Littleton College - Chatterbox Yearbook (Littleton, NC)

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242 THE CHATTERBOX. seem to be moving in the Hood of excitement or standing off' just enough to see all that is going on and yet not be involved in the commotion. All this reality of character teaches us how many kinds of nature we may have to deal with after- we have passed out from our Colleges to meet the world, for human nature still has its passions to be battled with. There is an inestimable value to be put on the study of Shakespeare from the viewpoint of Shakespeare as an ethical teacher. The moral side of man's life is portrayed as dis- tinct from the physical, even from the intellectual. Some one has said, t4The physical is the material or visible, the intellect is of the reason, the aesthetic of the imagination, the moral of the consciencef' This is plainly shown through all the characters of Shakespeare. His people mean some- thing, they are not put in just to fill up a gap, but they are for a purpose. All the physical is made a. means to subserve a higher end. 'fThe reason Ends in the perfect good its highest end and beauty reaches its perfection in moral char- acters may well be applied in Shakesp-eare. In all of Shakespearels works never is man shown other than as a free moral agent. Every man, they say, knows in himself that he is free, he knows himself as possessing the power of choice, of choosing one from two or more ob-jects or ways which may be before his mind. So in the case of Macbeth: he was free to choose, and he chooses evil so gradually and his downfall is so gradual at first that it is scarcely percepti- ble, but just as surely as his downfall came, there was a time when he was free to choose. Macbeth who violated the obli- gation placed by his conscinece, knew in himself that he might have fulfilled the obligation and done right. In the case of King Lear in this power of contrary choice which is implied in the exercise of the will in its relation to right and wrong, is found the basis of moral responsibility and the

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THE CHATTERBOX. 241 It is very evident that all the processes of education are dependent upon memory, for as our memories are developed and strengthened the mental horizon grovvs broader and the thinking faculties are put in action. If one were to take a course in Shakespeare simply for the character study, the time would be Well spent. There is the character of Brutus who is so patriotic that he thought it was his duty to stab Caesar. He gives his own character in: H I would not, Cassius, yet I love him well, But wherefore do you hold me here so long? What is it that ye would impart to me? If it be aught toward the general good, Set honor in one eye, and death in the other, And I will look on both indiiferentlyg For, let the gods so speed me as I love The name of honor more than I fear death. Shakespeare portrays Brutus as unselish and without envy. One might think that Brutus Was working from purely selfish motives, yet he had higher ideals, it was for the good of the state, he conscientiously believed. Then the lovable, the lovely character of Cordelia. There may be found in her all the virtues that vvomanhood may call hers, thoroughly un- selfish, genuinely true, as is proved by her fidelity to her father although he has turned her out from the protection of his home. Shakespeare has shown his master mind by putting in contrast to this beautiful character the base, mean, degraded characters of Goneril and Regan. NVl1en we study the character of Lady Macbeth, With the strength of will that kept the courage of Macbeth up to the point of action, We Wonder how the man who created Midsummer Night's Dreamf' With all its spirits and fairies, could have created a Macbeth. No one can ind two characters any more alike in Shakespeare than in real life. While We are studying Shakespeare the characters are so true to human nature We

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HTHE CHATTERBOX. 243 reason for the blame of conscience. King Lear is often smitten in conscience by the ever-arising thought of Wrong to Cordelia, his best loved child in former days. Con- science is one Witness Whose sweet argument it is impossible to refute as to the alternative powers of the Will. ' One does not need further proof of the fact that the value of the study of Shakespeare is very great since there is men- tal development in the training of memory, character study, and, too, for the code of ethics. Much is involved in how it is studied to get the greatest good. 3