s name stands first on
the list of those who took part in the original performances of Ben
Jonson's 'Every Man in his Humour' (1598). In the original edition of
Jonson's 'Sejanus' (1603) the actors' names are arranged in two columns,
and Shakespeare's name heads the second column, standing parallel with
Burbage's, which heads the first. But here again the character allotted
to each actor is not stated. Rowe identified only one of Shakespeare's
parts, 'the Ghost in his own "Hamlet,"' and Rowe asserted his assumption
of that character to be 'the top of his performance.' John Davies of
Hereford noted that he 'played some kingly parts in sport.' {44b} One of
Shakespeare's younger brothers, presumably Gilbert, often came, wrote
Oldys, to London in his younger days to see his brother act in his own
plays; and in his old age, when his memory was failing, he recalled his
brother's performance of Adam in 'As you like it.' In the 1623 folio
edition of Shakespeare's 'Works' his name heads the prefatory list 'of
the principall actors in all these playes.'

Alleged scorn of an actor's calling.

That Shakespeare chafed under some of the conditions of the actor's
calling is commonly inferred from the 'Sonnets.' There he reproaches
himself with becoming 'a motley to the view' (cx. 2), and chides fortune
for having provided for his livelihood nothing better than 'public means
that public manners breed,' whence his name received a brand (cxi. 4-5).
If such self-pity is to be literally interpreted, it only reflected an
evanescent mood. His interest in all that touched the efficiency of his
profession was permanently active. He was a keen critic of actors'
elocution, and in 'Hamlet' shrewdly denounced their common failings, but
clearly and hopefully pointed out the road to improvement. His highest
ambitions lay, it is true, elsewhere than in acting, and at an early
period of his theatrical career he undertook, with triumphant success,
the labours of a playwright. But he pursued the profession of an actor
loyally and uninterruptedly until he resigned all connection with the
theatre within a few years of his death.

V.--EARLY DRAMATIC EFFORTS

Dramatic work.

The whole of Shakespeare's dramatic work was probably begun and ended
within two decades (1591-1611), between his twenty-seventh and
forty-seventh year. If the works traditionally assigned to him include
some contributions from other pens, he was perhaps