" Matthew Arnold, apparently quite
unconsciously, echoed the precise phrase when seeking to express
poetically the universality of Shakespeare's reputation in our own
day.
Others abide our judgment, thou art free,
is the first line of Arnold's well-known sonnet, which attests the
rank allotted to Shakespeare in the literary hierarchy by the
professional critic, nearly two and a half centuries after the
dramatist's death. There was no narrower qualification in the
apostrophe of Shakespeare by Ben Jonson, a very critical
contemporary:--
Soul of _the age_,
The applause, delight, and wonder of _our stage_.
This play of _Hamlet_, this play of his "which most kindled English
hearts," received a specially enthusiastic welcome from Elizabethan
playgoers. It was acted within its first year of production repeatedly
("divers times"), not merely in London "and elsewhere," but also--an
unusual distinction--at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. It
was reprinted four times within eight years of its birth.
Thus the charge sometimes brought against the Elizabethan playgoer of
failing to recognise Shakespeare's sovereign genius should be reckoned
among popular errors.
Pages:
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59