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[Illustration]



 CHARACTER SKETCHES
 OF ROMANCE, FICTION
 AND THE DRAMA::::




                       A REVISED AMERICAN EDITION
                        OF THE READER’S HANDBOOK


                                   BY


                    THE REV. E. COBHAM BREWER, LL.D.

                               EDITED BY

                             MARION HARLAND

                               ----------

                               VOLUME II

[Illustration: colophon]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

        NEW YORK              SELMAR HESS              PUBLISHER

------------------------------------------------------------------------

                               MDCCCXCII

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                          Copyright, 1892, by
                              SELMAR HESS.
















PHOTOGRAVURES PRINTED ON THE
       HESS PRESS.




                         LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

                                -------

                               VOLUME II.

                                -------


PHOTOGRAVURES AND ETCHINGS.

          _Illustration_                 _Artist_
 LA CIGALE (_colored_)             E. METZMACHER         _Frontispiece_
 FATES (THE)                       PAUL THUMANN                       6
 GABRIEL AND EVANGELINE            FRANK DICKSEE                     56
 GANYMEDE                          F. KIRCHBACH                      64
 HAMLET AND THE GRAVEDIGGER        P.A.J.
                                   DAGNAN-BOUVERET                  140
 HAMLET AND HIS FATHER’S GHOST     E. VON HOFFTEN                   142
 HERODIAS                          BENJAMIN CONSTANT                172
 LORELEI (THE)                     W. KRAY                          340

