An Index of Characters in English Printed Drama to the Restoration by Thomas L. Berger and William C. Bradford, Jr. (review)

270 Comparative Drama into the capsule reviews of major literary figures and movements of the time, and whereas no one has a right to expect an in-depth study of Zola’s work, for example, it does not justify the terse dismissal of the Rougon-Macquart series as “novels [based] on Taine’s theories” (p. 41). Similarly some dogmatic statements, as for instance the following one, will certainly arouse the anger of many a reader: “The extreme need Christians felt for the Female Principle became manifest in the twentieth century with the proclamation of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary as dogma” (p. 103). Finally, it is to be regretted that Professor Knapp does not elaborate on an intriguing thought which she presents early in her book, i.e., that Maeterlinck is a precursor of the absurdists. The book which will attempt to solve the complexity of the Maeter­ linck case remains to be written, as does an in-depth study of his non-dramatic writings, but what Professor Knapp has done and has done well is to bring together a complete survey of a major literary figure to whom passing time has not been kind. The resumes of his major plays and the abstracts of his many and often obtuse essays will be most useful to the uninitiated reader who stands at the threshold of Maeterlinck’s universe and who calls for a knowledgeable and com­ passionate guide. MARTIN SCHWARZ University of Tulsa Thomas L. Berger and William C. Bradford, Jr. An Index of Characters in English Printed Drama to the Restoration. Englewood, Colorado: Microcard Editions, 1975. Pp. 222. $19.95. An Index of Characters is a more useful book than its title may suggest. It is primarily a single alphabetical list of characters’ names, nationalities, occupations, religious proclivities, and psychological states for about 840 printed plays from Medwall’s Fulgens and Lucrece (pub. c. 1512-16) to the Restoration. Each entry is followed not by play titles but by the numbers assigned to the plays by W. W. Greg in his Bibliography of English Printed Drama to the Restoration (1939-58). The term Characters is interpreted broadly: it includes not only the names and aliases of all named characters who appear on the stage (alive or dead), but also such entries as Chamberlain, Maid of Honour, Murderer, Puritan, Vice, Fortune, Time, Prologue, Chorus, Moonshine, Wall, and Bear (who chases Antigonus in The Winter’s Tale and ap­ pears in four other plays). There is a Finding List, in which the plays are recorded in the order of their Greg numbers (that is, order of pub­ lication), with author, Greg’s date, date of first production from Alfred Harbage’s Annals of English Drama, 975-1700 as revised by Samuel Schoenbaum (1964), and the number assigned to the earliest edition in the Short-Title Catalogues of Pollard and Redgrave or Wing. The book concludes with a Bibliography of more than 130 books and articles. It would have been helpful to have an alphabetical list of plays and Reviews 271 playwrights, too, even though one will usually be looking for characters or other entries. An analysis of the references to Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice (Greg 172) will suggest more precisely the contents and some of the uses of the book. The Merchant is listed under twenty-one characters’ names, including Balthasar, Balthazar, Leonardo, Stephano, and four variations of the Venetian gentlemen’s names—Salanio, Salarino, Salerio, and Solanio. (It is the only play listed in which characters have the names of the Venetian gentlemen or of Bassanio, Gobbo, Jessica, Nerissa, Shylock, or Tubal.) The Merchant is also listed under Africa/Africans (with a cross-reference to M oor), Belmont (the only play), Clerk, Clown, Doctor, Jailer, Jew, Lawyer, Magnifico, Masker, Melancholic, Merchant, Officer, Padua (why? Bellario, who is in Padua, is not in the play, and Portia in disguise is said to be “a young Doctor of Rome”), Prodigal, Suitor, Usurer, Venetian, and Venice. There are some apparent omissions. The compilers explain in the Introduction that they do not list King(s) or Duke(s) “unless those general titles are the only identifying names used.” In The Merchant the...