William Shakespeare; poet, dramatist, and man . nd thedramatists own edition of the play was packedwith references like a text-book. The charactersspeak with admirable correctness after the mannerof their time; but they do not live. Brutus, Cas-sius, Antony, Portia, on the other hand, talk and act ?oo WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE like living creatures, and the play is saturated with the spirit and enveloped in the atmosphere of Rome. The story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, like that of Dr. Faustus, had a long and wide popularity before it foundplace amongthe wasmuch in bothtales which ap
William Shakespeare; poet, dramatist, and man . nd thedramatists own edition of the play was packedwith references like a text-book. The charactersspeak with admirable correctness after the mannerof their time; but they do not live. Brutus, Cas-sius, Antony, Portia, on the other hand, talk and act ?oo WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE like living creatures, and the play is saturated with the spirit and enveloped in the atmosphere of Rome. The story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, like that of Dr. Faustus, had a long and wide popularity before it foundplace amongthe wasmuch in bothtales which ap-pealed to thepopular imagi-nation ; therewas a touch ofthe supernatu-ral in both, andthe Renais-sance mindstill loved thesupernatural;there was inboth an abun-dance of hor-rors, and theage of Shake-speare craved strong incitements of the imagina-tion ; and in both there was a combination of storyand psychologic interest which appealed from thebeginning to the crowds who frequented the thea-tres, and, later, to the greatest of modern poets. In. an old print. THE EARLIER TRAGEDIES 30I this fusion of immediate human interest with thevery highest and most complex problems of charac-ter and destiny these two stories are unique; and itis due to the presence of these qualities that, intheir final versions, these stories hold the first placeamona: those dramas which deal with the ultimatequestions of life. Saxo Grammaticus, who lived about the year 1200,midway between the earliest crusades and the dis-covery of America, was, as his name suggests, aman of unusual learning. He was the earliestDanish writer of importance, and his Latin styleevoked the admiration of so competent an authorityas Erasmus, who expressed his surprise that a Daneof that age should be able to command such a forceof eloquence. The great work of this brilliantLatinist was the Historia Danica, or History ofthe Danes ; written, there is reason to believe, withLivy as a model. This history, like all ot
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectshakesp, bookyear1901
