| Distribution of the name of Shakespeare | ||
| The poet’s ancestry | ||
| The poet’s father | ||
| His settlement at Stratford | ||
| The poet’s mother | ||
| 1564, April | The poet’s birth and baptism | |
| Alleged birthplace | ||
| II—CHILDHOOD, EDUCATION, AND MARRIAGE | ||
| The father in municipal office | ||
| Brothers and sisters | ||
| The father’s financial difficulties | ||
| 1571-7 | Shakespeare’s education | |
| His classical equipment | ||
| Shakespeare’s knowledge of the Bible | ||
| 1575 | Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth | |
| 1577 | Withdrawal from school | |
| 1582, Dec. | The poet’s marriage | |
| Richard Hathaway of Shottery | ||
| Anne Hathaway | ||
| Anne Hathaway’s cottage | ||
| The bond against impediments | ||
| 1583, May | Birth of the poet’s daughter Susanna | |
| Formal betrothal probably dispensed with | ||
| | ||
| Early married life | ||
| Poaching at Charlecote | ||
| Unwarranted doubts of the tradition | ||
| Justice Shallow | ||
| 1585 | The flight from Stratford | |
| IV—ON THE LONDON STAGE | ||
| 1586 | The journey to London | |
| Richard Field, Shakespeare townsman | ||
| Theatrical employment | ||
| A playhouse servitor | ||
| The acting companies | ||
| The Lord Chamberlain’s company | ||
| Shakespeare, a member of the Lord Chamberlain’s company | ||
| The London theatres | ||
| Place of residence in London | ||
| Actors’ provincial tours | ||
| Shakespeare’s alleged travels | ||
| In Scotland | ||
| In Italy | ||
| Shakespeare’s rÔles | ||
| His alleged scorn of an actor’s calling | ||
| V—EARLY DRAMATIC WORK | ||
| The period of his dramatic work, 1591-1611 | ||
| His borrowed plots | ||
| The revision of plays | ||
| Chronology of the plays | ||
| Metrical tests | ||
| 1591 | Love’s Labour’s Lost | |
| 1591 | Two Gentlemen of Verona | |
| 1592 | Comedy of Errors | |
| 1592 | Romeo and Juliet | |
| 1592, March | Henry VI | |
| 1592, Sept. | Greene’s attack on Shakespeare | |
| Chettle’s apology | ||
| Divided authorship of Henry VI | ||
| Shakespeare’s coadjutors | ||
| Shakespeare’s assimilative power | ||
| Lyly’s influence in comedy | ||
| Marlowe’s influence in tragedy | ||
| 1593 | Richard III | |
| 1593 | Richard II | |
| Shakespeare’s acknowledgments to Marlowe | ||
| 1593 | Titus Andronicus | |
| 1594, August | The Merchant of Venice | |
| Shylock and Roderigo Lopez | ||
| 1594 | King John | |
| 1594, Dec. | Comedy of Errors in Gray’s Inn Hall | |
| Early plays doubtfully assigned to Shakespeare | ||
| Arden of Feversham (1592) | ||
| Edward III | ||
| Mucedorus | ||
| Faire Em (1592) | ||
| | ||
| 1593, April | Publication of Venus and Adonis | |
| 1594, May | Publication of Lucrece | |
| Enthusiastic reception of the poems | ||
| Shakespeare and Spenser | ||
| Patrons at Court | ||
| VII—THE SONNETS AND THEIR LITERARY HISTORY | ||
| The vogue of the Elizabethan sonnet | ||
| Shakespeare’s first experiments | ||
| 1594 | Majority of his Shakespeare’s composed | |
| Their literary value | ||
| Circulation in manuscript | ||
| Their piratical publication in 1609 | ||
| A Lover’s Complaint | ||
| Thomas Thorpe and ‘Mr. W. H.’ | ||
| The form of Shakespeare’s sonnets | ||
| Their want of continuity | ||
