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DRYDEN S DRAMATIC 
 THEORY AND PRAXIS. 
 
 INAUGURAL DISSERTATION 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 
 
 SUBMITTED TO THE 
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL FACULTY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF LEIPZIG 
 
 BY 
 
 GEORGE STUART COLLINS. 
 
 
 LEIPZIG - REUDNiTZ 
 
 PRINTED BY OSWALD SCHJVIIDT. 
 
 1892. 
 
4u^/ 
 
 £a\ 
 
 Jjii i 
 
DEDICATED 
 
 TO 
 
 MY MOTHER. 
 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2007 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/drydensdramatictOOcollrich 
 
UNIVERSITY 
 
 California- 
 
 John Dryden occupies, in his capacity of criticj an 
 filmo^t unique place in the history of English literature 
 up to his time, and his fame as an author has always 
 rested very largely thereon. This position cannot be 
 better characterized than in the words of Bobertag;* 
 
 "Dryden ist einer der ersten modernen dichter, in 
 deren wirken und schaffen sich die theorie als etwas 
 fiir sich existirendes, sozusagen als eine selbstandige 
 macht kundgiebt." P^ven the style of these critical 
 writings is worthy of attention, since we find in them, 
 as has more than once been noticed, "the first pieces 
 of good modern English prose."** Dryden possessed 
 by no means, however, all the qualities necessary to 
 make a great critic, nor is it at all times easy to 
 perceive on which side of the question he is arguing, 
 and one or two of the few opinions which we can with 
 security accept as being his own convictions underwent, 
 ae^-we shall see, a radical change in a comparatively 
 short space of time. His critical conclusions on the 
 subject of the drama have been almost without influence 
 on contemporary or later dramatic productions; and give, 
 besides, in many cases, the impression of having been 
 drawn more to justify the plays he had himself written, 
 or intended to write, than from a desire to arrive at 
 truth. This latter point will appear with greater clearness 
 when we come to examine his dramatic praxis as it 
 agrees with, or forms a contrast to, his theoretical dicta. 
 
 * "Dryden's Theorie des Dramas" in Kolbing's Englische 
 Studien, Vol. IV, pp. 375, 376. 
 
 ** Arnold, in the Preface to his edition of the Essay of 
 Dramatic Poesy; Oxford, 1889. 
 
— 6 — 
 
 An attempt to gather together what can be con- 
 sidered as Dryden's own convictions on the subject of 
 dramatic art (by which is intended, above all, such 
 rules as he thought should obtain in the composition of 
 plays) and a comparison of these with the technique 
 of his own dramas is the object of the following pages ; 
 which, it is hoped, may prove of some value as a con- 
 tribution to the labors of others in the now busy field 
 of Dryden Philology. I restrict myself to Dryden's indi- 
 vividual opinions (as far as these are determinable) 
 which, however, are to be arrived at only by analyses 
 (wliich here follow) of such of his theoretical writings 
 as stand in direct connection with the above mentioned 
 purpose. 
 
UNIVERSITY 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 DRYDEN'S DRAMATIC THEORIES. 
 
 I. 
 
 The Dedication to the Comedy *The Rival- Ladies*^ ; 
 published in 1664. (Edition,* Vol. II, p. 129, seq.) 
 
 In this, Dryden touches for the first time upon the 
 question of Rhyme versus Blank Verse in the drama. 
 His reasons for the preference of rhyme as stated in the 
 above mentioned Dedication, may be summed up as 
 follows ; 
 
 a) He is not the first to employ rhyme and cannot, 
 therefore, be accused of acting without precedent; for 
 we find it employed in the tragedy of "Gorboduc."** 
 
 b) Rhyme is employed by the writers of "the most 
 polished and civilized nations of Europe."*** 
 
 c) The only inconvenience of rhyme is that it is 
 not easy, in its use, to avoid closing the lines with 
 verbs; which brings about, often, an inversion of the 
 natural construction ; But one with a good command of 
 English will not often "be forced upon this rock." 
 
 * The edition used is that by Walter Scott, revised by Saints- 
 bury : Edinburgh, 1882, seq. 
 
 ** In this drama, however, only the choruses are in rhymed 
 verse ; the remainder is in blank verse. 
 
 *** Passages in quotation marks are, when no authority ie 
 cited, Dryden's own words. 
 
— 8 — 
 
 dj Rhyme is said to be unnatural, but it is "only so 
 when the poet either makes a vicious choice of words, 
 or places them, for rhyme sake, so unnaturally as no 
 man would in ordinary speaking." 
 
 e) Rhyme, "when judiciously ordered, has all the 
 advantages of prose besides its own." 
 
 f) It is a help to memory; as Sir Philip Sidney 
 shows in his "Defense of Poesy." 
 
 g) It has "in the quickness of repartee, so particular 
 a grace". 
 
 h) "It bounds and circumscribes the fancy" — "That 
 which most regulates the fancy and gives the judgment 
 its busiest employment, is like to bring forth the richest 
 and clearest thoughts" ; which answers the objection — 
 "that rhyme is only an embroidery of sense, to make 
 that wliich is ordinary in itself, pass for excellent with 
 less examination." 
 
 A proper subject must be chosen for verse, and 
 the "argument, characters and persons must be great 
 and noble." (In this we see the first indications of 
 a plea for the so-called "heroic drama.") He considers 
 as proper subjects for clothing in rhyme; "scenes of 
 argumentation and discourse, on the result of which 
 the doing or not doing some considerable action should 
 depend." 
 
 II. 
 
 '^An Essay of Dramatic Poesy''; first published in 1668, 
 (possibly in 1667). 
 
 C^^" :§E3ss - is a piece of remarkably vigorous , at times 
 elegant, prose, in the form of a discussion between the 
 author and three of his friends ; each of the four being 
 characterized by an appropriate pseudonym. We find, 
 as regards the purpose of this paper, four questions in 
 reference to the drama debated,* namely: 
 
 Cf. Arnold's Ed., preface, p. VH. 
 
OF THE '^ 
 
 _ 9 .JJNIVER 
 
 a) The value of the modern drama as opposed to 
 that of the Greeks and Romans; 
 
 b) The superiority or inferiority of the French 
 drama of the period of the Essay to the English ; 
 
 /^ c) 'Whether or not a drama is more perfect accord- 
 ing to its degree of conformance to tlie so-called 
 /Unities; and 
 
 d) Whether rhyme or blank verse should be employed^ 
 in seiious plays. 
 
