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I
Without "the living comment and interpretation of the theatre,"
Shakespeare's work is, for the rank and file of mankind, "a deep well
without a wheel or a windlass." It is true that the whole of the
spiritual treasures which Shakespeare's dramas hoard will never be
disclosed to the mere playgoer, but "a large, a very large, proportion
of that indefinite all" may be revealed to him on the stage, and, if
he be no patient reader, will be revealed to him nowhere else.
There are earnest students of Shakespeare who scorn the theatre and
arrogate to themselves in the library, often with some justification,
a greater capacity for apprehending and appreciating Shakespeare than
is at the command of the ordinary playgoer or actor. But let Sir
Oracle of the study, however full and deep be his knowledge, "use all
gently." Let him bear in mind that his vision also has its
limitations, and that student, actor, and spectator of Shakespeare's
plays are all alike exploring a measureless region of philosophy and
poetry, "round which no comprehension has yet drawn the line of
circumspection, so as to say to itself 'I have seen the whole.'" Actor
and student may look at Shakespeare's text from different points of
view: but there is always as reasonable a chance that the efficient
actor may disclose the full significance of some speech or scene which
escapes the efficient student, as that the student may supply the
actor's lack of insight.
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