Chapter 6

Let us answer both Teacher and Pupil. Suppose, to follow the Thorndike method, that "Cymbeline" appeared before "Philaster," that six romances by Beaumont and Fletcher followed in rapid succession, while only two by Shakspere appeared, but differing essentially from each other and from "Philaster." Suppose that "Cymbeline" upon its first night "filled the audience with surprise and delight," that Beaumont and Fletcher, perceiving "its dramatic and poetic excellence," copied in "Philaster" a portion of its plot and attempted to copy some of its characters and situations. Suppose their experiment with this copy took the crowd by storm--Isn't it reasonable to suppose that they would repeat the profitable attempt as many times as the applause warranted? Isn't that just what they did, repeating and imitating themselves over and over, until Beaumont died? Does the number of repetitions and imitations increase the "plausibility" or "likelihood" of the theory that "Philaster" was the original of the type? If Shakspere found his gain increasing by copying the fable, character, style, and denouement of "Philaster," why did he not continue to copy in "The Tempest" and "Winter's Tale," and why is it impossible for Professor Thorndike to deny originality to either of these plays, except by his careless error as to Miranda's "proposal" and the reference to Lady Amelia gathering flowers at Oxford in 1566? Professor Thorndike's argument comes to this and only this: If Shakspere wrote "Cymbeline" before Beaumont and Fletcher wrote "Philaster," then Shakspere was the "creator of the heroic romances." If the question of priority is doubtful, it is just as impossible to prove the "plausibility" or "likelihood" of priority as it is to prove the date. There is no proof, therefore, no presumption, strong or weak, that "Cymbeline" was influenced by "Philaster" or was a "copy" of it. But there is proof that Beaumont and Fletcher repeatedly and habitually imitated Shakspere, and we cite it mostly from Professor Thorndike's essay.

In "The Two Noble Kinsmen" there is a "distinct imitation of the circumstances of Ophelia's madness and death in Hamlet." In "The Woman Hater," assigned conjecturally to 1605 or 1606 by Professor Thorndike, there are "several burlesque imitations of Hamlet."

In "The Knight of the Burning Pestle" (1607-1608) there are burlesque imitations of passages in "Henry IV." and in "Romeo and Juliet."

In "Philaster" occurs this line:

"Mark but the King, how pale he looks with fear,"

--a distinct parody of the similar line in "Hamlet"; but it will be remarked that Professor Thorndike calls it an "echo," not an imitation.

In "The Woman's Prize," improbably assigned to 1604, the whole play is imitated from "The Taming of the Shrew,"--is in fact an attempted sequel to it, and Professor Thorndike wanders from chronology to indulge a sneer, by the remark that "The Woman's Prize" was "very well liked," the "Taming of the Shrew" only "liked." Possibly that was because then, as now, some people preferred imitations.

In "The Woman's Prize," there is also a burlesque on "Hamlet" and a parody on "King Lear." In "The Triumph of Death" these lines occur:--

"No, take him dead drunk now, without repentance, His lechery enseamed upon him,"

and Professor Thorndike says "it sounds like a bit from an old revenge play." It is a distinct imitation from "Hamlet" where the King is seen at his prayers.

In the "Scornful Lady" there is one certain and one possible slur at "Hamlet."

In "Cupid's Revenge" there is an imitation from "Antony and Cleopatra."

In "Philaster" Arethusa imitates Lear when he awakens from insanity to consciousness.

Upon the Wendell-Thorndike theory, we have a few undisputed facts bearing upon the "plausibility" of the conclusion that Beaumont and Fletcher "influenced" Shakspere, the likelihood that "Philaster" was the original, "Cymbeline" the "copy." Shakspere at the age of forty-six, long after he had portrayed the real insanity of Lear, the simulated insanity of Hamlet, the confessional dream of Lady Macbeth; long after he had "filled the audience with surprise and delight" by the romantic realities of Hero and Portia, of Viola and Rosalind; years after he had anticipated the heroic "romance" in the romantic adventures of Marina; long after he had depicted the heroic triumph of Isabella over the lustful Angelo--this man, Shakspere, condescended to imitate a youth of twenty-two, whose name was Beaumont, to steal from him much of the plot, characters, action, and denouement of "Philaster" and to make the theft more open and unblushing, presented "Cymbeline" upon the same stage within a year of the original "type," and assigned the parts to the same actors who had won remarkable popular applause for the drama from which he had "cribbed" his imitation. And this imitation was not from friendly authors, but from those of a hostile school, who had during their whole career borrowed from his plots, parodied his phrases, and ridiculed his masterpieces by slurs and burlesques. We respectfully dissent from the assertion that these facts "create a strong presumption that 'Philaster' was the original," "Cymbeline" the "copy." On the contrary, it seems to us that they are utterly inconsistent with any such presumption, and with the whole theory and teaching of Professors Wendell and Thorndike.