| The two ‘groups’ | ||
| Main topics of the first ‘group’ | ||
| Main topics of the second ‘group’ | ||
| The order of the sonnets in the edition of 1640 | ||
| Lack of genuine sentiment in Elizabethan sonnets | ||
| Their dependence on French and Italian models | ||
| Sonnetteers’ admissions of insincerity | ||
| Contemporary censure of sonnetteers’ false sentiment | ||
| Shakespeare’s scornful allusions to sonnets in his plays | ||
| VIII—THE BORROWED CONCEITS OF THE SONNETS | ||
| Slender autobiographical element in Shakespeare’s sonnets | ||
| The imitative element | ||
| Shakespeare’s claims of immortality for his sonnets a borrowed conceit | ||
| Conceits in sonnets addressed to a woman | ||
| The praise of ‘blackness’ | ||
| The sonnets of vituperation | ||
| Gabriel Harvey’s Amorous Odious sonnet | ||
| Jodelle’s Contr’ Amours | ||
| | ||
| Biographic fact in the ‘dedicatory’ sonnets | ||
| The Earl of Southampton the poet’s sole patron | ||
| Rivals in Southampton’s favour | ||
| Shakespeare’s fear of another poet | ||
| Barnabe Barnes probably the chief rival | ||
| Other theories as to the chief rival’s identity | ||
| Sonnets of friendship | ||
| Extravagances of literary compliment | ||
| Patrons habitually addressed in affectionate terms | ||
| Direct references to Southampton in the sonnets of friendship | ||
| His youthfulness | ||
| The evidence of portraits | ||
| Sonnet cvii. the last of the series | ||
| Allusions to Queen Elizabeth’s death | ||
| Allusions to Southampton’s release from prison | ||
| X—THE SUPPOSED STORY OF INTRIGUE IN THE SONNETS | ||
| Sonnets of melancholy and self-reproach | ||
| The youth’s relations with the poet’s mistress | ||
| Willobie his Avisa (1594) | ||
| Summary of conclusions respecting the sonnets | ||
| XI—THE DEVELOPMENT OF DRAMATIC POWER | ||
| 1594-95 | Midsummer Night’s Dream | |
| 1595 | All’s Well that Ends Well | |
| 1595 | The Taming of The Shrew | |
| Stratford allusions in the Induction | ||
| Wincot | ||
| 1597 | Henry IV | |
| Falstaff | ||
| 1597 | The Merry Wives of Windsor | |
| 1598 | Henry V | |
| Essex and the rebellion of 1601 | ||
| Shakespeare’s popularity and influence | ||
| Shakespeare’s friendship with Ben Jonson | ||
| The Mermaid meetings | ||
| 1598 | Meres’s eulogy | |
| Value of his name to publishers | ||
| 1599 | The Passionate Pilgrim | |
| 1601 | The Phoenix and the Turtle | |
| | ||
| Shakespeare’s practical temperament | ||
| His father’s difficulties | ||
| His wife’s debt | ||
| 1596-9 | The coat of arms | |
| 1597, May 4. | The purchase of New Place | |
| 1598 | Fellow-townsmen appear to Shakespeare for aid | |
| Shakespeare’s financial position before 1599 | ||
| Shakespeare’s financial position after 1599 | ||
| His later income | ||
| Incomes of fellow actors | ||
| 1601-1610 | Shakespeare’s formation of his estate at Stratford | |
| 1605 | The Stratford tithes | |
| 1600-1609 | Recovery of small debts | |
| XIII—MATURITY OF GENIUS | ||
| Literary work in 1599 | ||
| 1599 | Much Ado about Nothing | |
| 1599 | As You Like It | |
| 1600 | Twelfth Night | |
| 1601 | Julius CÆsar | |
| The strife between adult actors and boy actors | ||
| Shakespeare’s references to the struggle | ||
