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 Magazine. The paper on "Pepys and Shakespeare" was first printed in the Fortnightly Review; that on "Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Playgoer" in "An English 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 publications have courteously given me permission to include the articles in this volume. The essay on "Aspects of Shakespeare's Philosophy" was prepared 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 utility which may attach to the volume. 1st October, 1906. SIDNEY LEE. PREFACE CONTENTS I SHAKESPEARE AND THE MODERN STAGE I. The Perils of the Spectacular Method of Production II. The Need for Simplifying Scenic Appliances . III. Consequences of Simplification. The Attitude of the VI. The Rightful Supremacy of the Actor VII. The Example of the French and German Stage IX. The Patriotic Argument for the Production of PAGE vii I. An Imaginary Discovery of Shakespeare's Journal. 29 VII. The Contrast between the Elizabethan and the Mod- I. The Reception of the News of Shakespeare's Death IV. The Testimonies of Seventeenth-century Actors V. Sir William D'Avenant's Devotion to Shakespeare's VII. Shakespeare's Fame among Seventeenth-century VIII. Nicholas Rowe's Place among Shakespeare's Biog- IV. Pepys's Criticism of Shakespeare. His Admiration VI. The Saving Grace of the Restoration Theatre. CONTENTS xiii V MR BENSON AND SHAKESPEAREAN DRAMA I. A Return to the Ancient Ways. II. The Advantages of a Constant Change of Pro- gramme. The Opportunities offered Actors by Shakespeare's Minor Characters. John of Gaunt III. The Benefit of Performing the Play of Hamlet with- I. The True Aim of the Municipal Theatre . II. Private Theatrical Enterprise and Literary Drama. The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Actor- Manager System. The Control of the Capitalist. VI. The Conditions of Success in England |