The collaborations with Fletcher suggest that Shakespeare's career ended with a slow fade rather than the sudden retirement supposed by the nineteenth-century Romantic critics who read Prospero's epilogue to The Tempest as Shakespeare's personal farewell to his art. In the last few years of his life Shakespeare certainly spent more of his time in Stratford-upon-Avon, where he became further involved in property dealing and litigation. But his London life also continued. In 1613 he made his first major London property purchase: a freehold house in the Blackfriars district, close to his company's indoor theater. The Two Noble Kinsmen may have been written as late as 1614, and Shakespeare was in London on business a little over a year before he died of an unknown cause at home in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616, probably on his fifty-second birthday.
About half the sum of his works were published in his lifetime, in texts of variable quality. A few years after his death, his fellow actors began putting together an authorized edition of his complete Comedies, Histories and Tragedies. It appeared in 1623, in large "Folio" format. This collection of thirty-six plays gave Shakespeare his immortality. In the words of his fellow dramatist Ben Jonson, who contributed two poems of praise at the start of the Folio, the body of his work made him "a monument without a tomb":
And art alive still while thy book doth live
And we have wits to read and praise to give ...
He was not of an age, but for all time!
SHAKESPEARE'S WORKS:
A CHRONOLOGY
1589-91
? Arden of Faversham (possible part authorship) 1589-92
The Taming of the Shrew
1589-92
? Edward the Third (possible part authorship) 1591
The Second Part of Henry the Sixth, originally called The First Part of the Contention betwixt the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster (element of coauthorship possible) 1591
The Third Part of Henry the Sixth, originally called The True Tragedy of Richard Duke of York (element of coauthorship probable) 1591-92
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
1591-92; perhaps revised
1594
The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus (probably cowritten with, or revising an earlier version by, George Peele) 1592
The First Part of Henry the Sixth, probably with Thomas Nashe and others 1592/94
King Richard the Third
1593
Venus and Adonis (poem)
1593-94
The Rape of Lucrece (poem) 1593-1608 Sonnets (154 poems, published 1609 with A Lover's Complaint, a poem of disputed authorship) 1592-94/1600-03
Sir Thomas More (a single scene for a play originally by Anthony Munday, with other revisions by Henry Chettle, Thomas Dekker, and Thomas Heywood) 1594
The Comedy of Errors
1595
Love's Labour's Lost
1595-97
Love's Labour's Won (a lost play, unless the original title for another comedy) 1595-96
A Midsummer Night's Dream
1595-96
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
1595-96
King Richard the Second
1595-97
The Life and Death of King John (possibly earlier) 1596-97
The Merchant of Venice
1596-97
The First Part of Henry the Fourth
1597-98
The Second Part of Henry the Fourth
1598
Much Ado About Nothing
1598-99
The Passionate Pilgrim (20 poems, some not by Shakespeare) 1599
The Life of Henry the Fifth
1599
"To the Queen" (epilogue for a court performance) 1599
As You Like It
1599
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
1600-01
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (perhaps revising an earlier version) 1600-01
The Merry Wives of Windsor (perhaps revising version of 1597-99) 1601
"Let the Bird of Loudest Lay" (poem, known since 1807 as "The Phoenix and Turtle" [turtledove]) 1601
Twelfth Night, or What You Will
1601-02
The Tragedy of Troilus and Cressida
1604
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice
1604
Measure for Measure
1605
All's Well That Ends Well
1605
The Life of Timon of Athens, with Thomas Middleton 1605-06
The Tragedy of King Lear
1605-08
? contribution to The Four Plays in One (lost, except for A Yorkshire Tragedy, mostly by Thomas Middleton) 1606
The Tragedy of Macbeth (surviving text has additional scenes by Thomas Middleton) 1606-07
The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra
1608
The Tragedy of Coriolanus
1608
Pericles, Prince of Tyre, with George Wilkins 1610
The Tragedy of Cymbeline
1611
The Winter's Tale
1611
The Tempest
1612-13
Cardenio, with John Fletcher (survives only in later adaptation called Double Falsehood by Lewis Theobald) 1613
Henry VIII (All Is True), with John Fletcher 1613-14
The Two Noble Kinsmen, with John Fletcher
FURTHER READING
AND VIEWING
CRITICAL APPROACHES
Berry, Ralph, Shakespeare's Comedies: Explorations in Form (1972). Chapter II, "Love and Friendship," offers a still valid, highly critical reading of the play and the character of Valentine, pp. 40-53.
Friedman, Michael D., "The World Must Be Peopled": Shakespeare's Comedies of Forgiveness (2002). Argues that this represents a subgenre of Shakespearean comedy; chapter 2 focuses on the character of Proteus in Two Gents, pp. 41-75.
Gay, Penny, Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare's Comedies (2008). Useful overview of comedies; chapter 3, "Courtly Lovers and the Real World," discusses Two Gents, pp. 35-57.
Leggatt, Alexander, Shakespeare's Comedy of Love (1974). Dated but still relevant introduction to Shakespeare's romantic comedies; chapter 2 on Two Gents.
