Product Synopsis

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1910. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER VIII. JULIUS CAESAR--MACBETH--HAMLET--KING LEAR--OTHELLO Julius Casar ARE VISION of this play was printed in 1719 as it was purported to have been altered by D'Avenant and Dryden. There is the following note on this in Genest under "Covent Garden, January 31, 1766: " "It being generally known that D'Avenant and Dryden had joined in mangling Shakespeare's 'Tempest, ' some person seems to have attributed the alteration of 'Julius Cassar' to them for that reason, and that alone. It is, however, morally certain that D'Avenant never assisted in altering 'Julius Caesar, ' that being one of the plays assigned to Killigrew and which consequently D'Avenant could not act at his own theatre." I have not found a copy of this and, as Genest gives no account of it, probably the alterations were slight, it being apparently only the theatre book with changes for the stage. The author of the life of D'Avenant in the "Dictionary of National Biography," stigmatizes it as "wretched," which epithet seems unwarrantably strong, if the above conclusion as to its nature is correct. There is no better example of the fatuity of attempting to circumscribe the romantic drama by the artificial rules of the classical drama, than the revision now to be considered, the two tragedies which Sheffield made out of this play. John Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave, Marquis of Normandy, and Duke of Buckinghamshire, was a man and writer of no little reputation in his day. He was an intimate friend of, and even a co-worker with, Dryden, who spoke of him as "Sharp-judging Adriel, the Muses' friend, Himself a muse," and who dedicated to him his "Auranzebe" and his translation of the iEneid. He was also a friend of Pope, who "at the command of His Grace" wrote two of the choruses in the Duke's secon...