5- Cornell University Library PR 2834.A81 The Timon plays, 3 1924 013 142 538 THE TIMON PLAYS Bg JOSEPH QUINCY ADAMS, Jr. REPRINTED FROM The Journal of Englisli and Germanic Pkilplogy ':-/"' ' VOL. IX. No. 4 i9io r The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013142538 Indebtedness of Spielhagen to Dickens 505 Although the scene in Noblesse Oblige gives us a vivid and impressive picture of a storm and the horrors of a wreck at sea, it exhibits as a whole more pose, is more melodramatic than the picture in Dickens. In the latter passage the details are more fully and more skilfully handled. The scene is powerfully drawn and moves our sympathy deeply. We must bear in mind, however, that Noblesse Oblige, one of Spielhagens inferior novels, should not be compared artistically with Dickens' best work. M. M. Skinner. Stanford University. 506 Adams ft .2. 5^3l^b THE TIMON PLAYS. The story of Timon of Athens is handled twice in classical literature: Plutarch introduces it parenthetically into his Life of Marcus Antonius, and Lueian tells it more fully in his in- imitable dialogue, Timon or Misanthropos* Plutarch's story was translated into English by Paynter, in The Palace of Pleasure (1566), and by North, in The Lives (1579). 2 Lucian's story, although it had not appeared in English, existed in Latin, French, and Italian translations. There are extant three Elizabethan plays founded on the Timon story. The first is a moral interlude by Beaumont and Fletcher, The Triumph of Time; the second, an anonymous manuscript play, Timon; the third, Shakespeark Timon of Athens. There is no evidence of any other Elizabethan dramati- zation of the story. It has been pointed out that references to Timon were very frequent in English literature of the sixteenth century, and from this it has been inferred that an early play on the subject may have existed. Such a conclusion, however, is not warranted by any positive evidence. 1. The Tkiumph of Time. Fleay remarks: "Founded on Lucian's Timon or Misan- thropos, in my judgment, although Dyce follows Langbaine in ascribing it to the author's own invention." 3 The slightest in- vestigation shows that The Triumph of Time is little more than Lucian's dialogue thrown into the form of a morality. The following outline of the play would serve with little change for an outline of Lucian's Misanthropos: 1 References to Timon and his nature were not uncommon in classi- cal writing: cf. Aristophanes, Lysistrata, 1.808; Birds, 1.1548; Phry- nicus, Monotropos; Callimachus, Epigrams; Pliny, Natural His- tory, VII. 19; also Stobseus Pausanias, Diogenes Laertius, Cicero, etc. "Also included by Sir Richard Barckley in his A Discourse of the Felicity of Mm (1598). 'Biog. Ohron. Eng. Drama, i, p. 180. The Timon Plays 507 Anthropos, having lost his wealth, is deserted by all his friends, Flattery, Pleasure, Craft, etc., and Poverty alone comes to aid him in his distress. In desperation he makes an appeal directly to Jupiter. The sovereign of the gods asks Mercury who it is that calls so loudly to heaven for help. Mercury re- plies that it is Anthropos, He that has swell'd your sacred fires with incense, And pil'd upon your altars thousand heifers. Thereupon Jupiter commands Plutus to go to Anthropos and dwell with him. At first Plutus refuses to obey ; for, says he, I was too lately with him, almost torn Into ten thousand pieces by his followers. Finally, however, he consents : I do obey, then ; But [will] change my figure ; For when I willingly befriend a creature, Goodly and full of glory, I shew to him; But when I am compell'd, old and decrepit, I halt, and hang upon my staff. Upon arrival Plutus finds Anthropos surrounded by Poverty, Honesty, Simplicity, and Humility; but these immediately take their departure. Plutus then summons Industry and the Arts, and by stamping on the ground, causes Labour to arise. They dig the earth, and presently lay bare a wealth of gold. Anthropos. A glorious mine of metal. — Oh Jupiter, my thanks ! Immediately Delight, Pleasure, Craft, Lucre, Vanity and other false friends flock to Anthropos. Mercury speaks from above warning him against them ; finally Jupiter causes them to unmask and thus reveal by their ugly faces their true character. Note especially the following points of similarity with Lu- cian's Misanthropos. The quotations are from Lucian. 4 (1) The rich young man, having lost all his wealth, deserted by his false friends. (2) Poverty and her attendants befriending the bank- rupt: "Mercury. [To Plutus] It is Timon, digging up a 4 Throughout this article the quotations are from Dr. Thomas Francklin's translation of Lucian, London, 2 vols., 1780. 508 Adams piece of rocky land hard by us ; and see along with him is Pov- erty, and Labour, and Strength, and Fortitude, and Wisdom, all driven thither by Hunger." (3) The direct appeal to Jupiter. (4) Jupiter refers to Mercury to find out who the person is: "Jupiter. Mercury, who is this Athenian that bellows thus to us from the bottom of Hymettus?" (5) Mercury in his reply lays special stress upon the rich sacrifices made by the petitioner: "Mercury. Don't you know Timon, the Colythian, the son of Echeratides; he who used so often to treat us with the choicest victims; that grew so rich on a sudden, and sacrificed whole hecatombs; the man that celebrated the feasts of Jupiter with so much splendor?" (6) Jupiter immediately sends Plutus to Timon. (7) Plutus at first refuses to go: Plutus. Jupiter, I'll not go near him. Jupiter. Not when I command you? Why so, Plutus? Plutus. Because he has used me very ill, cast me away from him, and split me into a thousand pieces (8) Plutus, when