A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature Part 42

SECOND PERIOD--1596-1601-2 MERCHANT OF VENICE (1594)--Italian novels, _Gesta Romanorum_, and earlier plays.

MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1595)--North's _Plutarch_, Chaucer, Ovid.

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL (1595)--Painter's _Palace of Pleasure_.

TAMING OF THE SHREW (1596?)--Old play retouched, and _Supposes_ of G. Gascoigne, Shakespeare's in part only.

HENRY IV. 1 and 2 (1597?)--Holinshed and earlier play.

MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR (1597-8)--Italian novels (?).

HENRY V. (1599).

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (1599)--Partly from Italian.

AS YOU LIKE IT (1599)--Lodge's _Rosalynde, Euphues' Golden Legacie_.

TWELFTH NIGHT (1599)--B. Riche's _Apolonius and Silla_.

THIRD PERIOD--1602-1608 JULIUS CaeSAR (1601)--North's _Plutarch_.

HAMLET (1601-2)--Belleforest's _Histoires Tragiques_.

TROILUS AND CRESSIDA (1603?)--Probably Chaucer's _Troilus and Cresseide_ and Chapman's _Homer_.

OTh.e.l.lO (1604)--Cinthio's _Hecatommithi_.

MEASURE FOR MEASURE (1604?)--Cinthio's _Epithia_.

MACBETH (1605-6?)--Holinshed.

LEAR (1606)-- do.

TIMON OF ATHENS (1607?)--_Palace of Pleasure_ and Plutarch written with G. Wilkins (?) and W. Rowley (?).

PERICLES (1607-8)--Gower's _Confessio Amantis_, with G. Wilkins (?).

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA (1608)--North's _Plutarch_.

CORIOLa.n.u.s (1608)-- do.

FOURTH PERIOD--1608-1613 CYMBELINE (1610-11?)--Holinshed and _Ginevra_ in Boccaccio's _Decamerone_.

WINTER'S TALE (1610-11)--Green's _Dorastus and Fawnia_.

TEMPEST (1611?)--S. Jourdain's _Discovery of the Bermudas_.

HENRY VIII. (1612-13)--Draft by S. completed by Fletcher and perhaps Ma.s.singer.

POEMS VENUS AND ADONIS (1593).

RAPE OF LUCRECE (1594).

SONNETS (1591-94?).

The evidence as to chronology is three-fold--(1) External, such as entries in registers of Stationers' Company, contemporary references, or details as to the companies of actors; (2) External and internal combined, such as references in the plays to events or books, etc.; (3) Internal, content and treatment, progressive changes in versification, presence of frequency of rhyme, etc. The genius of S. was so intensely dramatic that it is impossible to say confidently when he speaks in his own character. The sonnets, written probably 1591-94 have, however, been thought to be of a more personal nature, and to contain indications as to his character and history, and much labour and ingenuity have been expended to make them yield their secrets. It is generally agreed that they fall into two sections, the first consisting of sonnets 1 to 126 addressed to a young man, probably Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, the friend and patron of S., and 9 years his junior; and the second from 127 to 154 addressed or referring to a woman in whose snares the writer had become entangled, and by whom he was betrayed. Some, however, have held that they are allegorical, or partly written on behalf of others, or that the emotion they express is dramatic and not personal.

There are contemporary references to S. which show him to have been generally held in high regard. Thus Ben Jonson says, "I loved the man, and do honour to his memory, on this side idolatry, as much as any," and Chettle refers to "His demeanour no lesse civil than exelent in the qualities he professes." The only exception is a reference to him in Greene's _Groat's-worth of Wit_, as "an upstart crow beautified with our feathers, that with his tyger's heart wrapt in a player's hide supposes he is as well able to b.u.mbast out a blanke verse as the best of you ...

and is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a countrie." He is said to have written rapidly and with facility, rarely requiring to alter what he had set down. In addition to his generally received works, others have been attributed to him, some of which have been already mentioned: the only two which appear to have serious claims to consideration are _The Two n.o.ble Kinsmen_, partly by Fletcher, and _Edward III._, of which part of Act I. and the whole of Act II. have been thought to be Shakespeare's.

On the other hand a theory has been propounded that none of the plays bearing his name were really his, but that they were written by Bacon (_q.v._). This extraordinary view has been widely supported, chiefly in America, and has been sometimes maintained; with considerable ability and misplaced ingenuity.

