Friday. Dec. 11, 1959 University Daily Kansan
Page 3
By John S. Lewis Assistant Instructor of English
COLERIDGE'S WRITINGS ON SHAKESPEARE, edited by Terence Hawkes, Putnam-Capricorn, $1.35.
The idea of collecting all the critical remarks made by a major writer on Shakespeare is not new. Fifty years ago Walter W. Raleigh collected all of Samuel Johnson's essays and notes on Shakespeare and placed them in a volume which still remains in print.
Yet the two men were attracted to Shakespeare for different reasons. Johnson prepared a critical edition of the Works; Coleridge was more interested in setting up Shakespeare as a figure to be revered, and published only the lectures and the notes which appeared in the "Biographia Literaria" and "Table Talk." No critical edition ever appeared under the aegis of Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
There could hardly be two more widely different critics than Johnson and Coleridge. The two men shared only two characteristics: both admired Shakespeare and both had great critical faculties.
The editorial problem which faced Terence Hawkes was infinitely more difficult than that which Raleigh encountered. Coleridge left masses of notes in the margins of his copy of Shakespeare, piles of lecture notes, and fragments of essays, in addition to his several lectures on Shakespeare. Some of the material comes from newspaper accounts of Coleridge's lectures. And it all had to be made coherent by the editor.
Differed Widely
Coleridge could not bring himself to condemn Shakespeare for "Measure for Measure." which he regarded as a "hateful play." Instead, he indicated that Shakespeare's aim escaped him.
A careful examination of Coleridge's criticism in its entirety dispels some of the pat generalizations we are likely to make about the critic. Those of us who have confined our reading of Coleridge's criticism to the "Shakespeare Lectures" are likely to seize upon the critic's enunciation of the doctrine of "organic form"—the idea that the form of a work of art develops from within itself—as a touchstone to our understanding of Coleridge. And we may say that Coleridge's criticism is more likely to explain Coleridge than Shakespeare.
Johnson celebrated Shakespeare's virtues; he also censured the poet's faults, or what he took to be Shakespeare's faults. Coleridge, however, demanded almost absolute worship from Shakespeare's readers. The poet had no faults, he was divinely inspired.
Critical Genius
But in doing so we deny Coleridge's genius as a critic. We may be more willing to trust Johnson's judgment than Coleridge's; however, we must remember that Johnson judged Shakespeare on the basis of a specific concept of universal morality, and that neither critic recognized that Shakespeare was a playwright restricted to the conventions of the Elizabethan stage and his own generation.
It is Coleridge's reaction to Johnson's generation which holds our attention. The eighteenth-century critical cliche that Shakespeare was "nature's child," that he was like an inspired idiot "uttering, amid the strangest follies, the sublimest truths," produced Coleridge's condemnation of his critical forebears. Coleridge was the first critic to declare that Shakespeare was a deliberate and conscious artist whose "judgment...(was) commensurate with his genius." We who read and admire Shakespeare today owe an everlasting debt to Coleridge for pointing this out.
Of course we cannot be blind to Coleridge's shortcomings. When he describes Shakespeare's intention in creating Hamlet as portraying a character "in whose view the external world and all its incidents and objects were comparatively dim and of no interest in themselves, and which began to interest only when they were reflected in the mirror of his mind," we may have difficulty recognizing the splendid prince that we are familiar with. Hamlet is not the made prince that Coleridge thought he was.
It is true that Coleridge, like Johnson, lacked the historical perspective to see Shakespeare as being of an age as well as for all time. E. E. Stoll correctly pointed out nearly fifty years ago that "Hamlet" was an Elizabethan revenge play and must be judged according to the terms of the convention. But how much more delightful it is to read Coleridge on "Hamlet" than to read Stoll on the same play. If Coleridge is the Jukes of Shakespeare criticism, Stoll is the Captain MacWhirr.
The introductory essay by Professor Alfred Harbage is gratifying to read. Harbage declares, with apparently no qualms, that Coleridge was the finest critic who ever dealt with Shakespeare. We are tempted to remember T. S. Eliot's pronouncement on "Hamlet" as we read Harbage. How much like Samuel Johnson's criticism Eliot's was! Like Johnson, Eliot felt himself called upon to censure; unlike Johnson, he neglected to praise sufficiently. Our twentieth-century microcosm will be complete if the present century produces a critic with the perceptiveness of Coleridge; we have had our twentieth-century Johnson.
