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The Fourth Period
As we remarked before, the last years of Shakespeare's career as a playwright are characterized by a considerable change in the style of the drama. Beaumont and Fletcher became the most popular dramatists, and the plays of Shakespeare written during his fourth period are modelled after their dramatic technique. All of them are written around a dramatic conflict, but the tension in them is not w great as in the tragedies; all of them have happy endings.The plays are genuinely poetic, although sometimes unevenly written; in them we may perceive an expression of the lofty humanist ideals typical of Shakespeare, but on the whole we get an impression that is telling us fairy-tales in which he doesn't believe himself However, "leplay that was probably the last one written by him, the play in wich he bids farewell to the theatre is one of the most profound and significant he ever wrote. It is The Tempest".
Shakespeare understood this to be but a beautiful dream, for In his time there was no actual social force to carry anything like it into reality.
And now it is time to say a few words about another important aspect of Shakespeare's philosophy.


Shakespeare's Attitude to the People
Some critics hold the opinion that Shakespeare despised the common people; he showed the wild violence of Jack Cade's rebellion in "Henry VI", Part II, showed the ease with which the people may be deceived in "Julius Caesar", did not hesitate to depict the rough and uncouth Caliban... But there is another side to the problem.
Shakespeare did not idealize the people, he knew that common men in his time were uneducated and politically immature, but, more vividly than any of his contemporaries and many writers to come after him, he showed the people to be the main driving force of history, without the support of whom no movement can succeed. A very significant scene was included by him in "Henry VI", Part I, one of his earliest plays. The Countess of Auvergne lou'vanl lays a trap to capture the famous English general Lord Talbot, and is surprised by his small stature and weak physique. Talbot replies:
He blows his hom, after which his soldiers rush in and deliver him, and Talbot says of himself: "these are his substance, sinews, arms, and strength".
A similar view is held in his later plays. Richard II and Richard I II perish because they are not supported by the people; the same is the case with the noble Brutus in "Julius Caesar", whereas such political adventurers as Henry IV and Mark Antony succeed because they take pains to draw the people to their side. The great Roman general Coriolanus despises and hates the common people, which eventually leads • him to betray his country and die a shameful death. On the contrary, the only ideal ruler in all Shakespeare's works. Henry V, identifies himself with his people, and achieves brilliant results.