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Sidney Lee. The Life Of William Shakespeare: The Classic Unabridged Shakespeare Biography
The Life Of William Shakespeare
Table of Contents
PREFACE
I—PARENTAGE AND BIRTH
Distribution of the name
The poet’s ancestry
The poet’s father
His settlement at Stratford
The poet’s mother
The poet’s birth and baptism
Alleged birthplace
II—CHILDHOOD, EDUCATION, AND MARRIAGE
The father in municipal office
Brothers and sisters
The father’s financial difficulties
Education
The poet’s classical equipment
Shakespeare and the Bible
Withdrawal from school
The poet’s marriage
Richard Hathaway of Shottery. Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway’s cottage
The bond against impediments
Birth of a daughter
Formal betrothal probably dispensed with
III—THE FAREWELL TO STRATFORD
Poaching at Charlecote
Unwarranted doubts of the tradition
Justice Shallow
The flight from Stratford
IV—ON THE LONDON STAGE
The journey to London
Richard Field, his townsman
Theatrical employment
A playhouse servitor
The acting companies
The Lord Chamberlain’s company
A member of the Lord Chamberlain’s
The London theatres
Place of residence in London
Shakespeare’s alleged travels. In Scotland
In Italy
Shakespeare’s roles
Alleged scorn of an actor’s calling
V.—EARLY DRAMATIC EFFORTS
Dramatic work
His borrowed plots
The revision of plays
Chronology of the plays. Metrical tests
‘Love’s Labour’s Lost.’
‘Two Gentlemen of Verona.’
‘Comedy of Errors.’
‘Romeo and Juliet.’
‘Henry VI.’
Greene’s attack. Chettle’s apology
Oh Tiger’s heart wrapt in a woman’s hide
Divided authorship of ‘Henry VI.’
Shakespeare’s coadjutors
Shakespeare’s assimilative power
Lyly’s influence in comedy
Marlowe’s influence in tragedy. ‘Richard III.’
‘Richard II.’
Acknowledgments to Marlowe
‘Titus Andronicus.’
‘Merchant of Venice.’
Shylock and Roderigo Lopez
‘King John.’
‘Comedy of Errors’ in Gray’s Inn Hall
Early plays doubtfully assigned to Shakespeare
‘Mucedorus.’
‘Faire Em.’
VI—THE FIRST APPEAL TO THE READING PUBLIC
Publication of ‘Venus and Adonis.’
‘Lucrece.’
Enthusiastic reception of the poems
Shakespeare and Spenser
Patrons at court
VII—THE SONNETS AND THEIR LITERARY HISTORY
The vogue of the Elizabethan sonnet
Shakespeare’s first experiments
Majority of Shakespeare’s sonnets composed in 1594
Their literary value
Circulation in manuscript
Their piratical publication in 1609. ‘A Lover’s Complaint.’
Thomas Thorpe and ‘Mr. W. H.’
The form of Shakespeare’s Sonnets
Want of continuity. The two ‘groups.’
Main topics of the first ‘group.’
Main topics of the second ‘group.’
Sonnetteers’ admission of insincerity
Contemporary censure of sonnetteers’ false sentiment. ‘Gulling Sonnets.’
Shakespeare’s scornful allusion to sonnets in his plays
VIII—THE BORROWED CONCEITS OF THE SONNETS
Slender autobiographical element in Shakespeare’s sonnets. The imitative element
Shakespeare’s claims of immortality for his sonnets a borrowed conceit
Conceits in sonnets addressed to a woman
The praise of ‘blackness.’
The sonnets of vituperation
Gabriel Harvey’s ‘Amorous Odious Sonnet.’
Jodelle’s ‘Contr’ Amours.’
IX—THE PATRONAGE OF THE EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON
Biographic fact in the ‘dedicatory’ sonnets
The Earl of Southampton the poet’s sole patron
Rivals in Southampton’s favour
Shakespeare’s fear of a rival poet
Barnabe Barnes probably the rival
Other theories as to the rival’s identity
Sonnets of friendship
Extravagances of literary compliment
Patrons habitually addressed in affectionate terms
Direct references to Southampton in the sonnets of friendship
His youthfulness
The evidence of portraits
Sonnet cvii. the last of the series
Allusion to Elizabeth’s death
Allusions to Southampton’s release from prison
X—THE SUPPOSED STORY OF INTRIGUE IN THE SONNETS
‘Willobie his Avisa.’
Summary of conclusions respecting the sonnets
XI—THE DEVELOPMENT OF DRAMATIC POWER
‘Midsummer Night’s Dream.’
‘All’s Well.’