| 1601 | Ben Jonson’s Poetaster | |
| Shakespeare’s alleged partisanship in the theatrical warfare | ||
| 1602 | Hamlet | |
| The problem of its publication | ||
| The First Quarto, 1603 | ||
| The Second Quarto, 1604 | ||
| The Folio version, 1623 | ||
| Popularity of Hamlet | ||
| 1603 | Troilus and Cressida | |
| Treatment of the theme | ||
| 1603, March 26 | Queen Elizabeth’s death | |
| James I’s patronage | ||
| XIV—THE HIGHEST THEMES OF TRAGEDY | ||
| 1604, Nov. | Othello | |
| 1604, Dec. | Measure for Measure | |
| 1606 | Macbeth | |
| 1607 | King Lear | |
| 1608 | Timon of Athens | |
| 1608 | Pericles | |
| 1608 | Antony and Cleopatra | |
| 1609 | Coriolanus | |
| | ||
| The placid temper of the latest plays | ||
| 1610 | Cymbeline | |
| 1611 | A Winter’s Tale | |
| 1611 | The Tempest | |
| Fanciful interpretations of The Tempest | ||
| Unfinished plays | ||
| The lost play of Cardenio | ||
| The Two Noble Kinsmen | ||
| Henry VIII | ||
| The burning of the Globe Theatre | ||
| XVI—THE CLOSE OF LIFE | ||
| Plays at Court in 1613 | ||
| Actor-friends | ||
| 1611 | Final settlement at Stratford | |
| Domestic affairs | ||
| 1613, March | Purchase of a house in Blackfriars | |
| 1614, Oct. | Attempt to enclose the Stratford common fields | |
| 1616, April 23rd. | Shakespeare’s death | |
| 1616, April 25th. | Shakespeare’s burial | |
| The will | ||
| Shakespeare’s bequest to his wife | ||
| Shakespeare’s heiress | ||
| Legacies to friends | ||
| The tomb in Stratford Church | ||
| Shakespeare’s personal character | ||
| XVII—SURVIVORS AND DESCENDANTS | ||
| Mrs. Judith Quiney, (1585-1662) | ||
| Mrs. Susanna Hall (1583-1649) | ||
| The last descendant | ||
| Shakespeare’s brothers, Edmund, Richard, and Gilbert | ||
| XVIII—AUTOGRAPHS, PORTRAITS, AND MEMORIALS | ||
| Spelling of the poet’s name | ||
| Autograph signatures | ||
| Shakespeare’s portraits | ||
| The Stratford bust | ||
| The ‘Stratford portrait’ | ||
| Droeshout’s engraving | ||
| The ‘Droeshout’ painting | ||
| Later portraits | ||
| The Chandos portrait | ||
| The ‘Jansen’ portrait | ||
| The ‘Felton’ portrait | ||
| The ‘Soest’ portrait | ||
| Miniatures | ||
| The Garrick Club bust | ||
| Alleged death-mask | ||
| Memorials in sculpture | ||
| Memorials at Stratford | ||
| | ||
| Quartos of the poems in the poet’s lifetime | ||
| Posthumous quartos of the poems | ||
| The ‘Poems’ of 1640 | ||
| Quartos of the plays in the poet’s lifetime | ||
| Posthumous quartos of the plays | ||
| 1623 | The First Folio | |
| The publishing syndicate | ||
| The prefatory matter | ||
| The value of the text | ||
| The order of the plays | ||
| The typography | ||
| Unique copies | ||
| The Sheldon copy | ||
| Estimated number of extant copies | ||
| Reprints of the First Folio | ||
| 1632 | The Second Folio | |
| 1663-4 | The Third Folio | |
| 1685 | The Fourth Folio | |
| Eighteenth-century editions | ||
| Nicholas Rowe (1674-1718) | ||
| Alexander Pope (1688-1744) | ||
| Lewis Theobald (1688-1744) | ||
| Sir Thomas Hanmer (1677-1746) | ||
| Bishop Warburton (1698-1779) | ||
| Dr. Johnson (1709-1783) | ||
| Edward Capell (1713-1781) | ||
| George Steevens (1736-1800) | ||
| Edmund Malone (1741-1812) | ||
| Variorum editions | ||
