Part 18 (1/2)

Two other pieces, 'The Two noble Kinsmen' and 'Henry VIII,' which are attributed to a similar partnershi+p, survive {259b} 'The Two noble Kins to the title-page, 'by the memorable worthies of their tientlemen' It was included in the folio of Beaurounds alike of aesthetic criticism and ned to Shakespeare by Charles Lae, and Dyce The last included it in his edition of Shakespeare Coleridge detected Shakespeare's hand in act I, act II sc i, and act III sc i and ii In addition to those scenes, act IV sc iii and act V (except sc ii) were subsequently placed to his credit Soed Shakespearean work to Massinger, and they narrow Shakespeare's contribution to the first scene (with the opening song, 'Roses their sharp spines being gone') and act V sc i and iv {260} An exact partition is ins of Shakespeare's workes for which Shakespeare can on any showing be held responsible develop the ht's Tale' of Palamon and Arcite, and seems to have been twice dramatised previously A lost play, 'Palaemon and Arcyte,' by Richard Edwardes, was acted at Court in 1566, and a second piece, called 'Palamon and arsett' (also lost), was purchased by Henslowe in 1594 The non-Shakespearean residue of 'The Two noble Kinsured by indecency and triviality, and is of no literary value

'Henry VIII'

A like problem is presented by 'Henry VIII' The play was nearly associated with the final scene in the history of that theatre which was identified with the triumphs of Shakespeare's career 'Henry VIII' was in course of perfor of some cannon incidental to the performance set fire to the playhouse, which was burned down The theatre was rebuilt next year, but the new fabric never acquired the fa the disaster on July 2, entitled the piece that was in process of representation at the ti son of Henry VIII' {261} The play of 'Henry VIII' that is commonly allotted to Shakespeare is loosely constructed, and the last act ill coheres with its predecessors The whole resembles an 'historical masque' It was first printed in the folio of Shakespeare's works in 1623, but shows traces of , Queen Katharine of Arragon, and Cardinal Wolsey--bear clear marks of Shakespeare's best workmanshi+p; but only act i sc i, act ii sc iii and iv (Katharine's trial), act iii sc ii

(except ll 204-460), act v sc i can on either aesthetic or ned to hi to their metrical characteristics, be dated, like the 'Winter's Tale,' about 1611 There are good grounds for assigning nearly all the re thirteen scenes to the pen of Fletcher, with occasional aid froer Wolsey's familiar farewell to Croe the authorshi+p of which excites really grave embarrassment It recalls at every point the style of Fletcher, and nowhere that of Shakespeare But the Fletcherian style, as it is here displayed, is invested with a greatness that is not matched elsewhere in Fletcher's work That Fletcher should have exhibited such faculty once and once only is barely credible, and we are driven to the alternative conclusion that the noble valediction was by Shakespeare, who in it gave proof of his versatility by echoing in a glorified key the habitual strain of Fletcher, his colleague and virtual successor Ja's theory that Fletcher hastily completed Shakespeare's unfinished draft for the special purpose of enabling the coe of Princess Elizabeth and the Elector Palatine, which took place on February 14, 1612-13, see to an extant list, nineteen plays were produced at Court in honour of the event, but 'Henry VIII' is not aer and Fletcher alone collaborated in 'Henry VIII'

(to the exclusion of Shakespeare altogether) does not deserve serious consideration {263b}

XVI--THE CLOSE OF LIFE

Plays at Court in 1613 Actor-friends

The concluding years of Shakespeare's life (1611-1616) were mainly passed at Stratford It is probable that in 1611 he disposed of his shares in the Globe and Blackfriars theatres He owned none at the date of his death But until 1614 he paid frequent visits to London, where friends in sympathy with his ere alone to be found His plays continued to for the Princess Elizabeth's ue, produced at Whitehall no fewer than seven of his plays, viz 'Much Ado,'