‘Taming of the Shrew.’
Stratford allusions in the Induction
Wincot
‘Henry IV.’
Falstaff
‘Merry Wives of Windsor.’
‘Henry V.’
Essex and the rebellion of 1601
Shakespeare’s popularity and influence
The Mermaid meetings
Mere’s eulogy, 1598
Value of his name to publishers
‘The Passionate Pilgrim.’
‘The Phœnix and the Turtle.’
XII—THE PRACTICAL AFFAIRS OF LIFE
Shakespeare’s practical temperament
His father’s difficulties
His wife’s debt
The coat-of-arms
Purchase of New Place
Appeals for aid from his fellow-townsmen
Financial position before 1599
Financial position after 1599
Later income
Incomes of fellow-actors
Formation of the estate at Stratford 1601-10
The Stratford tithes
Recovery of small debts
XIII—MATURITY OF GENIUS
Literary work in 1599
‘Much Ado.’
‘Twelfth Night.’
‘Julius Caesar,’ 1601
The strife between adult and boy actors
Shakespeare’s references to the struggle
Jonson’s ‘Poetaster.’
Shakespeare’s alleged partisanship
‘Hamlet,’ 1602
The First Quarto, 1603
The Second Quarto, 1604
The Folio Version
Popularity of ‘Hamlet.’
‘Troilus and Cressida.’
Treatment of the theme
Queen Elizabeth’s death, March 26, 1603
James I’s patronage
XIV—THE HIGHEST THEMES OF TRAGEDY
‘Othello’ and ‘Measure for Measure.’
‘Macbeth.’
‘King Lear.’
‘Timon of Athens.’
‘Pericles.’
‘Antony and Cleopatra.’
‘Coriolanus.’
XV—THE LATEST PLAYS
The latest plays
‘Cymbeline.’
‘A Winter’s Tale.’
‘Tempest.’
Fanciful interpretations of ‘The Tempest.’
Unfinished plays. The lost play of ‘Cardenio.’
‘Two Noble Kinsmen.’
‘Henry VIII.’
XVI—THE CLOSE OF LIFE
Final settlement at Stratford
Domestic affairs
Purchase of a house in Blackfriars
Attempt to enclose the Stratford common fields
Death. Burial
The will. Bequest to his wife
His heiress. Legacies to friends
The tomb
Personal character
XVII—SURVIVORS AND DESCENDANTS
The survivors. Mistress Judith Quiney
Mistress Susannah Hall
The last descendant
Shakespeare’s brothers
XVIII—AUTOGRAPHS, PORTRAITS, AND MEMORIALS
Spelling of the poet’s surname. Autograph signatures
Shakespeare’s portraits. The Stratford bust. The ‘Stratford’ portrait
Droeshout’s engraving
The ‘Droeshout’ painting
Later portraits
The ‘Chandos’ portrait
The ‘Jansen’ portrait
The ‘Felton’ portrait
The ‘Soest’ portrait
Miniatures
The Garrick Club bust
Alleged death-mask
Memorials in sculpture
XIX—BIBLIOGRAPHY
Quartos of the poems in the poet’s lifetime
Posthumous quartos of the poems
The ‘Poems’ of 1640
Quartos of the plays in the poet’s lifetime
Posthumous quartos of the plays
The prefatory matter
The value of the text
The order of the plays
The typography
Unique copies
The Sheldon copy
Estimated number of extant copies
Reprints of the First Folio
The Second Folio. The Third Folio. The Fourth Folio
Eighteenth-century editors
Nicholas Rowe, 1674-1718
Alexander Pope, 1688-1744
Lewis Theobald, 1688-1744
Sir Thomas Hanmer, 1677-1746
Bishop Warburton, 1698-1779
Dr. Johnson, 1709-1783
Edward Capell, 1713-1781
George Steevens, 1736-1800
Edmund Malone, 1741-1812
Variorum editions
Nineteenth-century editors
Alexander Dyce, 1798-1869. Howard Staunton, 1810-1874. The Cambridge edition, 1863-6
XX—POSTHUMOUS REPUTATION
Ben Jonson’s tribute
1660-1702. Dryden’s view
Restoration adaptations
From 1702 onwards
Stratford festivals
John Philip Kemble, 1757-1823. Mrs. Sarah Siddons, 1755-1831
Edmund Kean, 1787-1833
William Charles Macready, 1793-1873
Recent revivals
In music and art
In America
Translations. In Germany. German translations
Modern German writers on Shakespeare
On the German stage
In France. Voltaire’s strictures
French critics’ gradual emancipation from Voltairean influence
On the French stage
In Italy
In Holland
In Russia
In Poland
In Hungary
In other countries