It would not be too gross an overstatement to claim that twentieth-century criticism of Shakespeare is a microcosm of all that has gone before. Andrew Cecil Bradley's "Shakespearear Criticism," at the beginning of the century, was the logical development of the Coleridge strain. And most Shakespeare scholars are likely to forget, as G. B. Harrison did, that Bradley's book did not immediately receive the adulation it was accorded a few years later.
Historical Perspective
Finally, it is a testament to the genius of Shakespeare that he has attracted the minute attention of more first-rate critical minds—Coleridge, Johnson, Dryden, Goethe, Hazlitt, De Quincey, the list is legion—than any poet since Homer.
Introduction Gratifying
Ingemar's Booming Right Provides Year's Top Story
A young man from Sweden became one of the biggest names in the world of sports in just about 10 minutes last June 26.
The story concerning that man has been named by members of the Editorial class and University Daily Kansan sportswriters as the top sports event of the year.
He is Ingemar Johansson who defied the oddsmakers by knocking out the world heavyweight boxing champion, Floyd Patterson, in the third round of their title match. The technical knockout came in the third round in Yankee Stadium after seven knockdowns.
The White Sox had won the American League for the first time since the "Black" Sox did it in 1919. The slick double play combination of shortstop Luis Aparicio and second baseman Nelson Fox exemplified the spirit of the Sox all year as they overtook the Cleveland Indians.
The Sox made the oddsmakers look good by winning the first game of the series 11-0. But the Dodgers came back for three straight victories before Chicago could win another game. Los Angeles wrapped the victory up with an easy 9-3 game.
Baseball Is Big News
Baseball also got its share of the spotlight treatment this year. One of the most exciting of all pennant races took place in the National League when the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants finished the regular season in a tie. The Dodgers won two straight dramatic playoff games to earn the right to meet the Chicago White Sox in the World Series.
Johansson became an 'overnight sensation following the fight. After the usual festivities, he has settled down to the quiet (?) life of a television-movie actor, but the public won't forget his booming right hand for a long time.
Rookie relief pitcher Larry Sherry was named the outstanding player of the Series after he participated in each of the Dodger's winning games. The record for one-game attendance at a major league baseball game was set in the Los Angeles Coliseum with 92,706 present for the fifth game.
Boxing took another place in the top sports list as the result of several scandals being uncovered. The most publicized of these concerned the promotion of the Johansson-Patterson fight by Rosensohn Enterprises, Inc., under the ownership of William Rosensohn.
After the bout, Rosensohn said he had had to deal with "under-world" contacts. He said he had accepted money from the attorney of Anthony (Fat Tony) Salerno, who New York District Attorney Frank Hogan called the man behind the fight.
As a result, Rosenohn lost his promoter's license, and the firm, which was taken over by Salerno's attorney, lost its license. Plans became uncertain as to when the Johansson-Patterson return match would be held.
After Cus D'Amato, Patterson's manager, failed to appear at New York hearings, he was charged with acting as an undercover promoter. His license to manage fighters was finally revoked by the New York State Athletic Commission, making Patterson a managerless boxer who still wants a try at getting back the heavyweight crown.
Tennis followers were bewildered after following the actions of Peruvian Alex Olmedo, the Southern California University senior who won the Davis Cup for the United States in 1958.
Olmedo continued his consistently-fine play as he crushed Australian Rod Laver in the finals of the Wimbledon, the world's top tournament, in July.
Tennis Fans Puzzled
Then Olmedo began to play erratically. He was defeated by Australia's Neale Fraser in the U.S. Amateur, and in the Davis Cup challenge (championship) round in August, Laver, Fraser and company defeated Olmedo, Barry McKay and Earl Buckholtz three matches to two.
Olmedo ended his amateur days later by signing a professional contract to play with Jack Kramer's touring troupe.
Two track and field meets provided international excitement for fans this year. A U.S.-U.S.S.R. meet held in Philadelphia showed that the United States still dominates in men's events, although a Russian was the outstanding performer.
Vasily Kuznetsov came within seven points of his world record in the decathlon, although the meet was held in bad weather. He had set records in both the pentathlon, with 4,006 points, and the decathlon, with 8,357 points, earlier in the year.
The U.S. men won the meet 127-108, and the U.S.S.R. women defeated our women athletes 67-40.
