If, as is likely to be the case, the greater part or all of the class
have passed the word "dollars" without notice, that fact serves to
illustrate the need of care in reading. That they should pass it,
moreover, illustrates also how the anachronism might pass unnoticed
in Shakespeare's time, when historical accuracy was the last thing
about which a playwright bothered his head. The teacher may well here
refer back to the idea of considering literature as the algebra of the
emotions, and remind the class that as the poet was not endeavoring
to write history or to tell what happened in a concrete instance, but
only to represent the abstract principle of such a situation as that in
which Macbeth and his wife were involved, a departure from historical
accuracy is of no importance so long as it does not disturb the effect
on the mind of the audience or reader.
No more that thane of Cawdor shall receive
Our bosom interest.—_ii_, 63, 64.
I'll give thee a wind.—_iii_, 11.
The supposed power of the witches to control the winds and the
superstitions of the sailors about buying favorable weather from them
may be taken up in the first reading; but it seems better to leave it
for the time when the effect of the play as a whole has been secured,
and the interruption will be less objectionable.
His wonders and his praises do contend
Which should be thine or his: silenced with that.—_iii_, 63.
That, trusted home.—_iii_, 120.
Poor and single business.—_vi_, 16.
Like the poor cat i' the adage.—_vii_, 45.
It is not necessary to continue this list. Its length is decided by the
one fixed principle to which is no exception: it is too long the moment
the teacher fails to hold the interest of the class in the work which
is being done. No amount of information acquired or skill in passing
examinations can compensate for the harm done by associating the plays
of Shakespeare in the minds of the student with the idea of dulness or
boredom.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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