I received a very interesting comment to my December 18 post which asked whether George Kittredge's theory regarding dramatic necessity being the reason for the creation of the Porter gave enough credit to the actors that Shakespeare was working with - particularly, in this case, the comic actors Will Kempe and Robert Armin - for inspiring characters such as this one. After all, he had to provide them with work. I would definitely agree (in fact, in my post of December 10, I compared Shakespeare to Duke Ellington in this regard), and as I was re-reading Frank Kermode's The Age of Shakespeare (2004), I found that one of the greatest literary scholars of the last fifty or so years is also on this side of the argument. In the chapter on the Globe, he states that there is "no doubt that Shakespeare wrote with particular members of the company in mind", and for proof, he contrasts the earlier comic roles written for Kempe, with the more sophisticated ones (such as Feste in Twelfth Night and the Fool in King Lear) that were written for Armin, a more subtle actor in Kermode's opinion: "It is fair to say that if Armin had not joined the company these roles might not exist in the forms familiar to us". And I think it's fair to say that we owe both of these actors a round of applause.

Further to yesterday's comments about Enobarbus, the sophisticated and cynical follower of Antony: He has some of the most memorable lines in the play. For example, when Antony and Octavius are reaching a tenuous agreement to form an alliance with which to confront Sextus Pompey, Enobarbus gives them some humorous yet truthful advice. He says that they can continue their disagreements (and return to their true natures) after they have dealt with the immediate threats, and once they have more leisure. Antony, in a tricky spot, then takes out some of his tension on him, to which Enobarbus' replies are highly amusing:

ENOBARBUS

Or, if you borrow one another's love for the

instant, you may, when you hear no more words of

Pompey, return it again: you shall have time to

wrangle in when you have nothing else to do.

ANTONY

Thou art a soldier only: speak no more.

ENOBARBUS

That truth should be silent I had almost forgot.

ANTONY

You wrong this presence; therefore speak no more.

ENOBARBUS

Go to, then; your considerate stone.

His statement on telling the truth always makes me think of one made by another chorus-type character, the Fool in King Lear, when he says, "Truth's a dog must to kennel." Both characters show that humour is often used to camouflage its real purpose.