After reading some of all classes of Shakespeare's plays, point out his (_a_) breadth of sympathy, (_b_) humor, (_c_) moral ideals, (_d_) mastery of English and variety of style, and (_e_) universality. What idea of his personality can you form from his plays? If you have read them in sequence, point out some of the characteristics of each of his four periods. Why is Shakespeare often called a great dramatic artist? How did his audience and manner of presentation of his plays modify his treatment of a dramatic theme? Ben Jonson and Minor Dramatists.--The best plays of Ben Jonson, Chapman, Beaumont and Fletcher, Middleton, Massinger, Webster, and Tourneur may be found in _Masterpieces of the English Drama_ edited by Schellinq (American Book Company). Selections from all the minor dramatists mentioned may be found in Williams's _Specimens_. The teacher will need to exercise care in assigning readings. Most of the minor dramatists are better suited to advanced students. Read Jonson's _The Alchemist_ or the selection in Williams's _Specimens_. A sufficient selection from _Philaster_ may be found in Vol. II. of _The Oxford Treasury_, in Morley, and in Williams's _Specimens_. What points of difference between Shakespeare and Jonson do you notice? What is his object in _The Alchemist_? Why is its plot called unusually fine? Wherein does Jonson show a decline in the drama? Who were Beaumont and Fletcher? What movement in the drama do they illustrate? What are the characteristics of some other minor dramatists? What are the chief reasons why the minor dramatists fail to equal Shakespeare? When and why did this period of the drama close? FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER IV: [Footnote 1: For additional mention of Elizabethan novelists, see p. 317.] [Footnote 2: For references to selections from all these prose writers, see p. 215.] [Footnote 3: _Of Youth and Age_.] [Footnote 4: Thomas Heywood's _Matin Song_.] [Footnote 5: Suggestions for additional study of Elizabethan lyrics are given on p. 215.] [Footnote 6: riding.] [Footnote 7: _An Hymne in Honour of Beautie_.] [Footnote 8: _Faerie Queene_, Book III., Canto 4.] [Footnote 9: _Ibid_., Book I., Canto 3.] [Footnote 10: Smith's _York Plays_.] [Footnote 11: C.W. Wallace's _The Evolution of the English Drama up to Shakespeare_.] [Footnote 12: Wallace, _op. cit_., p.37.] [Footnote 13: _What We Know of the Elizabethan Stage_.] [Footnote 14: Performances were often given at night in private theaters. From the records in a lawsuit over the second Blackfriars Theater, we learn that there were in 1608 only three private theaters in London,--Blackfriars, Whitefriars, and a St. Paul's Cathedral playhouse, in which boys acted.]