SHAKESPEARE AND MODERN LIFE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 234, 26 June 1908, Page 4

SHAKESPEARE AND MODERN LIFE.

V LECTURE BY MR. J. W. JOYNT: Tho following is a summary, of tho lecture given by Mr. J. W. Joynt, M.A., iir tho Municipal ; Concert 1 , Hiill,: .on Wednesday oyoning, on "Shakcspearo , and Modern Life.":—";- ' ' Tho lecturer stated .that though Shakcspearo was not the only poet of tho past who continued modern, tho degree to which ho did so gave him a unique position. Cynical writers found in the Shakcspearo boom of to : day a fruitful subject for cheap cyificism. ' They wero not altogether without justification. If thero was on one sido shallow depreciation of Shakespeare, thero was on tho other plenty of unintelligent idolatry and fashion-mpngering. But between tlicso two extremes there was a solid mass of enthusiasm,.a steady'glow of clear-sighted devotion, which to-day practically pervaded all the. civilised nations of tho world. Tolstoy had tried to prove, that all this was a gigantic delusion, a sort oi' obsession to which tho intellectual world had- voluntarily submitted itself. But' his mind, with all its romarkablo ■ powers, ,was cast in a mould which, rendered tho appreciation of Shakespeare impossible to him. Shakespeare did not want either idolatry and sentimentalism on the ,ono sido, or critical eccentricities on the other.Ho wanted ourselves, ,that was, a full surrender of our hearts and brains to his 'influence. ...s.V

Tho lecturer roferred .'.to tho extraordinary vitality and energy of Shakespeare's work; it was a portion of the, movement of life itself into which wo ourselves, howovor modern, could enter, and feel, ourselves lifted up and carried along by it. - Critics might pick out passages of '. inflated ;.;rhotoric, extravagant metaphor, .or overwrought emotion, but they could not "deny tliat'"! t "was alivo. No other dramatist,- moreover, presented - so rich'a variety of personages and phases of lifo. If one would form a. conception of him in his totality, ono 'should not' read at random,' but make a chronological study of his works. Referring to the", hard fate of. many, of Shakespeare's ijirtupus characters, Mr.. Joynt saidthat tho dramatist-know, as well as wo knew, that in this, world at least vice is often triumphant' over virtue. In the Greek drama moral knots 'wero often untied by-tho intervention of a deity, but ; no such "dous ox . machina". was known to Shake-speare;.'What:-solution,''th'oii, did he offer? Tho answer was nono. No system of ethical jurisprudence could explain tho spectacle of Cordelia . being strangled across tho . breast of Lear; or of Othello writhing in his helpless agony,, or of tho questionings of Hamlot, silenced by death. Ours was ail age which demanded specific .answers to everything. But Shakespeare was merciless to such'.methods. supremo lesson, which camo liimj down tho ages, was that' in tho presence'.'of the insolublo our business was to possess our souls in patience,- and bo still. The lecturer gavo a long list of; quotations, not for the purposo of elucidating Shakespeare's own opinions on definite points, which it was. difficult to do, but' to show the extent, to which' his language bad become grafted in our, every-day speech. He also referred to the ; songs,,almost all of which had been set to music and wero still sung-., . .. 5 .., No. aspect of"Shakesp'earo's work was more 'interesting l than his conception of women. Into, his femalo characters ho put all his wit, his tenderness, his delicacy, and his insight. Ho lived in them, 'they grew with his growth,. :and as his art developed in subtlety and depth, they, more than any other class of. personages, shared in this development. It was true _ that ho knew nothing of the woman question, as it sounded loud our . oars .to-day, and wo did not . know what he'' would have said 'or thought of tho suffragettes. It was romarkablo that in tho instances in .which;.'.he represented -women as taking tho -leaderships oUti; of Aho hands of vacillating husbands—namely, Lady Macbeth and tho two older daughters of King Lear—the purposes wero cruel and bloody. It would, 'howover,, bo ridiculous to credit Shakcspearo from theso examples with the opinion that" woman's leadership must be in tho direction of iniquity. ■ His prevailing types of womanhood, were quito different from .theso, ';> Tho tendency of tho-present day was towards city life, and away from tho country , Shakespeare : had left littlo doubt of the choice of his hoart in this matter, although, as' tho poet of humanity,'the' stir and crowds* 0 .'tho'town wero as .the breath lifo. His pictures;.,of. the : country were warmed with the glow of a sympathetic heart, and ho . felt intensely the, simplo jovs which ho Modern criticism had tried hard to equip Shakespeare witli a definite political creed. _ Sano, criticism recognised that of politics in our sonso lie knew nothing,, and that, if lie had known even a- little, lie ."would I)&ve eared 'loss. . His politics amounted to, no more than-a- conviction that, to maintain tho greatness of a nation, there was need of an ordered and settled government. ;. Tho-, .reaction -which 'followed": tlio Wars of-.the ; Roses'bred, this tompor .''in' him.-:-' Of: his "confemi)f,::for. tho fickleness' of mobs ho-mado no secret, and of the dreams l of, Utopiarf cbmnioiiwealth builders we had an amusing burlesquo in tho "Tempest." In industrial life he did not seem to have taken any interest. Industrialism in his day had not attained sufficient proportions to furnish materials for serious drama, and so wo found that humblo folk woro only used by Shakespeare ; as material for-comedy. But if Shakcspearo . had no message, no political class or party-, ho was a largo inspiring influeneo in all that tends to national greatness. '

