Interior of the Middle Temple Hall.
This beautiful Hall dates from the year 1571, when the edifice was completed. At the lower end of the Hall stands a marble bust of Plowden, who was Treasurer during the period of its erection. One of the plays acted in this historic building possesses great interest for the Shakesperean student. The play solicited by the Benchers for their Candlemas Festival in the year 1601 was no other than Shakespeare’s delightful masterpiece, “Twelfth Night.” The assumption is quite natural that the Lord Chamberlain’s company produced and acted the play, and that Shakespeare, as a member of that company, took part in the performance. In all likelihood, Queen Elizabeth was present on this auspicious occasion. There is no authentic record in any way bearing out this last statement. I was one of the fortunate individuals who witnessed the production of this same comedy, under the same roof, and attended by royalty, our present King and Queen and Queen Alexandra being interested spectators at this performance in aid of the Red Cross Society. I still retain as a souvenir the voucher of my five-guinea seat.
The date of the first production of this play was in former times attributed to various years, ranging from 1599 to 1614. Malone and Stevens, two of the foremost commentators of the eighteenth century assign the play to the year 1614. By the discovery of Manningham’s Diary, in which “Twelfth Night” is mentioned as early as 1601, all dates previously suggested are null and void. Manningham was a student of the Middle Temple who, for a space of over two years, kept a diary, which was discovered in the British Museum as early as the last century. The extract which interests us is as follows:
“Febr. 1601.
“Feb. 2. At our feast we had a play called ‘Twelve Night,’ or ‘What you Will,’ much like the Commedy of Errores or Menechmi in Plautus, but most like and neere to that in Italian called ‘Inganni.’ A good practise in it to make the Steward believe his Lady widdowe was in love with him by counterfeyting a letter as from his Lady in generall terms, telling him that she liked best in him, and prescribing his gesture in smiling, his apparaile cte, and then when he came to practise making him believe they tooke him to be mad.”
Manningham made mistake in believing Olivia to be a widow; she was mourning for a brother, which is distinctly referred to by Orsino. The play mentioned by Manningham as “Inganni,” is really an Italian play called “Gl’Ingannati,” a copy of which I recently picked up at a bargain price, the bookseller being unaware that the play was the original source of “Twelfth Night.”
In the essay on Law contributed to Shakespeare’s “England,” by Mr. Arthur Underhill, the author states that: “It was for a Christmas revel at the Middle Temple that Shakespeare wrote ‘Twelfth Night.’” There does not exist an atom of evidence to prove this assertion, the general opinion being that Shakespeare wrote all his plays for the Lord Chamberlain’s company, and they were produced first at a regular theatre. How is it that at this late period of Shakesperean research such foolish guesses are allowed to pass the Censor?
THE INNER TEMPLE
