Lodge's "Rosalynde" was at this time (about 1598) in its third
edition, and the fact that the story was so familiar to the reading
public imposed upon Shakespeare certain restrictions which he
evidently did not feel in dealing with material that he took from
sources less well known. In the case of material drawn from foreign
sources he freely altered, omitted, or combined different stories as
suited the immediate purpose of his art. In the dramatization of
Lodge's "Rosalynde" he changed the plot comparatively little, altering
it only so far as was absolutely necessary to fit it for stage
presentation, contenting himself with shortening the time of the
action, omitting such incidents as were essentially nondramatic, and
adding only such characters as would, while making the play more
interesting, not materially change the already familiar story.
By condensation and omission Shakespeare shortened the time of the
action, which is several months in the romance, to about ten days in
the play. This he accomplished by omitting all the preliminary
narrative of the death of Sir John of Bordeaux, and the old knight's
will; and by shortening the time that elapses in the romance between
the brother's quarrel and the wrestling, which he makes occur on
successive days.
Pages:
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35