Evening star., 1932-04-23
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH C. BOWERM1N.

brings to ones mind the question: How
much is Shakespeare read now by the
general reader; that is, by any one ex-
cept the high school boys and girls who
must read selected plays as part Of their
English courses? They are familiar
with the rising and falling action of
Macbeth" the triple plot and fairy
poetry of "A Midsummer Nights
Dream" the essentially Italian romance
and tragedy of Romeo and Juliet" the
race hatred in THE Merchant of
Venice" the double comedy Of satire
and intrigue in The Tanning OF the
Shrew," the forest atmosphere Of Arden
in "As You Like It." the deviations from
history in Julius Caesar" and Antony
and Cleopatra" and the fate element in
Hamlet" and King Lear" But to
what extent do the men and women
who read for pleasure or for purposes
Of adult education" now read Shake
speare? Probably If the statistics OF
public library circulation and reference
work over the country were consulted 1T
would be found that Shakespeare is
still a living author and not merely
classic" His plays, when well pro-
! duced by good companies, still NIL the
aters. They may not cause as crowded
houses during single season as
! Mourning Becomes Electra" but their
lasting quality is better.
| Shakespeare undoubtedly meant his
| plays for the theater, not for the
| library, to be acted, not read; yet the
! person who knows the plays only as
! they are presented on the stage has
missed a large part of their rare poetry
and subtle Characterization. Such pas
sages as the description of Queen Nab,
| and the lovers lyric meetings in
Romeo and Juliet" Oberon's accept
ance of the magic flower from Puck in
"A Midsummer Nights Dream" Pros
pero's remuneration Of his magic in
THE Tempest" Hamlet's many solilo-
! quies. and Claudio's soliloquy on death
! in Measure for Measure" are to be
( fully appreciated only by reading and
rereading. Years ago Edward Dowden
wrote Shakespeare Primer" in which
he classified the plays of Shakespeare
according to their probable date Of
production-the chronological method.
| This primer remains one of the
simplest guides for the amateur student
| of Shakespeare Dowden's method of
arriving at probable dates includes
evidence wholly external, such as
entries in the Stationers' Co. registers,
presentation by certain companies,
| mention of or allusion to plays in con-
| temporary documents such as diaries, OF
known dates; evidence partly external
and partly internal, such as illusions
in plays to historical events of known
date; and evidence wholly internal,
such as style, taste and Judgment,
structure. characterization, reflective
power imagination, humor, pathos,
human sympathy and moral signifi-
canoe. Dowden says in defense of the
chronological method of studying the
plays: We thus learn something about
their origin, their connection one with
another, and their relation TO the mind
of their creator, as that mind passed
from its early promise to its rich
maturity and fulfllment."
~
Dowden divides Shakespeare's career
of authorship into four periods-the
years of dramatic apprenticeship and
experiment, from about 1890 to 1595-96
, the period of the English historical
plays and the joyous comedies. from
abouts 1886 to about l600-l 1901; the
period Of the more serious sometimes
/ bitter comedies and the great tragedies
from about 1901 to about 1903. and the
period of the Eerene and philosophical
romantic plays, from about 1903 to about
l6l1-13. These four periods are called
symb-licslly, In the Workshop" In
the Word" "Out of the Depths" and
"On the Heights To the first period
belong the first part of Henry VI"
with its villif1cation of Joan of Arc.
probably not entirely the work of
Shakespeare; the light, fantastic comedy
of Loves LabourS Lost; the farce of
The Comedy of Errors" and the
strange and beautiful web woven
delicately by youthful poets fancy"
"A Midsummer Nights Dream" In the
second period were produced Henry ""
in which Shakespeare presented his
ideal Of the English kinghood, The
Merry Wives Of Windsor" said to have
been written at the command CT Queen
Elizabeth, who wished to see Falstaff in
love, and the sophisticated comedies OF
Much Ado About Nothing AS You
Like It" and Twelfth Night" The
third and greatest period is that of the
serious, ironical, bitter comedies. almost
tragedies. AIS Well That Ends Well"
Measure for Measure" and "Troilus
and CreSsida," and OF the big fate
tragedies, Julius Caesar" Hamlet"
"Othello," King Lear" Macbeth" and
Antony and Cleopatra" The two
poetic, romantic pays of The Tempest"
and The Winters Tale" with their
charming young people, Ferdinand and
Miranda and Fl-riZel and Perdita, are
the work of the last period. Some
critic has suggested that Prcspero, the
magician of The Tempest" is Shake
speare himself, and that Prospero's
breaking of his staff and dismissal of
his airy spirits symbolic ShakeSpeare's
return to Stratfcrd and farewell TO the
world Of the stage.
n
"The Contrast" the play by Royal
Tyler, which the Cue and Curtain Club
of the George Washington University
: will present at Wardman Park Theater,
Friday and Saturday evenings, April 20
and 80, under the direction of Miss
Constance Conror Brown, director Of
dramatics at the university, has a
theme In which the patriots of RevOlu-
tionary days found delight. The con
trast" is that between the rude sincerity
of the Colonial lover, Col. Manly, and
the inSincere affectation of the odious
Mr. Dimple," whose native virtue has
been corrupted by life abroad. Both
are suitorS for the hand of Maria. On
one side is the simple American citizen,
manly and straightforward, an officer
in Gen. Washington's army, attended
by his Yankee servant, one Brother
Jonathan, who disdained, indeed to call
himself a servant and must be dubbed
waiter; on the other side is the
poser end dilettante Mr. Dimple. at
tended by his foppish valet, Jessamy.
The play is supposed to have been
prompted by the authors chagrin at
| being Tilted by Miss Abby Adams.
daughter of John Adams, in favor OF
Col. Smith, then serving on her fathers
staff at the Court of st. James. We
know on the authority of Royal Tylers
wife what a hit the play made in
New York She was only IA at the time
of the first production, young Mary
Palmer, nearly 20 years younger than
Tyler Living in the home Of the
r-TL- 4v,