No marrying 'mong his subjects? Antonio. None, man; all
idle; whores and knaves. Gonzalo. I would with such perfection
govern, sir, T' excel the golden age. Sebastian. Save his majesty!
THE MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
Bottom the Weaver is a character that has not had justice done him.
He is the most romantic of mechanics. And what a list of companions
he has--Quince the Carpenter, Snug the Joiner, Flute the Bellows-
mender, Snout the Tinker, Starveling the Tailor; and then again,
what a group of fairy attendants, Puck, Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth,
and Mustard-seed! It has been observed that Shakespeare's characters
are constructed upon deep physiological principles; and there is
something in this play which looks very like it. Bottom the Weaver,
who takes the lead of
This crew of patches, rude mechanicals,
That work for bread upon Athenian stalls,
follows a sedentary trade, and he is accordingly represented as
conceited, serious, and fantastical. He is ready to undertake
anything and everything, as if it was as much a matter of course as
the motion of his loom and shuttle. He is for playing the tyrant,
the lover, the lady, the lion. 'He will roar that it shall do any
man's heart good to hear him'; and this being objected to as
improper, he still has a resource in his good opinion of himself,
and 'will roar you an 'twere any nightingale'.
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