                               ----------

                   WOOD ENGRAVINGS AND TYPOGRAVURES.
 FALSTAFF AND MRS. FORD.                                              2
 FARIA ENTERS DANTES’S CELL        JANET LANGE                        4
 FATIMA AND ANNA                   GUSTAVE DORÉ                       8
 FATINITZA                         ADRIEN MARIE                      10
 FATMÉ                             N. SICHEL                         12
 FAUNTLEROY (LITTLE LORD)          F. M. SPIEGLE                     14
 FAUST AND MARGARET IN THE GARDEN  GABRIEL MAX                       16
 FITZJAMES AND RODERICK DHU        J. B. MCDONALD                    22
 FITZWALTER (ALURED) AND ROSE HIS
   WIFE BEAR HOME THE FLITCH OF
   BACON;—JOHN GILPIN              THOMAS STOTHARD                   24
 FLAVIO AND HILARIA                                                  26
 FLORESTAN SAVED BY LEONORA        EUGEN KLIMSCH                     30
 FRANZ, ADELAIDE AND THE BISHOP OF
   BAMBERG                         CARL BECKER                       46
 FRITHIOF AND INGEBORG             R. BENDEMANN                      50
 FRITHIOF AT THE COURT OF KING
   RING                            FERD. LEEKE                       52
 FROU-FROU                         GEORGES CLAIRIN                   54
 GAMP (SAIREY)                     FREDERICK BARNARD                 60
 GANN (CAROLINE), THE LITTLE
   SISTER                          FREDERICK BARNARD                 62
 GARRICK (DAVID) AS ABEL DRUGGER   JOHANN ZOFFANY                    66
 GAUTHIER (MARGUÉRITE), LA DAME
   AUX CAMÉLIAS                                                      68
 GAVROCHE                          E. BAYARD                         70
 GHENT TO AIX (HOW WE BROUGHT THE GOOD NEWS FROM)                    78
 GILDA AND RIGOLETTO               HERMANN KAULBACH                  86
 GLAUCUS AND NYDIA                 W. E. LOCKHART                    94
 GOBBO (LAUNCELOT)                                                   98
 GODIVA                            J. VON LERIUS                    100
 GRACCHI (THE MOTHER OF THE)       SCHOPIN                          108
 GRASSHOPPER (THE) AND THE ANT     J. G. VIBERT                     112
 GREY (LADY JANE), EXECUTION OF    PAUL DELAROCHE                   118
 GULLIVER CHAINED                  J. G. VIBERT                     130
 GUNTHER (KING)                    B. GUTH                          132
 HADWIG (FRAU) INTO THE CONVENT,
   EKKEHARD BRINGING               CARL VON BLAAS                   134
 HAIDÉE                                                             136
 HALIFAX (JOHN) SAVING THE BANK    J. NASH                          138
 HARLOWE (CLARISSA)                C. LANDSEER                      144
 HAROLD (EDITH FINDING THE BODY
   OF)                                                              146
 HAROLD (KING) AND THE ELFINS      ALBERT TSCHAUTSCH                148
 HATTERAICK (DIRK) AND MEG
   MERRILEES                       J.B. MCDONALD                    150
 HEBE                              CANOVA                           154
 HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE             A. MAIGNAN                       156
 HEEP (URIAH)                      FREDERICK BARNARD                158
 HELEN (THE ABDUCTION OF)          R. VON DEUTSCH                   160
 HELOISE                           GLEYRE                           163
 HENRY THE EIGHTH AND ANNE BOLEYN  C. VON PILOTY                    164
 HERMANN AND DOROTHEA              W. VON KAULBACH                  166
 HERMIONE                                                           168
 HERO AND LEANDER                  FERDINAND KELLER                 170
 HETTY (DINAH AND)                                                  174
 HIPPOLYTUS (DEATH OF)             RUBENS                           176
 HOFER (ANDREAS) AT INNSBRUCK      FRANZ VON DEFREGGER              178
 HOP-O’-MY-THUMB                   GUSTAVE DORÉ                     182
 HORATII (THE OATH OF THE)         L. DAVID                         184
 HYPATIA                           A. SEIFERT                       198
 IANTHE                                                             200
 ILSE IN THE FARM-STABLE           PAUL MEYERHEIM                   202
 IMMO AND HILDEGARD                HERMANN KAULBACH                 204
 IMOGEN IN THE CAVE                T. GRAHAM                        206
 INGOMAR (PARTHENIA AND)           G. H. SWINSTEAD                  212
 IPHIGENIA                         EDMUND KANOLDT                   214
 IRENE AND KLEA                    E. TESCHENDORFF                  216
 ISABELLA AND THE POT OF BASIL     HOLMAN HUNT                      218
 ISABELLE OF CROYE AND CHARLES OF
   BURGUNDY (INTERVIEW BETWEEN)    A. ELMORE                        220
 JINGLE (ALFRED)                   FREDERICK BARNARD                240
 JOAN OF ARC                       EMMANUEL FRÉMIET                 242
 JOHN OF LEYDEN                    FERDINAND KELLE                  248
 JOURDAIN (MONSIEUR) AND NICOLE    C.R. LESLIE                      250
 JUAN (DON) IN THE BARQUE          EUGÈNE DELACROIX                 252
 KÄGEBEIN AND BODINUS              CONRAD BECKMANN                  256
 LALLA ROOKH                       A. DE VALENTINE                  292
 LANCELOT AND ELAINE                                                294
 LANTENAC AT THE STONE PILLAR      G. BRION                         296
 LEAR (KING) AND THE FOOL          GUSTAV SCHAUER                   310
 LECOUVREUR (ADRIENNE) AS CORNELIA ANTOINE COYPEL                   312
 LEIGH (SIR AMYAS)                 C. J. STANILAND                  314
 LEONORA AND FERDINANDO            J. B. DUFFAUD                    318
 LOHENGRIN (ELSA AND)                                               336
 LOUIS XI                          M. BAFFIER                       342
 LOUISE, THE GLEE-MAIDEN           ROBERT HERDMAN                   344




                                PREFACE.




An American reprint of “_The Reader’s Handbook of allusions, references,
plots and stories, by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D., of Trinity Hall,
Cambridge_,” has been for several years in the hands of cis-Atlantic
students.

Too much praise cannot be awarded to the erudition and patient diligence
displayed in the compilation of this volume of nearly twelve hundred
pages. The breadth of range contemplated by the learned editor is best
indicated in his own words:

“The object of this _Handbook_ is to supply readers and speakers with a
lucid, but very brief account of such names as are used in allusions and
references, whether by poets or prose writers;—to furnish those who
consult it with the plot of popular dramas, the story of epic poems, and
the outline of well-known tales. The number of dramatic plots sketched
out is many hundreds. Another striking and interesting feature of the
book is the revelation of the source from which dramatists and romancers
have derived their stories, and the strange repetitions of historic
incidents. It has been borne in mind throughout that it is not enough to
state a fact. It must be stated attractively, and the character
described must be drawn characteristically if the reader is to
appreciate it, and feel an interest in what he reads.”

All that Dr. Brewer claims for his book is sustained by examination of
it. It is nevertheless true that there is in it a mass of matter
comparatively unattractive to the American student and to the general
reader. Many of his “allusions” are to localities and neighborhood
traditions that, however interesting to English people, seem to us
trivial, verbose and inopportune, while he, whose chief object in the
purchase of the work is to possess a popular encyclopædia of literature,
is rather annoyed than edified by even an erudite author when his “talk
is of oxen,” fish, flesh and fowl.

