The Faerie Queene—The Plan Proposed—Illustrations of the History—The Knight and the Lady—The Wood of Error and the Hermitage—The Crusades—Britomartis and Sir Artegal—Elizabeth—Mary Queen of Scots—Other Works—Spenser's Fate—Other Writers
Chapter XIII.
The English Drama.
Origin of the Drama—Miracle Plays—Moralities—First Comedy—Early Tragedies—Christopher Marlowe—Other Dramatists—Playwrights and Morals
Chapter XIV.
William Shakspeare.
The Power of Shakspeare—Meagre Early History—Doubts of his Identity—What is known—Marries and goes to London—"Venus" and "Lucrece"—Retirement and Death—Literary Habitudes—Variety of the Plays—Table of Dates and Sources
Chapter XV.
William Shakspeare (Continued).
The Grounds of his Fame—Creation of Character—Imagination and Fancy—Power of Expression—His Faults—Influence of Elizabeth—Sonnets—Ireland and Collier—Concordance—Other Writers