The Washington times., 1903-11-01
Shakespeare sCharm
Some Reflections Upon the
Principal Causes of the
Great Poets Unfailinq At
tTdCtiYeness After the Lapse
Of Three Centuries.
Age cannot stale, nor custom wither,
HIS infinite variety.


speare's plays is again demon
strated by the eagerness with
which Miss Viola Aliens offering
of Twelfth Night is received by the
public, and by the pure delight its pre-
sentation inspires. No writer OF plays
has kept his hold upon the public mind
Ike the Bard OF Avon. Other authors
there are. TO be sure, whose emana-
tions will always command the atten-
tton Of the student. but not one. of what
ever age or country. enlists the univer-
sal sympathy like Shakespeare This IS
true not only of those countries the YER
nacuiar of which is that of the poet,
but OF all others where the literature
of the stage finds devotees. Not the
least striking fact, in this connection,
is that the works of the dramatic auth
ors Of no nation have survived the
changes in sentiment and taste Tor three
centuries Ike Shakespeare plays and
stand forth as fresh and as well adapt
ed to modern thought. Compared with
him Racine and Corneille. Goethe and
Schiller are newcomers In the field of
dramatic literature, and yet not in
France or Germany is popular devotion
10 their greatest poets as pronounced as
It Is in England and America 10 the
greatest Of them all
fundamental reasons for this abiding
popularity we shall discover variety
OF causes. some of which may appeal
20 one investigator. some TO another.
But there is one that stands forth in
bold relief above all others-2bsolute
truthfulness. complete absence Of arti-
hciality. Not Homer himself so sound
ed the depths of human nature, was so
great a master in the dissection Of the
human character as our great English
poet This naturalness. which. as al
ready intimated. is Shakespeare great
est charm, and is the secret of the
tribute which succeeding ages have paid
10 his genius. is the unending theme OF
the bard's stanehest admirers and most
solicitOus commentators.
A German Estimate.
Wieiand. who was among the first OF
German authors to engage in cOnsci-
entious translation of number OF
Shakespeare's plays, says we COM
plain of Shakespeare-he, among all the
poets since Homer, who knew human
nature most thoroughly, from the King
TO the beggar, from Julius Caesar to
Jack Falstaff. and who, with an almost
incomprehensibie intuition. has seen it
through and through-that his dramas
have no plan, or, at me st. only a faulty,
irregular and ill-devised one; that trag-
edy and comedy are often intertwined
therein in. the most extraordinary man
ner, and frequently even the very per
sons who. through some moving speech
Of true nature. have brought tears into
our eyes, in a few seconds afterward.
through some curious accident. or some
eNtravagant expression Of their feelings.
II they do not make Us laugh. yet so far
weaken our impressions that IL becomes
very difficult for him again TO place US
in the position in which he would have
as. We complain Of this, and recoIlect
not that on this very account his dramas
are the more natural pictures Of human
Efe." In a letter written subsequent to
the essay containing the foregoing quo
vatiOn. Wieland declares: He (Shake-
speare) stands by himself His works,
in which nature has SO great and art so
small part. Will be forever the enjoy
ment Of all readers of undepraved feel
ings; they are acted, read, felt, studied,
but are not 70 be inflated, except as
faithful copies OF nas6re"
"Golden Apples in Silver Dishes"
There Is the touchstone-.'f faithful
copies Of nature" Shakespeare was
naturalist and psychologist combined.
In the delineatiOn Of his characters, in
the conception and development OF ais
plots, mis- first and foremost thought and
intention was to constitute each situa-
ton as plausible. as reasonable, as
under the ordinary conditions OF. life it
would he likely to develop itself; to set
before his readers or auditors. each one
OF his stage figures IN such fashion as
TO make IT the consistent result Of the
~ Oh,
endowed So profound a student of
human nature could not fail to ap-
preciate the fact that tragedy and
comedy, laughter and tears, light and
darkness, stend side by side IN our daily
nves-touch elbows. as II were-and his
genius was too instinctively true to
nature not to present5zlzese conditions in
his men and women, and in their actions.
History IS but. the aggregate Of segre-
gated acts, whether OF individuals or Of
nations; folly. no less than serious pur-
pose. has beer responsible for momen-
tous events. Shakespeare greatness has
its foundation, in great measure. in his
recognition OF fundamental truths ike
this. As Goethe beautifully expressed It:
Shakespeare offers US golden apples in
silver dishes"
Had Shakespeare been other than he
was: had he understood nature less
thoroughly or been less true 10 q: had
he sacrificed art 20 artihciality, and
truth 10 expediency. his fame. as his
productions. would have been but
e General He might have remained a
Z emory OF the English stage. but he
never would have been the prototype
for all who worthily aspire 20 the best
and highest IN the achievements of dra-
matte literature, nor would he have re-
mained the molder Of dramatic char
acter a. he is today. and viii be al
ways. for those ThesDians who study
him affectionately and conf fcientiOusly.
Problems in All His Plays.
IT was not necessary-as II was GER
1ainly foreign % his entire mental and
moral compositiOn-that Shakespeare
shouie have written what has become
known In our day as problem plays"
Every one Of his creations that have de-
lighted thousands upon thousands in the
mellow precincts Of the library no less
than IL tho glare Of the footlights and
all the other accessories Of the stage,
held a problem. he did not play upon
one string alone Of that instrument we