CHAPTER XVIII

SHAKESPEARE

I--SHAKESPEARE'S LIFE STORY

1. _Parentage, childhood, youth, and education_. Description of Stratford (with photographs).

2. _Shakespeare as an actor, manager, and playwright_. His friends; his theater; his company.

3. _His marriage_.

4. _His later years_. Evidence from legal documents, etc.

5. _Appreciation_ of Shakespeare by his contemporaries and successors.

Discuss Browning's House as an estimate of Shakespeare's relation to his own plays.

BOOKS TO CONSULT--William Winter: Shakespeare's England. Hamilton Mabie: Shakespeare. Sidney Lee: Life of Shakespeare.

Read of the school at Stratford which Shakespeare attended, and show a photograph. Have a selection from Irving's Sketch Book from Stratford on Avon. Tell of Shakespeare's marriage, and have for a reading or recitation, Anne Hathaway. Show pictures of the town, the museum, the Shakespeare Theater, etc.

II--THE ENGLISH HISTORICAL PLAYS

1. _Richard II. and King John_--Analysis of plots, leading characters and their traits. Readings from Richard II.: Act v., Scene 1. King John: