humility in accepting the parallel with their own wit-overthrown mask
agree with his boisterous jeering at the mask of the Nine Worthies
later? How does the attitude of the ladies toward it compare with that
of the men and what comment upon it does it constitute in your
opinion? How does it all prepare the way for the sudden sad message,
and also for the decision of the Ladies to rebuff love that is not
serious? What special point is there in the kind of trial Rosaline and
her mistress each specially propose for Berowne and the King? Has it
any relation to what has just been shown of each of them in their
attitude towards others with respect to the humble performers of the
Mask of the Nine Worthies? What makes wit an unalloyed pleasure?

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Is the serious ending of this Comedy a disappointment? Is seriousness
an ending artistically called for by this plot, or only morally called
for? Compare with the serious strain in the "Comedie of Errors." What
does the contradictory little final dialogue between Winter and Spring
add to the significance of the Play?


VI

THE WIT OF THE PLAY

This has been called by Armitage Brown, "A Comedy of Conversation";
and the quibbles in which the Play abounds have been supposed by Dr.
Johnson to give the Author "such delight, that he was content to
sacrifice reason propriety and truth" for their sake. How far do these
observations justly apply to the Play?