Has _Macbeth_ been abridged? 467
NOTE BB. The date of _Macbeth_. Metrical Tests 470
NOTE CC. When was the murder of Duncan first plotted? 480
NOTE DD. Did Lady Macbeth really faint? 484
NOTE EE. Duration of the action in _Macbeth_. Macbeth's age.
'He has no children' 486
NOTE FF. The Ghost of Banquo 492
INDEX 494
INTRODUCTION
In these lectures I propose to consider the four principal tragedies of
Shakespeare from a single point of view. Nothing will be said of
Shakespeare's place in the history either of English literature or of
the drama in general. No attempt will be made to compare him with other
writers. I shall leave untouched, or merely glanced at, questions
regarding his life and character, the development of his genius and art,
the genuineness, sources, texts, inter-relations of his various works.
Even what may be called, in a restricted sense, the 'poetry' of the four
tragedies--the beauties of style, diction, versification--I shall pass
by in silence. Our one object will be what, again in a restricted sense,
may be called dramatic appreciation; to increase our understanding and
enjoyment of these works as dramas; to learn to apprehend the action and
some of the personages of each with a somewhat greater truth and
intensity, so that they may assume in our imaginations a shape a little
less unlike the shape they wore in the imagination of their creator.
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