this spirit of unbroken
content as time wears on. Putting aside the historical plays, in which
Shakspere was much more bound down by his subject-matter than in any
other species of drama, we find the comedies, in which his room for
expression of individual feeling was practically unlimited, gradually
losing their unalloyed hilarity, and deepening down into a sadness of
thought and expression that sometimes leaves a doubt whether the plays
should be classed as comedies at all. Shakspere has been more and more
in contact with the disputes and doubts of the educated men of his time,
and seeds have been silently sowing themselves in his heart, which are
soon to bring forth a plenteous harvest in the great tragedies of which
these semi-comedies, such as "All's Well that Ends Well" and "Measure
for Measure," are but the first-fruits.

124. Thus, when next we find Shakspere dealing with questions relating
to supernaturalism, the tone is quite different from that taken in his
earlier work. He has reached the second period of his thought upon the
subject, and this has cast its attendant gloom upon his writings. That
he was actually battling with questions current in his time is
demonstrated by the way in which, in three consecutive plays, derived
from utterly diverse sources, the same question of ghost or devil is
agitated, as has before been pointed out. But it is not merely a point
of theological dogma which stamps these plays as the product of
Shakspere's period of scepticism, but a theory of the influence of
supernatural beings upon the whole course of human life. Man is still
incapable of influencing these unseen forces, or bending them to his
will; but they are now no longer harmless, or incapable of anything but
temporary or trivial evil. Puck might lead night wanderers into
mischance, and laugh mischievously at the bodily harm that he had caused
them; but Puck has now disappeared, and in his stead is found a
malignant spirit, who seeks to laugh his fiendish laughter over the soul
he has deceived into destruction. Questions arise thick and fast that
are easier put than answered. Can it be that evil influences have the
upper hand in this world? that, be a man never so honest, never so pure,
he may nevertheless become the sport of blind chance or ruthless
wickedness? May a Hamlet, patiently struggling after truth and duty, be
put upon and abused by the darker powers? May Macbeth, who would fain do
right, were not evil so e