atmosphere pervading much of their work. The moral values are not preserved with the absolute health of soul which is Shakespeare's greatest glory, but are blurred or distorted in the search after excitement. After the death of Shakespeare (1616) the decay of the drama was rapid. In John Ford (1586-1640?) the morbidness of tone becomes intolerable, and from the plays of James Shirley (1596-1666), the last of the long line, the vital fire has almost wholly departed.

The Actors and the Puritans: Closing of the Theatres. As the drama grew weaker and more corrupt, its enemies grew stronger and more determined to root it out from the land as an abomination. Early in the history of the drama a war had begun to be waged between the actors and the Puritans. In 1576 we hear of strolling companies being kept out of London by Puritan law-makers; and when the first theatres were erected they were placed in the suburbs to the north, and in the "liberties," or exempt lands, across the Thames in Southwark. Under Queen Elizabeth's protection the actors grew strong enough to enter the city; and as long as her strong hand was at the helm, the Puritans did not assert themselves very vigorously. But when James I. came to the throne, with his lack of personal dignity, his bigoted dictum of the divine right of kings, his immoral court full of greedy nobles from Scotland and Spain, the Puritan party gained rapidly in aggressiveness. After the meeting of the Long Parliament, the Puritans quickly came to a reckoning with the theatre. In 1641 appeared a pamphlet called “The Stage-Players' Complaint," which says pathetically, “The High Commission Court is down, the Star-Chamber is down, and some think Bishops will down; but why should not we then that are far inferior to any of these, justly fear that we should be down too?" In September of 1642 an ordinance of both Houses of Parliament closed the theatres throughout the kingdom. They were not reopened until eighteen years later, when the reins of power had fallen from the dead hand of Cromwell, and Charles II. ascended the throne from which his father had been led to the scaffold.

REVIEW OUTLINE.-Give a sketch of Shakespeare's life, up to the time of his establishment in London, noting as many circumstances as possible which you think could have been useful in preparing him for his career as dramatist and poet. At the time of Shakespeare's coming to London only a few rude theatres existed, and those, owing to the enmity of the Puritans (who held control of the London municipal government) were all outside the walls of the city, to the north, in the open fields used as public playgrounds. Review what was said in the last chapter concerning the character of the early playhouses, and the manner in which plays were given. Try to imagine Shakespeare as a young man in these surroundings. For what playhouse and what manager did he do his first work? What later theatre is connected with his name? Note that the later theatres were built chiefly on the south bank of the Thames, in open spaces devoted to all kinds of public amusements. Call to mind Chaucer's connection with this part of London. Gather together from this chapter the known facts and the hints which have come down to us concerning Shakespeare's life in London: his friendships, his enemies, his business prosperity and the use to which he put it; the "Dark Lady" of the sonnets; the impression which he made upon those who knew him. Tell what you can of the close of Shakespeare's life; note in this connection what is said of "The Tempest" as his "farewell to his art."

The chronology of Shakespeare's plays is, except in a few instances, uncertain. The order in which they are given here, and their grouping, is not to be taken, therefore, as absolutely true, but only as representing, in a general way, what is probable. The same thing must be said concerning the account here given of the growth of Shakespeare's mind, based upon the chronological order of his plays. With this precaution, and recollecting that we are dealing largely with conjecture, describe the main periods and groups into which the plays fall; name two or more plays under each head. What appropriateness do you find in the title "A Midsummer Night's Dream"? In what various ways is the love-theme presented in this play? Do you remember any work of Chaucer in which "Theseus, Duke of Athens," figures? "Romeo and Juliet" is called a "tragedy of fate," that is, a play in which the tragic outcome depends upon circumstances lying outside the will of the actors; after reading the play, try to decide how far the tragedy of the lovers is due to their own characters and actions, how far to accidents, or to circumstances beyond their control.

In what two plays does Shakespeare show the influence of Marlowe? What episode of Shakespeare's personal history has been thought to be reflected in "King John"? Shakespeare was the first to write historical plays in a connected series: "Richard II." takes up English history at a time when Chaucer was a man of middle life; "Henry IV." and "Henry V." follow, bringing the story down into the first quarter of the fifteenth century; Shakespeare's youthful work (or an old work revised by him), "Henry VI.," carries on the account into the wars of the Roses; then later passages of the same unfolding national drama are treated in "Richard III." and "Henry VIII.," father of Queen Elizabeth. We see, therefore, that Shakespeare virtually covers in his historical plays the story of his country from Chaucer's time until his own. In which of these plays does Falstaff figure? What was Shakespeare's aim in introducing such a person into an historical drama? In what sense may "Henry V." be called the most personal and self-revealing of Shakespeare's plays?