Mangan, Michael, A Preface to Shakespeare's Comedies 1594-1603 (1996). Useful overview of context and practices of Elizabethan comedy with a short introduction to Two Gents, pp. 129-33.
Mason, Pamela, ed., Shakespeare: Early Comedies Casebook Series (1995). Part 3 on Two Gents: selection of early critical essays including Pope, Johnson, and Hazlitt, plus three more recent studies.
Ryan, Kiernan, Shakespeare's Comedies (2009). Chapter 3, "Dancing Leviathans: The Two Gentlemen of Verona," offers a lively, sympathetic introduction to the play, pp. 39-55.
Schlueter, June, ed., Two Gentlemen of Verona: Critical Essays (1996). Broad range of critical essays from Samuel Johnson and William Hazlitt up to 1996 in Part I; Part II has a shorter section with a selection of reviews of productions from 1821 to Thacker's 1991 RSC production.
THE PLAY IN PERFORMANCE
Carlisle, Carol J., and Patty S. Derrick, "The Two Gentlemen of Verona on Stage: Protean Problems and Protean Solutions," in Shakespeare's Sweet Thunder, ed. Michael J. Collins (1997). Useful stage history of the play.
Holland, Peter, English Shakespeares (1997). Perceptive detailed review of Thacker's RSC production set within the wider context of contemporary Shakespearean performance, pp. 87-91.
Schlueter, June, ed., Two Gentlemen of Verona: Critical Essays (1996). Broad range of critical essays from Samuel Johnson and William Hazlitt up to 1996 in Part I; Part II has a shorter section with a selection of reviews of productions from 1821 to Thacker's 1991 RSC production.
Shapiro, Michael, Gender in Play on the Shakespearean Stage: Boy Heroines and Female Pages (1994). Useful introduction to theatrical cross-dressing; chapter 4, "Bringing the Page Onstage: The Two Gentlemen of Verona," focuses on the role of Julia, pp. 65-91.
Williams
on, Sandra L., and James E. Person, eds., Shakespearean Criticism, vol. 12 (1990). Gives an overview of stage history, reviews, and retrospective accounts of selected productions.
AVAILABLE ON DVD
Two Gentlemen of Verona, directed by Don Taylor for the BBC Television Shakespeare Series (1983, DVD 2005). Entertaining version with Tyler Butterworth as Proteus, Joanna Pearce as Silvia, Tessa Peake-Jones as Julia, John Hudson as Valentine, and Paul Daneman as the Duke of Milan.
REFERENCES
1. Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, Shakespeare in Love (1999), p. 18.
2. Benjamin Victor, The Two Gentlemen of Verona. A Comedy (1763). Advertisement.
3. Victor, The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
4. Charles Beecher Hogan, ed., The London Stage 1660-1800. Part 5: 1776-1800 (1968), p. 694.
5. European Magazine, 1821. Reprinted in June Schlueter, ed., Two Gentlemen of Verona: Critical Essays (1996), p. 233.
6. Saturday Review, 6 July 1895.
7. The Times (London), 30 December 1841.
8. The Times (London), 15 December 1848.
9. The Times, 15 December 1848.
10. George Bernard Shaw, Saturday Review, 6 July 1895, reprinted in Schlueter, Two Gentlemen of Verona, pp. 238-9.
11. Shaw, Saturday Review, reprinted in Schlueter, Two Gentlemen of Verona.
12. Charles H. Shattuck, Shakespeare on the American Stage: From Booth and Barrett to Sothern and Marlowe (1987), p. 89.
13. The Times (London), 20 April 1938.
14. A. B. Walkley, quoted in Schlueter, Two Gentlemen of Verona, pp. 243-4.
15. J. C. Trewin, Shakespeare on the English Stage 1900-1964: A Survey of Productions. (1964), pp. 30-1.
16. The Times (London), 25 April 1910.
17. The Times (London), 16 April 1925.
18. The Times (London), 20 April 1938.
19. Muriel St. Clare Byrne, "The Shakespeare Season at The Old Vic, 1956-57 and Stratford-upon-Avon, 1957," Shakespeare Quarterly 8 (1957), pp. 469-71.
20. Berners W. Jackson, "Shakespeare at Stratford, Ontario, 1975," Shakespeare Quarterly 27 (1976), pp. 25-7.
21. Jackson, "Shakespeare at Stratford, Ontario, 1975."
22. James P. Lusardi, Shakespeare Bulletin 2-3(12-1) (1984/85), p. 13.
23. Guardian, 21 January 1975.
24. The Times (London), 21 February 1975.
25. Jean Peterson, "The Two Gentlemen of Verona," Shakespeare Bulletin 9(1) (1991), pp. 33-4.
26. Evening Standard, 22 August 1996.
27. Time Out, 5 May 2004.
28. What's On, 12 May 2004.
29. Bertocci's script was an internet sensation in 2009, though it has so far remained unproduced. www.runleiarun.com/lebowski/.
