Shakespeare Study Programs; The Comedies — Text and Context

Historical Anchoring in the Opening Excerpts

The opening pages of the program establish a method: each play is introduced with a precise historical or literary context. For The Comedy of Errors, the authors cite the registration of the Plautus translation on June 16, 1594, and the performance record of “twoe severall comedies” before Queen Elizabeth in Christmas week of that year, naming William Kempe, Shakespeare, and Richard Burbage as “servaunts to the Lord Chamberleyn.” This is not mere background; it is a deliberate strategy to ground the reader in the play’s moment of creation. The program thus trains the first-time reader to see the comedies as works embedded in a specific theatrical and literary milieu, not as timeless artifacts.

Queries as a Reading Method

The program’s middle sections are dominated by “Queries for Discussion” that model how to interrogate a play. For A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the authors ask: “Which characters in the play are original with Shakespeare?” and “What is to be thought of Shakespeare for bringing together in one play Greek mythology, English folk-lore, and English workmen of his own age?” These questions do not presume a single correct answer; instead, they invite the reader to consider the play’s deliberate incongruities. The query about whether the commixture of elements makes the play “unnatural or incongruous” or whether it is “skilfully harmonised” by its “dream-like character” pushes the reader to form a personal interpretive stance. This method transforms passive reading into active analysis.

Character and Motive in The Merchant of Venice

The excerpts on The Merchant of Venice show the program’s interest in character psychology and moral ambiguity. The authors ask whether Bassanio is “a fortune hunter” and whether he is “to blame for what follows.” They probe Shylock’s motives: “What reasons had Shylock for hating Anthonio?” and whether Anthonio’s demand that Shylock lend money “as an enemy” justifies the bond’s terms. The program also introduces the historical figure of Dr. Roderigo Lopez, executed in 1594 for allegedly plotting to poison Queen Elizabeth, as a contemporary reference that may have given the play “just enough relevance to be popular without definiteness enough to be obtrusive.” This blend of character analysis and historical context equips the reader to see the play as both a drama of individual choices and a product of its time.

Structure and Symbolism in the Caskets Scene

The program’s treatment of the casket plot in The Merchant of Venice emphasizes structure and symbolism. The authors ask why Jessica’s story is “intertwined with Portia’s” and what dramatic purposes it serves. They note that the choice of gold and silver by the Moor and Spaniard is “significant of their natures,” and they invite the reader to find in “the symbolism and the persuasion to choice each suitor employs” evidence that Portia’s father “has used the wisdom of a seer.” This approach encourages the reader to treat the caskets not as a fairy-tale device but as a meaningful structural element that reveals character and theme. The program thus guides a first reading to attend to how plot mechanics carry thematic weight.

Throughout these excerpts, Porter and Clarke consistently avoid summary or plot recap, instead offering tools for investigation: historical facts, pointed queries, and attention to structure and symbolism. A first-time reader of this program will find not a digest of the plays but a method for engaging with them critically. The program’s value lies in its insistence that the reader do the work of interpretation, guided by questions that are specific enough to be useful and open-ended enough to allow for discovery.

The rain kept pace with my page-turning through Porter and Clarke’s queries on the comedies, their gentle insistence on context making Viola feel suddenly real. Afterwards, I lingered on the shelf and pulled down a worn copy of Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature — Text and Context, finding the same unhurried patience there, as if both books were speaking softly to each other across the years.