finally commanded to go, goes limping: Mercury. Coma Plutus, let us be gone. How is this? limping? I did not know you were lame as well as blind. Plutus. I am not always so, Mercury; but whenever Jupiter sends me to anybody, I do not know how it is, but I am gener- ally tardy, and hop a little; so that sometimes the person that expects me, grows old before I get to him- Whereas, when I take my leave, I have wings swifter than a bird; no sooner are the doors unbarred, than like a conqueror in the race, I fly over the whole course at a leap, and am scarse seen by the spec- tators. v (9) Plutus, upon his arrival, finds Poverty in attendance; and Poverty and those with her immediately take their leave. (10) Treasure is discovered by digging in the earth. (11) At once the horde of false friends flock back. (12) "Delight, Pleasure, Craft, Lucre, Vanity, etc.," are masked, and in the last scene Jupiter, by unmasking them, reveals their true char- acter: Mercury One thing more I would ask you: how comes it The Timon Plays 509 about that, with that pale visage, without eyes (for blind you are) and so weak in the ancles, you have so many admirers?. . . Plutus. Do you think I appear to them such as I really am, blind and lame, and with all these imperfections about me? Mercury. Why not, unless they are as blind as yourself? Plutus. They are not blind, my friend; but that ignorance and folly, which is now become universal, darkens their un- derstanding: add to this, that to hide as much as possible my deformity, I put on a beautiful mask, covered with gold and jewels, and appear to them in a robe of various colours If I was stripped naked before them they would condemn their own blindness in loving anything so unlovely and disgustful. One thing remains to be said: Lucian's Misanfhropos par- takes strongly of the morality. Thus, Timon in the field is at- tended by Poverty and her servants, Labour, Strength, Forti- tude, and Wisdom. These had been driven to Timon by Hunger. Poverty accuses Timon of having been corrupted by Sloth and Luxury. Plutus says to Mercury : "No sooner, you must know, does the happy man open his doors to me, but with me rush in unseen, Pride, Folly, Madness, Fraud, Insolence, and a thousand more." This feature of Misanthropos may have suggested to the dramatists the form of a morality. 2. Timon. 5 The manuscript play, Timon, was clearly "the work of an academick," and was doubtless, as Dyce pointed out, intended for the amusement of an academic audience. The introduction of Greek lines and references to classical writing tend to prove this. Lai "I Achilles, Or otherwise am called Pelides; Mrjviv aeiSc ©cot, mjAi/aSw 'Axikrjo's' "Edited by Dyce in The Shakespeare Society PuoUcations, and by Hazlitt in The Shakespeare Library, vol. vi. 6 The first line of the Iliad. 510 Adams Again : Timon. Heare me, 0, heare me, Joue ! Ejtieio £<3i>tos Yata ixx-^diyrut irupi? Or again: Stil. "Aristotle in his Meteorologickes, and the XVteene page as I remember, defendeth irapaSot; et arpoiros. Stevens believed that it was "written, or transcribed, about the year 1600," 8 and Dyce was of the same opinion. The style of the play, however, indicates a somewhat earlier date of compo- sition. I believe that it belongs to that class of school plays of which Roister Doister is a representative. The tone of the whole piece, as well as the nature of the horse-play, indicates that it was written for performance by school boys. It is interesting to note, too, some striking similarities between Timon and Roister Doister. Gelasimus is a second Ealph; Pseudocheus and Psedio correspond to Mathew Merygreke; and Blatte, the aged nurse of the beloved one, is a counterpart of Margerie Mumbleerust. Compare the picture of Koister Doister in act 1, scene 1, and the following picture of Gelasimus. Gelas. Ha, ha, he! how I my selfe content myself! I wholly am pleased with my selfe, from the sole of my foote to the crowne of my head : soe the Graces loue me, I could willing- lie kisse my selfe. Heere, take my cloake, while I veiwe my selfe awhile : see, heere's a looking glasse. [Takes the glass.] Lord, what goulden teeth haue I ! what a purple coulored face ! did'st euer see things more correspondent? Peed. Your anckles be too litle. Gelas. The more gentlemanlike ; I shall not be a f att greasy plebian. What speake the virgines of me, canst thou tell? Peed. They terme you delight of men, white boye, Noble without comparison, — what not? * Some critics have supposed the Greek to be a quotation from a lost drama of Euripides — Dyce. "Shakespeare (ed. 1821) xiii, 244-5. The Timon Plays 511 This the like eyes, that the like nose desires; This your cheekes, and that your leggs. Gelas. Psedio -See that my chamber dores be barred fast; For I am fearefull, least that, when I sleepe, Some of theis ffemales pilfre me awaye. Did I relate to thee (I know not) , or hast heard I am cozen german vnto Venus? "That it was really acted," says Dyce, "a strong presumptive proof is afforded by the stage-direction at page 79, which origi- nally stood, 'Enter Timon and Laches with either a spade in their hands/ but which has been carefully altered to 'Enter Timon and Laches with 3 spades in their hands,' because a third spade was required for the use of G-elasimus in a later part of the [next] scene." Another good indication that it was acted, or at least intended to be acted, is given by the following stage direction :° Phil. Grunnio, make broathe of these two fishes. \Two spratts or the like. There is no evidence to show where the play was acted. Dyce remarks, "certainly never performed in the metropolis." It is dangerous to