 A^^orough analysis of this Essay would lead too 
 far^ andr-it may, besideSj-be-assumedthat-it-k known 
 t^ mo.st students of English literatui?ep-and so I confine 
 myself to as concise a summary as possible. The author 
 states, in the Prefatory note "To the Eeader'7^ that 
 •'the drift of the discourse was chiefly to vindicate the 
 honour of our English writers, from the censure of those 
 who unjustly prefer the French before them" : As this 
 defence is taken up by the person called Neander, we 
 are justified in supposing that his arguments represent 
 Dryden's own convictions. We are also at liberty to 
 assume, from internal evidence, that Dry den concurs 
 in the stand taken by Eugenius** upon the first question; 
 for Neander does not take exceptions to the arguments 
 advanced by Eugeniusj nor does he continue the dispute 
 in favor of Crites,^"** who had urged the other side. 
 Proceding upon these hypotheses, Dryden's own opinions, 
 as expressed in the essay, would be as follows; 
 
 — In regard to a) — The modern drama excels the 
 ancient; for the former has the benefit of the experience 
 of the latter, but does not "draw after its lines, but 
 those of nature"; 
 
 Greek dramatic poetry was not divided into any 
 certain number of acts; 
 
 The plots of the ancient dramas were worn so 
 threadbare that the spectators knew the whole action 
 of the play from the beginning; 
 
 * Arnold's Ed., p. 7. 
 
 ** Who represents Lord Buckhurst, according to the accepted 
 theory of all editors. 
 
 *** Sir Robert Howard. 
 
— 10 — 
 
 r' The Unities of Time, Place and Action are often 
 /nefti ected in the ancient drama; 
 
 "Instead of punishing vice, and rewarding virtue, 
 they [the Ancients] have often shown a prosperous 
 wickedness, and an unhappy piety"; 
 
 The Ancients are inferior in wit; 
 
 The ancient poets dealt with passions "which were 
 more capable of raising horror than compassion in an 
 audience, leaving love untouched." 
 
 "Hn regard to b) — The French contrive their plots 
 more regularly and observe, in general, more exactly 
 the laws of comedy and "the decorum of the stage;" 
 but fail in that "lively imitation of nature," which the 
 disputants had settled upon as one of the essentials of 
 drama ; 
 
 The French have taken up the syle of drama called 
 tragi-comedy since the death of Richelieu, in imitation 
 of the English; but even here there is a lack of 
 variety ; * 
 
 The French plots are barren; being single, with 
 one design only; whereas the English plays have "besides 
 the main design, under-plots or by-concernments" which, 
 however, all bear a relation to the principal plot. 
 This variety, if well managed, will give greater pleasure 
 to an audience, than one single design ; 
 
 The long speeches of the French plays are cold, 
 without development of passion. The short speeches 
 and replies of English plays are (at least with English 
 audiences) "more apt to move the passions and beget 
 concernment" ; 
 
 The French plays contain only one character of 
 importance; but this is no great advantage, since the 
 well-managed introduction of persons of secondary im- 
 
 * In connection with the above, Dryden (i. e. Neander) defends 
 tragi-comedy on the ground that the mirthful element is a relief 
 to a spirit "too much bent by continual gravity." He praises 
 tragi-comedy as a peculiar merit of the English nation, which 
 has "invented, increased and perfected a more jjleasant way of 
 writing for the stage, than was ever known to the ancients or 
 moderns of any nation." 
 
— 11 — 
 
 portaiice adds to the variety of tlie i)lot and to tliat 
 pleasure experienced in following "a labyrinth of design" ; 
 
 The French have reason on their side when they 
 prefer the narration of combats and tumults to a represent- 
 ation of such on the stage: But the English public 
 desires the actual representation, nor does this neces- 
 sarily disturb the illusion ; for one "can with as great 
 ease persuade himself that the blows are given in good 
 earnest, as he can that they who strike them are kings 
 or princes." Dryden acknowledges, however, that death ' 
 is not a fit subject for stage representation ; But if the 
 English show too much of the action, the French show 
 too little; 
 
 The French drama observes the "unities" mo'rel 
 strictly, but even Corneille acknowledges that these are! 
 a great limitation and constraint; Dryden claims thatl 
 a strict observance of unity of place and of unbroken 
 scenes leads to some a bsurdities and to the omission of) 
 many-beauties. ~ ' ^~ cf 
 
 In regard to c) — Here Dryden takes a middle \ (4/l/u[(^ 
 staud; Hq^MOMjgBfenlTrftpftTTPTrti^ 
 of the "unities", and-vet condem ns the French for too 
 stricQ^IIlilndiiig, themselves by rules, which, as these, 
 tend to constrain the author and make the plot too 
 barrmL;- on the other hand, he praises Ben Jonson's 
 " Th^^ilent Wflman" for its^erfe^t_regularity.^^ Both 
 Shakespeare Und Fletcher have Written "some plays 
 which are almost exactly formed" — "Ben Jonson's are 
 for the most part regular", Dryden adds — and in their 
 "irregular plays, there is a more masculine fancy and 
 greater spirit in the writing than there is in any of 
 the French." 
 
 In regard to d) — dryden repeats, practically^ 
 wliat he has already advanced in tlie Dedication to 
 "The Rival Ladies": Comedy is left out of the question 
 altogether, and rhyme is defended, for serious plays^ on 
 the following grounds: — 
 
 * This drama ("Eptcoene, or The Silent Woman") appeared 
 in 1609. 
 
 (tTNIVERSITT) 
 
— 12 — 
 
 \ Rhyme may be made, by the proper placing of 
 words, as natural in a pJay asi bla nk verse, and is, after 
 all, in itself as natural, for in ordinary conversation one 
 does not use either ; the former has besides the advantage 
 of sweetness of sound; 
 
 As a serious play represents nature wrought up to 
 a much higher pitch than in ordinary life, so is it per- 
 fectly proper to represent the character as speaking in 
 hero ic rhym e, which is more exalted than ordinary 
 prose. If bl ank verse be not suitable for an ordinary 
 occasional poem (as has been acknowledged* how can 
 it be proper for the drama, which (according to Aristotle) 
 occupies a place above even the epic? 
 
 Rhyme in repartee is no more unnatural than blank 
 verse, inasmuch as either must appear as the result of 
 confederation and consultation between the actors. There 
 is a "quick and poignant brevity" in repartee, and when 
 this is "joined with the cadency and sweetness of rhyme" 
 the "last perfection" is added ; 
 
 The majesty of verse does not suffer through clothing 
 ordinary conversation (such as giving commands to a 
 servant) in rhyme, for a good poet will, by a tasteful 
 arrangement and choice of words, avoid any vulgarity 
 in this respect. Besides, such conversation would be no 
 less little and mean if clothed in blank, verse. 
 
