Part 6 (1/2)

”When he was here, He did incline to sadness; and oftti why”

This uncaused uishes Romeo, Jaques, Hamlet, Macbeth, and Vincentio is not more characteristic of the Hamlet-Shakespeare nature than the way Posthumus behaves when Iachier Posthumus is convinced almost at once; jumps to the conclusion, indeed, with the heedless rapidity of the nave, sensitive, quick-thinkingin solitude, and not the suspicions and distrust of others which are developed in the market-place One is reminded of Goethe's famous couplet:

”Es bildet ein Talent sich in der Stille, Sich ein Charakter in dem Strom der Welt”

Posthu the lie, he gives Iachi as well, and bursts into a diatribe:

”Let there be no honour Where there's beauty; truth, where semblance; love, Where there's another man,”

and so forth Even Philario, who has no stake in the matter, is infinitely harder to convince:

”Have patience, sir, And take your ring again; 'tis not yet won: It may be probable she lost it”

Then this ”unstable opposite,” Posthuain, but as soon as Iachimo swears that he had the bracelet froain to belief froain Philario will not be convinced He says:

”Sir, be patient, This is not strong enough to be believed Of one persuaded well of--”

But Posthumus will not await the proof for which he has asked He is convinced upon suspicion, as Othello was, and the very ni that probabilities are against hiles him in the snare Even his servant Pisanio will not believe in Ih his master assures him of it Shakespeare does not notice this peculiar imprudent haste of his hero, as he notices, for exaland i was his ohile the hurried stuttering speech was foreign to hiainst women as Hamlet did; as all men do who do not understand them:

”For even to vice They are not constant, but are changing still”

And Posthumus betrays as clearly as ever Ha:

”I'll write against thereater skill In a true hate, to pray they have their will: The very devils cannot plague theainst theainst his dark mistress in Sonnet 140, and every one will admit that it is more in the character of the poet and man of letters than in that of the warrior son-in-law of a half-barbarous king The last line here, because it is a little superfluous, a little emphatic, seems to me likely to have a personal application When Shakespeare's mistress had her will, did she fall to misery, I wonder?

I may be allowed to notice here how intensely characteristic all this play is of Shakespeare In the third scene of the third act, life in the country is contrasted to its advantage with life at Court; and then gold is treated as dirt by the princely brothers--both these, the love of country life, and the conte peculiarities of Shakespeare

When we coain alen has burned itself out He is angry noith Pisanio for having executed his order and en to repent” Surely the poet Shakespeare and not the outraged lover speaks in this epithet, ”noble”

Posthuallant a part in Shakespeare's usual manner He falls into rhyme; he shows the cheap modesty of the conventional hero; he tells of what others did, and nothing of his own feats; Belarius and the two striplings, he says:

”With their own noblenessgilded pale looks”

Unfortunately one is re pale streams with heavenly alchemy”

”Gild” is one of Shakespeare's favourite words; he uses it very often, sometimes indeed as in this case, ineffectively

But the scene which reveals the character of Posthumus beyond all doubt is the prison scene in the fifth act His soliloquy which begins:

”Most welcoe, for thou art a way, I think, to liberty ”--