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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (June 14, 1914)
r : : ' The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page V - fli rtufricasi Sctielar RestoresShaksparHis Characfer i i frofessorWallace'sReroarkable Analysis of 3.000.000 r Documents Which ProveThe Immortal Bard NeverTo Have Been A Roisteri nq,Reckl ess Profligate And Shows Just Where His FamousTheatre Stood ; KaorEsoa oharles william Wallace, or I tho University of Nobraska, has made a remark I.'Sh sAIo series of discoveries In London which throw UHH new light on Shakespoaro's character. They provo tho poet to havo been a good citizen, who took a kindly interest in all who wore associated with him. They also chow that he was a man of high standing In the community, looked up to by.privato persons and officials alike. They dls poso ot Uio ancient legends that ho was a reckless roisterer ,who spent hie days and nights In bibulous carousing with, fellow pooto and neglected his social and civic duties. Documents examined by Professor Wallace establish bo yond question tho site of the Globo Theatre, which was built 3y Shakespeare and his associates. This Is a mattor which has generally .beon misunderstood by English authors and students of Shakespeare. In the course of his investigations, Professor Wallaco, as sisted by his wlfo, has examined nearly 3,000,000 documents In tho Public Record Offlco of London. He is now generally regarded as tho highest living authority on tho events of Shakespeare's life. Ho has found hundreds of documents mentioning Shakespeare's namo which no modern tnvostl , gator has ever aeon. Shakespearean scholars have engaged la endless discussions abou the poet, but it was too much labor to resort to that endless mine of original Information, the Public Record Offlco. . So thorough have been Professor Wallace's labors that ho has examined tho records of the flower Commission for tho Counties of Kent and Surrey since 1599 down to recent times, in order to establish the exact site of Shakeapoaro'a Globe Theatre.' ' Of most human intoreat oro Professor Wallace's researches Into tho private life of Shakospoaro. Peoplo havo always shown a strong tendoncy to dwell on tho moral shortcomings ot Bhakospearo, which thoy kindly suggest must bo over looked on account of the groatness of his genius. Every body recalls that ho was punished for deer stealing in tho park of Sir Thomas Lucy, near Strattord-on-Avon, in his youth, and that as a result ot tills and perhaps other similar 'episodes ho was sent away from homo in disgrace. More Importance has been attachod to these episodes than they in(HBUi) iur uuuuiitoo buojr wom luuutum oulure&KS OI nign- m. -saw7 Interior of flbakeviar'a Globe I v. Theatre, flor.thwork. r I r i spirited youth. .Then thero is a strangely porslstent impression that Interior of Sbakeviar'a Globe Theatre, noMnnoru. Front an Ancient i'rtnt. i i 1 Shakespeare Reading "Hamlet" to Queen Elisabeth and Her Court An Indication of the High Esteem In Which He Was Held. Shakespeare, while in London, was a heavy drinker. Thero is no doubt that many of the Elizabethan poets drank deeply, and several ot them, like Christopher Marlowe and Robert Oreeae, came to a tragic end in consequence ot reckless living. Tho amount of liquor they consumed at the Mormald Tavern and other resorts seems to have fceen very large. Undoubtedly Shakespeare formed one of this merry com pany occasionally. There were no clubs or literary societies in those days, and the only place where a poet could meet his friends and unburden his soul was a tavern or inn. It is indeed curious to find how the drinking tradition dings to Shakespeare's name. The site ot tho house he occupied when ho was lessee of the Globe Theatre is now occupied by a saloon or "public house," as the English now call a tavern. The site which English literary men have wrongly selected as that ot the Globe Theatre Is a modern brewery. All over the country there are inns called "The ikakespeare's Head." .Now, all Professor Wallace's minute researches havs tended to discredit these old prejudices and old legends, and to establish a splendid moral character for tho world's great est dramatist. The manner In which Shakespeare exerted himself to bring about a marriage "between Mary Mountjoy, his landlord's daughter, and young Stephen Dellott, with whom she had had a misunderstanding, shows his kindness of heart and good moral principles. Again and again the records show the remarkably high esteem In which he was' hold by public officials In Southwark, self-important per sons, who would certainly havo had no consideration for a disreputable poet or play-actor. Professor Wallace lays stress on a document left by the commissioners