The San Francisco call., 1899-11-02


! tween Luciano and Antipholus Of syra-
cuse iii, p, with its tender erotic
cadences. Listen to such verses as these:
Ant. s.--sweet mistress (what your name is
else l know not.
/ Nor by what wonder you hit on mine),
Less in your knowledge and your grace you
show not
Than our Carths wonder. more than earth
divine.
Teach me- dear creature, how to think and
speak;
Lay open to my earthly-gross concelt.
/ Smothered in errors, feeble, shallow, weak,
I The folded meaning of your words deceit.
! Against my souls pure truth why labor you
To make it wander in unknown field?
! Are you a god? Would you create me new?
! Transform me, then, and to your power I'll
yield,
Since the play was first published in the
! Folio of 1923 it is, of course, not impossi-
/ BILE that Shakespeare may have worked
over this lovely passage at a later period.
/ But the whole structure of the verses,
with their interviewer rhymes, points in
/ the opposite direction. We here catch
the first notes of that music which is soon
! to fill Romeo and Juliet" with its har-
monies.
Dramatic History of the Play.
Though the situations developed in the
COMEDY of Errors pass far beyond the
bounds of even stage probability, never
theless when we'll acted the play is ex-
ceedingly effective and very popular. But
the difficulty is to find actors sufficiently
resembling one another naturally or able
to make themselves sufficiently like one
another artifcially to impersonate prop
erly the characters of the two Dromios
and the two Antipholuses respectively.
The most successful and splendid repre-
sentations of the Comedy of Errors
/ ly,, 10 he 1f hn etocy
those of the two American players Stuart
Robson and William H. Crane. The first
of these representations was given in New
York in 1885. The two great comedians,
of course, took the parts of the two Dro-
mios. Crane was nine years younger than
Robson, and his voice naturally
was utterly unlike Robson's voice,
yet he would initiate Robson's pc
culiarities of voice and manner in
such way as to deceive the very
elect. But Robson and Cranes produc-
tion of the Comedy of Errors" was no
table not alone for the cleverness of the
acting of the two principals. 1t was in
every way the most complete and elab-
crate presentation of the play ever made;
the only Shakespearean productions COM
parable to it being Sir Henry Irvings
/ ''Henry VIII 1.-The Merchant of Venice
taken part In the comedy Of Errors
but among those who have done so may
be mentioned Charles Mackltn (1I4l) and
Charles Kemble QS0S).
Questions for Research and Review.
l. Is your interest in this play occupied
with characterization or mainly with in
cidents and situations?
3 What varieties of incident and situa-
tion would have been impossible without
two Dromios?
volved in twin brothers with twin SER
wants heighten or lessen the comic effect
as you readP
based on the theme of mistaken iden-
5 Which of the scenes show an under
lying thought that is not farcical? If
You take the point of view of the social
reformer, for instance, do you find any
tragic elements in this play? What
msfes Iife? situation tragic or comic in real
s. What is gained by the introduction
of a serious element at the outset of the
play and of pathetic element in the
last act?
l. Is a modern audience moved to laugh
ter by the diSeomtiture of father and
husband like Egeon even though the dis
comfiture be but temporary?
s. Do you think that act III rises above
ordinary farce? In what respect?
9. Would q modern audience find in the
''ehain" incident of act III a subject of
pure enjoyment? Should we look for Sc
rious consequences?
10. Is Adriana admirable or merely to
be laughed at? Is her husband merely
laughable? How do you feel toward him?
II. What role does Luciano play con-
sistently in this drama?
H. There is. even. in this early play of
Shakespeare. slight element of contrast
in character. How is 1t brought out?
13. Does this comedy leave you with any
fixed notions OF the true relation of hus-
band and wife. father and son, sister and
sister?
IA. Is the "rime-doggerel' in act III nee
essary or excusable?
Is. There are $50 rhymed lines to 1150 un-
rhymed in this play. Does this fact sig
Nifty anything as to the date of the COM
edy? At what period would a dramatist
naturally show the greater proportion of
rhymed lines?
!. T. Oee.,ot1
n 4