Furthermore, the _Handbook_ was prepared so long ago that the popular
literature of the last dozen years is unrecorded; writers who now occupy
the foremost places in the public eye not being so much as named.

In view of these and other drawbacks to the extended usefulness of the
manual, the publishing-house whose imprint is upon the title-page of the
present work, taking the stanch foundation laid by Dr. Brewer, have
caused to be constructed upon it a work that, while retaining all of the
original material that can interest and aid the English-speaking
student, gives also “characters and sketches found in _American_ novels,
poetry and drama.”

It goes without saying that in the attempt to do this, it was necessary
to leave out a greater bulk of entertaining matter than could be wrought
in upon the original design. The imagination of the compiler, to whose
reverent hands the task was entrusted, recurred continually, while it
was in progress, to the magnificent hyperbole of the sacred
narrator—“The which, if they should be written, every one, I suppose
that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be
written.” Appreciation of the honor put upon her by the commission
deepened into delight as the work went on—prideful delight in the
richness and variety of our national literature. To do ample justice to
every writer and book would have been impossible, but the leading works
of every author of note have the honorable place. It is hoped that the
company of “characters” introduced among _dramatis personæ_ of English
and foreign classics, ancient and modern, will enliven pages that are
already fascinating. Many names of English authors omitted from the
_Handbook_ for the reason stated awhile ago, will also be found in their
proper positions.

The compiler and editor of this volume would be ungrateful did she not
express her sense of obligation for assistance received in the work of
collecting lists of writers and books from “_The Library of American
Literature_,” prepared by Mr. Edmund Clarence Stedman and Miss Ellen
Hutchinson.

Besides this, and a tolerable degree of personal familiarity with the
leading literature of her own land, her resort has been to the public
libraries in New York City—notably, to _The Astor_ and _The Mercantile_.
For the uniform courtesy she has received from those in charge of these
institutions she herewith makes acknowledgement in the publisher’s name
and in her own.

                                                     MARION HARLAND.

[Illustration]




                     CHARACTER SKETCHES OF ROMANCE,
                        FICTION, AND THE DRAMA.







=Falkland=, an aristocratic gentleman, of a noble, loving nature, but
the victim of false honor and morbid refinement of feeling. Under great
provocation, he was goaded on to commit murder, but being tried was
honorably acquitted, and another person was executed for the crime.
Caleb Williams, a lad in Falkland’s service, accidently became
acquainted with these secret facts, but, unable to live in the house
under the suspicious eyes of Falkland, he ran away. Falkland tracked him
from place to place, like a blood-hound, and at length arrested him for
robbery. The true statement now came out, and Falkland died of shame and
broken spirit. —W. Godwin, _Caleb Williams_ (1794).

⁂ This tale has been dramatized by G. Colman, under the title of _The
Iron Chest_, in which Falkland is called “Sir Edward Mortimer,” and
Caleb Williams is called “Wilford.”

=False One= (_The_), a tragedy by Beaumont and Fletcher (1619). The
subject is the amours of Julius Caesar and Cleopat´ra.

=Falsetto= (_Signor_), a man who fawns on Fazio in prosperity, and turns
his back on him when fallen into disgrace.—Dean Milman, _Fazio_ (1815).

=Falstaff= (_Sir John_), in _The Merry Wives of Windsor_, and in the two
parts of _Henry IV._, by Shakespeare. In _Henry V._, his death is
described by Mrs. Quickly, hostess of an inn in Eastcheap. In the
comedy, Sir John is represented as making love to Mrs. Page, who “fools
him to the top of his bent.” In the historic plays, he is represented as
a soldier and a wit, the boon companion of “Mad-cap Hal” (the prince of
Wales). In both cases, he is a mountain of fat, sensual, mendacious,
boastful, and fond of practical jokes.

In the king’s army, “Sir John” was Captain, “Peto” Lieutenant, “Pistol”
ancient [ensign], and “Bardolph” Corporal.

C.R. Leslie says: “Quin’s ‘Falstaff’ must have been glorious. Since
Garrick’s time there have been more than one ‘Richard,’ ‘Hamlet,’
‘Romeo,’ ‘Macbeth,’ and ‘Lear;’ but since Quin [1693-1766] only one
'Falstaff,' John Henderson [1747-1786].”

