Shakespeare and the Modern Stage, with Other Essays
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SHAKESPEARE AND THE MODERN STAGE .SHAKESPEARE AND THE MODERN STAGE WITH OTHER ESSAYS BY SIDNEY LEE ATJTHOE OF " GKEAT ENGLISHMEN OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY, "a LIFE OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE," ETC. NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1906 5> COPYBIGHT, 1900, BY CHARLES SCRIBNEE'.S SONS Published, October, 1906 TROW OIRECTORV PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANr NEW YORK PREFACE The eleven papers which are collected here were written between 1899 and 1905. With the excep- tion of one, entitled ''Aspects of Shakespeare's Phil- osophy," which is now printed for the first time, all were published in periodicals in the course of those six years. The articles treat of varied aspects of Shakespearean drama, its influences and tradi- tions, but I think that all may be credited with sufficient unity of intention to warrant their com- bination in a single volume. Their main endeavour is to survey Shakespearean drama in relation to modern life, and to illustrate its Hving force in current affairs. Even in the papers which embody researches in sixteenth- or seventeenth-century dra- matic history, I have sought to keep in view the bearings of the past on the present. A large portion of the book discusses, as its title indicates, methods of representing Shakespeare on the modern stage. The attempt is there made to define, in the fight of experience, the conditions which are best calculated to conserve or increase Shakespeare's genuine vitafity in the theatre of our own day. In revising the work for the press, I have deemed it advisable to submit the papers to a somewhat rigorous verbal revision. Errors have been corrected, vii viii PREFACE chronological ambiguities due to lapse of time have been removed, passages have been excised in order to avoid repetition, and reference to ephemeral events which deserve no permanent chronicle have been omitted. But, substantially, the articles retain the shape in which they were originally penned. The point of view has undergone no modification. In the essays deaUng \\iih. the theatres of our own time, I have purposel}^ refrained from expanding or altering argument or illustration by citing Shake- spearean performances or other theatrical enter- prises which have come to birth since the papers were first w^ritten. In the last year or two there have been several Shakespearean revivals of notable in- terest, and some new histrionic triumphs have been won. Within the same period, too, at least half a dozen new plays of serious Hterary aim have gained the approval of contemporary critics. These features of current dramatic history are welcome to play- goers of literary tastes; but I have attempted no survey of them, because signs are lacking that any essential change has been wrought by them in the general theatrical situation. My aim is to deal with dominant principles which underlie the past and present situation, rather than with particular episodes or personaUties, the real value of which the future has yet to determine. My best thanks are due to my friend Sir James Knowles, the proprietor and editor of The Nineteenth Century and After, for permission to reproduce the four articles, entitled respectively, ''Shakespeare and the Modern Stage," ''Shakespeare in Oral Tradition," "Shakespeare in France," and "The Commemora- tion of Shakespeare in London." To Messrs Smith, PREFACE ix Elder & Co., I am indebted for permission to print here the articles on ''Mr Benson and Shakespearean Drama/' and ''Shakespeare and Patriotism," both of which originally appeared in The Cornhill Maga- zine. The paper on "Pepys and Shakespeare" was first printed in the Fortnightly Review; that on "Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Playgoer" in "An EngHsh Miscellany, presented to Dr Furnivall in honour of his seventy-fifth birthday" (1901) ; that on "The Municipal Theatre" in the New Liberal Review; and that on "A Peril of Shakespearean Research" in The Author. The proprietors of these pubUcations have courteously given me permission to include the articles in this volume. The essay on "Aspects of Shakespeare's Philosophy" was pre- pared for the purposes of a popular lecture, and has not been in type before. In a note at the foot of the opening page of each essay, I mention the date when it was originally published. An analytical list of contents and an index will, I hope, increase any utiHty which may attach to the volume. SIDNEY LEE. \st October, 1906. CONTENTS PAGE Preface vii I Shakespeare and the Modern Stage I. The Perils of the Spectacular Method of Production 1 II. The Need for Simplifying Scenic Appliances . 4 III. Consequences of Simplification. The Attitude of the Shakespearean Student ...... 7 IV. The Pecuniary Experiences of Charles Kean and Sir Henry Irving ....... 9 V. The Experiment of Samuel Phelps . 11 p VI. The Rightful Supremacy of the Actor . 12 VII. The Example of the French and German Stage . 