Elizabethan Theatre 29
IV. At Court in 1594 31
V. The Theatre an Innovation in Elizabethan England 36
VI. Elizabethan Methods of Production 38
VII. The Contrast between the Elizabethan and the Modern Methods 43
VIII. The Fitness of the Audience an Essential Element in the Success of Shakespeare on the Stage 46
III
SHAKESPEARE IN ORAL TRADITION
I. The Reception of the News of Shakespeare's Death 49
II. The Evolution in England of Formal Biography 51
III. Oral Tradition concerning Shakespeare in Theatrical Circles 57
IV. The Testimonies of Seventeenth-century Actors 61
V. Sir William D'Avenant's Devotion to Shakespeare's Memory 69
VI. Early Oral Tradition at Stratford-on-Avon 73
VII. Shakespeare's Fame among Seventeenth-century Scholars and Statesmen 78
VIII. Nicholas Rowe's Place among Shakespeare's Biographers. The Present State of Knowledge respecting Shakespeare's Life 79
IV
PEPYS AND SHAKESPEARE
I. Pepys the Microcosm of the Average Playgoer 82
II. The London Theatres of Pepys's Diary 85
III. Pepys's Enthusiasm for the Later Elizabethan Drama 90
IV. Pepys's Criticism of Shakespeare. His Admiration of Betterton in Shakespearean r?les 93
V. The Garbled Versions of Shakespeare on the Stage of the Restoration 102
VI. The Saving Grace of the Restoration Theatre. Betterton's Masterly Interpretation of Shakespeare 109
V
MR BENSON AND SHAKESPEAREAN DRAMA
I. A Return to the Ancient Ways 111
II. The Advantages of a Constant Change of Programme. The Opportunities offered Actors by Shakespeare's Minor Characters. John of Gaunt 113
III. The Benefit of Performing the Play of Hamlet without Abbreviation 116
IV. Mr Benson as a Trainer of Actors. The Succession to Phelps 119
VI
THE MUNICIPAL THEATRE
I. The True Aim of the Municipal Theatre 122
II. Private Theatrical Enterprise and Literary Drama. The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Actor-Manager System. The Control of the Capitalist 123
III. Possibilities of the Artistic Improvement of Theatrical Organisation in England 127
IV. Indications of a Demand for a Municipal Theatre 129
V. The Teaching of Foreign Experience. The Example of Vienna 134
VI. The Conditions of Success in England 138
VII
ASPECTS OF SHAKESPEARE'S PHILOSOPHY
I. The Conflicting Attitudes of Bacon and Shakespeare to Formal Philosophy 142
II. Shakespeare's "Natural" Philosophy. Concealment of his Personality in his Plays 148
III. His Lofty Conception of Public Virtue. Frequency of his Denunciation of Royal "Ceremony" 152
IV. The Duty of Obedience to Authority 161
V. The Moral Atmosphere of Shakespearean Drama 164
VI. Shakespeare's Insistence on the Freedom of the Will 166
VII. His Humour and Optimism 169
VIII
SHAKESPEARE AND PATRIOTISM
I. The Natural Instinct of Patriotism. Dangers of Excess and Defect 170
II. An Attempt to Co-ordinate Shakespeare's Detached Illustrations of the Working of Patriotic Sentiment. His Ridicule of Bellicose Ecstasy. Coriolanus illustrates the Danger of Disavowing Patriotism 172
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 179
IV. Shakespeare's Exposure of Social Foibles and Errors 184
V. Relevance of Shakespeare's Doctrine of Patriotism to Current Affairs 187
IX
A PERIL OF SHAKESPEAREAN RESEARCH
I. An Alleged Meeting of Peele, Ben Jonson, Alleyn, and Shakespeare at "The Globe" in 1600 188
II. The Fabrication by George Steevens in 1763 of a Letter signed "G. Peel" 190
III. Popular Acceptance of the Forgery. Its Unchallenged Circulation through the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Centuries 194
X
SHAKESPEARE IN FRANCE
I. Amicable Literary Relations between France and England from the Fourteenth to the Present Century 198
II. M. Jusserand on Shakespeare in France. French Knowledge of English Literature in Shakespeare's day. Shakespeare in Eighteenth-century France. Eulogies of Victor Hugo and Dumas p��re 201
III. French Misapprehensions of Shakespeare's Tragic Conceptions. Causes of the Misunderstanding 206
IV. Charles Nodier's Sympathetic Tribute. The Rarity of his Pens��es de Shakespeare, 1801 211
XI
THE COMMEMORATION OF SHAKESPEARE IN LONDON
I. Early Proposals for a National Memorial of Shakespeare in London 214
II. The Cenotaph in Westminster Abbey 215
III. The Failure of the Nineteenth-century Schemes 217
IV. The National Memorial at Stratford-on-Avon 219
V. Shakespeare's Association with London 226
VI. The Value of a London Memorial as a Symbol of his Universal Influence 228
VII. The Real Significance of Milton's Warning against a Monumental Commemoration of Shakespeare 230
VIII. The Undesirability of making the Memorial serve Utilitarian Purposes 235
IX. The Present State of the Plastic Art. The Imperative Need of securing a Supreme Work of Sculpture 236
INDEX 245

SHAKESPEARE AND THE MODERN STAGE

I
SHAKESPEARE AND THE MODERN STAGE[1]
[Footnote 1: This paper was first printed in The Nineteenth Century, January 1900.]
I
Without "the living comment and interpretation of the theatre," Shakespeare's work is, for the rank and file of mankind, "a deep