SUMMARY.--_B._ 1564, _ed._ at Stratford School, _f._ falls into difficulties _c._ 1577, _m._ Ann Hathaway 1582, goes to London end of 1585, finds employment in theatres and acts in chief companies of the time, first in "The Theatre" afterwards the "Rose," the "Curtain," the "Globe" and "Blackfriars," appearing in Jonson's _Every Man in his Humour_ and _Seja.n.u.s_. _Venus and Adonis_, _Lucrece_, earlier plays, and perhaps most of sonnets _pub._ by 1595, when he was friend of Southampton and known at Court, purchases New Place at Stratford, falls into trouble _c._ 1600, having lost friends in Ess.e.x's conspiracy, and has unfortunate love affair; emerges from this into honour and peace, retires to Stratford and _d._ 1616. Productive period _c._ 1588-1613, 4 divisions, first (1588-96), second (1596-1601), third (1601-1608), fourth (1608-1613). Of 37 plays usually attributed, only 16 _pub._ in his life.

As might have been expected, there is a copious literature devoted to Shakespeare and his works. Among those dealing with biography may be mentioned Halliwell Phillipps's _Outline of the Life of Shakespeare_ (7th ed., 1887), Fleay's _Shakespeare Manual_ (1876), and _Life of Shakespeare_ (1886). _Life_ by S. Lee (1898), Dowden's _Shakespeare, his Mind and Art_ (1875), Drake's _Shakespeare and his Times_ (1817), Thornberry's _Shakespeare's England_ (1856), Knight's _Shakespeare_ (1843). _See_ also Works by Guizot, De Quincey, Fullom, Elze, and others.

Criticisms by Coleridge, Hazlitt, Swinburne, T.S. Baynes, and others.

Concordance by Mrs. Cowden Clarke. Ed., Rowe (1709), Pope (1725), Theobald (1733), Johnson (1765), Capell (1768), Steevens's improved re-issue of Johnson (1773), Malone (1790), Reed's _1st Variorum_ (1803), _2nd Variorum_ (1813), _3rd Variorum_ by Jas. Boswell the younger (1821), Dyce (1857), Staunton (1868-70), Camb. by W.G. Clark and Dr. Aldis Wright (1863-66), Temple (ed. I. Gollancz, 1894-96), _Eversley Shakespeare_ (ed.

Herford, 1899).

SHARP, WILLIAM ("FIONA MACLEOD") (1856-1905).--Wrote under this pseudonym a remarkable series of Celtic tales, novels, and poems, including _Pharais, a Romance of the Isles_, _The Mountain Lovers_, _The Sin-Eater_ (1895), _The Washer of the Ford_, and _Green Fire_ (1896), _The Laughter of Peterkin_ (1897), _The Dominion of Dreams_ (1899), _The Divine Adventure_ (1900), _Drostan and Iseult_ (1902). He was one of the earliest and most gifted promoters of the Celtic revival. In verse are _From the Hills of Dream_, _Through the Ivory Gate_, and _The Immortal Hour_ (drama). Under his own name he wrote _Earth's Voices_, _Sospiri di Roma_, _Sospiri d'Italia_, poems, and books on Rossetti, Sh.e.l.ley, Browning, and Heine; also a few novels.

SHAW, HENRY WHEELER ("JOSH BILLINGS") (1818-1885).--Humorist, _b._ in Ma.s.sachusetts. After working on steam-boats and farming, he became an auctioneer, and settled at Poughkeepsie. Stripped of the fantastic spelling by which he first succeeded in catching the public attention, the shrewd and droll maxims of his _Farmers' Allminax_ have something in common with Franklin's _Poor Richard_. Other books with the same features are _Josh Billings' Sayings_, _Everybody's Friend_, _Josh Billings' Trump Kards_, etc.

Sh.e.l.lEY, MRS. MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT (G.o.dWIN) (1797-1851).--Novelist, _b._ in London, the only child of William G.o.dwin (_q.v._) and Mary Wollstonecraft, his wife (_q.v._). In 1814 she went to the Continent with P.B. Sh.e.l.ley (_q.v._), and _m._ him two years later. When abroad she saw much of Byron, and it was at his villa on the Lake of Geneva that she conceived the idea of her famous novel of _Frankenstein_ (1818), a ghastly but powerful work. None of her other novels, including _The Last Man_ and _Lodore_, had the same success. She contributed biographies of foreign artists and authors to Lardner's _Cabinet Cyclopaedia_, and ed.

her husband's poems.