 Dryden takes up again and defends against the 
 attack of "Crites", one particular argument advanced 
 in favor of rhyme in the Dedication to "The Rival 
 Ladies" — namely, that it circumscribes a too^luxariant 
 i maginat ioii. As "the second 'thoughts areliisua 1 ly llie 
 best, as'receiving~llie"maturest digestion from judgment, 
 and the last and most mature product of tiiose thoughts 
 being artful and labored verse, it may well be inferred 
 that verse is a great help to a luxuriant fancy." 
 
 Namely, by "Crites"; in his attack upon rhyme. 
 
— 13 — ^^-^^^s^TmX^ 
 
 {univ!ersity 
 ITT. \^uforniAl 
 
 ^ A Defc^/)e of an Essay of Dramatic Poesy j published 
 in 1668.* 
 
 In 1668, shortly after the publication of Dry den's 
 "Kssay of Dramatic Poesy", appeared the tragedy "The 
 Great Favorite or The Duke of Lerma" by Sir Robert 
 Howard, Dryden's brother-in-law and the Crites of the 
 Essay. In this many exceptions are taken to the argu- 
 ments advanced in the Essay, particularly on the sub- 
 jects of rhyme and the unities. Dryden retorted in the 
 "Defence of an Essay of Dramatic Poesy", which was 
 pretixed to the second edition of "The Indian Emperor",** 
 Though clever, witty and even stinging in its replies 
 to the lumbering attacks of Sir Robert Howard, this 
 "Defence" brings but little that is new in helping us 
 to determine Dryden's individual critical opinions on the 
 two points mentioned. Dryden says, in eifect; 
 
 The naturalness or unnaturalness of rhyme cannot 
 be demonstrated: "if it cause delight it is sufficient, 
 for delight is the chief end of poesie"; 
 
 A "bare imitation" will not serve the ends of a 
 serious play, for the poet must use "all the arts and 
 ornaments of poesie" to heighten the converse he is to 
 imitate; which converse should be '^such as, strictly 
 considered, could never be supposed spoken by any 
 without premeditation". A play will not be thought 
 to be the result of the confederation of several persons 
 who have the faculty of speaking in verse, extempore', 
 but is supposed to be the work of the poet, imitating 
 or representing the conversation of several persons; 
 
 One great objection to prose, is that it is too much/ 
 like nature and the use of it would be so near an imii 
 tation as to destroy the artistic quality of the work; J 
 
 * Arnold's Edition of the Essay, p. 100 seq. 
 
 ** The "Defence" is not to be found in all copies of this 
 second edition and was afterwards suppressed, never appearing 
 again in print during Dryden's life-time. Compare "Edition" 
 Vol. I p. 86 and Vol. 11 p. 290; also Arnold, p. 100. 
 
— 14 — 
 
 Rhyme seems, by common consent of modern poets, 
 to be the natural successor of ancient verse; which 
 shows that the former "obtained the end — which was 
 to please", and Dry den acknowledges that he is ruled 
 by the desire to delight the age in which he lives. He 
 concludes the defence of verse, however, by saying that 
 it is, "after all, a very- indifferent thing", to him, 
 ''whether it obtain or not" — which utterance is a most 
 convenient, and for Dryden quite characteristic, way 
 of precluding fuither arguments against his then pre- 
 ference for verse. 
 
 In answering his critic in that masterful style 
 which makes this "Defence" a worthy appendix to the 
 "Essay", Dryden claims that the only foundation of 
 dramatic poetry, since and for all times, is the „imi- 
 tation of nature"; and refers to the definition of a play 
 which had been settled upon by the four disputants in 
 the Essay; namely, that a play ought to be: "A just and 
 lively image of human nature, representing its passions 
 and humours, and the changes of fortune to which it is 
 subject , for the delight and instruction of mankind." 
 The means to be used in attaining this end are such 
 as were employed by the dramatists of both ancient 
 and modern times, and Dryden calls upon the "authority 
 of Aristotle and Horace" and the "rules and examples 
 of Ben Jonson and Corneille" to support the statements 
 made in the Essay regarding these "means"; by which 
 we are to understand (in this "Defence", at least) practi- 
 cally only a proper employment of the unities of time 
 and place. In reply to Sir Robert Howard's somewhat 
 illogical attacks upon Dryden's utterances in the Essay 
 as regards these unities, they are again discussed, and 
 we find Dryden willing to allow a certain latitude in 
 regard to place — the scene of action may be laid in 
 "several places in the same town or city, or places 
 adjacent to each other in the same country" — but he 
 contends that "nearer and fewer those imaginary places 
 are, the greater resemblance they will have to truth". 
 His conclusions regarding the unity of time are: "That 
 the imaginary time of every play ought to be contrived 
 
~ 15 — 
 
 into as narrow a compass as the nature of the plot, 
 the (luality of the persons, and variety of accidents 
 will allow". In comedy, he would not exceed twenty- 
 four or thirty hours; to tragedy he allows a larger 
 space, following in these views the practise of Ben 
 Jonson. 
 
 The Preface to ''^n Evenim/s Love, or Tlw Mock 
 Asirologer'' ; published in 1668 (Edition, Vol. Ill; p. 
 227, seq.). 
 
 The subject of this preface is the nature of comedy 
 and the distinction between it and farce; and though 
 containing but few direct statements of opinion upon 
 dramatic technique, it is of considerable importance 
 in judging of Dry den's position towards comedy in \ 
 general. He regards comedy as "in its own nature, \ 
 inferior to all sorts of dramatic writing", but yet Jt is j 
 nobler than farce. \ 
 
 Jonson, and Dry den's contemporaries make an error 
 in representing in comedy the "follies of particular 
 persons". 
 
 Dry den approves most "the mixed way of comedy; 
 that which is neither all wit nor all humor, but the 
 result of both". 
 
 The characters in comedy must be „well chosen, 
 and kept distant from interfering with each other"; 
 which is not the case with Shakespeare and Fletcher. 
 
 Comedy must contain more of the "ornaments of 
 wit"; which he gives (after Quintilian) as being the 
 urbana, vemista, salsa, faceta and others, which are wanting 
 in Ben Jonson. 
 