| Nineteenth-century editors | ||
| Alexander Dyce (1798-1869) | ||
| Howard Staunton (1810-1874) | ||
| Nikolaus Delius (1813-1888) | ||
| The Cambridge edition (1863-6) | ||
| Other nineteenth-century editions | ||
| XX—POSTHUMOUS REPUTATION | ||
| Views of Shakespeare’s contemporaries | ||
| Ben Jonson tribute | ||
| English opinion between 1660 and 1702 | ||
| Dryden’s view | ||
| Restoration adaptations | ||
| English opinion from 1702 onwards | ||
| Stratford festivals | ||
| Shakespeare on the English stage | ||
| The first appearance of actresses in Shakespearean parts | ||
| David Garrick (1717-1779) | ||
| John Philip Kemble (1757-1823) | ||
| Mrs. Sarah Siddons (1755-1831) | ||
| Edmund Kean (1787-1833) | ||
| | ||
| Recent revivals | ||
| Shakespeare in English music and art | ||
| Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery | ||
| Shakespeare in America | ||
| Translations | ||
| Shakespeare in Germany | ||
| German translations | ||
| Modern German critics | ||
| Shakespeare on the German stage | ||
| Shakespeare in France | ||
| Voltaire’s strictures | ||
| French critics’ gradual emancipation from Voltairean influence | ||
| Shakespeare on the French stage | ||
| Shakespeare in Italy | ||
| In Holland | ||
| In Russia | ||
| In Poland | ||
| In Hungary | ||
| In other countries | ||
| XXI—GENERAL ESTIMATES | ||
| General estimate | ||
| Shakespeare’s defects | ||
| Character of Shakespeare’s achievement | ||
| Its universal recognition | ||
| APPENDIX | ||
| I—THE SOURCES OF BIOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE | ||
| Contemporary records abundant | ||
| First efforts in biography | ||
| Biographers of the nineteenth century | ||
| Stratford topography | ||
| Specialised studies in biography | ||
| Epitomes | ||
| Aids to study of plots and text | ||
| Concordances | ||
| Bibliographies | ||
| Critical studies | ||
| Shakespearean forgeries | ||
| John Jordan (1746-1809) | ||
| The Ireland forgeries (1796) | ||
| List of forgeries promulgated by Collier and others (1835-1849) | ||
| II—THE BACON-SHAKESPEARE CONTROVERSY | ||
| Its source | ||
| Toby Matthew’s letter of 1621 | ||
| Chief exponents of the theory | ||
| Its vogue in America | ||
| Extent of the literature | ||
| Absurdity of the theory | ||
| | ||
| Shakespeare and Southampton | ||
| Southampton’s parentage | ||
| 1573, Oct. 6 | Southampton’s birth | |
| His education | ||
| Recognition of Southampton’s beauty in youth | ||
| His reluctance to marry | ||
| Intrigue with Elizabeth Vernon | ||
| 1598 | Southampton’s marriage | |
| 1601-3 | Southampton’s imprisonment | |
| Later career | ||
| 1624, Nov. 10 | His death | |
| IV—THE EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON AS A LITERARY PATRON | ||
| Southampton’s collection of books | ||
| References in his letters to poems and plays | ||
| His love of the theatre | ||
| Poetic adulation | ||
| 1593 | Barnabe Barnes’s sonnet | |
| Tom Nash’s addresses | ||
| 1595 | Gervase Markham’s sonnet | |
| 1598 | Florio’s address | |
| The congratulations of the poets in 1603 | ||
| Elegies on Southampton | ||
| V—THE TRUE HISTORY OF THOMAS THORPE AND ‘MR. W. H.’ |
The publication of the ‘Sonnets’ in 1609