Sh.e.l.lEY, PERCY BYSSHE (1792-1822).--Poet, _s._ of Sir Timothy S., was _b._ at Field Place, near Horsham, Suss.e.x, and _ed._ at Brentford, Eton, and Univ. Coll., Oxf., whence for writing and circulating a pamphlet, _The Necessity of Atheism_, he was expelled. One immediate result of this was a difference with his _f._, which was deepened into a permanent breach by his marriage in the following year to Harriet Westbrook, the pretty and lively _dau._ of a retired innkeeper. The next three years were pa.s.sed in wandering about from place to place in Ireland, Wales, the Lake District, and other parts of the kingdom, and in the composition of _Queen Mab_ (1813), the poet's first serious work. Before the end of that period he had separated from his wife, for which various reasons have been a.s.signed, one being her previous desertion of him, and the discovery on his part of imperfect sympathy between them; the princ.i.p.al one, however, being that he had conceived a violent pa.s.sion for Mary Wollstonecraft G.o.dwin (_see_ Sh.e.l.ley, Mrs. M.W.), _dau._ of William G.o.dwin (_q.v._), with whom he eloped to Italy in 1814, and whom he _m._ in 1816, his first wife having drowned herself. The custody of his two children, whom he had left with their mother, was refused him by the Court of Chancery. In Switzerland he had made the acquaintance of Byron, with whom he afterwards lived in intimacy in Italy. Returning to England in 1815 he wrote his first really great poem, _Alastor_ (1816), followed by the _Hymn to Intellectual Beauty_, _Prince Athanase_, _Rosalind and Helen_, and _Laon and Cythna_, afterwards called the _Revolt of Islam_ (1817). In 1818 he left England never to return, and went to Italy, and in the next two years--while at Rome--produced his two greatest works, the tragedy of _The Cenci_ (1819) and _Prometheus Unbound_ (1820). He removed to Venice in 1820 in the company of Byron, and there wrote _Julian and Maddalo_, a poetic record of discussions between them.

_Epipsychidion_, _h.e.l.las_, and _Adonais_, a lament for Keats, were all produced in 1821. After a short residence at Pisa he went to Lerici on the Gulf of Spezzia, where he indulged in his favourite recreation of boating, and here on July 8, 1823, he went, in company with a friend, Mr.

Williams, on that fatal expedition which cost him his life. His body was cast ash.o.r.e about a fortnight later, and burnt, in accordance with the quarantine law of the country, on a pyre in the presence of Byron, Leigh Hunt, and Trelawny. His ashes were carefully preserved and buried in the Protestant cemetery at Rome near those of Keats. The character of S. is a singularly compounded one. By the unanimous testimony of his friends, it was remarkable for gentleness, purity, generosity, and strong affection: on the other hand he appears to have had very inadequate conceptions of duty and responsibility, and from his childhood seems to have been in revolt against authority of every kind. The charge of Atheism rests chiefly on _Mab_, the work of a boy, printed by him for private circulation, and to some extent repudiated as personal opinion. As a poet he stands in the front rank: in lyrical gift, shown in _Prometheus_, _h.e.l.las_, and some of his shorter poems, such as "The Skylark," he is probably unsurpa.s.sed, and in his _Cenci_ he exhibits dramatic power of a high order. Among his shorter poems are some which reach perfection, such as the sonnet on "Ozymandias," "Music when soft voices die," "I arise from dreams of thee," "When the lamp is shattered," the "Ode to the West Wind," and "O world! O life! O time!" During his short life of 30 years he was, not unnaturally, the object of much severe judgment, and his poetic power even was recognised by only a few. Posterity has taken a more lenient view of his serious errors of conduct, while according to his genius a s.h.i.+ning place among the immortals.

The best ed. of the _Works_ is that of Buxton Forman (4 vols.). There are ed. of the Poems by W.M. Rossetti (1894), Dowden (1891), etc. _Lives_ by Medwin (1847), J.A. Symonds (1887), W.M. Rossetti, Prof. Dowden, T.

Jefferson Hogg, and others.