 Repartee is "the gi-eatest grace of comedy", and 
 yet even here the author must be careful to avoid 
 "the superfluity and waste of wit" of Dryden's pre- 
 decessors, particularly Shakespeare and Fletcher. The 
 
— 16 — 
 
 wit of the repartee must be suited to the person uttering 
 it; "A wit tj^ coward , and a witty brave, must speak 
 differently." 
 
 In defending himself against the charge of violating 
 ''the law of comedy, which is to reward virtue, and 
 punish vice", by making "debauched persons" the heroes 
 of the drama to which this essay forms a preface, 
 Dryden denies that such a law has "been constantly 
 observed in comedy, either by the ancient or modern 
 poets". It is necessary^ here to distinguish between the 
 rules of tragedy and comedy; In tragedy, "the laws of 
 justice are more strictly observed" and vice is punished 
 for the sake of example. In comedy, "the chief end is 
 divertisement and delight", the persons represented, too, 
 "are of a lower quality", the vices and faults such as 
 are common to all mankind and which excite "pity and 
 commiseration; not detestation and horror"; therefore 
 ,,comedy is not so much obliged to the punishment of 
 faults which it represents, as tragedy". 
 
 V. 
 
 The Preface to " Tyrannic Love , or The Boyal 
 Martyr''; published in 1670 (Edition, Vol. Ill; p. 369, seq.)- 
 
 The plot of the play is the martyrdom of St. Catherine, 
 and in this preface Dryden defends the dramatic represen- 
 tation of religious subjects, as follows: 
 
 Dryden maintains, "against the enemies of the stage, 
 that patterns of piety, decently represented, and equally 
 removed from the extremes of superstition and profaness, 
 may be of excellent use to second the precepts of our 
 religion" ; 
 
 "The harmony of words", like the solemn music in 
 churches, "elevates the soul to a sense of devotion" ; and, 
 added to this, comes the action : so that the soul is 
 charmed by "what it sees and hears", and seized "with 
 a secret veneration of things celestial". 
 
— 17 — 
 
 He is uot to be charged witli pi'ofaness or irreligion 
 on account of the part of Maximin in this play, for ^^hen 
 this "bloody tyrant" and "persecutor of the churcli" is 
 represented as speaking against religion this is only in 
 keeping with historical tradition and with nature. It 
 is not improper to present '-a person of such principles" 
 and a scoifer at religion upon the stage, for the Holy 
 Scriptures contain records of the lives and sayings of 
 many "wicked and profane persons", and Dry den makes 
 no other use of the character of Maximin than as in 
 the Holy Scriptures — to set him as "a sea-mark for 
 those who behold to avoid": Besides, the requirements 
 of dramatic art are fulfilled , for the punishment of 
 Maximin's crime follows immediately upon its execution. 
 
 Dryden's position as regards the heroic drama is 
 marked by the statement; "Heroic representations are 
 not limited but with the extremest bounds of what is 
 credible". 
 
 The Essay ''Of Heroic Plaijs'\ prefixed to ''The 
 Cmiqiiest of Granada''; first published in 1672. (Edition 
 Vol. IV, p. 18, seq.) 
 
 At the beginning the subject of heroic verse is again 
 mentioned, and some of the arguments in its favor 
 repeated; although Dryden concedes that it may be 
 left free to every man to write in verse or not, nccoi'ding 
 to his talent, or the taste of his audience. Turning then 
 to the subject proper, Dryden makes the celebrated I 
 statement ; "An heroic play ought to be an imitation, in I 
 little, of an heroic poem"; its subject should, consequently, I 
 be "love and valour". 
 
 He defends the supernatural element in heroic ', 
 poetry — the poet must be allowed this free scope of 
 imagination: "The greatest part of mankind" have believed 
 in magic and in apparitions ; and poets are, in all cases 
 
 2 
 
— IB — 
 
 better able (through the aid of fancy) to deal with such 
 dark and doubtful questions. Nor is the employment 
 of spectres and magic in heroic poetry unnatural; for 
 such things may exist, and ^'whatever is, or may be, is 
 not properly unnatui-al." What applies to an heroic 
 poem applies also to an heroic play; and as the heroic 
 poem, from its high rank as a species of composition, 
 is most worthy of imitation, so the drama has the advan- 
 tage of representing in action that which the poem 
 merely relates. 
 
 He also defends his frequent use of spectacular 
 effects, such as fighting and the sound of martial music: 
 They are necessary "to produce the effect of an heroic 
 play"; which is to say, that the imagination of the 
 audience is to be raised into believing, for the time 
 being, that what is beheld "on the theatre, is really 
 performed". The poet is to strive to a complete mastery 
 over the minds of his audience; "for though our fancy 
 will contribute to its own deceit, j^et a writer ought 
 to help its operation." 
 
 VII. 
 
 ^^Apoloiii) for Heroic Poetry and Poetic Licencc'\ 
 prefixed to "TV/r^ State of Innocence'% published in 1674. 
 (Edition, Vol. V, p. Ill, seq.) 
 
 In this, Diyden defends certain features of the 
 "heroic" style ; among them even the rant and bombast 
 (as others than Dryden would be inclined to call them) 
 which are so characteristic of this form of dramatic art. 
 
 •'The boldest strokes of poetry, when they are 
 managed artfully, are those which most delight the 
 reader"; By these "boldest strokes" we are to understand, 
 chiefly, the use of metaphors and other figures of speech. 
 Their use is defended by the example of the ancients, 
 and because they have pleased generally "and through 
 all ages". The poet's first duty is to copy nature, and 
 
— 19 — 
 
 Dryden contends "that those things which deliglit all 
 ages, must have been an imitation of nature". The 
 figures of rhetoric were introduced on account of the 
 eitect thej^ had upon the audience. Even catachresis 
 and hyperbole have taken their place among the "figures", 
 and can be, when used judiciously, of great eftect; — 
 like the lights and shades in painting, which throw the 
 figures into bolder relief. Figures are "principally to 
 be used in passion", since a person does not "reason 
 rightly or talk calmly" when in a passion, and then 
 figures are natural. But tlie poet must be guided by 
 a cool discretion, which will forbid anything too extra- 
 vagant in this line. 
 
 The question of the introduction of supernatural 
 elements into heroic poetry is also discussed, but nothing 
 new is advanced beyond the remarks upon the same 
 subject in the "Essay on Heroic Plays" : — the poet has 
 certain liberties; the Scriptures authorize the description 
 of immaterial substances; things above us we descj'ibe 
 by comparing them to things we know. 
 