In the Pan-American games held in Chicago, 2,512 athletes from 24 countries competed. The United States won 121 gold medals, 72 silver and 52 bronze to easily take the team championship.
Other events in the sports world were:
1. A new major league for baseball, the Continental, was organized July 27. Cities signed for the league are New York, Houston, Toronto, Denver, St. Paul-Minneapolis and Atlanta.
2. An eight-team professional football league, the American, was designed to begin play in 1960. Cities include New York, Denver, St. Paul-Minneapolis, Buffalo and Boston.
3. Wilt Chamberlain, former star of KU basketball, made his debut with the Philadelphia Warriors in the National Basketball Association. He immediately became the scoring leader of the NBA.
4. The Boston Celtics, called by many "the greatest of all basketball teams," won the NBA championship for 1958-1959 by defeating the Minneapolis Lakers in four straight games. The Lakers, with Elgin Baylor leading the way, had upset the St. Louis Hawks in the western division playoffs.
Yes, 1959 was another great year for sports. Champions were crowned—and dethroned. Upstarts took the place of veterans. And why not? The drama, the competition—all make sports what it is—one of the most entertaining spectacles ever witnessed.
Study Reveals More Catholic Than Protestant Teens Drink
There are 20 per cent more Roman Catholic adolescents who drink alcoholic beverages than Protestant indulgers in their teens in Kansas.
This is what two KU professors discovered in a survey of some of the state's teenagers.
Students Picked at Random
Marston M. McCluggage, professor of sociology and human relations, and E. Jackson Baur, associate professor of sociology and human relations, submitted questionnaires to Kansas high school students they picked at random for the survey.
A user of alcoholic beverages was defined for the purposes of the survey as one who drinks any alcoholic beverage on social occasions. Thus, adolescents who imbibed during religious occasions were not branded as users.
Student Will Give Recital Wednesday
Mrs. Celia Welch Garrett, Lawrence, will present her senior recital at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Swarthout Recital Hall.
She is a soprano voice student of Miriam Hamilton, assistant professor of voice. Her accompanist will be Loretta Nauman, Alton senior.
Mrs. Garrett sang the roles of Lady Thiang in "The King and I" and Micaela in "Carmen." She is a member of the University Concert Choir, KU Chorale, Sigma Alpha Iota, honorary music organization, and University Players.
Wichita Tabulation
Tabulation of the questionnaires showed that in Wichita 53 per cent of the Protestant high school students were users and 77 per cent of the Roman Catholic students drank.
In eastern Kansas areas, excluding the metropolitan parts of Topeka and Kansas City, 41 per cent of all the Protestant teenagers drank, while 63 per cent of the Roman Catholic adolescents were considered users of alcoholic beverages.
Of those Roman Catholic students in Wichita that drank, 93 per cent had their parents' permission to drink 3.2 beer. Thirty-six per cent of the Protestant students there had parental consent to drink 3.2 beer.
Eastern Kansas Beer Drinkers
In eastern Kansas non-metropolitan areas 41 per cent of the Catholic student users had parental consent to drink alcoholic beverages other than 3.2 beer. There, parents of 21 per cent of the drinking Protestant high schoolers allowed their children to drink the stronger mixtures.
Parents of 57 per cent of the Catholic youths that drank from Wichita gave permission to drink alcoholic beverages other than 3.2 beer. Wichita parents of 32 per cent of the Protestant indulgers allowed their teenagers to drink stronger beverages.
Parents of 58 per cent of Catholic adolescents who drank beer in non-metropolitan areas of eastern Kansas gave permission to their offspring. Thirty-one per cent of the Protestant teenage users from eastern Kansas had their parents' consent.
Findings Used in Speech
Raymond G. McCarthy, associate professor of health education at Yale University, was impressed enough with some of the KU professors' findings to quote passages from their reports in a speech he gave at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Assn. recently in Atlantic City, NJ.
In other findings, Prof. McCluggage and Prof. Baur report that:
- Most of the Kansas teenagers who use alcoholic beverages began their drinking while their parents or other adult family members were present.
- There were more abstainers among teenagers instructed in churches about alcohol. Fifty-eight per cent of the users from Wichita received instruction in religious institutions concerning alcohol, while 65 per cent of the city's non-users got instructions in their churches.
- Formal school instruction about alcohol apparently had not affected the drinking behavior of teenagers. Some of the high school students who drank could not remember what instructors had told them concerning the effects of alcohol.