The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-03-17
sHYLocK.
Shakespearian Lecture by Mr.. Henry A.
Clapp-Merchant of Venice the Play and
Shylock the Subject.

The second of the series of lectures
which Mr.. Henry A. Clapp of Boston is
delivering in this city, on the plays OF
Shakespeare, brought out an audience
which fillod completely the Advent
church last evening. The subject was
The Merchant of Venice, and the lectur-
er selected Shylock for the character to
be treated particularly. Next Thursday
evening, at the same place, Mr.. Clapp
will continue his criticism of the Mer-
chant of Venice, dwelling upon the
character of Portia.
AS he began last evening, the lecturer
said: If you will consider the city Of
Venice for moment you will see that
no city has ever appealed so much to the
sense of romance in man. This is not
by its wonderful history, it's statesmen.
it's poets, its architects. or it's merchants:
but rather because no other city in the
world has a history with definite be-
ginning and definite ending. From $50
to 1850, Venice fourished. It was only
an oligarchic republic, with no religion
but the Christian. 1t crumbled under
the sharp breath of modern spirit, and
now Venice is left, as Ruskin says: 'sBe-
reft of all but her beauty
And yet, for the great majority of us,
in spite of it's wonderfully history, Venice
lives in our minds as the scene of the
Merchant of Venice and Othello.
The Merchant Of Venice was probably
written about 1896, coming within the
first part Of Shakespeare's second period
the period when he gives play to his hui
NOR. Shakespeare may have had in
mind in writing the play the misfortunes
of DR.. Lopez, an accomplished Spanish
Jew, who came to England to find an
asylum. There he rose rapidly, becom-
ing court physician. But becoming com
pllcated with an adyenturer named Anto-
MO, he was sentenced to death
for treason. On the scaffold
he had the great courage to announce to
the mob that he had for Antonio and
Queen Elizabeth, the one who had be-
trayed and the other who had failed to
save him, the same love that he had for
Jesus Christ.
1t may be that this incident impressed
Shakespeare.
1t is believed that there was before
Shakespeare an old play containing the
plot of the bond and the caskets. But
the bond story is very old, figuring in
many medieval romances. All the Incl
dents, but none of the dramatic life, of
the Shakespearean play, are found in
these romances. The casket story may
be found in the Costa RenaGnoruna, where
the heroine of the incident shows the
germs of the character of Portia.
The Merchant Of Venice has suffered
from bad versions, notably by that made
by the Marquis of Lansdowne, who at
tempted to improve upon Shakespeare.
The version was clumsy, weak, abomina-
bic. Yet for 40 years, from 1701 to 1741,
it held the stage until driven off by the
great actor Macklin. The Lansdowne
version in it's prologue has the following
lines:
The first rough sketches shakespeare's pencil
But ali the shining strokes are new,
which are intended to pay to the Mar
quis of Lansdowne the compliment for
what he had done.
In the Merchant of Venice first ap-
pears the amplitude of Shakespeare
genius. In style he has advanced into
his swift pace. Varied vital and vivid,
his style is always.
For the first time here is presented
one of Shakespeare gigantic characters,
one man who is to be ranked with the
Titans-Shylock. Not in respect of
force, but of power. Here first we see
Shakespeare Titan hand. The Mer-
chant Of Venice is Shakespeare's second
great play, Romeo and Juliet being the
first.
From the point of view of pure art, how
ever. few of Shakespeare's plays are more
open to the severest criticism. The play
is monstrously out of proportion. There
are two centres of action, Shylock and
Portia, an intellectual in Portia and pas
sional in Shylock, detracting the atten-
ton and the interest. The play is a
comedy, but is it's effect that of a come
dy? It is play of five acts; but for
many years the curtain has always gone
down at the end Of the fourth act What
kind of play is it that can be locked of
it's last act? Not until Mr.. Irving came
here was a fifth act ever presented in
America.
But perhaps on the whole it is no mat
ter if the play is not artistic. There is
no doubt JndC 0nylOCk grew Utyouu tuc
intention and the hand of his maker.
This is an illustration of Shakespeare S
inability to control his own controlling
genius.
In Shylock Shakespeare has for the
first time drawn character who is con-
trolled by the pure passion of hatred.
The hatred oflother Shakespearean char
acters is another form of ambition, or of
some other passion. But in Shylock, as
the play progresses, we find at last pure,
unanalyzable hate.
Shakespeare has presented Shylock as
man Of keen intellectually, but not
ola broad one, since his soulIis too mean
and narrow. He is a cruel, mean, avar-
icious man made with tremendous
power.
Shakespeare has presented the charac-
ter in four aspects, one in each of the
first four acts.
In the first act he is a man of self
control, who may move quickly and re-
lent essly, but within control.
In the second act he is at home, and
more nearly quiet man than anywhere
else.
In the third act he has lost all control
and acts like mad man.