Norwich bulletin., 1916-03-28

Shakespeare, in his 18th year, (15s2).
was married to Ann Hathaway. his
senior. The circumstances OF the mar
rage are in tho blind and Shakespeare
left his wife in Stratford while he
lived the best part Of twenty years in
London. going once year to STRAIT
ford. To Shakespeare as to Browning,
love is the greatest impulse OF this
earth; the wedding bells ring the cur
tain down in every comedy.
At the age OF 21, husband and q
father, Shakespeare went to London.
Tradition made him begin his London
life as q hanger on the stage. Assist
ing the prompter or holding horses.
which was to lead him to the stars.
Actors in Shakspeare's time were all
members OF some one or other COM
pany, licensed by someone or other Of
the peers or princes Of the realm.
Shakespeare Joined the players in 1894.
When he went to London there were
two playhouses. the theatre, where
he began and the curtain. They were
not favored by the city fathers, so
they stood outside the northern wall
| the actors went ntour. The era OF
transforming began early. They
toured England and went into Scot
| land and the continent. Shakespeare
was a transformer with the rest. That
vivid description Of Dover Clin in
Lear was written shortly after the
company had visited Dover. From
| Shakespeare the actor to the dramatlst
was an immense leap. How did he
achieve It?
humanity and technical skill that his
plays disclose? London gave him
| what Stratford lacked. The old
fashioned book shops in st. Paurs
church yard and Paternoster Row
| served him as public libraries and
reading rooms. Certainly Shakespeare
read and loved books. He could OBJ
| serve the men of business, he could
witness the court life, he could study
| fresh type Of characters in taverns
| and inns which were thronged with
| soldiers home from the Spanish wars
with seamen returning from daring
sea voyages. Travellers back from
| the east.
During the seven years aftor his ar
| rival in London. (15S6-1592), Shakes
peare is lost sight of. 1t was tbs
time of the English renaissance
| Shakspeare's relation to the renais-
| sanco is full of suggestion. He is th'
| supreme figure. Not without reason
! the drama in England was the bes
expression Of the renaissance.
But what was his private life dur.
ing the years of success? Some SAY
! we have a record of il in his son.
| nets. The sonnets have been TIT
| chief Shakespearian discussion in re.
cent years. The sonnets so personal
so subjective in their themes OF love
friendship. marriage. fortune-ther
we say Shakespeare dropped the veil
Shakespeare began with working
over old stock plays belonging 20 hi
company. The old plays had to be re
vised, and Shakespeare revised then
with developing genius, not only Il
verse, but in dramatic technique an,
In philosophy of life. The Gentlemel
OF Verona, The Comedy of Errors
| Tho MERCHANT Of Venice, Ind others
are perhaps rewritten on the basis O
old plays. In 1892. Shakespeare emery
es from conjectures into the light o
fact. And in 1898 he published Venu
and Adonis.
The order of his plays can he de
termined by all sorts of tests-but a
in all, they are like a mighty arci
; The rising begins about 1891, in hi
; 27th year. The arch climbs up in tn
passionate youthful tragic love of Ro
meo and Juliet. The great crownin
Z period begins about 1898 with tn
greatest master comedies, AS You Liz
, It, and The Twelfth Night. BY I6O
Shakespeare feels the darkness an
: mystery of the world, the storm over
, takes him, life becomes enigma, tn
r depths are sounded in the tragic sui
Z ferinS of the sonnets.
When the arch emerges in its de
$ clining sweep the storm still rumble
; and the sky is dark in Antony an
= Cleopatra and Timon of Athens. The
. | comes the dramas of reconciliation
= once more faith, hope. love. Through
S out that work the ultimate revelatio
D ! of Shakespeare to man is found. I'll
!. Shakespeare of indefinite scope of hu
e man feeling. infinite sympathy wit
life.