And so, too, with our churches and schools of religious thought.- Different parties, oach to .their own satisfaction, had proved him to Have been an Anglican, a Puritan, a Catholic, a Positivist, an Agnostic, and a Freethinker. Poor man! His religion probably amounted to. (what had been ascribed to ono of his characters) a "largo, round, incurious trust in God." Ho was probably able to maintain-this,.attitude, oven through the soul-shaking 'upheaval of tho'tragedies, when the foundations of tho moral world seemed to be sinking. ' Ho had his soarchings and his questionings in "Hamlot," yet even Hamlot was scarcely sceptical of God. But on tho great theological questions that divido Christendom to-day the oracle 'was dumb.

Again, Shakospearo n;as full of tho graces and'ecstasies-of-life. L He had always tho fino touch of the gentleman. Tho violation of tho rules of tact and courtesy was regarded ais an outrage. . Ho might bo pardoned for applying this lesson to a young country,- y/hero tho delicate, unwritten laws of human-'intercourse' wero in 'somo danger of/being ignored. In Shakespeare we'found also tenderness and roverenco for old ago. In! an ago liko ours, which is rent by divisions, social, political, and religious, it would ho well also if we could catch somo of his" large, humorous tolerance. This did not mean .thatvwo: should sacrifice our .intense conviction; /but that wo should try to riso to a conception of "life as a whole. Lastly, perhaps his .most subtlo and pervading influence was tho breezy and open-air effect of tho whole. What was wanted to-day was a now literary birth, a fresh start, based on a broader and freer interpretation of life. "Back to Shakespeare" might not bo a bad rallying cr.v for a new movemont, to. be inaugurated with tho 20th century. Not. only would our literature bo purified and rejuvenated, but our lives would . becomo fresher and more buoyant, tho pressure of practical problems would bo lightened, and our lovo to God and man would bo broadoncd and sweetened.

A hearty voto of thanks was accorded to ilio lecturer for his address.

Wo all think that tho way wo live is tho way ovory sensiblo porson ought to livo, oven if wo. aro obviously killing ourselves by it. Tho over-eater dies of apoplexy, and tho under-eator of promaturo decay. Which is sad, but which prevents them from trying to murdor others by bad advico.—"Daily Mirror." "We'll cut tho Panama Canal!" Said Undo Sam. "You'll sco we shall! Wo shall; no sham; As sure's I am Tho boss tobacco-chewer, But during Winter lime, I guess, For coughs and coldn wo can't do less Than easo tho workman's wheezincsa With Woods' Groat Peppermint Cure."- 15