Pestle" (1607-1608) there are burlesque
imitations of passages in "Henry IV." and in "Romeo and Juliet."

In "Philaster" occurs this line:

"Mark but the King, how pale he looks with fear,"

--a distinct parody of the similar line in "Hamlet"; but it will be
remarked that Professor Thorndike calls it an "echo," not an imitation.

In "The Woman's Prize," improbably assigned to 1604, the whole play is
imitated from "The Taming of the Shrew,"--is in fact an attempted sequel
to it, and Professor Thorndike wanders from chronology to indulge a
sneer, by the remark that "The Woman's Prize" was "very well liked,"
the "Taming of the Shrew" only "liked." Possibly that was because then,
as now, some people preferred imitations.

In "The Woman's Prize," there is also a burlesque on "Hamlet" and a
parody on "King Lear." In "The Triumph of Death" these lines occur:--

"No, take him dead drunk now, without repentance,
His lechery enseamed upon him,"

and Professor Thorndike says "it sounds like a bit from an old revenge
play." It is a distinct imitation from "Hamlet" where the King is seen
at his prayers.

In the "Scornful Lady" there is one certain and one possible slur at
"Hamlet."

In "Cupid's Revenge" there is an imitation from "Antony and Cleopatra."

In "Philaster" Arethusa imitates Lear when he awakens from insanity to
consciousness.

Upon the Wendell-Thorndike theory, we have a few undisputed facts
bearing upon the "plausibility" of the conclusion that Beaumont and
Fletcher "influenced" Shakspere, the likelihood that "Philaster" was the
original, "Cymbeline" the "copy." Shakspere at the age of forty-six,
long after he had portrayed the real insanity of Lear, the simulated
insanity of Hamlet, the confessional dream of Lady Macbeth; long after
he had "filled the audience with surprise and delight" by the romantic
realities of Hero and Portia, of Viola and Rosalind; years after he had
anticipated the heroic "romance" in the romantic adventures of Marina;
long after he had depicted the heroic triumph of Isabella over the
lustful Angelo--this man, Shakspere, condescended to imitate a youth of
twenty-two, whose name was Beaumont, to steal from him much of the plot,
characters, action, and denouement of "Philaster" and to make the theft
more open and unblushing, presented "Cymbeline" upon the same stage
within a year of the original "type," and assigned the parts to the same
actors who had won remarkable