Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-26
lures. included many prominent people in
congressional and social circles.

lures. included many prominent people In
congressional and social circles.
The subject. 1.-The Final Attitude-The
Tempest" was an interesting one. "As
sorrow moves the world more deeply than
JOY" said the lecturer, so the intensity
OF tragedy draws more deeply upon the
emotions than romance" Shakespeare
ne added. had given the best period Of
his life to his great tragedies. like Mac
life. however, he forbore to use his great
power. although the lighter plays show
that he still possessed and could make it
manifest when he chose.
This" said Prof. Griggs. lis clearly
shown in the Winters Tale, where the
tragedy is off-stage and only presented in
the dialogue. One turns to art to be re-
lieved from the strain of life. Some dark
shadow evidently fell across the spirit Of
Shakespeare in middle life that made It
want to draw back from the intense drain
OF tragic demand. He Is a great natur-
alistic teacher Of ethics. studying the deed
always in relation to the circumstance in
the human environment: and SO, in his
later life. he drew away from the clinaxes
Of revenge to the gentler. finer sense Of
forgiveness. and. in his later plays, for
gtveness. reconciliation and magnanimity
were brought forward as a new revelation
Of his spirit"
Then followed a comparison Of the Win
ter's Tale with The Tempest, the form
of flreside story Of human life; the lat
ter four hours long but very different in
its requirements Of time and place. They
seem to say for the great poet II use my
art as my sen: I can follow the unities
when l like, and break them when I
please
1.-The island described in The Tempest, -
said Prof. Griggs. was not. as some
commentators have supposed, in or near
the Bermudas. but the island Of our
dreams" Throughout the lecture a COM
parison was instituted frequently between
was dead and that fact with all the at
tendant circumstances Of the death sick
ened his soul and turned his thoughts to
revenge: while Prospero's daughter Is
alive. and the fact turns the man of
thought into one of abundantly successful
activities.
In dealing with the several situations in
the play the lecturer ILLUSTRATED how a
simple deed may unite the force Of
thought and action. I'm Shakespeare's
late plays" said Prof. Griggs, I'VE note a
sympathetic and tender interest in child
hood. Was 1t an interest in his own per-
sonal life that developed this interest In
child life? It is only in the present gen.
Grafton that the world at large has grown
to feel an interest in child life, and 1t
may be due to the fact that Stevenson,
Field. Nye and Riley wrote. not for the
themselves. but to interest the
adults In children. The handling Of op-
portunities was Shakespeare's creed. He
believed that every life had It's good
chances. There Is q tide in the affairs of
men which, taken at It's flood, leads on to
fortune
THE problem OF success is the wise and
Intelligent utilization Of circumstances to
our aid as they come. It is the creed of
successful action. This was illustrated in
Prospero. He was a man Of thought; he
loved his books. But the sl1ipwreck and
the peculiar circumstances that followed
supplied the contact that aroused the
thought and intelligence into successful
activity.
I'm Shakespeare" said Prof Griggs,"
the men make a poor showing in love,
compared with the women. Women find
their own spirit function in love better
than man. Ferdinand, next to Florizel. is
the most satisfying lover in all Shake
speare's plays"
Prospero's lines on the ephemeral ma
ture OF time and things. presenting tran
sient life on the sea OF time the lecturer
as the sublimest passage in
Prospero's farewell to his
magic and the powers which had aided
him. he said. could easily be believed to
be Shakespeare's farewell to his art. when
he went back to his boyhood home at
Stratford-on-Avon.
The lecture was closed with a brilliant
peroration showing that Shakespeare had
himself as he was in his wonder
full play of The Tempest.