 As regards Poetic Licence Dryden defines it as 
 "the liberty of speaking things in verse, which are 
 beyond the severity of prose" and this liberty has been 
 "from all ages" the birthright of poets; but must, however, 
 be varied according to the language and times of each 
 poet. "Sublime subjects ought to be adorned with the 
 sublimest, and consequently often, with the most figurative 
 expressions". 
 
 vin 
 
 Preface to ^^AU for Love, or The World ivell Losf'\ 
 published in 1678, (Edition. Vol. V, p. 326, seq.) 
 
 This play is an adaptation of Shakespeare's "Antony 
 and Cleopatra", and consequently Dryden's remarks 
 are chiefly an explanation and defence of the lines 
 followed in his attempt to make tins masteipiece 
 agreeable to the taste of his times. 
 
— 20 — 
 
 ^ The hero of such a tragic poem "ought not to be 
 
 of perfect virtue", since he then cannot with justice 
 be made unhapp}^; "nor j^et altogether wicked", since 
 then he would not excite pity, so Dryden takes a 
 middle course. 
 
 Dryden linds an error in the character of Octavia 
 as drawn by Shakespeare, inasmuch as she absorbs 
 some of the pity Avhich should center in the chief 
 characters, Antony and Cleopatra. 
 
 In defending, the quarrel scene between Octavia 
 ^*ind Cleopatra (Drydeii's o^vn invention and not found 
 JipSli akespeaiv' lie criticizes the '"nicety of manners" 
 ^f the French stage, which would not have allowed such 
 a scene. Certain actions are not fit for representation, 
 nor should an author indulge in "broad obscenities in 
 words"; although such a scene as the above is not to 
 be condemned so long as *'kept within the bounds of 
 modesty". We must not allow the French to prescribe 
 to us in such matters, until they have created something 
 really much superior. 
 
 Dryden has endeavored "to follow the practice of 
 the ancients" in this play; but yet he considers their 
 models, though regular, as being "too little for English 
 tragedy, which requires to be built in a larger compass". 
 
 He professes to imitate Shakespeare in the style 
 of this play, and in order to do this more freely has 
 not used rhyme, though he does not condemn his own 
 former use of it. As a matter of fact, however, Dryden 
 was, at this time, undergoing the process which finally 
 ended in abandoning rhymed verse altogether. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Hie Efimy : ^'' The Grounds of Criticism in Traxfcdi/' ; 
 prefixed to ''Troilus and Cremda^ or Truth Found too 
 Late", which was published in 1679. (Edition, Vol. YI, 
 p. 260, seq.) 
 
— 21 — 
 
 Di yden states his endeavor in this essay to be ; 
 "To discover the grounds and reasons of all criticism" 
 (with application, however, only to Tragedy) as a help 
 to the solution of the two questions — In how far 
 Shakespeare and Fletcher should be imitated in their 
 tragedies; and, secondly, in what ways the two named 
 authors dift'er from each other. The opening pages are 
 scarcely more than a variation on the theme (stated 
 after Aristotle) — "Tragedy is an imitation of one en- 
 tire, great, and piobable action, not told, but represen- 
 ted ; which, by moving in us fear and pity, is conducive 
 to the purging of those two passions in our minds." 
 
 Dryden urges the necessity that the action be one; 
 as an interweaving of two independent actions tends to 
 distract the attention of the audience and so to destroy 
 the purpose of the author. He leaves himself a con- 
 venient exit for escape, however, by stating that, "to 
 give us the pleasure of variety", the combination of a 
 principal and a subservient action „has obtained on the 
 English stage." 
 
 Regarding the other points of the above dictum 
 Dryden brings nothing new, but simply comments at 
 considerable length upon them and brings Rapin and 
 Bossu to his support. But these French critics derive 
 all their authoiity from Aristotle. The chief importance 
 to us of the pages which Dryden devotes to this con- 
 sideration is that they show that he (at the time of 
 writing at least) was entirely in favor of the "regular" 
 style of writing, except in the case of the unity of action, 
 where (as we have just seen) he seems wilhng to allow a 
 certain latitude. 
 
 Hereupon Dryden answers the first question, stated 
 at the beginning, as follows; "that we ought to follow 
 Shakespeare and Fletcher in their plots, so far only as 
 they have copied the excellencies of those who invented 
 and brouglit to perfection dramatic poetry." He allows 
 exceptions in favor of the alterations which "religion, 
 custom of countries, idioms of language, etc.", have made 
 
— 22 — 
 
 '*in the superstructures, but not in the foundation of the 
 design."* 
 
 Dryden then considers the ''manners" of a tragedy, 
 which he defines as meaning — „those inclinations, 
 whether natural or acquired, which move and carry us 
 to actions, good, bad, or indifferent, or which incline the 
 persons to such actions." The proper treatment of 
 manners can be comprised under four general heads: 
 
 First, **they must be apparent;'' in other words, the 
 persons must be characterized by some manners peculiar 
 to each which must appear in their "actions and dis- 
 course :" 
 
 Secondly, they ''must be suitable," or adapted to the 
 age, sex, dignity, etc. of the personages represented : 
 
 Thirdly, they must have resemblance to the persons 
 to whom they are ascribed; by which is meant that 
 when a poet is describing 'an historical character he is 
 bound to represent him "not contrary to that which fame 
 has reported him to have been;" and Fourthly, they must 
 be „constant and equal, that is, maintained the same 
 through the whole design." 
 
 From the manners are derived the chanwtcrs, for 
 these are only ''the inclinations, as they appear in the 
 several persons of the poem;" since character is ''that 
 which distinguishes one man from another." A character 
 must not be "one particular virtue, or vice, or passion 
 only," but a composition of qualities which are not 
 opposed to one another in the same person. As already 
 stated, the hero of the tragedy (in order that he may 
 have the sympathies of audience) ought to be distinguished 
 by virtue rather than by vice; and the concernment 
 (i. e. the pity and terror) ot the spectators must be en- 
 listed allmost entirely for this one character. "Terror 
 and compassion work but weakly when they are divided 
 into many persons." 
 
 Dryden treats also the ''passions" under the ge- 
 neral head of manners; meaning — "anger, hatred, 
 
 * Dryden's answer to the second question (on the difference 
 between Shakespeare and Fletcher) I purposely omit, since it does 
 not bear upon the present investigation. 
 