dispute with so careful a scholar, yet in view of the absence of all external evidence, I must believe from the na- ture of the play that it was written for presentation in London. How many hange their heades downe, leaste they splitte The signe posts with their homes; how many sitte At home sicke of the headeache, and complaine That they are like to the twi-horned moone ; This man lookes pale; another stands amazde: In the meane while their wiues are jouiall; They eate the tongues of nightingales, lambestones, Potato pies, pick'ld oysters, marrowbones, And drinke the purest wine that they can gette; They have their garden houses : will bee sicke ; etc. "P. 48. These indicate, also, that the manuscript was the acting copy. 512 Adams This ha3 distinctively the ring of the metropolis. The gar- den houses (summer houses) were quite common in the suburbs of London. Again : Call. Is this a citizen? Phil. A wealthy one. Call'. I shall the better rule : The wyfes of cittizens doe beare the sway, Whose very hands theire husbands may not touch Without a bended knee; etc. The sources of the play were Lucian's Misanthropos and The True History, from which the author took not only the plot, but also material by the handfulls. Moreover he drew slightly upon other dialogues of Lucian. Since this indebtedness has not been definitely pointed out, I give below all the borrowings, quot- ing first from the play, and then from Lucian. 10 Tim. Laches, hast hou receau'd my rents?' Lack. Master, I haue, And brought in sacks filled with goulden talents: Is't your pleasure that I cast them into pryson? Tim. Into pryson! whye soe? Laches. Lett your chests be the pryson, Your locks the keeper, and your keyes the porter, Otherwise they'le fly away, swyfter then birds or wyndes. Tim. I will noe miser bee. Flye, gould, enioye the sunn beames ! 'tis not fitt Bright gould should lye hidd in obscuritie; — Timon, p. 3. Jupiter, [to Plutus] But the truth is, you are a querulous malcontent, finding fault with Timon for opening his doors, and letting you go where you will, instead of being jealous of you, and shutting you up at home; and yet sometimes you used to be angry with the rich, for confining you with bars, bolts, and seals, in such a manner that you could never see the light. This you ™ The author made no use whatever of the Plutarch narrative. It seems to have been unknown to him. The Timon Plays 513 lamented to me and complained that you were buried in utter darkness. I have met you pale and full of care, with your fingers contracted, and threatening to run away from them the first op- portunity. Such a horrible thing did you count it to be locked up, like Danae, in a brazen or iron chest, or let out by a set of wretches on vile usury. — Misan. p. 34. Laches advises Timon to lock up the sacks of gold, "Other- wise they'le fly away, swifter then birds or wyndes." — Timon, p. 3. Plwtus. Whereas, when I take my leave, I have wings swifter than a bird; no sooner are the doors unbarred, than, like a conqueror in the race, I fly over the whole course at a leap, and am scarse seen by the spectators. — Misan. p. 36. Timon. I'le rather scatter it among the people Laches, bestrowe The streetes with gould, and lett the people knowe How bountifull the hands of Timon are. — Timon, pp. 3 ; 5. Plwtus. Because he used me very ill, cast me from him, and split me into a thousand pieces; nay, though I was like a father to him, beat me, as I may say, out of doors; threw me out of his hand, as a man would serve a hot burning coal. — Misan. p. 34. Lack, [to Timon] I, poore Laches, Not Timon ; yf I were, I would not see My goodes by cowes devoured as they bee. — Timon, p. 4. Mercury, [speaking of Timon] He never discovered that he was giving away his all to wolves and ravens. Whilst these vul- tures were preying upon his liver, he thought them his best friends. — Misan. p. 32. 514 Adams Pseud. Who e're he be, be he more ffortunate Then they that Hue in the Isles Fortunate, Or in the flourishing Blizian f eilds ; May he drinck nectar, eate ambrosia! — Timon, p. 13. This is a recollection of Lucian's True Hisiory, bk. II. The song on page 18 is probably a metrical rendering of Lucian's Dialogues of the Gods, XVII. The story, of course, is told elesewhere in classical literature; the likelihood, however, is that the writer had Lucian's dialogue in mind. Pseud. Saue yee. I was transported cleane beyond my self e With contemplacion of my Pegasus; Wounders did obviate my memorye, Which I saw in the Hand of the moone. Tim. In what place of the earth may that ile bee? Pseud. 'Tis not in earth; 'tis pendant in the ayre; Endymion there hath the dominion. Gelas. In the ayre! Pseud. Yes, pendant in the ayre. Herm. 0, strainge! Pseud. Pish, this is nothing: I cann tell You of a many gallants: that did sell Theire mannours here, and built them castles there, And now Hue like cameleons by th' aire; And strainger thinges then theis I oft haue seene. — Timon, p. 30. This, as every reader of Lucian knows, is from the True His- tory, in which the adventurers, taken up in their ship by a whirl- wind, were landed on the moon, described as hanging pendant in the air like an island. Of all the wonders seen there, and of how the inhabitants lived on "air squeezed into a cup, which produces a kind of dew," space forbids a mention. The Timon Plays 515 Pseud. This orator hath, stole all that he spoke : I hearde olde Nestor speake this worde for worde In the Fortunate Hands. — Timon, p. 32. See True History, bk. II. Timon liberates Demeas, the orator, from the hands of the seargeants who were carrying him to prison for a debt of six- teene talents: