The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-12-18

ntly expressing the tone and temper OF
the play. This is the view OF another
German-Ulrici-who I'm summing up his
argument says: "In fact all Ghe charaC-
tcrs) do exactly what and as they please.
Each looks upon and shapes life as
II pleases him or her. II is the re-
fleX OF a life as you like II: light and
smooth In its flew, unincumbered by Sc
riOus tasks. free from the letters OF def
mite objects and from intentions difficult
TO realize; an amusing play OF caprice. Of
imagination and of waVerlng sensations
and feelings"
Charles Lamb called Loves Labor's
Lost" "the comedy of leisure" but. as
Verplanck remarks. 'he might have given
the title I'm a higher sense to AS You Like
It. where the pervading feeling Is that
OF a refined and tasteful. yet simple and
unaffected throwing off the stiff Iendings
OF artificial society" For myself. I would
call IL the "summer-vacatlOn comedy" /
believe that IL was such an outing 70
Shakespeare himself, after the completion
of the series OF English historical plays
not counting his part of Henry VIII"
which was not written until some ten
years later. The poet was weary with
long tarrying in camps and courts. glad
10 escape from the company Of kings and
queens. and TO take to the woods for
thoroughly unconventional holiday II
was like a midsummer dream of his early
life in WaTwickShire, where there was
also Forest OF Arden. with no lions and
serpents. such as Lodge found In the
French forest, but, as DraytOn tells us,
with sweet nightingales' That
sit and sing
Amongst the dainty dew-impearled nowers.'
II was probably this charming play
which Milton had in mind when he refer
red To the poet In IL Allegro:
..or sweetest shakespeare. Fancy's. child.
Marbles his native wood notes wild
a characterization which foolish critics.
who did not understand its limited appli-
cation. perfectly in keeping with the de-
lineatiOn of the cheerful man In whose
mouth IL is put. have denounced as mad
equate.
Dramatic Time in the Play.
las You Like II" affords good illustra-
tons of Shakespeare art In the manage
ment of dramatic time" Only two OF mis-
plays-"The Comedy OF Errors and The
Tempest" the ''unities of time
and place, which require that the time
of the action represented shall not exceed
a single day. ana that the scene shall be
limited either TO single locality or to
places so near that the persons concerned
can pass from one To another within the
day In most of the plays the time of the
action covers several days, months or
years. and the localities are widely sep
arated-Englaud and France. Bohemia
But though Shakespeare thus ignores
the classical law concerning dramatic
time. he follows what may be called an
artistic law OF his own In dealing with
time which was not recognized by any
of the critics until about nifty years ago;
and then. as has often happened with I'M
portant discoveries two men detected II
independently at the same time. In Mo-
vember 1888. Professor John Wilson
('Christepher North') announced this
law in BlackwoOd's Magazine as IAN as
mi
utely by an analysis OF Macbeth" and Qn
April. 1880 of "Othello"; and the Roy. y.
J. Halpin. during the same month Of No
vember. published an essay on 'Dramat-
ic Unities I'm Shakespeare" illustrating
the same law by an ANALYSIS OF The Mer-
chant of Venice There could be no
working independently and had reached
identical results.
may mention incidentally that this Mr.
Halpin who was an English clergyman
thor of some valuable papers printed by
the old Shakespeare Society OF LondOu)
was the father Of Charles Graham Hal
pine (as I believe he preferred to spell the
name). better known by his pseudouym
of miles O'Reilly.' who came To this
country in 1852 and served during the civil
war as colonel In the Federal army and
wrote much I'm prose and verse. lie died
in 1865 eight years after his father did.
The law discovered by Wilson and Hal
pin may be briefly stated thus: Shakes
peare uses two kinds OF time In his plnys
lone fast corresponding to the brief time
required for the action on the stage: the
other slow. corresponding TO the longer
time necessary for the actual succession
OF events represented. The law has been
aptly and more concisely designated as
'Shakespeare's two clocks one OF which
goes fast while the other goes slow
Apparently this manner OF dealing with
dramatic time was original with Shakes
peare II is used by him In all his PLAYS
Except the two / have mentioned). and
In NIL "details of their action. while n ant Il
dom. II ever, is noticeable in other dram
atists.
In "As You Like II" the two kinds Of
time are very easily recognized and /
have therefore introduced the subject I'm
connection with this play. IL will be
good exercise for the student 10 trace the
Indications for himself I'm other PLAYS
When the banishme.t Of tho old duke
is first mentioned. We infer that N hns