^ OF THE ^ 
 
 VERSITT 
 23 Il^-^'^UFORNlA: 
 
 (UNI 
 
 love, ambition, jealousy, revenge, etc., as they are shown 
 in this or that person of the play." The quality of de- 
 scribing these naturally must be born with the poet,] u^ 
 but this gift must be aided by acquired knowledge, or ^ 
 the author will fall into many errors, which "proceed 
 from want of judgment in the poet, and from being 
 unskilled in the principles of moral philosophy." The 
 poet must restrain and carefully "manage his strength": 
 The "roar of passion" will captivate only the vulgar; and 
 if all the characters rant, there can be no distinguishing 
 of one from another. The poet "who would con- 
 cern an audience by describing of a passion" must 
 prepare it first, "and not rush upon it all at once." 
 There must be nothing in the discourse to prevent the 
 "moving of the passions." Therefore are to be avoided; 
 •'too many accidents," and unseasonable wit and senten- 
 tiousness — "no man is at leisure to make sentences 
 and similes, when his soul is in an agony." 
 
 The fourth property of manners is not touched 
 upon, and the essay concludes rather abruptly with a 
 quotation from the French critic Rapin, which defends 
 the necessity for rules in poetic composition. 
 
 Although properly falling outside of the purpose 
 of this paper, I cannot leave the above Essay without 
 noticing one or two points which must surely force 
 themselves upon the attention of every careful reader 
 of Dryden's critical writings. Although, in my mind, 
 even superior to the "Essay of Dramatic Poesy" as a 
 piece of easy, masterful prose, it has certain defects 
 which detract from its value as an attempt to deter- 
 mine the necessary qualities of serious dramatic compo- 
 sition. One may note, for instance, that Dryden's state- 
 ments (as he himself acknowledges) are based, for the 
 greater part, not upon individual investigation and obser- 
 vation, but upon "Aristotle with his interpreters, and 
 Horace and Longinus;" as also, it may be added, upon 
 such comparatively unimportant critics as Rapin and 
 Bossu. There is also a tendency to enlarge upon some 
 points at great length (such as the treatment of the 
 "passions") with considerable show of acquaintance with 
 
— 24 — 
 
 classical authors; and to pass over others (such as the 
 constancy and equality of the "manners") with fewer 
 words than the subject demands. The most disagreeable 
 feature of all is Dryden's evident desire to defend him- 
 self, both for his former offences in dramatic authorship 
 and for his present way of thinking now that his eyes 
 are opened to the way "the ancients" (who have harass- 
 ed him and led him into more than one inconsistency 
 from the very beginning of his theoretical utterances) 
 thought and acted upon certain points. And the abrupt 
 close, which is explained by a desire to "first see how 
 this will relish with the age" before he proceeds "to the 
 thoughts and expressions suitable to a tragedy" (which 
 plan was never carried out, so far as we know) makes 
 the impression that Dryden found his subject becoming 
 too much of a burden for him and took this convenient 
 way of ending his considerations. 
 
 The ^Grounds of Criticism in Tragedy" is Dryden's 
 last important theoretical essay, but his occasional cri- 
 tical remarks upon dramatic art ceased only with his 
 dramatic activity. Tor the sake of completeness I add 
 therefore the following: 
 
 X. 
 
 The Dedication to ^'TIw Spanish Fr'mv ^ or The 
 Double Discovery '^' published in 1681, (Edition, Vol. VI, 
 p. 402, seq.) 
 
 Dryden intimates here his resolution to abandon 
 bombast, and repeats some observations upon this sub- 
 ject already made in "The Grounds of Criticism in Tragedy :" 
 "Nothing is truly sublime that is not just and proper." 
 In such passages where dramatic poetry rises to a higher 
 expression of emotion, "the strength and vehemence of 
 figures should be suited to the occasion, the subject and 
 the persons." 
 
 In this play Dryden has broken the rule that the 
 
— 25 — 
 
 action should bo onr.^ and has composed a doublo plot — 
 "for the pleasure of variety". The audiences have (he 
 states) grown weary of continued melancholy scenes; 
 tragedies, with the exception of those written in verse, 
 must (in order to succeed) be "lightened with a course 
 of mirth". 
 
 (university 
 
 Preface to '^Albion <wd Alhcm'ms^' ; published in 1685. 
 (Edition, Vol. VII, p. 228, seq.) 
 
 This production was named by Dryden ^'an Opera"; 
 although, as Saintsbury remarks *, the name of "Masque" 
 would be the most proper classification. Accordingly, 
 this preface is principally a definition and characterization 
 of the operatic form of drama, which Dryden defines as ; 
 "A poetical tale, or fiction, represented by vocal and 
 instrumental music, adorned with scenes, machines, and 
 dancing." The personages are gods, goddesses and heroes; 
 that is, in general, supernatural beings. The characters 
 being supernatural and the subject "extended beyond 
 the limits of human nature", many things may be allowed 
 which would not be allowable in other styles of dramatic 
 composition ; as, for instance, the introduction of incidents 
 which would otherwise seem impossible. Yet propriety 
 is to be observed even here, so that the author shall 
 cause each god to do only that which properly belongs 
 (according to mythology) to his particular province. 
 As the personages sing, instead of speak, so the "lofty, 
 figurative and majestical expressions" which would other- 
 wise be fitting for such characters, can be less frequently 
 used. The part which is sung "must abound in the soft- 
 ness and variety of numbers; its principal intention 
 being to please hearing rather than to gratify the under- 
 standing. Lest it should appear preposterous "that rhyme. 
 
 * Edition, loc. cit., p. 227. 
 
— 26 — 
 
 on auy consideration should take place of reason", Drydon 
 lays down a fundamental proposition which we meet with 
 in other essays of his and which is characteristic of one 
 side of his criticism, namely ; "The first inventors of any 
 art or science, provided they have brought it to perfection, 
 are, in reason, to give laws to it ; and according to their 
 model, all after-undertakers are to build". So must the 
 writer of operas imitate the Italians. He then allows 
 that sometimes persons of meaner origin than *'gods, 
 goddesses and heroes" may be introduced; particularly 
 when the time of the opera is that Golden Age when 
 mortals and deities were on more familiar terms of 
 intercourse. He mentions sheperds as being particularly 
 fitted for admission among the Dramatis Personae, since 
 their calling was the "most innocent and the most happy" 
 and because they had the most leisure for verse-making 
 and love ; which latter quality is absolutely essential to 
 an Opera. It is worth mentioning, en passant, how 
 Dryden comes to make this exception to his dictum; 
 He considers, namely, the origin and history ot the 
 opera in Italy and it occurs to him that one of the 
 first and best known examples of the class in that 
 country is a pastoral opera — the "Pastor Fido" of 
 Guarini. So Dryden, whose whole critical apparatus was 
 very largely dependent upon tradition and the opinions 
 of other critics, immediately opens up his definition again 
 and lets in the shepherds. 
 
