character of
dramatic history. The man who has read _Hamlet_ understandingly has
found in the young prince a lifelong companion. Has he been unjustly
treated? Hamlet, too, had suffered and hated. Has he loved? So had
Hamlet. Has he had a bosom friend? The most sacred and beautiful of
college friendships was that between Hamlet and Horatio. Has he been
bored by some stupid old adviser? So had Hamlet by Polonius and
similar "tedious old fools." Has he been thrilled by some beautiful
landscape? Hamlet, too, had admired "this goodly frame, the earth" and
the sky, "that majestical roof fretted with golden fire." Has he had a
parent whom he loved and admired? So had Hamlet in his father. Has he
had a friend for whom his love was mixed with shame? So felt Hamlet
toward his mother. Has he felt the pride of a great deed bravely
accomplished? So did Hamlet in dying. Has he felt the shame and
remorse of a duty unperformed? So did Hamlet while his father was
still unrevenged. Has he shuddered at the mystery of death? So had
Hamlet shuddered at "that undiscovered country." Or has he been
racked, as all good men are in practical life, by the doubt as to what
is his duty? So had Hamlet been racked by the same terrible
responsibility. And thus we might go on indefinitely. The {94}
experience of a lifetime is packed into this play. Shakespeare never
surpassed _Hamlet_, though he wrote for nine or ten years after; but
when he had once reached this high level, he maintained it, with only
occasional lapses, to the end.

+Dramatic Technique+.--Lastly, Shakespeare developed greatly in
dramatic technique. By dramatic technique we mean the method in which
the machinery of the story is handled. The dramatist, to do his duty
properly, must accomplish at least five things at once. He must make
his play lifelike and natural; he must keep his hearers well informed
as to what is happening; he must bring in different events after each
other in rapid succession to hold the interest of his audience; he must
make the different characters influence each other so that the whole
becomes one connected story, not several unrelated ones; and he must
make the audience feel that the play is working toward a certain
inevitable end, must bring it to that end, and must then stop. The
lack of any one of these factors may make a play either dull or
disappointing. It takes ability to get any one of these alone. It
takes years of trai