The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-28

enjoyment Of the charms Of scenery. He
could not have written "A Midsummer
Nights Dream" or AS You Like It. II the
poetry of the English greenv God had not
entered into his soul Neither Is any such
confirmation as Fuller's familiar anecdote
needed 10 convince one that Shakespeare
could enjoy convivial meetings at taverns.
That he was no Puritan has been inferred
from particular phrases. as well as from
the relations OF Puritails to players in his
day. Mr.. Stephen, however. goes further,
and maintains that the very conception
Of Puritan Shakespeare involves a con-
tradiction in terms because the author
of the plays represents in the fullest degree
tine type which is the antithesis OF Puritan
ism: the large and tolerant acceptance OF
human nature which was intolerablc to the
rigorous and straight-iaced fanatics As
70 the dispute about Shakespeare's politics,
| our author deems it idle to attempt to say
what Shakespeare would have thought Of
modern applications of the fundamental
principles which he accepted. About those
fundamental principles dispute seems hardy
possible IL do not sce, says Mr.. Stephen,
how any man could have been more clearly
| what may be called an intellectual aristo-
crat His contempt for the mob may be
| good-humored enough. but is surely I'M
equivocal.' Again. Shakespeare may be
/ speaking dramatically through Ulysses in
| 'Troilus and Cressida', but, at least. he must
have fully appreciated the argument for
order. and understood by order that the
| cultivated and Intelligent should rule, and
the common herd have a. little direct voice
, in State affairs rs Elizabeth and James
| could have desired.
Mr.. Stephen submits that, when We have
| got so far, We have already admitted GER
| tain attributes which ar. a. much personal
| as literary. IF YOU admit that Snake
| spearc was a humoiist. intensely sensitive
TO natural beauty, a ,curncr Of the pcdantry
| whether of scholars or tl.cologidus, IN
uowed with an amazingly ile ana tolerant
| view of human nature, radically opposed
| to Puritanism or any kind Of fanaticism,
! capable Of hearty sympathy with the poHu-
lar instincts, and yet with strong lersCa-
! zion of the depth of popular folly, you
thereby know at east some negative prop
! ositons about the man himself. You can
| say with confidence wha, are the charac-
! teristic, which We're thoroughly antipa-
| tEctic to him. even though IL may be diiii-
| cult to describe accurately the characteris-
tics which he positively embodied"
| IL there any real incompatibility between
! what we know of Shakespe are life and the
| theory Of life implied ty his writings?
| Emerson thought there was. He could not.
| he said, marry the fact that Shakespeare
| was a Iovial actor and manager to his
| verse II seemed Ia Emerson incongruous
| that the bes, of the worlds poets should
| have led an obscure and profane life,
using his genius for the public amusement"
| There * no doubt that Shakespeare. the
| actor and manager. was money saver.
| Is IT true that an eye for the main chance
! is inconsistent with the poetiCal temIera-
| mentf Touching this often-mooted Ques-
| ton, Mr. Stephen points out that Noltaire
| was a superla,ve man of business; that
Goethe knew the value of good social
! position; that Pope was a keen and suc-
| cessful money maker and that Dickens
| shov ed a similar capacity. such cases
Indicate that men can reconcile literary
genius with business aptitude. 1t Is TRUE
that in one particular these examples fall
| short OF the desired proof. because they do
not imply the actual preference Of gain to
glory which is attributed to SHAKESPEARE.
Oar author finds a closer parallel in Scott.
IL SCOTS enjoyment Of Abbotsford led
to his ruin, while Shakespcare's more
modest ambition was satisfied by New
Place, the difference may have been that in
the earlier period the arts Of manufacturing
paper credit were not so well understood.
Still, SCOTS estimate of the really valuable
| element of life naturally suggests Shakes
pale's. Scott held that the man of action
, was superior to the man Of letters. He
wondered that the Duke Of Wellington
.h IA 70 intn in, h,
author of few bits Of novels, he meant
frankly to make money by providing harm
less amusement, but he did not fancy that
| the achievements of a novelist were COM
parable to the winning of battles or the
making Of laws. Shakespeare, We may
guess. would have agreed" Elsewhere We
| are reminded that Shakespeare had tho
| good fortune Of living before his conmenta-
tors. His head, therefore. " a. not turned.
and he held therefore. We may suppose,
| that to defeat the Armada was a more i'm
portant bit Of work than to amuse the
audience at the Globe"
II is. Of course, acknowledged that even
| IL everything suggested in this essay should
| he granted, there would still b. great gaps
| in our know ledge of Shakespeare. These
gaps could only be filed by the help Of
udtd IiO iouseI W. Go
know what scrapes Shakespeare may have
| got into; all We know is that he must have
got out Of them, Neither do We know
how much he cared for his wife and chill
dren, or how he behaved in business trans
actions, or whether he was too obsequious
to his patrons. No doubt. il such ques-
tons could be answered. we should know a
great deal more about him In the alb
sence Of such knowledge. however. our
author Is convinced that some very dis
tinct personal qualities ara sufficiently
implied. -Shakespeare's life presents a
| problem. We have, on the one hand,
man abnornally sensitive TO all manner OF
emotions. and having an unrivaled power
of sympathy with every passion OF human
nature. On the other hand. though ex-
posed to all the temptations Of most OK.
citing environment he accomplishes :,
prosperous and outwardly commonplace
career. He could emerge from the grosser
element, no doubt. because his power Of
intellect and imagination raised him above
! the level Of the sensualist whose tastes he
sometimes condescended to crafty. But
| he could not be a Puritan. because their
stern morality was radically opposed to the
aesthetic enjoyment to which he WAS most