Chapter II: Preface: vii

I

SHAKESPEARE AND THE MODERN STAGE

I. The Perils of the Spectacular Method of Production 1

II. The Need for Simplifying Scenic Appliances 4

III. Consequences of Simplification. The Attitude of the
Shakespearean Student 7

IV. The Pecuniary Experiences of Charles Kean and Sir
Henry Irving 9

V. The Experiment of Samuel Phelps 11

VI. The Rightful Supremacy of the Actor 12

VII. The Example of the French and German Stage 16

VIII. Shakespeare's Reliance on the "Imaginary Forces"
of the Audience 18

IX. The Patriotic Argument for the Production of
Shakespeare's Plays constantly and in their
variety on the English Stage 23

II

SHAKESPEARE AND THE ELIZABETHAN PLAYGOER

I. An Imaginary Discovery of Shakespeare's Journal 25

II. Shakespeare in the rôle of the Ghost on the First
Production of _Hamlet_ in 1602 27

III. Shakespeare's Popularity in the Elizabethan Theatre 29

IV. At Court in 1594 31

V. The Theatre an Innovation in Elizabethan England 36

VI. Elizabethan Methods of Production 38

VII. The Contrast between the Elizabethan and the
Modern Methods 43

VIII. The Fitness of the Audience an Essential Element
in the Success of Shakespeare on the Stage 46

III

SHAKESPEARE IN ORAL TRADITION

I. The Reception of the News of Shakespeare's Death 49

II. The Evolution in England of Formal Biography 51

III. Oral Tradition concerning Shakespeare in Theatrical
Circles 57

IV. The Testimonies of Seventeenth-century Actors 61

V. Sir William D'Avenant's Devotion to Shakespeare's
Memory 69

VI. Early Oral Tradition at Stratford-on-Avon 73

VII. Shakespeare's Fame among Seventeenth-century
Scholars and Statesmen 78

VIII. Nicholas Rowe's Place among Shakespeare's
Biographers. The Present State of Knowledge
respecting Shakespeare's Life 79

IV

PEPYS AND SHAKESPEARE

I. Pepys the Microcosm of the Average Playgoer 82

II. The London Theatres of Pepys's _Diary_ 85

III. Pepys's Enthusiasm for the Later Elizabethan Drama 90

IV. Pepys's Criticism of Shakespeare. His Admiration
of Betterton in Shakespearean rôles 93

V. The Garbled Versions of Shakespeare on the Stage
of the Restoration 102

VI. The Saving Grace of the Restoration Theatre.
Betterton's Masterly Interpretation of Shakespeare 109

V

MR BENSON AND SHAKESPEAREAN DRAMA