How many of the characters mentioned in the text as occurring in the "joyous comedies" can you place, from your own reading? Add to the list, as many others as you can, and characterize them to your own satisfaction. Why may "Julius Cæsar" be said to have a double hero? What earlier English poet had treated the subject of "Troilus and Cressida"? Explain how "Hamlet," "Othello," and "Lear" may all be classed together as "tragedies of disillusion." The source of the Lear story is the same as that of Layamon's "Brut," of Malory's "Morte d'Arthur" of the early classical play "Gorboduc" and, in part, of Tennyson's "Idylls of the King." What is this source? What change in Shakespeare's mood is revealed by his last plays? What evidence is there that Shakespeare's genius was in some measure appreciated by his contemporaries? Tell what you can of the manner in which his plays have been preserved.

What is Ben Jonson's rank among Elizabethan dramatists? Tell what you can of him, (a) as a man, (b) as scholar, (c) as lyric poet, (d) as critic and literary dictator, (e) as dramatist. Draw together all the circumstances of his relation to Shakespeare. Name his three best plays and characterize two of them. In what way does the title of Jonson's earliest comedy give the key to his dramatic method? Taking into account the fact that Jonson's ideal was the classic one, should you expect to find in his historical plays such comic episodes as the Falstaff scenes in "Henry IV"? Why? In what respect are Jonson's

comedies of supreme interest among the plays of the time? Describe the nature of the court-masque and the manner of its presentation. What modern form of entertainment has grown out of it? Who raised the masque-form to a higher beauty than even Jonson had given it? Milton's "Comus" was suggested in part by "The Faithful Shepherdess": tell what you can of the author of this play, and of his relations with his collaborator. Note the signs of decay in the dramas of Beaumont and Fletcher and their successors. Reflect upon the phrase "health of soul” as applied to Shakespeare, and see if you can illustrate its meaning from one or more of his plays. Why were the Puritans antagonistic to the theatre? Why did their antagonism become stronger as time went on? When were the theatres closed and for how long?

READING GUIDE. The plays of Shakespeare best adapted for school study are perhaps "Julius Cæsar," "Macbeth," "The Merchant of Venice," and "As You Like It." All these plays are included in the inexpensive Riverside Literature series (Houghton, Mifflin). Among the numberless biographies and critical studies of Shakespeare, the best for school use is the little volume by E. Dowden, in the Literature Primers series (Appleton). The many interesting illustrations in H. W. Mabie's "William Shakespeare, Poet, Dramatist, and Man," if they can be put before a class, will do much toward making the surroundings of the dramatist's life realizable. Emerson's essay on Shakespeare, in his "Representative Men," Carlyle's essay in "Heroes and Hero-Worship," and Lowell's in "Among My Books," will be found valuable in giving the student a larger understanding of Shakespeare's significance.

If time serve, and the students are sufficiently advanced, a volunteer report to the class upon one of Ben Jonson's masques should be asked for. This will be of especial interest if given in connection with the class-study of Milton's "Comus." Several of Jonson's masques, and an essay on the masque as a dramatic form, may be found in H. A. Evans's "English Masques." For advanced students a rapid reading of one of Jonson's realistic comedies, as "The Silent Woman," and one of Shakespeare's romantic comedies, such as "Twelfth Night," and a comparison of the two, will be of great interest.

Those who wish to gain a first-hand acquaintance with the work of Shakespeare's great contemporaries in the drama, will find excellent material in "The Best Elizabethan Plays," edited by W. H. Thayer (Ginn). The plays included are Marlowe's "Jew of Malta," Jonson's

"Alchemist," Beaumont and Fletcher's "Philaster" and "The Two Noble Kinsmen" (attributed in part to Shakespeare), and Webster's "Duchess of Malfi." Three of Jonson's comedies, "The Alchemist," "Volpone," and "The Silent Woman," together with his beautiful pastoral play, "The Sad Shepherd" (left unfinished at his death), and his poems, are to be had in a single volume in Morley's Universal Library.

William Black's novel, "Judith Shakespeare," gives a fresh and charming picture of rural England in Shakespeare's day.