 XII. 
 
 Tlie Preface to ''Don Sebastion'' ; published in 1690. 
 (Edition, Vol. VII, d. 306, seq.) 
 
 It is worthy of notice that in the opening words of 
 this preface Dryden expresses the feeling that writing 
 for the theatre is a "hard necessity", which only his 
 "b?id circumstances* force him to contini^ It is 
 
— 27 - 
 
 also somewhat surprising to roatl the statement that 
 "love and honour (the mistaken topics of tragedy) are 
 quite worn out' — certainly a great concession tor one 
 to make who depended so largely upon these two ele- 
 ments in his heroic plays ; who considered them, in fact, 
 the very bones and sinews of such dramas! 
 
 In defence of his treatment of the plot of this play, 
 Dryden lays down the law, that: ''Where the event of 
 a play is left doubtful, there the poet is left master. He 
 may raise what he pleases on that foundation, provided 
 he makes it of a piece, and accordmg to the rules of 
 probability". An author is not be accused of plagiarism 
 when he works over incidents or stories which have 
 been treated before. This has been done often by both 
 ancient and modern poets ; and, besides, "the contrivance, 
 the new turn, and new characters alter the property" and 
 make it that of the author who last writes. 
 
 He has not followed strictly "the three mechanic 
 rules of unity", since "the genius of the English cannot 
 bear too regular a play". Dryden excuses himself for 
 his "irregularitees" (as he would once have called them) 
 on the ground that "to gain a greater beauty, it is lawful 
 for a poet to supersede a less". 
 
 The remaining critical utterances of Dryden which 
 bear upon my purpose may be grouped together under 
 the following section: 
 
 XIU. 
 
 a) In the Dedication to ^^King Arthur, a Dramatic 
 Opera'' , published in 1691, (Edition, Vol. VIII, p. 129 
 seq.) we find, practically, only a repetition of the 
 statements made in the Preface to "Albion and Albanius." 
 
 b) ^^Cleomems, or Tfie Spartan Hero''; published in 
 1692 (Edition, Vol. VHI, p. 203, seq.) is a tragedy without 
 a comi ^wnderplot. Dryden acknowledges in the Preface 
 
 ^^eSE UBR^Ay^ 
 
 OP THE 
 
— 28 — 
 
 (loc. cit. p. 219, seq.) that this is "the natural and true 
 way", but yet it was a ''bold attempt" on his part, since 
 such single plots are "not to the genius of the nation". 
 He introduces a noisy mob in one scene, in order (as 
 he says) *'to gratify the barbarous part of the audience". 
 Such scenes are, however, as he considers, degrading 
 to a tragedy when represented. The neglect of the unity 
 of time is excused on the ground that he wished to 
 introduce a particular scene ; and, "in such a case, it is 
 better to trespass on a rule than leave out a beauty." 
 
 c) The Dedication to Dryden's last play, ^^Love 
 Triumphant^ or Nature ivill Prevail"^ published in 1694 
 (Edition, Vol. VIII, p. 371 seq.) is almost entirely only 
 a defence of this play, but is so characteristic of Dryden's 
 attitude toward dramatic criticism that a short resume 
 is not without value. The catastrophe is brought about 
 by "a change of will", which Aristotle has declared not 
 to be of "the first order of beauty"; but Dryden draws 
 himself out of this difficulty by asserting that the laws 
 of dramatic writing (as set forth by that philosopher) 
 were drawn "from the authorities and examples of the 
 Greek poets", who so suffered from "poverty of invention" 
 that they were often forced to make the chief person 
 change his mind without "art or preparation". In other 
 words, that this change was handled so clumsily was 
 the reason for its condemnation by Aristotle; who would 
 (thinks Dryden) have judged differently could he have 
 seen such a play as the "Cinna" of Corneille. 
 
 One of the principal characters in this play, Alphonso, 
 has his true parentage discovered in the third act, which 
 might be considered an innovation (though Dryden claims 
 that dramatic art should be allowed to make changes 
 for the better) were not a precedent for such a course 
 to be found in Meuander and Terence.* 
 
 * Drj^den acknowledges that he "casually discovered this 
 precedent afterwards", which is very characteristic for his 
 dramaturgy ! Worthy of notice is also the fact that in the case 
 of the "change of will" he overthrows the authority of the Ancients; 
 whereas, in the case of an important piece of dramatic business 
 occuring in the third act, he is visibly relieved to find an athority 
 in classical literature. 
 
university) 
 
 In tills play, as in several others, Dryden has not 
 adhered slavislily to the unity of place, as prescribed 
 by the Ancients, though the scene remains in the same 
 city. Those who object to allowing a poet such a 
 libertj^ call it very ridiculous "for an audience to suppose 
 themselves some times to be in a field, sometimes in a 
 oarden, and at other times in a chamber", and it is 
 true that a frequent change of scene is more absurd 
 than a strict observance of the unity of place; but as 
 a matter of fact "it is an original absurdity for the 
 audience to suppose themselves to be in any other place 
 tlian in the very theatre in which they sit". 
 
 The "double action", each of which is of a "different 
 species", cannot be defended by the example of the 
 Ancients ; for, though they employed double actions, 
 these "were of the same species" : But Dryden considers 
 it defence enough to say that he has written according 
 to the genius of the English nation, which loves variety; 
 though he calls this love a "publice vice", and would 
 be pleased to write differently, were the audience cured 
 of it. ^ 
 
 The above pages strive to give, in abstract, that 
 which we seem justified in considering as Dryden's 
 individual opinions on dramatic art. That this is, after 
 all, but one feature of the essays, prefaces and dedications 
 which I have analysed, scarce needs to be stated; in 
 many cases that which was needed for the purpose of 
 this paper had to be dug out of a heap of fulsome 
 flattery addressed to some lord or other man of influence, 
 or sifted out from among the chaff of a mass of irrele- 
 vant matter : Nor does the chief value of these produc- 
 tions consist in their relation to the above mentioned 
 theme; for on the one side their masterful, often fas- 
 cinating, style, and on the other the light thrown by 
 them on the condition of English literature at Dryden's 
 time, still can attract readers for whom the dramas 
 of Dryden have with few exceptions, little interest. 
 
