Characters of Shakespear's Plays Merry Wives of Windsor". The bulk of Hazlitt's commentary on the two history plays is devoted to Falstaff, whom he considers to be "perhaps the most substantial comic character ever invented". Falstaff had been of interest to Shakespearean commentators for years. Forty years earlier, a full-length book had appeared, "An Essay on the Dramatic Character of Sir John Falstaff" (1777), by Maurice Morgann, often taken as the beginning of that school of Shakespearean criticism which considers the characters of Shakespeare's plays as though they were real people. Hazlitt, who seems to have had little acquaintance with Morgann's work, is careful
Gustavo III (Verdi) opera had been butchered by the censors when it was presented in his absence a few years before. Rejecting any involvement with "Adelia", a lawsuit was then set in place by the theatre for breach of contract. In his counter suit, Verdi claimed damages and, in the document which he prepared called "Defense of Maestro Cavalier Giuseppe Verdi" and in which he gave instructions to his lawyer, he laid what he regarded as the absurdity of some of the requirements. These included the substitution of one word of the opening chorus' "Die!" for "He sleeps". In addition, it has been