Excerpt from Shakspere as a Playwright In this study I have sought to apply to Shakspere the method of analysis already employed in my critical biog raphy of Moliere. Unfortunately, we know far less about the facts of Shakspere's life than we do about the details of Moliere's career; yet I believe that it is feasible to trace the growth of the English poet as a practical play wright almost as clearly as we can follow the equally im portant evolution of the French dramatist. And as this book is designed to deal with Shakspere only as a play wright, attention has here been focused on the plays which are most instructive as plays, rather than on those which display other qualities of his genius more splendidly. For example, the 'comedy of Errors, ' a comparatively empty play of his immaturity, is m a sense more significant than 'king Lear, ' one of the noblest monuments of his loftiest period, because the 'comedy of Errors' discloses his early conquest of the art of construction, whereas 'king Lear, ' however appealing it may be in its poetry, is less rigor ous in its plotting. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.