Timon. Dismisse him: I will sixteene talents pay Vnto the citizens. Bern. My Jupiter, my Jupiter ! Tim. Carry my name vnto the judges ; I Will satisfle this debte. — Timon, p. 32. Timon. So, here comes a third; Demeas, the orator, with a decree in his hand: he pretends to be one of my nearest rela- tions. He was bound to the state for seventeen talents, and, un- able to pay it, was condemned, when I took pity on, and re- deemed him. — Misan. p. 48. Pseud. From the milky sea As I did saile (that sea, the which was full, From the deepe bottome to the very toppe, Of pure white milke), the shippe did carry mee Into an ilande that was made of cheese; Their houses were of butter. — Timon, p. 35. A little beyond this we got into a sea, not of water, but of milk; and upon it we saw an island full of vines; this whole island was one compact, well-made cheese, etc. — True History, p. 432. 516 Adams Pseud. Since I did taste the nectar of the gods, Noe wine or ale can please my pallat well. — Timon, p. 37. The writer, I think, had in mind the trip of Menippus to heaven, where he partook of the divine nectar. See Icaro-Men- ippus. Pseud. In Ganges lies I thirty riuers saw Fill'd with sweete nectar. Lach. dainty Iyer! [Aside. Pseud. Thirtie riuers more With aligaunte; thirtie hills of sugar; Ale flowed from the rockes, wine from the trees, Which we call muscadine. — Timon, p. 39. We had not got far before we met with a river, which seemed exactly to resemble wine, particularly that of Chios As I had a mind to know whence this river sprung, I went back to the place from whence it seemed to arise, but could not trace the springs ; I found, however, several large vines full of grapes, at the root of every one the wine flowed in great abundance, and from them I suppose the river was collected. — True History, p. 415. Tim. Joue, Joue, Haue I thy altar seldome visited? — Timon, p. 58. Mercury. Don't you know Timon, the Calyttian, the son of Echecratides ; he who used so often to treat us with the choicest victims; that grew so rich on a sudden, that sacrificed whole hecatombs; the man that celebrated the feasts of Jupiter with so much splendor? — Misan, p. 32. Tim. supreme Joue, Why doth thy right hande cease to punish sinne? Strike one of these with thunder from aboue, The Timon Plays 517 And with thy lightening reuenge my cause! Strike which thou wilt, thy hande it cannot erre. — Timon, pp. 59-60. Jupiter where is now your crackling lightning, and your deep-toned thunder? Where are all your white and ter- rific bolts? At length, therefore, thou son of Saturn and Ehea! shake off thy profound and heavy slumbers light thy bolt at Mount iEtna, and send it forth; let it flame out once more; shew the power and indignation of the once strong and youthful Jove. — Misan. pp. 29-31. (Cf. the entire speech.) Bntrapelus and Demeas pretend not to recognize Timon. Dem. Art thou a stranger or Athenian? What country? whats thy name? Tim. Know'st thou not? Ah, Demeas, know'st thou not? Dem. Thou brazen face, I ne're sawe thee before. — Timon, p. 59. the ingratitude of those, who, enriched as they had been by him, now proudly pass along, and know not whether his name is Timon. — Misan. p. 32. Gelas. What, shall wee trauayle through that citty, where The candles walke, and cattes play on the fiddle ? — Timon, p. 62. We landed, but saw no men, only a number of lamps run- ning to and fro We heard them speak: they offered us no injury The King's court is in the middle of the city Here I found my own lamp, talked to him, and asked him how things went on at home. — True History, p. 424. Herm. [To Timon] If thou are wretched, goe and hange thy self e; 518 Adams An haltar soone will mitigate thy grief e. — Timon, p. 67. 0, it is Gnathonides, who but the other day, when I asked him for a supper, held out a rope. . p. 46. Speus. Oh, Oh ! [Timon beats them. Oh ! dost thou buffet a philosopher ? Will a free cittie such a deede allowe ? — Timon, p. 69. Timon beats Demeas. Demeas. What do you mean, Timon? To fall upon a free man and a citizen in this manner. Timon beats Thrascycles. Thras. Now, laws and commonwealth assist me! Here am I beaten and bruised in a free city by a villain. — Misan. pp. 49; 51. Pseud. Them and theire citties and theire regions Thou soone shalt ouerpasse, and at the length The Milky Waye thou shalt espie; keepe that; That way will bringe thee to the Zodiaque. — Timon, p. 77. There were to have been some slingers from the Milky Way, together with the Nephelocentauri ; they indeed came, when the first battle was over, and I wish they had never come at all : the slingers did not appear, which, they say, so enraged Phaeton, that he set their city on fire We sailed by several places, and at length reached the new colony of the Morning-star, where we landed and took in water: from thence we steered into the Zodiac True History, pp. 420; 424. Timon. What's this? I am amaz'd! what doe I see? [He fynds goidd. Sp[l]endour of gould reflects vpon my eyes: The Timon Plays 519 Is Cynthia tralucent in the darke? — Timon, p. 84. Tim. [Finding gold] Jupiter, thou great worker of mira- cles, you, ye friendly corybantes, and thou, -wealth-dispensing Mercury, whence all this gold ? Is this a dream ? When I awake I feare I shall find nothing but coals ; it is, it must be gold, fine, yellow, noble gold, heavy, sweet to behold. Eiehest offspring of the mine, Gold, like fire, whose flashing rays From afar conspicuous gleam, Through night's involving cloud. Burning like fire, thou shinest day and night. — Misan. p. 44. When Timon in the play discovers the golden treasure, he refuses at first to keep it. Likewise in Lucian's dialogue when Plutus first comes to Timon, he is rejected — "as for this blind wretch, whoever he is, I will certainly knock him in the head with my spade." "I have no need of you, my spade is all the riches I desire." "To you, Mercury, and to Jupiter, for your care of me, I acknowledge my obligations ; but as for this Plu- tus, I will by no means accept of him." Tim. What, shall I hide My new found treasure vnderneath the earth, Or shall I drowne it in the ocean? Though all the world loue thee, Timon hates thee : He drowne thee in the seas profunditie. [He offers to goe drowne it. — Timon, p. 84. If you will take my advice, I would have you cast all your riches into the sea, as things unnecessary to an honest man, and one who knows the treasures of philosophy; not that I would have you cast them into the main ocean etc. — Misan. p. 51. 