13.07.2015 Views

R,CHARD MONCKTON MILNES was born in the year - OUDL Home

R,CHARD MONCKTON MILNES was born in the year - OUDL Home

R,CHARD MONCKTON MILNES was born in the year - OUDL Home

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Critics and Criticism <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> 'Seventies 207figure, Shakespeare. For it <strong>was</strong> <strong>in</strong> 1873 that F. J. Furnivallfounded 'The New Shakspere Society' with a wideprogramme but with a special <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> employmentof verse tests to determ<strong>in</strong>e <strong>the</strong> authorship of disputedplays and <strong>the</strong> chronological succession of plays with<strong>in</strong><strong>the</strong> Shakespearean canon. F. G. Fleay <strong>was</strong> <strong>the</strong> chiefapostle of this method, which won Furnivall's enthusiasticsupport. The open<strong>in</strong>g paper <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Society's first volumeof Transactions <strong>was</strong> by Fleay on 'Metrical Tests asapplied to Dramatic Poetry', and <strong>in</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r contributionshe applied this criterion. An article by James Spedd<strong>in</strong>gon <strong>the</strong> shares of Shakespeare and Fletcher <strong>in</strong> K<strong>in</strong>gHenry VIII <strong>was</strong> also based largely on Fletcher's dis-Jictive use of 'double-end<strong>in</strong>gs'; and <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> 'weakjnd<strong>in</strong>gs'of Shakespeare J. K. Ingram developed ano<strong>the</strong>raspect of metrical <strong>in</strong>vestigation.Though <strong>the</strong> Society did o<strong>the</strong>r valuable work, it becamepeculiarly identified with this l<strong>in</strong>e of research, and A. C.Sw<strong>in</strong>burne who <strong>was</strong> at <strong>the</strong> time engaged on his Study ofShakespeare became <strong>in</strong>censed with what he thought <strong>was</strong>an attempt to judge <strong>the</strong> dramatist's work by mechanicalrules. He opened fire with an attack <strong>in</strong> The Exam<strong>in</strong>er(April, 1876) on 'The newest Shakespeare Society'.Furnivall replied with equal asperity, and a long, unedify<strong>in</strong>gcontroversy followed. But <strong>the</strong> 'metrical tests'method, though it may be perversely or un<strong>in</strong>telligentlyapplied, has proved to be a permanent <strong>in</strong>strument ofShakespearean research, and <strong>the</strong> Society's publicationsare still of first-rate value to Elizabethan students.The <strong>in</strong>fluence of Fleay's and Furnivall's <strong>in</strong>vestigations<strong>was</strong> acknowledged by Edward Dowden when <strong>in</strong> 1877 hepublished Shakspere: His M<strong>in</strong>d and Art, which hasthroughout a chronological basis. In this volume heattempted 'to connect <strong>the</strong> study of Shakspere's workswith an <strong>in</strong>quiry after <strong>the</strong> personality of <strong>the</strong> writer, andto observe, as far as is possible, <strong>in</strong> its several stages <strong>the</strong>

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!