SHENSTONE, WILLIAM (1714-1763).--Poet, _s._ of Thomas S., owner of a small estate at Hales Owen, Shrops.h.i.+re. At this place, called the Leasowes, the poet was _b._ In 1732 he went to Oxf. On his father's death he retired to the Leasowes where he pa.s.sed his time, and ran through his means in transforming it into a marvel of landscape gardening, visited by strangers from all parts of the kingdom. The works of S. consist of poems and prose essays. Of the former two, _The Schoolmistress_, a humorous imitation of Spenser, with many quaint and tender touches, and the _Pastoral Ballad_ in four parts, perhaps the best of its kind in the language, survive. The essays also display good sense and a pointed and graceful style. The last years of S. were clouded by financial embarra.s.sments and perhaps also by disappointed affections. After his death his works, were _coll._ and _pub._ by Dodsley.

SHERIDAN, RICHARD BRINSLEY (1751-1816).--Dramatist and orator, _b._ in Dublin, the _s._ of an actor, was _ed._ at Harrow. In 1772 he eloped with Miss Linley, a famous singer, went with her to France, fought two duels, and _m._ her in 1773. S. has a reputation of the highest in two distinct walks, those of the dramatist and the Parliamentary orator. By his three great comedies, _The Rivals_ (1775), _The School for Scandal_ (1777), and _The Critic_ (1779), he raised himself to the first place among the writers of the comedy of manners; and by his speeches, specially those in support of the impeachment of Warren Hastings, he has a position among the greatest of Parliamentary orators. Unfortunately he had little turn for business, and too great a love of pleasure and conviviality, which led to lifelong pecuniary embarra.s.sment, completed by the destruction by fire of Drury Lane Theatre, of which he had become proprietor. As a politician S. supported the Whig party, and held the offices of Under-Sec. for Foreign Affairs, Sec. to the Treasury, and Treasurer of the Navy. He was also confidential adviser to George IV. when Prince of Wales, but like everybody else who had to do with him suffered from the ingrat.i.tude of "the first gentleman in Europe." The accounts long prevalent of the poverty and misery of his last years have been shown to be greatly exaggerated, though he was in reduced circ.u.mstances. As a dramatist S. s.h.i.+nes in the construction of amusing situations, and in a sparkling flow of witty dialogue which never flags. His only other play was _Pizarro_ (1799), a patriotic melodrama.

_Lives_ by Walkins (1817), T. Moore (1825), and Mrs. Oliphant (1883).

SHERLOCK, WILLIAM (1641?-1707).--Divine and controversialist, _b._ at Southwark, _ed._ at Eton and Camb., took orders, and became in 1684 Master of the Temple, and in 1691 Dean of St. Paul's. He exercised a powerful influence in the Church. His most popular work was his _Discourse concerning Death_, and his princ.i.p.al controversial effort was his _Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity_. Other works were on _Future Judgment_ and on _The Divine Providence_. His son, THOMAS SHERLOCK (1678-1761), who was also Master of the Temple, became Bishop successively of Bangor, Salisbury, and London, and was, like his _f._, a noted controversialist. His best known work is his _Tryal of the Witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus_ (1729).

SHERWOOD, MRS. MARY MARTHA (b.u.t.t) (1775-1851).--Writer of children's books, _m._ in 1803 Captain H. Sherwood, and went to India, where she took much interest in soldiers' children. Among her books, many of which attained great popularity, are _Susan Gray_, _Little Henry and his Bearer_, and _The Fairchild Family_.

s.h.i.+RLEY, JAMES (1596-1666).--Dramatist, _b._ in London, _ed._ at Merchant Taylor's School, London, and at Oxf. and Camb., became a master of St.

Alban's Grammar School, and afterwards joined the Roman Catholic Church, and going to London wrote for the stage, producing 39 plays. His talents and his religion recommended him to Queen Henrietta Maria, and he appears to have led a fairly prosperous life until the interdict of plays by Parliament in 1642. In the Civil War he bore arms on the Royalist side, and during the Commonwealth he returned to his occupation of schoolmaster. The Restoration does not appear to have improved his fortunes much; he was burnt out in the great fire of 1666, and very soon afterwards he and his wife _d._ on the same day. The plays of S. include _The Traitor_ (1631), _The Cardinal_ (1641), _The Gamester_ (1633), _Hyde Park_ (1632), and _The Lady of Pleasure_ (1635). He also wrote poems, including the well-known lines beginning "The Glories of our mortal State." S. has fancy, liveliness, and the style of a gentleman, but he lacks depth and interest. He is less gross than most of his contemporaries.

Other plays are _The Ball_ (1632), _The Maid's Revenge_ (1626), _The Grateful Servant_ (1629), _Bird in a Cage_ (1633), _The Example_ (1634).

