The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-08-09

one of such genius as Shakespeare's
very soul OF the learned life OF his
time. To Chapman. laboriously go
| ing to the bottom of things for all his
knowledge, the brilliant actor-manager-
/ poet. tossing ideas about like tennis
balls, must have seemed the veriest up
start There are always those who In
sist that no man can write about that
which he has not spent years in ex-
periencing; on which theory no man
would be qualified to write racing sto-
ries without having been horse
Mr. Acheson then. fancies that
Shakespeare, attacked by Chapman in
ponderous verse. took an amused salts
faction In pricking his heavy-witted
rival in light comedy. Then, aroused
to the danger which threatened English
literature should borrowed ideals and
language supplant the picturesque and
plain old Anglo-Saxon which his soul
loved, Shakespeare brought the heav
Ter weapons of his satire to bear upon
Chapman in 'Troilus and Cressida,
representing Chapman's beloved gods
and heroes In the light of ordinary and
not very moral men. and by stroke of
supreme and laughter-loving genius US
ing Chapman himself for the figure of
the misanthropic Thersites, who rails
at them all. 1t is a delightful story to
read, whether ii can be considered
proven or not: and. really. there is
nothing which can actually dtsprove it
"Troilus and Cressida."
The strongest proof which Mr.. Ache
son brings in support of his theory that
"Troilus and Cressida'' was intended as
a satire is a PREDATORY address found In
the second edition of the play, which
refers TO it as a comedy in the plain
est kind Of terms. II is difficult to see
how this play. usually classed among
the tragedies. could be considered
amusing unless II hit the follies OF some
person known to the audience. and this
1t would appear from the preface 1t was
intended TO do. AT any rate. there ig no
sense in this PREDATORY address from
any other point of view, and Shakespeare
was a man eminently endowed with tAat
kind OF sense which we call horse. 'n all
ager and dramatist.
The address. obviously the work OF
somebody who corresponded TO our press
agent. IS in part as follows:
Eternal reader, you have here a pew
play. never stalled with the stage, never
unprecedented with the palms OF the
vulgar. and yet passing full of the palm
comical: for il is a birth OF your brain
that neve- undertook anything comicaI
vainly. And all such dull and
heavy witted worldlings as were never
capable of the wit of a comedy coming
~ report of them to his representations
have found that wit that they never
found in themselves, and have parted
better witted than they came; feeling
an edge of wit set upon them more thar
ever they dreamed they had brain TO
grind 1t on. So much and such savored
salt of wit is in his comedies that they
seem for their height of pleasure &c be
born in that sea that brought forth
Venus. Amongst all there is none more
witty than this"
The Humorous Element
Now. why all this insistence upon the
funny element in "TroiIus and Cressida"
II 1t is merely what il seems 10 be in
our day, a somewhat inferior drama OF
the Trojan war? The Trojan war is no.
a comical incident in history. and there
is in this play no such apparent and r.
resistible wit as one finds in Shake
speare's avowed comedies Other com
mentators have solved the puzzle by
averring that Shakespeare only retourh-
ed this play. and that il was the work