16 " VIII. Shakespeare's Reliance on the " Imaginary Forces of the Audience . 18 IX. The Patriotic Argument for the Production of Shakespeare's Plays constantly and in their variety on the English Stage . 28 II Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Playgoer I. An Imaginary Discovery of Shakespeare's Journal . 25 II. Shakespeare in the Role of the Ghost on the First Production of Hamlet in 1602 .... 27 III. Shakespeare's Popularity in the Elizabethan Theatre 29 xii CONTENTS Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Playgoer—continued PAGE IV. At Court in 1594. 31 V. The Theatre an Innovation in Elizabethan England 36 VI. Elizabethan Methods of Production .... 38 VII. The Contrast between the Elizabethan and the Mod- ern Methods 43 VIII. The Fitness of the Audience an Essential Element in the Success of Shakespeare on the Stage . 46 III Shakespeare in Oral Tradition I. The Reception of the News of Shakespeare's Death 49 II. The Evolution in England of Formal Biography . 51 III. Oral Tradition concerning Shakespeare in Theatri- cal Circles ........ 57 IV. The Testimonies of Seventeenth-century Actors . 61 V. Sir William D'Avenant's- Devotion to Shakespeare's Memory 69 VI. Early Oral Tradition at Stratford-on-Avon . 73 VII. Shakespeare's Fame among Seventeenth-century Scholars and Statesmen 78 VIII. Nicholas Rowe's Place among Shakespeare's Biog- raphers. The Present State of Knowledge re- specting Shakespeare's Life 79 IV Pepys and Shakespeare I. Pepys the Microcosm of the Average Playgoer . 82 II. The London Theatres of Pepys's Diary ... 85 III. Pepys's Enthusiasm for the Later Elizabethan Drama 90 IV. Pepys's Criticism of Shakespeare: His Admiration of Betterton in Shakespearean Roles . 93 V. The Garbled Versions of Shakespeare on the Stage of the Restoration 102 VI. The Saving Grace of the Restoration Theatre. Betterton's Masterly Interpretation of Shake- speare 109 CONTENTS xiii Mr Benson and Shakespearean Drama PAGE I. A Return to the Ancient Ways Ill II. The Advantages of a Constant Change of Pro- gramme. The Opportunities offered Actors by Shakespeare's Minor Characters. John of Gaunt 113 III. The Benefit of Performing the Play of Hamlet with- out Abbreviation . Il6 IV. Mr Benson as a Trainer of Actors. The Succession to Phelps 119 VI The Municipal Theatre I. The True Aim of the Municipal Theatre . 122 II. Private Theatrical Enterprise and Literary Drama. The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Actor- Manager System. The Control of the Capitalist . 123 III. Possibilities of the Artistic Improvement of Theat- rical Organisation in England . 127 IV. Indications of a Demand for a Municipal Theatre . 129 V. The Teaching of Foreign Experience. The Exam- ple of Vienna 134 VI. The Conditions of Success in England . 138 VII Aspects of Shakespeare's Philosophy I. The Conflicting Attitudes of Bacon and Shakespeare to Formal Philosophy 142 II. Shakespeare's " Natural " Philosophy. Concealment of his Personality in his Plays . 148 III. His lofty Conception of Public Virtue. Frequency " of his Denunciation of Royal Ceremony" . 152 IV. The Duty of Obedience to Authority . l6l V. The Moral Atmosphere of Shakespearean Drama . l6i xiv CONTEiNTS Aspects of Shakespkare's Philosophy—continued PAGE VI. Shakespeare's Insistence on the Freedom of the Will 166 VII. His Humour and Optimism l68 VIII Shakespeare and Patriotism I. The Natural Instinct of Patriotism. Dangers of Excess and Defect 170 II. An Attempt to Co-ordinate Shakespeare's Detached Illustrations of the Working of Patriotic Senti- ment. His Ridicule of Bellicose Ecstasy. Corio- lanus illustrates the Danger of Disavowing Patri- otism 172 III. Criticism of One's Fellow-countrymen Consistent with Patriotism. Shakespeare on the Political History of England. The Country's Dependence on the Command of the Sea. The Respect due to a Nation's Traditions and Experience . 179 IV. Shakespeare's Exposure of Social Foibles and Errors 18-i V. Relevance of Shakespeare's Doctrine of Patriotism to Current Affairs 187 IX A Peril of Shakespearean Research I. An Alleged Meeting of Peele, Ben Jonson, Alleyn, " and Shakespeare at The Globe" in I6OO . 188 II. The Fabrication by George Steevens in 1763 of a Letter signed " G. Peel" 190 III. Popular Acceptance of the Forgery. Its Unchal- lenged Circulation through the Eighteenth, Nine- teenth, and Twentieth Centuries . 194* CONTENTS XV Shakespeare in France PAGE I. Amicable Literary Relations between France and England from the P'ourteenth to the Present Century 198 II. M. Jusserand on Shakespeare in France. French Knowledge of English Literature in Shake- speare's day. Shakespeare in Eighteenth-cen- tury France. Eulogies of Victor Hugo and Dumas pere 201 III. French Misapprehensions of Shakespeare's Tragic Conceptions. Causes of the Misunderstanding . 206 IV. Charles Xodier's Sympathetic Tribute. The Rarity of his Pensees de Shakespeare, 1801 . 211 XI The Commemoration of Shakespeare in London I. Early Proposals for a National Memorial of Shake- speare in London 214« II.