520 Adams The following is little more than a translation from Misrn- thropos. I have reversed the usual order, putting Lucian's ver- sion first. Demeas. Hail Timon ! Thou very flower of the race, piller of the Athenians, defence of Greece ! In sooth the people in as- sembly, and both councils have been long awaiting your pres- ence. But first hear the decree which I have proposed in your behalf : "Whereas Timon, the son of Echeeratides, of the town- ship of Colly tus, not only the beau ideal of a man, but also wiser than anybody else in Greece, is all the time doing continually what is best for the city, and in one day has been victor at Olympia in boxing, wrestling, and in racing, both with a four- in-hand of full grown coursers, and with a pair of fillies — " Timon. Nay, but I've never been at Olympia, even as a looker on. Demeas. What of that? You will be hereafter. (Proceed- ing with the decree) "And since he also distinguished himself last year at Achamae in defense of the city, and cut to pieces two batallions of Pel — " Timon. How can that be? I had no arms, and I wasn't even enrolled in the list of those liable to serve. Demeas For all this, be it decreed by the Senate, the assembled commons and the supreme court, voting by tribes, and by townships individually, and also in concert, to set up a golden statue of Timon alongside the Athene upon the Acropolis, with a thunderbolt in his right hand and seven lightening rays upon his head Demeas, the orator, his pupil and his next of kin made this motion." So here's your decree! I also wanted to introduce to you my son, whom I have christened Timon after your name. Timon. How can you ? Seeing you are not even married, at least as far as I know. Demeas. But I am going to take a wife next year — God willing — and I shall have offspring — and I shall at once name my prospective child Timon, for it will be a son." The Timon Plays 521 The following is from Timon, pp. 92-3 : Demeas. Where's Athens piller ? where's my glory ? Where's Timon ? Thou hast blest myne eyes, now I see thee. Joue saue thee, who are the defence of Greece, and the whole worlds de- light! The court and countrey both salute thee! Heare, my humane Jup[iter], the decree that I haue written concern- ing thee before the Areopig[ites]. [He takes a pa[per] out of his [pocket, and reads']. Whereas Timon, the sonne of Echeratides the Collitensian, a champion and a wrestler, was in one day victor of both in the Olympick games — Timon. But I as yett neere saw th 5 Olympick games. Demeas. What of that? that makes noe matter; thou shalt see them hereafter. Timon. I neere as yett bore armes out of Athens." Demeas. But thou shalt in the next warr, — for theis causes it seemes good to the court and the commonwealth, to the mag- istrates seuerallie, to the plebeians smgulerlie, to all vniuersallie, to place Timon in Pallas Temple, houlding a gouden thunder- bolt in his hand. Demeas spake this suffragie, because he was Timons disciple, for Timon is alsoe easily the prince of rhetor- ick ; in my orations I vse to vse his metaphores. Herm. Peace, oratour; wee alsoe ought to speake. Demeas. Would I had brought my little sonne with me, whom I haue called Timon after thy name. Timon. How cans't thou? for thy wyfe had neuer a child. Demeas. But shee shall haue, and that that shalbe borne shalbe a man child, and that man child shalbe named Timon. 11 It will be observed that the translator accidentally omitted that passage in the decree referring to Timon's (supposed) distinguished career in the army: "And since he also distinguished himself last year at Acharnae in defense of the city, and cut to pieces two bnttalions of Pel — ." Consequently the remark here, "I neere as yett bore armes out of Athens," is without force. 522 Adams 3. Timon of Athens. A study of the sources of Timon of Athens involves great difficulties. It may be stated with positiveness, however, that Shakespeare went directly to the Timon narrative in North's Plutarch." Here he got the characters Apemantus and Alci- biades, the incident of the fig tree, the meal with Apemantus, and the two epitaphs. In short, he used up every bit of material contained in the Plutarch story. So far there is no difficulty. Scholars have been puzzled, however, by the question : Did Shakespeare have access to the manuscript play Timon? The play, as Dyce points out, was written for an academic audience, but a casual reading will show that the humorous portions make the play highly suited to amuse a popular audience; for example, the scene where Lolilo and his drunken followers move through the streets with flagons for standards. It is, therefore, not impossible that the play — re- worked, perhaps' — was presented to a London audience. How- ever that may be, it is certain that Timon of Athens and the manuscript