'Tempest,' 'Winter's Tale,' 'Sir John Falstaff' (_ie_ 'Merry Wives'), 'Othello,' 'Julius Caesar,' 'and Hotspur' (doubtless 'Henry IV') {264} Of his actor-friends, one of the chief, Augustine Phillips, had died in 1605, leaving by will 'to s piece of gold' With Burbage, He, and Condell his relations rey,parts in Shakespeare's greatest tragedies Haained especial renown But Burbage and Shakespeare were popularly credited with co-operation in less solemn enterprises They were reputed to be companions in many sportive adventures The sole anecdote of Shakespeare that is positively known to have been recorded in his lifetireed with a lady in the audience to visit her after the perfor the conversation, anticipated the actor's visit, and e on his arrival with the quip that 'William the Conqueror was before Richard the Third' {265a}

Such gossip possibly deserves little more acceptance than the later story, in the same key, which credits Shakespeare with the paternity of Sir William D'Avenant The latter was baptised at Oxford on March 3, 1605, as the son of John D'Avenant, the landlord of the Crown Inn, where Shakespeare lodged in his journeys to and from Stratford The story of Shakespeare's parental relation to D'Avenant was long current in Oxford, and was at times complacently accepted by the reputed son Shakespeare is known to have been a welcouest at John D'Avenant's house, and another son, Robert, boasted of the kindly notice which the poet took of him as a child {265b} It is safer to adopt the less co version which makes Shakespeare the Godfather of the boy William instead of his father But the antiquity and persistence of the scandal belie the assumption that Shakespeare was known to his contemporaries as a man of scrupulous virtue Ben Jonson and Drayton--the latter a Warwickshi+re man--seem to have been Shakespeare's closest literary friends in his latest years

Final settlement at Stratford

At Stratford, in the words of Nicholas Rowe, 'the latter part of Shakespeare's life was spent, as all ood sense ish theirs may be, in ease, retirement, and the conversation of his friends' As a resident in the town, he took a full share of social and civic responsibilities On October 16, 1608, he stood chief Godfather to William, son of Henry Walker, a mercer and alderman On September 11, 1611, when he had finally settled in New Place, his na all the principal inhabitants of Stratford) to a fund that was raised 'towards the charge of prosecuting the bill in Parliahways'

Doed sohters--the eldest, Susanna, hadphysician of Puritan leanings, and in the following February there was born the poet's only granddaughter, Elizabeth Hall On September 9, 1608, the poet's mother was buried in the parish church, and on February 4, 1613, his third brother Richard On July 15, 1613, Mrs Hall preferred, with her father's assistance, a charge of slander against one Lane in the ecclesiastical court at Worcester; the defendant, who had apparently charged the lady with illicit relations with one Ralph Smith, did not appear, and was exconature on Purchase-Deed]

Purchase of a house in Blackfriars

In the same year (1613), when on a short visit to London, Shakespeare invested a small sum of money in a new property This was his last investround-floor of which was a haberdasher's shop, with a yard attached It was situated within six hundred feet of the Blackfriars Theatre--on the west side of St Andrew's Hill, forhbourhood of what is non as Ireland Yard The forht the property for 100 pounds in 1604 Shakespeare in 1613 agreed to pay him 140 pounds The deeds of conveyance bear the date of March 10 in that year {267} Next day, on March 11, Shakespeare executed another deed (now in the British Museum) which stipulated that 60 pounds of the purchase- Michaelmas The money was unpaid at Shakespeare's death In both purchase-deed andothers) Henry Lawrence, 'servant' or clerk to Robert Andrewes, the scrivener who drew the deeds, and Lawrence's seal, bearing his initials 'H L,' was sta, across the head of which Shakespeare wrote his naage-deed--Shakespeare is described as 'of Stratford-on-Avon, in the Countie of Warwick, Gentleman' There is no reason to suppose that he acquired the house for his own residence He at once leased the property to John Robinson, already a resident in the neighbourhood

[Picture: Signature on Mortgage-Deed]

Attempt to enclose the Stratford common fields

With puritans and puritanism Shakespeare was not in sy co his fellonsmen Nevertheless a preacher, doubtless of puritan proclivities, was entertained at Shakespeare's residence, New Place, after delivering a serht serve to illustrate Shakespeare's characteristic placability, but his son-in-law Hall, who avowed sympathy with puritanism, was probably in the main responsible for the civility