appointed to make an Investigation on the estate of Sir Thomas Brend, the deceased owner ot the knd on which the Globe Theatre stood. This report speaks of the site as being In the occupation of "William Shakespeare and others." "This," writes Professor Wallace, "may fairly be taken aa an Incidental recognition ot Shakespeare's eminence amvtsc official resldonta of the Immediate neighborhood. The commissioners lived thero, close to tho 'glory of tho Bank,' as Ben Jonson called the Globe, and knew the theatre and the genius that presided In It. They were all men ot standing, who apparently knew "Shakes pearo so well for his plays that his name obscured the aiames of hla associates. It was to them, Indeed, Shakespeare's theatre. Their source ot Information was not simply the deeds, none of which thus singles out Shakespeare. It is as if they said: "'We, the undersigned, personally know William Shakespeare, the dramatist, as tho most eminent man among the company who havo recently built the Globo Playhouso In our midst.' " The American scholar then calls attention to a deed of Oct. 7, 1601, which he has found. In this, Nicholas Brend, heir of Sir Thomas, conveys the theatre site in trust to certain persons as security for a debt. The de scription mentions only"Rlchard Burbadge and William Shack spearo gent" as tenants of "the playhouse," the dfewiatlst and the principal actor ot his plays thus both overshadowing the rest of the company even the men who conducted the business affairs ot the theatre. "William Shackspeare gent!" That quaint, naive phrase is eloquent of tho high position the bard held, in Professor Wallace's opinion. It means that he was accorded the so cial rank ot a gentleman, which was a considerable dis tinction in thQ Elizabethan age. That a playwright and actor, of a calling that had hitherto been classed with vagabonds, should receive this distinction is particularly re markable. Chief among the documents that establish the exact and unquestionable location ot the Globe Theatre Is the lease ot February 21, 1699, by Nicholas Brend. the landlord, and by Shakespeare and tour associates, as lessees. In brief, this lease establishes the fact that the Globe The atre was Juat south of the Bankslde, with Dead Man's Place on the east. Horseshoe Alley on the west and Maiden Lane on the south. Tho Bankslde was the name of the southern bank of the Thames, in 8outhwark. just south of the City of London, a location near to the heart ot the city, tut cheap and not desired for dwelling purposes. It must have been a horrible spot, a stretch of mud surrounded by open sewers, a fact mentioned by Ben Jonson. Proving the site of the Globe to be on the noun side of Maiden Lane completely discredits the site which now bears an Imposing Inscription declaring that Shakespeare's the atre stood there. This memorial was placed on the wall of a brewery on the south side of Maiden Lane about four years ago. Sir Beerbohm Tree, Sir James M. Barrle and some of the leading actors, playwrights and public men at England took part in the solemn ceremony of erroneously honoring the brewery. Professor Wallace has found many entries In the records of the Rower Commission that prove the location ot the theatre. For instance, hore is one showing very plainly that it was on tho north side of Maiden Lane, sometimes cauea "Aiaia laxxo 't It is Ordered that Burbldge and Hemlnges and others, the owners of the Playhouse called the Globe In Maid lane shall before the xxth day of Aprill next pull vp and take cleano out ot the Sewar the props or poates well stand vnder thelre bridge on the North side ot Mayd lane vpon palne to tort (olt). xxa This quaint little entry in itself means much to the student ot tho Elizabethan drama. It shows that the audiences cf Shakespeare's theatre had to enter the building by crossing a bridge passing over an open sewer. Other disagreeable experiences awaited them, but they were a robust class. Most of them were herded In the pit of the theatre, where they drank and fought. Noblemen and other persons of qual ity sat on the stage, while the prosperous occupants of the galleries enjoyed the opportunity of throwing things at tho mob In the pit and sometimes at the stage. We must not doubt, however, that many of this hardy race were inspired by high thoughts, for here they listened to "Hamlet" and to nearly all 'the immortal Shakespeare's plays. Young Shakespeare Brought Before Magistrate Lucy for Deer Stealing. One of the Episodes That Have Been Used to Give tho Poet a Profligate Character. Fainting hjr A. Schroder. The Curious Mulberry Wood Statuette of Shakespeare, the Only Known Contemporary Portrait It War Made by Gerard Johnson, Who Lived a Feu Doors from the Globe Theatre When Shakespeare Was Manager,