The Plays of William Shakspeare: In Fifteen Volumes. With the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators. To which are Added NotesT. Longman, 1793 |
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Page ii
... suppose it must have belonged to his family , who ( as Mark Antony says of a hair of Cæsar ) would " “ have mention'd it within their wills , Bequeathing it as a rich legacy " Unto their issue ; " and were there ground for the report ...
... suppose it must have belonged to his family , who ( as Mark Antony says of a hair of Cæsar ) would " “ have mention'd it within their wills , Bequeathing it as a rich legacy " Unto their issue ; " and were there ground for the report ...
Page iii
... suppose Shakspeare to have been the father of a Doctor of Divinity who never laughed ; " and to waste no more words on Sir William D'Avenant , -let but our readers survey his heavy , vulgar , unmeaning face , and , if we mistake not ...
... suppose Shakspeare to have been the father of a Doctor of Divinity who never laughed ; " and to waste no more words on Sir William D'Avenant , -let but our readers survey his heavy , vulgar , unmeaning face , and , if we mistake not ...
Page viii
... suppose we have " bestowed our whole tediousness " on him , we should add , that many notes have likewise been withdrawn . A few , manifestly erroneous , are indeed retained , to show how much the tone of Shakspearian criticism is ...
... suppose we have " bestowed our whole tediousness " on him , we should add , that many notes have likewise been withdrawn . A few , manifestly erroneous , are indeed retained , to show how much the tone of Shakspearian criticism is ...
Page 18
... suppose it then the best private house in the town ; and her Majefty preferred it to the College , which was in . the poffeffion of the Combe family , who did not so strongly favour the king's party . THEOBALD . From Mr. Theobald's ...
... suppose it then the best private house in the town ; and her Majefty preferred it to the College , which was in . the poffeffion of the Combe family , who did not so strongly favour the king's party . THEOBALD . From Mr. Theobald's ...
Page 35
... suppose that she was married on the 10th of April , about a fortnight after the execution of her father's will . But the entry of the baptifm of her first child , ( Nov. 23 , 1616 , ) as well as the entry of the marriage , afcertain it ...
... suppose that she was married on the 10th of April , about a fortnight after the execution of her father's will . But the entry of the baptifm of her first child , ( Nov. 23 , 1616 , ) as well as the entry of the marriage , afcertain it ...
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acted addreſſed afcertain alluded almoſt alſo ancient appears becauſe beſt Cæfar circumſtance comedy compoſed copy criticks Cymbeline daughter death drama dramatick editor Elizabeth Engliſh faid fame feems fince firſt firſt edition fome fuch fufficient Hamlet Henry IV houſe impreſſions inferted inſtances iſſue Jonfon juſt King Henry King Henry VI King Lear labour laſt leſs Loft Lover's Melancholy Macbeth MALONE moſt muſt Naſh obſerved occafion old plays paſſage perſons piece players pleaſe pleaſure poet poet's preſent printed probably publick publiſhed purpoſe quarto Queen queſtion reaſon Regiſter reſpect reſt Richard Romeo and Juliet ſame ſays ſcene ſeems ſeen ſenſe ſeveral Shak Shakſpeare's ſhall ſhe ſhew ſhould ſome ſometimes ſpeaking ſpeare ſtage ſtand ſtate STEEVENS ſtill ſtory Stratford ſubject ſuch ſuppoſe theatre theſe theſe plays Thomas thoſe thought tion title-page Titus Andronicus tragedy Twelfth Night uſe verſes whoſe William Shakſpeare Winter's Tale words writer written
Popular passages
Page 186 - He carries his persons indifferently through right and wrong, and at the close dismisses them without further care, and leaves their examples to operate by chance. This fault the barbarity of his age cannot extenuate, for it is always a writer's duty to make the world better, and justice is a virtue independent on time or place.
Page 221 - He was the man who of all modern, and perhaps ancient poets, had the largest and most comprehensive soul. All the images of nature were still present to him, and he drew them not laboriously, but luckily : when he describes anything, you more than see it, you feel it too.
Page 179 - This therefore is the praise of Shakespeare, that his drama is the mirror of life; that he who has mazed his imagination, in following the phantoms which other writers raise up before him, may here be cured of his delirious ecstasies, by reading human sentiments in human language, by scenes from which a hermit may estimate the transactions of the world, and a confessor predict the progress of the passions.
Page 221 - All the images of nature were still present to him, and he drew them not laboriously but luckily: when he describes anything you more than see it, you feel it too. Those who accuse him to have wanted learning, give him the greater commendation: he was naturally learned; he needed not the spectacles of books to read Nature; he looked inwards, and found her there.
Page 47 - They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages.
Page 176 - Shakespeare is above all writers, at least above all modern writers, the poet of Nature; the poet that holds up to his readers a faithful mirror of manners and of life.
Page 220 - Notes are often necessary, but they are necessary evils. Let him that is yet unacquainted with the powers of Shakespeare and who desires to feel the highest pleasure that the drama can give read every play from the first scene to the last, with utter negligence of all his commentators. When his fancy is once on the wing, let it not stoop at correction or explanation.
Page 192 - The objection arising from the impossibility of passing the first hour at Alexandria and the next at Rome supposes that, when the play opens, the spectator really imagines himself at Alexandria, and believes that his walk to the theatre has been a voyage to Egypt, and that he lives in the days of Antony and Cleopatra. Surely he that imagines this may imagine more.
Page 358 - tis a common proof, That lowliness is young ambition's ladder, Whereto the climber-upward turns his face; But when he once attains the upmost round, He then unto the ladder turns his back, Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees By which he did ascend: so Caesar may; Then, lest he may, prevent.
Page 184 - Shakespeare engaged in dramatic poetry with the world open before him. The rules of the ancients were yet known to few; the public judgment was unformed; he had no example of such fame as might force him upon imitation, nor critics of such authority as might restrain his extravagance.