Identifier: illustrationsofs00doucrich (find matches)
Title: Illustrations of Shakespeare and of ancient manners : with dissertations on the clowns and fools of Shakespeare ; on the collection of popular tales entitled Gesta Romanorum, and on the English Morris dance
Year: 1839 (1830s)
Authors: Douce, Francis, 1757-1834
Subjects: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 Gesta Romanorum Morris-dance
Publisher: London : Printed for T. Tegg
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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of notstanding in need of spectacles. We have Turks, Bedlambeggars, child Roland, Saint Withold, a Marshal of France,steeples, dollars, paper, holy water, and the French disease.There is an allusion to the old theatrical moralities; and Nero,who did not live till several hundred years after Lear, is men-tioned by Edgar as an angler in the lake of darkness. HAMLET. The Danish history has placed Hamlet in fabulous times,long before the introduction of Christianity into the Northof Europe; and therefore there is great impropriety in thefrequent allusion to Christian customs. Hamlet swears bySaint Patrick; and converses with Guildenstern on the chil-dren of the chapel of Saint Pauls. In several places cannonare introduced, and a good deal of the theatrical manners ofShakspeares own time. We have a Danish seal royal longbefore seals were used; a university at Wittemberg; Swissguards ; Serjeants or bailiffs; bells; ducats ; crown-pieces;modem heraldry; rapiers, and terms of modern fencing.
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DISSERTATION L ON THE CLOWNS AND FOOLS OF SHAKSPEARE. The ensuing dissertation originated from the opinion of alate eminent critic and antiquary that the subject was deserv-ing of particular consideration. How imperfectly it must beexecuted will best be felt by those who are already accustomedto obscure inquiries; and little more can here be offered, orreasonably expected, than some attempt to arrange a fewmaterials that, have occurred during a course of reading im-mediately connected with the history of ancient manners.The critic above alluded to had remarked, that Shakspeare hasmost judiciously varied and discriminated his fools.* Withoutdoubting that great writers capacity to have done so, it cer-tainly remains to be proved that he has; or it might even bemaintained that on some occasions he has left his sketches soimperfect as to render it by no means an easy matter to com-prehend them. It has already been thought better to makethe attempt in a separate note to the plays in which

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