ht's sojourn there of the Spanish ambassador extraordinary, Juan
Fernandez de Velasco, duke de Frias, and Constable of Castile, who came
to London to ratify the treaty of peace between England and Spain, and
was magnificently entertained by the English Court. {233b} Between All
Saints' Day [November 1] and the ensuing Shrove Tuesday, which fell early
in February 1605, Shakespeare's company gave no fewer than eleven
performances at Whitehall in the royal presence.

XIV--THE HIGHEST THEMES OF TRAGEDY

'Othello' and 'Measure for Measure.'

Under the incentive of such exalted patronage, Shakespeare's activity
redoubled, but his work shows none of the conventional marks of
literature that is produced in the blaze of Court favour. The first six
years of the new reign saw him absorbed in the highest themes of tragedy,
and an unparalleled intensity and energy, which bore few traces of the
trammels of a Court, thenceforth illumined every scene that he contrived.
To 1604 the composition of two plays can be confidently assigned, one of
which--'Othello'--ranks with Shakespeare's greatest achievements; while
the other--'Measure for Measure'--although as a whole far inferior to
'Othello,' contains one of the finest scenes (between Angelo and
Isabella, II. ii. 43 sq.) and one of the greatest speeches (Claudio on
the fear of death, III. i. 116-30) in the range of Shakespearean drama.
'Othello' was doubtless the first new piece by Shakespeare that was acted
before James. It was produced at Whitehall on November 1. 'Measure for
Measure' followed on December 26. {235} Neither was printed in
Shakespeare's lifetime. The plots of both ultimately come from the same
Italian collection of novels--Giraldi Cinthio's 'Hecatommithi,' which was
first published in 1565.

Cinthio's painful story of 'Othello' (decad. iii. nov. 3) is not known to
have been translated into English before Shakespeare dramatised it. He
followed its main drift with fidelity, but he introduced the new
characters of Roderigo and Emilia, and he invested the catastrophe with
new and fearful intensity by making Iago's cruel treachery known to
Othello at the last, after Iago's perfidy has impelled the noble-hearted
Moor in his groundless jealousy to murder his gentle and innocent wife
Desdemona. Iago became in Shakespeare's hands the subtlest of all
studies of intellectual villainy and hypocrisy. The whole tragedy
displays to magnificent advantage the dramat