XXI—GENERAL ESTIMATE
General estimate
Character of Shakespeare’s achievement
Its universal recognition
APPENDIX
I.—THE SOURCES OF BIOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE. Contemporary records abundant
First efforts in biography
Biographers of the nineteenth century. Stratford topography
Specialised studies in biography. Useful epitomes
Aids to study of plots and text. Concordances. Bibliographies
Critical studies
Shakespearean forgeries
John Jordan, 1746-1809
The Ireland forgeries, 1796
Forgeries promulgated by Collier and others, 1835-1849
II.—THE BACON-SHAKESPEARE CONTROVERSY. Its source. Toby Matthew’s letter
III.—THE YOUTHFUL CAREER OF THE EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON. Southampton and Shakespeare
Parentage. Birth on Oct. 6, 1573
Education
Recognition of Southampton’s youthful beauty
Reluctance to marry
Intrigue with Elizabeth Vernon
Marriage in 1598
Imprisonment, 1601-3
Later career. Death on Nov. 10, 1624
IV.—THE EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON AS A LITERARY PATRON. Southampton’s collection of books
References in his letters to poems and plays
His love of the theatre
Poetic adulation. Barnabe Barnes’s sonnet, 1593
Tom Nash’s addresses
Markham’s sonnet, 1595. Florio’s address, 1598
The congratulations of the poets in 1603
Elegies on Southampton
V.—THE TRUE HISTORY OF THOMAS THORPE AND ‘MR. W. H.’ The publication of the sonnets in 1609
T. T
Publishers’ dedication
Thorpe’s early life
Character of his business
Shakespeare’s sufferings at publishers’ hands
The use of initials in dedications of Elizabethan and Jacobean books
Frequency of wishes for ‘happiness’ and ‘eternity’ in dedicatory greetings
Five dedications by Thorpe
‘W. H.’ signs dedication of Southwell’s poems in 1606
‘W. H.’ and Mr. William Hall
‘The onlie begetter’ means ‘only procurer’
VI.—‘MR. WILLIAM HERBERT.’ Origin of the notion that ‘Mr. W. H.’ stands for ‘Mr. William Herbert.’
The Earl of Pembroke known only as Lord Herbert in youth
Thorpe’s mode of addressing the Earl of Pembroke
VII.—SHAKESPEARE AND THE EARL OF PEMBROKE
Shakespeare with the acting company at Wilton in 1603
The dedication of the First Folio
VIII.—THE ‘WILL’ SONNETS
Elizabethan meanings of ‘will.’
Shakespeare’s uses of the word
Shakespeare’s puns on the word
Arbitrary and irregular use of italics by Elizabethan and Jacobean printers
The conceits of sonnets cxxxv-vi. interpreted
Sonnet cxxxv
Sonnet cxxxvi
Sonnet cxxxiv. runs:
Sonnet cxliii. runs:
IX.—THE VOGUE OF THE ELIZABETHAN SONNET, 1591-1597
Wyatt’s and Surrey’s Sonnets, published in 1557. Watson’s ‘Centurie of Love,’ 1582
Sidney’s ‘Astrophel and Stella,’ 1591
Desportes’ sonnet runs:
This is Daniel’s version, which he sent forth as an original production:
Fame of Daniel’s sonnets
Barnes’ sonnets, 1593
Watson’s ‘Tears of Fancie,’ 1593
Fletcher’s ‘Licia,’ 1593
Lodge’s ‘Phillis,’ 1593
Drayton’s ‘Idea’, 1594
Percy’s ‘Cœlia,’ 1594
Zepheria, 1594
Barnfield’s sonnets to Ganymede, 1595
Spenser’s ‘Amoretti’, 1595
‘Emaricdulfe,’ 1595
Sir John Davies’s ‘Gullinge Sonnets,’ 1595
Linche’s ‘Diella,’ 1596
Griffin’s ‘Fidessa,’ 1596. Thomas Campion, 1596
William Smith’s ‘Chloris,’ 1596
Robert Tofte’s ‘Laura,’ 1597
Sir William Alexander’s ‘Aurora.’
Sir Fulke Greville’s ‘Caelica.’
Estimate of number of love-sonnets issued between 1591 and 1597
II. Sonnets to patrons, 1591-7
III. Sonnets on philosophy and religion
X.—BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE ON THE SONNET IN FRANCE, 1550-1600. Ronsard (1524-1585) and ‘La Pléiade.’ Desportes (1546-1606)
Chief collections of French sonnets published between 1550 and 1584
Minor collections of French sonnets published between 1553 and 1605