_The Constant Maid_ (_c._ 1640), _Doubtful Heir, or Rosania_ (1640), _Court Secret_ (1653), _Contention of Ajax and Ulysses_ (1659), etc.

SHORTHOUSE, JOSEPH HENRY (1834-1903).--Novelist, _b._ at Birmingham, where he was a chemical manufacturer. Originally a Quaker, he joined the Church of England. His first, and by far his best book, _John Inglesant_, appeared in 1881, and at once made him famous. Though deficient in its structure as a story, and not appealing to the populace, it fascinates by the charm of its style and the "dim religious light" by which it is suffused, as well as by the striking scenes occasionally depicted. His other novels, _The Little Schoolmaster Mark_, _Sir Percival_, _The Countess Eve_, and _A Teacher of the Violin_, though with some of the same characteristics, had no success comparable to his first. S. also wrote an essay, _The Platonism of Wordsworth_.

SIBBES, RICHARD (1577-1635).--Divine, was at Camb., where he held various academic posts, of which he was deprived by the High Commission on account of his Puritanism. He was the author of several devotional works expressing intense religious feeling--_The Saint's Cordial_ (1629), _The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax_, etc. He was a man of great learning.

SIDNEY, or SYDNEY, ALGERNON (1622-1683).--Political writer, _s._ of the 2nd Earl of Leicester, and grand-nephew of Sir Philip S., in his youth travelled on the Continent, served against the Irish Rebels, and on the outbreak of the Civil War, on the side of the Parliament. He was one of the judges on the trial of Charles I., and though he did not attend, he thoroughly approved of the sentence. He opposed the a.s.sumption of the supreme power by Cromwell. After the Restoration he lived on the Continent, but receiving a pardon, returned in 1677 to England. He, however, retained the republican principles which he had all his life advocated, fell under the suspicion of the Court, and was in 1683, on the discovery of the Rye House Plot, condemned to death on entirely insufficient evidence, and beheaded on Tower Hill, December 7, 1683.

Though no charge of personal venality has been substantiated, yet it appears to be certain that he received money from the French King for using his influence against war between the two countries, his object being to prevent Charles II. from obtaining command of the war supplies.

S. was deeply versed in political theory, and wrote _Discourses concerning Government_, _pub._ in 1698.

SIDNEY, SIR PHILIP (1554-1586).--Poet and romancist, _s._ of Sir Henry S., Deputy of Ireland, and Pres. of Wales, _b._ at the family seat of Penshurst, and _ed._ at Shrewsbury School and Oxf. He was at the French Court on the fateful August 24, 1572--the ma.s.sacre of St.

Bartholomew--but left Paris soon thereafter and went to Germany and Italy. In 1576 he was with his _f._ in Ireland, and the next year went on missions to the Elector Palatine and the Emperor Rudolf II. When his father's Irish policy was called in question, he wrote an able defence of it. He became the friend of Spenser, who dedicated to him his _Shepherd's Calendar_. In 1580 he lost the favour of the Queen by remonstrating against her proposed marriage with the Duke of Anjou. His own marriage with a _dau._ of Sir Francis Walsingham took place in 1583. In 1585 he was engaged in the war in the Low Countries, and met his death at Zutphen from a wound in the thigh. His death was commemorated by Spenser in his _Astrophel_. S. has always been considered as the type of English chivalry; and his extraordinary contemporary reputation rested on his personal qualities of n.o.bility and generosity. His writings consist of his famous pastoral romance of _Arcadia_, his sonnets _Astrophel and Stella_, and his _Apologie for Poetrie_, afterwards called _Defence of Poesie_. The _Arcadia_ was originally written for the amus.e.m.e.nt of his sister, afterwards Countess of Pembroke, the "Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother," of Ben Jonson. Though its interest now is chiefly historical, it enjoyed an extraordinary popularity for a century after its appearance, and had a marked influence on the immediately succeeding literature. It was written in 1580-81 but not _pub._ until 1590, and is a medley of poetical prose, full of conceits, with occasional verse interspersed. His _Defence of Poesie_, written in reply to Gosson (_q.v._), is in simple and vigorous English. S. also made a translation of the Psalms.

_Poems_ ed. by Grosart, _Apologie_ by Arber and others, _Astrophel_ by Gray, Arber, and others. _Life_ by Fulke Greville (1652), ed. by Sir E.