Falstaff, unimitated, inimitable, Falstaff, how shall I describe thee?
Thou compound of sense and vice: of sense which may be admired, but not
esteemed; of vice which may be despised, but hardly detested. “Falstaff
” is a character loaded with faults, and with those faults which
naturally produce contempt. He is a thief and a glutton, a coward and a
boaster, always ready to cheat the weak and prey upon the poor, to
terrify the timorous and insult the defenceless. At once obsequious and
malignant—yet the man thus corrupt, thus despicable, makes himself
necessary to the prince by perpetual gaiety, and by unfailing power of
exciting laughter.—Dr. Johnson.

=Fanciful= (_Lady_), a vain, conceited beauty, who calls herself “nice,
strangely nice,” and says she was formed “to make the whole creation
uneasy.” She loves Heartfree, a railer against women, and when he
proposes marriage to Belinda, a rival beauty, spreads a most impudent
scandal, which, however, reflects only on herself. Heartfree, who at one
time was partly in love with her, says to her:

“Nature made you handsome, gave you beauty to a miracle, a shape without
a fault, wit enough to make them relish... but art has made you become
the pity of our sex, and the jest of your own. There’s not a feature in
your face but you have found the way to teach it some affected
convulsion. Your feet, your hands, your very finger-ends, are directed
never to move without some ridiculous air, and your language is a
suitable trumpet to draw people’s eyes upon the raree-show” (act ii.
1).—Vanbrugh, _The Provoked Wife_ (1697).

=Fan-Fan=, _alias_ =Phelin O’Tug=, “a lolly-pop maker, and manufacturer
of maids of honor to the court.” This merry, shy, and blundering elf,
concealed in a bear-skin, makes love to Christine, the faithful
attendant on the Countess Marie. Phelin O’Tug says his mother was too
bashful ever to let him know her, and his father always kept in the
back-ground.—E. Stirling, _The Prisoner of State_ (1847).

=Fang=, a bullying, insolent magistrate, who would have sent Oliver
Twist to prison, on suspicion of theft, if Mr. Brownlow had not
interposed on the boy’s behalf.—C. Dickens, _Oliver Twist_ (1837).

The original of this ill-tempered, bullying magistrate was Mr. Laing, of
Hatton Garden, removed from the bench by the home secretary.—John
Foster, _Life of Dickens_, iii. 4.

=Fang and Snare=, two sheriff’s officers.—Shakespeare, _2 Henry IV_
(1598).

=Fanny= (_Robin_). Country girl seduced under promise of marriage by
Sergeant Troy. She dies with her child and is buried by Troy’s
betrothed, who learns after her marriage the tale of Fanny’s wrongs.—T.
Hardy, _Far from the Madding Crowd_ (1874).

_Fanny_ (_Lord_). So John Lord Hervey was usually called by the wits of
the time, in consequence of his effeminate habits. His appearance was
that of a “half-wit, half-fool, half-man, half-beau.” He used rouge,
drank ass’s milk, and took Scotch pills (1694-1743).

Consult Lord Fanny, and confide in Curll [_publisher_]. Byron, _English
Bards and Scotch Reviewers_ (1809).

_Fanny_ (_Miss_), younger daughter of Mr. Sterling, a rich City
merchant. She was clandestinely married to Lovewell. “Gentle-looking,
soft-speaking, sweet-smiling, and affable,” wanting “nothing but a crook
in her hand and a lamb under her arm to be a perfect picture of
innocence and simplicity.” Every one loved her, and as her marriage was
a secret, Sir John Melvil and Lord Ogleby both proposed to her. Her
marriage with Lovewell being ultimately made known, her dilemma was
removed.—Colman and Garrick, _The Clandestine Marriage_ (1766).

=Fan´teries= (3 _syl._), foot-soldiers, infantry.

Five other bandes of English fanteries. G. Gascoigne, 1535-1577, _The
Fruites of Warre_ (1575)

=Fantine=. Parisian girl, deserted by her lover and left to support her
child as best she can. Her heroic self-devotion is one of the most
interesting episodes of _Les Miserables_, a romance by Victor Hugo.

=Faquir´=, a religious anchorite, whose life is spent in the severest
austerities and mortification.

He diverted himself, however... especially with the Brahmins, faquirs,
and other enthusiasts who had travelled from the heart of India, and
halted on their way with the emir.—W. Beckford, _Vathek_ (1786).

=Farçeur= (_The_), Angelo Beolco, the Italian farce-writer. Called
_Ruzz