play contain parallel incidents not found in either of the classical versions. The additions to the classical story are: (1) The faithful steward, who warns his master against coming bankruptcy, repairs to him in the fields, and refuses to leave him in spite of hard words.; (2) The banquet; note that in both plays the banquet is given by Timon after he was a recognized bankrupt, and after he had been turned down by all his friends; that the steward assists Timon; that the false friends come unsuspiciously; and that Timon beats them from the table. Evidently we must conclude that Shakespeare had direct or indirect access to the anonymous play, or that both plays are indebted to some common source. Either theory pre- sents difficulties. " Shakespeare may have also referred to the version in Paynter's Palace of Pleasure (from which he had taken the plot of All's Well). The incidents in both, however, are the same. We know that he had North before Mm; there is no evidence to show that he also used Paynter. The Timon Plays 523 The third source from which Shakespeare drew was Lueian's Misanthropos. For example, the "dowry" incident, which does not appear in Plutarch, or in the manuscript play Timon, ap- pears both in Lucian and in Shakespeare. Lucian makes Timon exclaim : Who's this man coming towards me — he with the bald head ? It's Philiades, of all flatterers the most disgusting. He received from me a whole estate and two talents as dowry for his daugh- ter, as a reward for his compliments, when he alone amid the general silence indulged in fulsome praise of my singing, de- claring with an oath that I was more musical than the swans. But when he recently saw me ailing and I went up to him with the request for help, he laid all the more blows on me — the gen- erous fellow! This idea of the dowry is developed by Shakespeare as fol- lows: Enter an Old Athenian. Old Ath. Lord Timon, hear me speak. Timon. Freely good father. Old Ath. Thou hast a servant named Lucilius. Timon>. I have so; what of him? Old Ath. Most Noble Timon, call the man before thee. Timon. Attend he here, or no? — Lucilius! Lucilius. Here at your lordship's service. Old Ath. This fellow here, Lord Timon, this creature, By night frequents my house. I am a man That from my first have been inclined to thrift; And my estate deserves an heir more raised Than one which holds a trencher. Timon. Well, what further? Old Ath. One only daughter have I, no kin else On whom I may confer what I have got. The maid is fair, o' the youngest This man of thine Attempts her love: I prithee, noble lord Join with me to forbid him her resort; 524 Adams Myself have spoken in vain Timon. Does she love him? Old Ath. She is young and apt; Our own precedent passions do instruct us What levity's in youth. Timon. (To Lucilius) Love you the maid? Lucilms. Ay my good lord, and she accepts of it. Timon. How shall she be endowed If she be mated with an equal husband? Old Ath. Three talents on the present; in future, all. Timon. This gentleman of mine hath serv'd me long. To build his fortune I will strain a little. For 'tis a bond in men. Give him thy daughter; What you bestow, in him I'll counterpoise. The fact that this incident occurs in Timon of Athens but not in the manuscript play Timon, indicates that Shakes- peare had access to the Lucian narrative through some other channel than the school play. What this channel was no one has yet been able to discover. It may be stated with confidence, however, that Shakespeare's knowledge of the Greek story was indirect. A person who used absolutely everything in the bar- ren Plutarch version, would certainly have drawn freely from the rich storehouse of material in Misanthropos. We can trace no close borrowing, no following of detail ; the story must have been known to the dramatist only in its broadest outlines. > Joseph Quinot Adams, Je. Cornell University. Vol. XXX Cfjrfettttag MumUX Number 3 HP Wave Forest Student 3t ii tfie calm anb solemn mgfjt! a rhousanb bells ting out, anb tfjvoto tEfcetr jopous peal« abroab, anb Smite Efje bartmess, cijanneb anb fjolp nolo. (E-fie ntgfjt that erst no name tab toorn, Co it a fjappp name is gtoen; Jfor in that stable lap newborn Ctie peaceful prince of Cartfj anb Heaben, 3m rfie solemn mibnigbt Centuries ago. J&cemtser, 1910 wt axtv mm?.QT xrnPT TT CAROLINA COLLEGE DIRECTORY President, W. L. Poteat, LL.D. Student Athletic Association. President Fountain F. Cox. Vice-President TS. B. Broughton, Jr. Secretary C. T. Murchison. Alumni Athletic Association. President T. E. Cheek. Treasurer J. G. Mills. Graduate Manager E. B. Powell. General Secretary Jno. M. Cheek. Football. Manager Wheeler Martin, Jr. Captain Phil Utley. Basketball. Manager Hugh M. Beam. Assistant Manager W. R. Holding. Track. Manager J. M. Davis. Captain C. T. Murchison. Baseball. Manager J. Powell Tucker. Asst. Manager C. C. Wheeler. The Howlee. Editor in Chief T. A. Haywood. Business Manager Fountain F. Cox. Y. M. C. A. President M. E. Winston. Vice-President J. B. Eller. Recording Secretary I. C. Woodward. Cor. Secretary H. B. Conrad. Treasurer John M. Cheek. WAKE FOREST STUDENT Vol. XXX December, 1910 No. 3 A GLIMPSE OF SHAKESPEARE JOSEPH QUINCY ADAMS, JR. During the autumn of 1601 Shakespeare and his fellow- players closed up their London theater, the Glohe, and trav- eled in the country. There is evidence that in October they visited Aberdeen, and a short time later, Cambridge. That traveling of this kind was not held in high esteem, and was resorted to by theatrical troupes only in cases of necessity, will be obvious from the following quotations : A Player, riding with his fellows (in