That theory, as we have shown, is based upon the assumption that Marlowe, or Greene, or Peele, or somebody else, wrote most of "Henry VI"; the assumption that Fletcher helped Shakspere write "Henry VIII"; the assumption that Shakspere assisted Fletcher in the composition of "The Two Noble Kinsmen"; the unsupported, the admitted conjecture that "Philaster" was written before October 8th, 1610; the unwarranted assertion that Beaumont and Fletcher "created the romance" in spite of the admission that the date of creation depends upon the priority of "Cymbeline" or "Philaster," which is likewise admitted to be wholly uncertain; the suppression of the proof from "Measure for Measure" that, years before "Philaster," Shakspere, within the proposed definition, had produced a romantic tragi-comedy; the guess as to priority in favor of Beaumont and Fletcher, in spite of repeated imitations by them from previous plays of Shakspere. And so the argument in support of the theory is a pyramid of _ifs_, supporting an apex that vanishes into the thin air of an invisible conclusion.

To us, after all this latest effort to depose the sovereign of English literature from the throne where he has worn the crown for more than three centuries, and seat there a pretender, having no title, either by divine right or the suffrages of mankind, Shakspere is the sovereign still.

He needed and he sought no allies to win his realm; he imitated no fashions of other courts to maintain his own; he took good care that the records of his universal conquests should be kept,--written by his own hand, and fortunately preserved by his friends,--secure from the interpolations and imitations of his contemporaries and successors.

Much has been written of Shakspere's impersonality, and we have been taught to think that his dramas are utterly silent as to his own experience. But now and then one finds in them a glimpse of it, as the lightning flash in the darkest night for an instant shows the heavens and the earth. That others attempted to imitate him is clear enough; that he imitated others, and least of all Beaumont and Fletcher, nobody can reasonably believe who reads his opinion of the imitator in "Julius Caesar":

"A barren spirited fellow; one that feeds On objects, arts, and imitations, Which, out of use, and stal'd by other men, Begin his fashion."

Matthew Arnold's verdict has not been reversed.

"_Others abide our question. Thou art free._ _We ask and ask--Thou smilest and art still,_ _Out-topping knowledge. For the loftiest hill,_ _Who to the stars uncrowns his majesty,_

"_Planting his stedfast footsteps in the sea,_ _Making the heaven of heavens his dwelling-place,_ _Spares but the cloudy border of his base_ _To the foil'd searching of mortality;_

"_And thou, who didst the stars and sunbeams know,_ _Self-school'd, self-scann'd, self-honour'd, self-secure,_ _Didst tread on earth unguess'd at.--Better so!_

"_All pains the immortal spirit must endure,_ _All weakness which impairs, all griefs which bow,_ _Find their sole speech in that victorious brow._"

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Transcriber's note

The following changes have been made to the text:

Page 14: "a successful playright" changed to "a successful playwright".

Page 33: "'T is but the short'ning" changed to "'Tis but the short'ning".

Page 53: "piece was writtin" changed to "piece was written".

Page 53: "two valiant Kinghts" changed to "two valiant Knights".

Page 73: "Professer Wendell applies" changed to "Professor Wendell applies".

Page 87: "German critcism has" changed to "German criticism has".

Page 108: "is n't it just" changed to "isn't it just".

Page 126: "throne where he was worn" changed to "throne where he has worn".

End of Project Gutenberg's The Critics Versus Shakspere, by Francis A. Smith