Merchant of Venice. - Repositories
Merchant of Venice. - Repositories Merchant of Venice. - Repositories
XVl INTROD UCTION Boyhood. — William Shakespeare, born in 1564, was the oldest of a family of six children. We can easily imagine what his early years must have been in that simple country village. Probably he went to the free grammar school when he was about seven years old. Here he studied, in addition to the three R's, a little Latin, perhaps a little Greek. His father suffered a reverse of fortune when William was thirteen, and it appears that the boy was soon taken out of school and apprenticed to learn some trade. School and business, nevertheless, did not fill the lad's mind to the exclusion of nature and boyish sports. It is only necessary to know the poet himself, in order to be sure of this fact. There was, it is likely, one form of amusement that he never failed to appreciate. This was seeing the plays that strolling bands of actors performed in Stratford and in the neighboring towns. These companies either brought their rude stage along with them on wheels, or acted in the yard of the tavern or in the town hall. Their plays were mostly of the kind known as Moralities, in which the actors, like the personages of an allegory, represented the different virtues and vices. Such plays, perhaps, did not seem so dull to Shakespeare as they would to us, but even if they did, there was better acting in the town of Coventry, only twenty miles from Stratford. This town was famous for its Miracle plays. The Miracles,
INTROD UCTION xvil or Mysteries, were plays based on Bible narratives. Rude and grotesque as were the costumes and the acting, the scenes were very real to the spectators. The people who witnessed the representation of the sacrifice of Isaac, the carrying off of sinners into the horrible flames of Hell-Mouth, or the sufferings and crucifixion of Christ, felt no lack of tragedy and passion in the dramas presented to them. Neither was the comic element wanting; the devil and his demons furnished all needed fun, and that of the most boisterous kind. Finally, there was Kenilworth castle, fifteen miles north of St!^atford, and it was here, when Shakespeare was only a boy of eleven, that the great Queen Elizabeth came for a visit, with display of processions and gorgeous pageantry. Think you that any wideawake youngster of Stratford would have failed to see something of such attractions as these ? Marriage and Departure for London. —^ When he was only eighteen, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, a young woman seven or eight years older than himself. The couple seem to have made their home in Stratford. In the year after the marriage a daughter was born, and two years later, twins, a boy and a girl. Whether he found it difficult to support this little family by means of such employment as his native town afforded, or whether, as tradition tells, Shakespeare got into difficulties with a certain Sir
- Page 3: '^lA^
- Page 6 and 7: J^lacmillan's ^PocW American ant( I
- Page 10 and 11: WILUAJVI SHAKESFJiAKliJ
- Page 12 and 13: COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY THE MACMILLAN C
- Page 14 and 15: viii PREFACE to study Shakespeare,
- Page 16 and 17: X PREFACE unless I have given long
- Page 18 and 19: xii IN TROD UGTION by the Turks. Th
- Page 20 and 21: xiv INTROD UCTION making was abroad
- Page 24 and 25: xviii INTROD UCTION Thomas Lucy for
- Page 26 and 27: XX INTROD UCTION time revising old
- Page 28 and 29: Xxii INTRODUCTION 11. ROMANCES. Per
- Page 30 and 31: ^xiv INTROD UCTION the Stratford ch
- Page 32 and 33: xxvi INTROD UCTION five hundred yea
- Page 34 and 35: DRAMATIS PERSONuE The DUKE OP VENIC
- Page 36 and 37: 4 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [ACT I Tha
- Page 38 and 39: 6 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [ACT 1 Ent
- Page 40 and 41: 8 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [ACT L Whi
- Page 42 and 43: 10 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [Acrl I o
- Page 44 and 45: 12 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [ACT L ar
- Page 46 and 47: 14 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [ACT I. p
- Page 48 and 49: 16 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [ACT I. a
- Page 50 and 51: 18 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [ACT L he
- Page 52 and 53: 20 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [ACT 1 Sh
- Page 54 and 55: 22 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [ACT L "
- Page 56 and 57: 24 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [ACT It B
- Page 58 and 59: 26 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [ACT II.
- Page 60 and 61: 28 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [ACT H. ^
- Page 62 and 63: 30 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [ACT II.
- Page 64 and 65: 32 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [ACT H. t
- Page 66 and 67: £J4 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [ACT U
- Page 68 and 69: 36 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [ACT U. I
- Page 70 and 71: 38 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [ACT II E
INTROD UCTION<br />
xvil<br />
or Mysteries, were plays based on Bible narratives.<br />
Rude and grotesque as were the costumes and the acting,<br />
the scenes were very real to the spectators. The<br />
people who witnessed the representation <strong>of</strong> the sacrifice<br />
<strong>of</strong> Isaac, the carrying <strong>of</strong>f <strong>of</strong> sinners into the horrible<br />
flames <strong>of</strong> Hell-Mouth, or the sufferings and crucifixion<br />
<strong>of</strong> Christ, felt no lack <strong>of</strong> tragedy and passion in the<br />
dramas presented to them. Neither was the comic<br />
element wanting; the devil and his demons furnished<br />
all needed fun, and that <strong>of</strong> the most boisterous kind.<br />
Finally, there was Kenilworth castle, fifteen miles<br />
north <strong>of</strong> St!^atford, and it was here, when Shakespeare<br />
was only a boy <strong>of</strong> eleven, that the great Queen Elizabeth<br />
came for a visit, with display <strong>of</strong> processions<br />
and gorgeous pageantry. Think you that any wideawake<br />
youngster <strong>of</strong> Stratford would have failed to see<br />
something <strong>of</strong> such attractions as these ?<br />
Marriage and Departure for London. —^ When he was<br />
only eighteen, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway,<br />
a young woman seven or eight years older than himself.<br />
The couple seem to have made their home in<br />
Stratford. In the year after the marriage a daughter<br />
was born, and two years later, twins, a boy and a<br />
girl. Whether he found it difficult to support this<br />
little family by means <strong>of</strong> such employment as his<br />
native town afforded, or whether, as tradition tells,<br />
Shakespeare got into difficulties with a certain Sir
Change language