a year of Peregrinations) up and downe the counties, resolved to be merry, though they got little money. — Jests to Make You Merry. Playhouses stand (like Taverns that have cast out their masters), the doors locked up, the flags (like their bushes) taken down; or rather like houses lately infected [with the plague], from whence the affrighted dwellers are fled, in hope to live better in the country. — Work for Armorours. They are no more called Ranck-riders, but Strowlers, a proper name given to- Country players that (without socks) trotte from towne to towne upon the harde hoofe. — Lanthom and Candlelight. The Players * * * making fools of the poor country people, in driving them like flocks of geese to sit cackling in an old barn, and to swallow down those playes for new which here [in London] every punk and her squire can rand out by heart. — Jests to Make You Merry. Probably, however, not all the plays that Shakespeare and his troupe forced down the throats of the "country people" were old ; for it seems that one of the plays acted on this trip was the recently composed Hamlet. On the title-page of the first quarto (entered in the Stationers' Register July, 1602) appears the statement: "As it hath been diverse times acted 184 The Wake Forest Student i by his Highness servants in the city of London: as also in the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, and elsewhere." Curiously enough in Hamlet (Il.ii) Shakespeare goes out of his way to discuss at some length the traveling of the troupe of actors that visits Elsinore; and the inference that in this discussion he has in mind the traveling of his own troupe is well-nigh irresistible. Hamlet. What players are they? Rosencrantz. Even those you were wont to take delight in, the trage- dians of the city. Ham. How chances it they travel? Their residence, both in reputa- tion and profit, was better both ways. Before we allow Rosencrantz to answer this question, let us glance for a moment at the current happenings in the theatrical world of London. In 1600 a troupe of child ac- tors (boy singers in the Queen's chapel) began to act with great success at the Blackfriars private playhouse. In Jacke Drums Entertainement (written in 1600) occurs this passage : Sir Ed. I saw the Children of Powles last night, And troth they pleas'd me prettie, prettie well. The Apes in time will doe it handsomely. Plan. Ifaith, I like the audience that frequenteth there With much applause. A man shall not be chokte With the stench of Garlick, nor be pasted To the barmie Jacket of a Beer-brewer. Bra. Ju. 'Tis a good gentle audience, and I hope the boies Will come one day into the Court of requests. The boys did come into request; indeed, they came into such request that the older playhouses suffered greatly. No less a person than Ben Jonson was engaged to write for the children ; and the fashionable audiences that formerly patro- nized the public theaters, now turned to the private play- house of Blackfriars. These facts were well known to every person in Shake- speare's audience; let us bear them in mind in listening to A Glimpse oe Shakespeare 185 Kosencrantz's reply to Hamlet's question, "How chances it they travel ?" Ros. I think their inhibition \i. e., the closing up of their theater] comes by the means of the late innovation. What was this "innovation" ? If the reader has not al- ready guessed the answer, he will discover it, I think, in the rest of the passage : 2am. Do they hold the same estimation they did when I was in the city? are they so followed? Ros. No indeed they are not. Ham. How comes it? do they grow rusty? Ros. Nay, their endeavour keeps in the wonted pace: but there is, sir, an aery [i. e., nest] of children, little eyases [i. e., little eagles], that cry out on the top of questions, and are most tyrannically clapped for't: these are now the fashion. This, then, is the "innovation" that caused Shakespeare's troupe to close its playhouse and "take to the hoofe." The reading of the first quarto differs somewhat from the reading of the folio given above; in the first quarto Hamlet's ques- tion is answered thus: Yfaith my Lord, noveltie carries it away, For the principall publicke audience that Came to them, are turned to private plays And to the humour of children. Here we have a frank statement from Shakespeare that the success of the boy actors had robbed the Globe of its audi- ences. JN"ow if the children had attained this success through nothing else than the excellence of their acting and the at- tractiveness of their plays, Shakespeare could not with any grace make complaint. If, however, the children had used unfair means — that is, had heaped upon their grown-up rivals abuse calculated to injure in a social and in a business way the actors at the Globe — then Shakespeare had a perfect right to complain. He does complain ; and though he does so good- naturedly he states his complaint clearly. 1,86 The Wake Fobest Student Before we examine Shakespeare's complaint let us see what the boys were doing in 1601. Jonson had just written for them two comedies, Cynthia's Revels and The Poetaster. In both of these plays his attitude towards the public actors was condescending and his language abusive. He termed the grown-up actors "common players" ("a tragedy of yours coming forth for the common players." — Poetaster, p. 211*) ; and their playhouses, "common stages" ("servile imitation from common stages." — Cynthia's Revels, p. 147 ; "will press forth on common stages." — Idem, p. 176). This term, "com- mon players," was offensive because of the well-known legal statute that classified "common players" [i. e. strolling play- ers] with "Eogues, Vagabonds and Sturdy Beggars." And the fact that Shakespeare's troupe had been traveling would make the term especially appropriate to the Globe players. Furthermore, in The Poetaster Jonson represented the Globe players in the character of Histrio, a cheap, thread- bare actor ; and at this character he directed almost unlimited abuse. I give below a few examples of the way in which he attacked Histrio and the other public actors. These players are an idle generation, and do much harm in a state, corrupt young gentry very much (p. 212). They are grown licentious, the rogues; — libertines, flat libertines! (p. 212). I am not known unto the open stage, Nor do I traffic in their theaters (p. 212). 