So various and
conflicting are Shakespeare's dramatic pronouncements on phases of
experience that it is difficult and dangerous to affirm which
pronouncements, if any, present most closely his personal sentiment.
He fitted the lips of his _dramatis personae_ with speeches and
sentiments so peculiarly adapted to them as to show no one quite
undisputed sign of their creator's personality.
Yet there are occasions, when, without detracting from the omnipotence
of Shakespeare's dramatic instinct, one may tentatively infer that
Shakespeare gave voice through his created personages to sentiments
which were his own. The Shakespearean drama must incorporate somewhere
within its vast limits the personal thoughts and passions of its
creator, even although they are for the most part absorbed past
recognition in the mighty mass, and no critical chemistry can with
confidence disentangle them. At any rate, there are in the plays many
utterances--ethical utterances, or observations conceived in the
spirit of "a natural philosopher"--which are repeated to much the same
effect at different periods of the poet's career. These reiterated
opinions frequently touch the conditions of well-being or calamity in
civilised society; they often deal with man in civic or social
relation with his neighbour; they define the capabilities of his will.
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