His sons, his horses, the
elements themselves, are shaken by one unconscious sympathy with the
murdered king.
Associate with this the end of the third scene of the fourth act of
"Julius Caesar;" where we find that the attendants of Brutus all cry out
in their sleep, as the ghost of Caesar leaves their master's tent. This
outcry is not given in Plutarch.
To return to "Macbeth:" Why is the doctor of medicine introduced in the
scene at the English court? He has nothing to do with the progress of
the play itself, any more than the old man already alluded to.--He is
introduced for a precisely similar reason.--As a doctor, he is the best
testimony that could be adduced to the fact, that the English King
Edward the Confessor, is a fountain of health to his people, gifted for
his goodness with the sacred privilege of curing _The King's Evil_, by
the touch of his holy hands. The English King himself is thus
introduced, for the sake of contrast with the Scotch King, who is a
raging bear amongst his subjects.
In the "Winter's Tale," to which he gives the name because of the
altogether extraordinary character of the occurrences (referring to it
in the play itself, in the words: "_a sad tale's best for winter: I have
one of sprites and goblins_") Antigonus has a remarkable dream or
vision, in which Hermione appears to him, and commands the exposure of
her child in a place to all appearance the most unsuitable and
dangerous.
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