The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1877-12-27

tiful women, Of Shakespeare. take almost.
as much hold upon the heart, and more
upon the imagination, than real wo-
men. 1appeal to any young man who
has read these plays, and am sure that
he has been in love with Cordelia, limo
CINE, Perdita, Miranda and Portia.
MAD CHARACTERS. b. -
a. Another interesting study would
be the mad or insane characters. At
the head of these, again, I'VE should
place the kingly and mistaken Lear,
whose madness Shakespeare seems to
have desired to present as the type Of
the truest and greatest in literature,
for with consummate art he brings the
real madness of Lear in contact with
the simulated madness of Edgar, so
that every one may see at once the diff
ference between the true and the false.
Tie madness Of Lady Macbeth has
been the study of critics and physi-
clans. A physician in St. Louis some
years ago wrote a medical treatise OH
the madness of Lady Macbeth, show
ing how true the great poet was to
Nature, and how perfectly the
madness met the requirements of that
state of mind When viewed from the
the standpoint of physicien. Then
the madness Of Hamlet over which the
critics and actors will, never he done
disputing, some arguing that Hamlet
WAS mad and Others that he was not.
Sllak peare himself, however, it seems
to me, settled the question of his own
design, for he says that there was
method in his madness" "A study of
the character and of the play, | believe,
will show to any one not bent on main
tanning q theory, that while Hamlet
simulated madness, he was really only
melancholy, and this melancholy, in
duced by the horrible murder of his
father and the infidelity of his mother
so preyed upon him that he became i'll
competent to execute his purpose. Tie
real madness is seen in poor Ophelia,
and here, again, the mighty poet and
consummate artist has contrasted the
real and the simulated madness.
49,. FOOLS.
Then what an array of fools, of every
grade Of capacity, he, marsl,als upon
the stage! What an array of ignorant
and shallow officials, the Dogberrys
and the Justices Shallow, there are :;
the perfect type of this class for all the
age!
Falstaff also might be traced through
the three plays in which he figures with
infinite amusement. This fat knight,
| the embodiment of reckless, soulless
impurity and gaiety, has convulsed the
world with laughter. Queen Elizabeth
was so delighted with the character
that she sent a command to Shaks-
peare to show Falstaff in love. The
great bard could not do violence to ma
ture, even at the command of the
queen, but he wrote the Merry Wives
Of Windsor, in which he put F,lstatf
as nearly in love as such /; character
could be, !. love with no inspiration but
animal passion and then inspiring to
the vld fellow only because the object
was a married woman.
! LOVERS.
Another division might be into the
lovers of Shakespeare. and this would be
the largest group, Romeo and Juliet
representing the maddest form OF the
divine passion. and then OH through ey.
cry grade, from the lowest form in
clowns and fools to the loftiest i'll
kings, queens and heroes.
TRUE TO NATURE.
And through all this vast range OF
characters, in kings, statesmen, mad
men; fools and lovers, we may be sure
that rs Shakespeare makes them act and
talk, the real human being will act and
talk under like circumstances. Slaks
peare himself thought that the object
of the drama WAS to "*hold the mirror
up to Nature" and he has presented
us the perfect mirror. In other wri
ters the reflection is seen to be more OF
less distorted and untrue, but in the
; divine Shakespeare the glass is perfect
and gives true image.
IMAGINARY BEINGS.
After considering the human clnarac
ters, we lav " still Il vast field to ex
plore, or rather to follow Shakspear,
in his explorations, for he explored ev
cry field. lie summoned witches, fair
les. ghosts. sprites, and monsters to as
sist him in playing upon human pas
! sion. So mighty was he, so wonderful
in his grasp and comprehension of hu
man nature, that he must needs pla,
upon every string, and, taking him al
together, it is difficult to find any pas
sion which lie has not sounded to it!
depths. Among these wonderful crea
tions, the world fingers with ever in
creasing delight over Ariel and Puck
those airy creatures, born of the grea
poets divine fancy, who accomplish
such wonders with such ease and facil
ity that, as Puck says, he can put :
girdle round the earth in forty min
utes.'
1.-The rest of the evening was devoted
to considering the following plays
Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, Lear
Tempest, Henry w. and Merchant O.
Venice.]
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