2 Pyr. 'Tis a player, sir. Tuc. A player! call him, call the lousy slave hither; what, will he sail by, and not once strike, or vail to » man of war? ha! — Do you hear, you player, rogue, stalker, come back here * * * you slave * * * you rascal * * * you two-penny tear-mouth * * * you stinkard * * * rogue * * * slave * * * gulch * * * Howleglas * * * you presumptuous varlet » » * vermin * * * etc. (pp. 230-1). 'The page references are to Cunningham's edition of Jonson in three volumes. A Glimpse op Shakespeare 187 Go to, then, raise, recover, do; suffer him not to droop in prospect of a player, a rogue, a stager, (p. 232.) Tuc. I would fain come with my cockatrice one day, and see a play, if I knew when there were a good bawdy one; but they say you have nothing but Humours [i. e., "the comedy of humours," of which Jonson was the recognized master], Revels [i. e., Jonson's Cynthia's Revels], and Satires [Jonson termed The Poetaster a "Comical Satyre"]. Hist. No, I assure you, captain, not we. They lare on the other side of Tyber [t. e., across the Thames at the Blackfriars] : we [on the Bank- side] have as much ribaldry in our plays as can be, as you would wish, captain : all the sinners in the suburbs \i. e., prostitutes, who infested the Bankside] come and applaud our actions daily. Tucca. I hear you'll bring me o' the stage there ; you'll play me, they say [referring to The Satiromastix, then being written for performance at the Globe] ; I shall be presented by a sort of copper-laced scoundrels of you: life of Pluto! an you stage me, stinkard, your mansions shall sweat for't, your tabernacles, varlets, your Globes, and your Triumphs, (p. 232.) I have stood up and defended you, I, to gentlemen, when you have been said to prey upon puisnes [i. e., minors], and honest citizens for socks or buskins; or when they have called you usurers or brokers, or said you were able to help to a piece of flesh — I have sworn I did not think so, nor that you were the common retreats for punks decayed in their practice, (p. 234.) Tucca [to Histrio]. Bascal, to him, cherish his muse, go; thou hast forty — forty shillings, I mean, stinkard; give him in earnest, do, he shall write for thee, slave! If he pen for thee once, thou shalt not need to travel with thy pumps full of gravel any more, after a blind jade and a hamper, and stalk upon boards and barrel heads, to an old cracked trumpet, (p. 231.) Let us now return to Hamlet and Rosencrantz. Ham. Do they [i e., Globe players] hold the same estimation they did when I was in the city? are they so followed? Ros. No indeed they are not. Ham. How comes it? do they grow rusty? Ros. Nay, their endeavour keeps in the wonted pace: but there is sir, an aery of children, little eyases, that cry out on the top of ques- tion, and are most tyrannically clapped for't: these are now the fashion, and so berattle [i. e., abuse] the common stages — so they call them — that many wearing rapiers \i. e., gallants] are afraid of goose-quills \_i. e., the satire of the boys' playwrights] and dare scarce come thither [i. e., to the public playhouses]. 188 The Wake Foeest Student Earn. What, are they children? who maintains 'em? how are they escoted \i. e., paid] ? Will they pursue the quality [t. e., the profession of acting] no longer than they can sing [i. e., before their voices change] ? will they not say afterwards, if they should grow to common players — as it is most like, if their means are no better — their writers do them wrong . to make them exclaim against their own succession [i. e., the profession of public actor, to which they must shortly suc- ceed]. It is obvious that here Shakespeare had directly in mind the performance by the children of Jonson's abusive plays. In The Poetaster, as I have shown, Jonson "berattled the common stages" — so he called them — with vigor, and made the "little eyases * * * exclaim against their succession." We may readily suppose that such abuse from the great Jon- son, uttered by a troupe "now the fashion," would serve to "make many wearing rapiers * * * dare scarce" go to the Bankside. That such was the case Jonson himself tells us. Histrio [i. e., Globe players]. O, it will get us a huge deal of money, captain, and we have need on't; for this winter has made us all poorer than so many starved snakes: nobody comes at us, not a gentleman, nor a . (p. 235.) This agrees exactly with what Shakespeare tells us : Ham. Do they hold the same estimation they did when I was in the city? Are they so followed? Ros. No indeed they are not. This passage, if it has been correctly interpreted, is one of the most interesting in the plays, for it is one of the rare places in which the great dramatist steps from behind the curtain and speaks in his own character. The wholesome superiority over enemies, and the good-nature in spite of extreme provocation, give us a glimpse of Shakespeare the man that makes us wish we knew him better.