30. Anne Barton (1974), quoted in 1992 RSC program.
31. A. Alvarez, "Dark-varnished Comedy," New Statesman LIX (1517), 9 April 1960, p. 518.
32. Alvarez, "Dark-varnished Comedy."
33. Peter Thomson, Shakespeare Survey 24 (1971), p. 120.
34. B. A. Young, Financial Times, 24 July 1970.
35. Gareth Lloyd Evans, Guardian, 24 July 1970.
36. Roger Warren, "Interpretations of Shakespearian Comedy," Shakespeare Survey 35 (1982), pp. 142-3.
37. Rex Gibson, Times Educational Supplement, 3 May 1991.
38. Margaret Ingram, Stratford Herald, 26 April 1991.
39. Russell Jackson, Shakespeare Quarterly 50 (1999), p. 202.
40. Michael Billington, Guardian, 22 October 2004.
41. Patricia Tatspaugh, Shakespeare Quarterly 56 (Winter 2005), p. 477.
42. The Times (London), 6 October 1960.
43. John Russell Brown, Shakespeare Survey 41 (1961), p. 132.
44. Peter Roberts, Plays and Players 17(12) (September 1970), pp. 28-9.
45. Young, Financial Times, 24 July 1970.
46. Eric Shorter, Daily Telegraph, 24 July 1970.
47. Young, Financial Times, 24 July 1970.
48. Harold Hobson, Sunday Times (London), 26 July 1970.
49. Warren, "Interpretations of Shakespearian Comedy," pp. 143-4.
50. Stanley Wells, Times Literary Supplement 4094, 18 September 1981, p. 1071.
51. Claire Armitstead, Financial Times, 19 April 1991.
52. Benedict Nightingale, The Times (London), 19 April 1991.
53. Peter Holland, English Shakespeares (1997), pp. 89-90.
54. Robert Smallwood, Shakespeare Survey 52 (1999), p. 230.
55. Alastair Macaulay, Financial Times, 27 February 1998.
56. Billington, Guardian, 22 October 2004.
57. Brown, Shakespeare Survey 41, p. 129.
58. W. H. W., Birmingham Mail, 6 June 1960.
59. Hobson, Sunday Times, 26 July 1970.
60. Roberts, Plays and Players, p. 28.
61. Chronicle & Echo Northampton, 25 July 1970.
62. John Higgins, The Times (London), 26 August 1981.
63. Nightingale, The Times, 19 April 1991.
64. Margaret Ingram, Stratford Herald, 26 April 1991.
65. Georgina Brown, Mail on Sunday, 22 March 1998.
66. Smallwood, Shakespeare Survey 52 (1999), p. 230.
67. Kate Kellaway, Observer, 24 October 2004.
68. Stanley Wells, RSC theatre program 1992.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND
PICTURE CREDITS
Preparation of "The Two Gentlemen in Performance" was assisted by a generous grant from the CAPITAL Centre (Creativity and Performance in Teaching and Learning) of the University of Warwick for research in the RSC archive at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
Thanks as always to our indefatigable and eagle-eyed copy editor Tracey Day and to Ray Addicott for overseeing the production process with rigor and calmness.
Picture research by Michelle Morton. Grateful acknowledgment is made to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust for assistance with picture research (special thanks to Helen Hargest) and reproduction fees.
Images of RSC productions are supplied by the Shakespeare Centre Library and Archive, Stratford-upon-Avon. This library, maintained by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, holds the most important collection of Shakespeare material in the UK, including the Royal Shakespeare Company's official archive. It is open to the public free of charge.
For more information see www.shakespeare.org.uk.
1. Ada Rehan as Julia (1896-97). Reproduced by permission of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust 2. Directed by Ben Iden Payne (1938). Ernest Daniels (c) Royal Shakespeare Company 3. Directed by Peter Hall (1960). Tom Holte (c) Shakespeare Birthplace Trust 4. Directed by John Barton (1981). Joe Cocks Studio Collection (c) Shakespeare Birthplace Trust 5. Directed by Fiona Buffini (2004). Manuel Harlan (c) Royal Shakespeare Company
6. Directed by Robin Phillips (1970). Tom Holte (c) Shakespeare Birthplace Trust 7. Directed by David Thacker (1991). Joe Cocks Studio Collection (c) Shakespeare Birthplace Trust 8. Directed by Edward Hall (1998). Malcolm Davies (c) Shakespeare Birthplace Trust 9. Reconstructed Elizabethan Playhouse (c) Charcoalblue
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clownish servant actually a quick-witted page boy
the like actually older than Speed and more foolish--the role for the company clown Act 1 Scene 1
1.1 Location: Verona
1.1 Valentine his name signifies a lover (from the patron saint of lovers) 1.1 Proteus from the Greek god known for his ability to change shape at will; a name often used to suggest deceit 2 homely simple/dull
3 affection love/sexual desire
3 tender youthful
7 sluggardized in a state of idleness
8 shapeless purposeless
9 still constantly
12 haply by chance
15 hap chance
16 environ surround
17 Commend thy grievance entrust your unhappiness
18 beadsman person paid to pray for others
19 love-book courtship manual or tale of love
22 Leander ... Hellespont in classical mythology Leander regularly swam across the Hellespont to see his lover Hero, until one night he drowned 24 over-shoes in love shoe-deep/immersed in love
27 give ... boots don't make a fool of me
28 boots profits
31 Coy disdainful
32 watchful wakeful