Take thrice thy money; bid me tear the bond.
The Merchant of Venice
8. Explain and discuss the following statements concerning Shakespeare. Whenever you can, illustrate with examples from the plays.
(1) He was not of an age, but for all time.—Jonson.
(2) Panting time toiled after him in vain.—Johnson.
(3) The genius of Shakespeare was an innate universality.
Keats.
(4) His plays are distinguished by signal adherence to the great laws of nature, that all opposites tend to attract and temper each other.—Coleridge.
(5) The striking peculiarity of Shakespeare’s mind was its power of communicating with other minds, so that it contained a universe of thought and feeling within itself.—Hazlitt.
9. What were the signs of the “dramatic decline” that set in after Shakespeare? Mention some dramatists whose plays show this decline.