Chapter I: A Return to the Ancient Ways 111

II. The Advantages of a Constant Change of
Programme. The Opportunities offered Actors by
Shakespeare's Minor Characters. John of Gaunt 113

III. The Benefit of Performing the Play of _Hamlet_
without Abbreviation 116

IV. Mr Benson as a Trainer of Actors. The Succession
to Phelps 119

VI

THE MUNICIPAL THEATRE

I. The True Aim of the Municipal Theatre 122

II. Private Theatrical Enterprise and Literary Drama.
The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Actor-Manager
System. The Control of the Capitalist 123

III. Possibilities of the Artistic Improvement of
Theatrical Organisation in England 127

IV. Indications of a Demand for a Municipal Theatre 129

V. The Teaching of Foreign Experience. The
Example of Vienna 134

VI. The Conditions of Success in England 138

VII

ASPECTS OF SHAKESPEARE'S PHILOSOPHY

I. The Conflicting Attitudes of Bacon and Shakespeare
to Formal Philosophy 142

II. Shakespeare's "Natural" Philosophy. Concealment
of his Personality in his Plays 148

III. His Lofty Conception of Public Virtue. Frequency
of his Denunciation of Royal "Ceremony" 152

IV. The Duty of Obedience to Authority 161

V. The Moral Atmosphere of Shakespearean Drama 164

VI. Shakespeare's Insistence on the Freedom of the
Will 166

VII. His Humour and Optimism 169

VIII

SHAKESPEARE AND PATRIOTISM

I. The Natural Instinct of Patriotism. Dangers of
Excess and Defect 170

II. An Attempt to Co-ordinate Shakespeare's Detached
Illustrations of the Working of Patriotic
Sentiment. His Ridicule of Bellicose Ecstasy.
Coriolanus illustrates the Danger of Disavowing
Patriotism 172

III. Criticism of One's Fellow-countrymen Consistent
with Patriotism. Shakespeare on the Political
History of England. The Country's Dependence
on the Command of the Sea. The Respect Due
to a Nation's Traditions and Experience 179

IV. Shakespeare's Exposure of Social Foibles and Errors 184

V. Relevance of Shakespeare's Doctrine of Patriotism
to Current Affairs 187

IX

A PERIL OF SHAKESPEAREAN RESEARCH

I. An Alleged Meeting of Peele, Ben Jonson,
Alleyn, and Shakespeare at "The Globe" in
1600 188

II. The Fabrication by George Steevens in 1763 of a
Letter signed "G. Peel" 190

III. Popular Acceptance of the Forgery. Its
Unchallenged Circulation through the Eighteenth,
Nineteenth, and Twentieth Centuries 194

X

SHAKESPEARE IN FRANCE

I. Amicable Literary Relations between France and
England from the Fourteenth to the Present Century 198