est' or
'Winter's Tale,'" "that the relation commonly thought to have existed
between them and Shakspere is precisely reversed."

Let us answer both Teacher and Pupil. Suppose, to follow the Thorndike
method, that "Cymbeline" appeared before "Philaster," that six romances
by Beaumont and Fletcher followed in rapid succession, while only two by
Shakspere appeared, but differing essentially from each other and from
"Philaster." Suppose that "Cymbeline" upon its first night "filled the
audience with surprise and delight," that Beaumont and Fletcher,
perceiving "its dramatic and poetic excellence," copied in "Philaster" a
portion of its plot and attempted to copy some of its characters and
situations. Suppose their experiment with this copy took the crowd by
storm--Isn't it reasonable to suppose that they would repeat the
profitable attempt as many times as the applause warranted? Isn't that
just what they did, repeating and imitating themselves over and over,
until Beaumont died? Does the number of repetitions and imitations
increase the "plausibility" or "likelihood" of the theory that
"Philaster" was the original of the type? If Shakspere found his gain
increasing by copying the fable, character, style, and denouement of
"Philaster," why did he not continue to copy in "The Tempest" and
"Winter's Tale," and why is it impossible for Professor Thorndike to
deny originality to either of these plays, except by his careless error
as to Miranda's "proposal" and the reference to Lady Amelia gathering
flowers at Oxford in 1566? Professor Thorndike's argument comes to this
and only this: If Shakspere wrote "Cymbeline" before Beaumont and
Fletcher wrote "Philaster," then Shakspere was the "creator of the
heroic romances." If the question of priority is doubtful, it is just as
impossible to prove the "plausibility" or "likelihood" of priority as it
is to prove the date. There is no proof, therefore, no presumption,
strong or weak, that "Cymbeline" was influenced by "Philaster" or was a
"copy" of it. But there is proof that Beaumont and Fletcher repeatedly
and habitually imitated Shakspere, and we cite it mostly from Professor
Thorndike's essay.

In "The Two Noble Kinsmen" there is a "distinct imitation of the
circumstances of Ophelia's madness and death in Hamlet." In "The Woman
Hater," assigned conjecturally to 1605 or 1606 by Professor Thorndike,
there are "several burlesque imitations of Hamlet."

In "The Knight of the Burning