and which yet seem to bear the unmistakable marks of his unmistakable pen. These Scenes are the various interviews between Demetrius and Lysander, Hermia and Helena, in Acts II. and III. It is difficult to believe that such lines as, "Do not say so, Lysander; say not so. What though he love your Hermia? Lord what though?” "When at your hands did I deserve this scorn? Is't not enough, is't not enough, young man, That I did never, no, nor never can," &c. Act II. Sc. 1. - it is difficult to believe that these, and many others of a like character which accompany them, were written by Shakespeare after he had produced even Venus and Adonis and the plays mentioned above, and when he could write the poetry of the other parts of this very comedy. There seems, therefore, warrant for the opinion that this Dream was one of the very first conceptions of the young poet; that, living in a rural district where tales of household fairies were rife among his neighbors, memories of these were blended in his youthful reveries with images of the classic heroes that he found in the books which we know he read so eagerly; that perhaps on some midsummer's night he, in very deed, did dream a dream and see a vision of this comedy, and went from Stratford up to London with it partly written; that, when there, he found it necessary at first. to forego the completion of it for labor that would find readier acceptance at the theatre; and that afterward, when he had more freedom of choice, he reverted to his early production, and in 1594 worked it up into the form in which it was produced. It seems to me that, in spite of the silence of the quarto titlepages on the subject, this might have been done, or at least that some additions might have been made to the play, for a performance at Court. The famous allusion to Queen Elizabeth as "a fair vestal throned by the west," tends to confirm me in that opinion. Shakespeare never worked for nothing; and besides, could he, could any man, have the heart to waste so exquisite a compliment as that is, and to such a woman as Queen Elizabeth, by uttering it behind her back? Except in the play itself I have no support for this opinion; but I am willing to be alone in it. Two quarto editions of this play were printed before the date of the first folio, and both in the same year, 1600. James Roberts, a printer, issued one; Thomas Fisher, a publisher, the other. Although they both bear the same date, it is safe to presume that Roberts' edition was first in the field, because as late as October 8, 1600, Fisher entered his copy at Stationers' Hall.* The folio was printed from a copy of Roberts' edition, as we know by the exact repetition of certain errors of the press and arrangements of lines; but that this copy had been used at the theatre for stage purposes and corrected with some care, the folio affords internal evidence in many passages and of various nature, all of which is carefully pointed out in the Notes to this edition. Neither quarto, therefore, is to be regarded in any other light than as an assistant in eliminating such corruptions as may have crept into the folio itself; though Fisher's enables us to correct some errors which were passed over in the copy of the quarto furnished to the printers by Heminge and Condell. The quartos sometimes concur in a reading different from that in the folio; but this is of little moment: it merely shows (unless in the case of a palpable corruption of the press) that in the copy from which the folio was printed, an error was corrected which had appeared in both the previous editions. The presumption is especially in favor of the authorized edition, when we know that it was printed from a copy which had been corrected in Shakespeare's theatre, and probably under his own eye, if not by his own hand. Fortunately all of these editions were printed quite carefully for books of their class at that day; and the cases in which there is admissible doubt as to the reading are comparatively few, and with one or two exceptions, unimportant. The period of the action of this play is exactly that when the slayer of the Minotaur and the Queen of the Amazons narrowly escaped meeting Robin Goodfellow and some other fairies in a wood near Athens; which happened on the night before they saw five Greek clowns play the lamentable comedy of Pyramus and Thisbe in the style of an English Interlude. For the costume that Theseus and Hippolyta and their attendants wore on that occasion the Elgin Marbles are authority, and the woodcut which accompanies the edition of the Merry Pranks already mentioned gives, doubtless, a very accurate representation of * See Extracts of Entries on the Books of the Stationers' Company. Variorum Shakespeare, Vol. II. p. 638. the dress worn by Robin. It consists chiefly, nay entirely, of a broom. When the reader has satisfactorily determined this period and the corresponding costume of all the personages, he will be able, without assistance, to account for or to reconcile various anachronisms and discrepancies as to time which close observation may detect in the play; and he will then, too, be in a proper frame of mind to undertake the task. DRAMATIS PERSONE. THESEUS, Duke of Athens. EGEUS, Father to Hermia. LYSANDER, betrothed to Hermia. DEMETRIUS, once suitor to Helena, now in love with Hermia. PHILOSTRATE, Master of the Revels to Theseus. QUINCE, a Carpenter, Prologue, HIPPOLYTA, Queen of the Amazons, betrothed to Theseus. HERMIA, betrothed to Lysander. HELENA, in love with Demetrius. Other Fairies attending the King and Queen. SCENE: Athens, and a Wood not far from it. (20) A MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM ACT I. - Athens. A Room in the Palace of THESEUS. Enter THESEUS, HIPPOLYTA, PHILOSTRATE, and Attendants. THESEUS. NOW, our happy days bring in TOW, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour Another moon; but, oh, methinks, how slow Long withering out a young man's revenue. Hippolyta. Four days will quickly steep themselves in nights; Four nights will quickly dream away the time; New bent in heaven, shall behold the night Stir up the Athenian youth to merriments; |