It is unlikely that observations of this nature would be repeated if
the sentiments they embody were out of harmony with the author's
private conviction. Often we shall not strain a point or do our
critical sense much violence if we assume that these recurring
thoughts are Shakespeare's own. I purpose to call attention to a few
of those which bear on large questions of government and citizenship
and human volition. Involuntarily, they form the framework of a
political and moral philosophy which for clear-eyed sanity is without
rival.
III
Shakespeare's political philosophy is instinct with the loftiest moral
sense. Directly or indirectly, he defines many times the essential
virtues and the inevitable temptations which attach to persons
exercising legalised authority over their fellow-men. The topic always
seems to stir in Shakespeare his most serious tone of thought and
word. No one, in fact, has conceived a higher standard of public
virtue and public duty than Shakespeare. His intuition rendered him
tolerant of human imperfection. He is always in kindly sympathy with
failure, with suffering, with the oppressed. Consequently he brings at
the outset into clearer relief than professed political philosophers,
the saving quality of mercy in rulers of men.
Pages:
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215