 The abstracts which I have given above prove, as 
 I hope, the marked personal and subjective character 
 
— 30 — 
 
 of Dry den's dramatic criticism, which is besides, in nearly 
 ever}^ case of an occasional nature, i. e. having reference 
 to some particular play of his own— almost without 
 exception to tliat one to which it is prefixed or appended 
 in an essay, preface or dedication : Even when Dry den 
 speaks of the "present age" or the "genius of English" 
 we feel that he means himself and his own writings. 
 Hereby we must not forget how thoroughly Dryden 
 was subservient to the royal and popular tastes, which 
 were, in his day, nearly identical, owing to the influence 
 exerted by the court upon all classes of society. So 
 although he may, at times, have wished to stand above 
 the debasement and corruption of his age, yet from 
 motives of policy, he chose to swim with the muddy 
 current. A man who will change his religions and 
 political belief as often and as easily as did Dryden, 
 can hardly be expectedf=ftPc9urageously maintain a 
 higher standard than the taste of that, corrupt court 
 and public upon whom he depended for applause and 
 subsistence. That he could have done better and nobler 
 things than he has left us, is made evident to any 
 reader of even his worst literary work (his plays) by 
 the many flashes of a higher genius which break in 
 upon one in the midst of bombast or coarseness; and 
 also that he would have done this had he but possessed 
 the moral courage, is proved by many utterances in 
 which he speaks of liimself as the "slave of the public", 
 the "Sisyphus of the stage", etc., which show that he 
 was conscious of his pandering to a base taste and 
 regretted it. 
 
 The pei^onal, subjective and occasional character 
 of Diyden's theorizings prevent him from being regarded 
 as an authority on the drama in general. Who would, 
 for instance, at the present time, put Jonson or Fletcher 
 above Shakespeare as a dramatist in the confident 
 manner of Dryden? Even the celebrated passage in 
 the "Essay of Dramatic Poesy" which gives to Shake- 
 speare "the largest and most comprehensive soul" scarce 
 atones for such a one sided judgment. We might have 
 expected from so great- a poet an estimate of Shakespeare 
 
^ Bl — 
 
 which would have restored liim, in that day of prevailing 
 French taste, to his proper place; but tliis would have 
 been flying in the face of court and populace, for it is 
 scarcely to be gainsayed that Dryden, here as elsewhere, 
 trimmed his sails according to the prevailing wind. 
 Therefore in testing the theories and rules of the critic 
 Dryden, we must consider only the ijilayuriijht Dryden. 
 who made the rules to suit himself and abandoned them 
 when it pleased him/'^ I have devoted so much space 
 above to the analyses of Dryden's theoretical and critical 
 essaj^s on account of the examination, which here follows, 
 of the relations between Dryden's theory and praxis 
 in dramatic composition. ^ .^ 
 
 versity) 
 
PART SECOND. 
 
 DRYDEN'S DRAMATIC PR AXIS AND 
 ITS RELATION TO HIS THEORY. 
 
 One important fact must be kept continually in 
 mind in an attempt to apply Dryden's theory to his 
 own dramatic productions, namely ; that the essays, etc., 
 which 1 have above summarized, were in each case 
 written after the drama to wliich they are attached. 
 Even the *'Essay of Dramatic Poesy", which miglit 
 appear to be an independent production, was written 
 in 1665, after the representation of "The Wild Gallant" 
 and "The Rival Ladies", and after Dryden had assisted 
 Sir Robert Howard in the composition of "The Indian 
 Queen" which was acted in 1664. His own „ Indian 
 Emperor" had also been written and acted before the 
 compsition of "The Essay of Dramatic Poesy"; Avhich 
 latter might, indeed, find its proper place in his Works 
 just before the "Defense of the Essay", as a preface 
 to this drama. This fact confirms also what I have 
 hinted at above and which has been pointed out by 
 several who have wTitten on Dryden*, namely; that 
 his criticism is in every instance determined by the 
 particular occasion when it was written, and undergoes 
 some important changes in the course of his dramatic 
 activity. In view of this, it is necessary, in order^to 
 
 * For instance Riedel ; in a Rostock dissertation of 1868 : 
 "Dryden's Influence on the Dramatic Literature of England", pp. 27, 
 28 — "His criticism is in every instance occasionar', etc. 
 
— 33 — 
 
 properly apply his theories and criticisms to his own 
 writings, to subject each play separately to an exami- 
 nation with regard to the ideas which Dry den held at 
 tlie time of its composition ; or, to speak more properly, 
 which he may have convinced himself that he held in 
 order to suit them to that particular purpose. With 
 Comedy we have but little to do, since Dry den's utter- 
 ances on this head are few ; nor are his comedies many 
 in number, or, with one or two exceptions, of particular 
 dramatic worth. He expresses his distaste for this style 
 of writing and his conviction of his unfitness for it in 
 more than one passage of his theoretical writings. Our 
 attention is therefore to be chiefly directed to his 
 tragedies, and yet the fii^st play which we have to 
 consider (though only cursorily) which is at the same 
 time Dryden's first dramatic composition, is a comedy, 
 namely: 
 
 I. 
 
 ''The Wild Gallant'': (Ed., Vol. II, p. 21, seq.) first 
 acted in 1663, but not printed until 1669, after it had 
 been revised and re-acted. The short preface which 
 accompanied the publication, gives no expresed theory 
 of Dryden's upon which to base a consideration ot his 
 practice in its composition, and on that account was 
 omitted in the first part of this paper. Dryden's first 
 definite utterances on the nature of Comedy are con- 
 tained in the preface to "An Evening's Love", which 
 did not appear until 1671. In the preface to "The 
 A^^ild Gallant" he simply states the opinion that Comedy \ 
 is the "most difficult part" of dramatic poetry and ac- 1 
 knowledges that it was a bold attempt for him to begin j 
 with this style of dramatic work; also that the play is 
 "uncorrect". In the Epilogue to the revised version he 
 also states that: 
 
 "Of all dramatic writing, comic wit. 
 As 'tis the best, so 'tis most hard to hit", 
 
 since characters and incidents must be described which are 
 familiar to all, and in regard to which each person is justified 
 
 3 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
— 34 — 
 
 in criticizing the author's performance of his task. Judging 
 the play by the above remarks of Dryden we find that he 
 has, in one respect, followed that which he hints at as a 
 standard of Comedy ; for though he acknowledges a foreign 
 (presumably French or Spanish) original, the scene is 
 laid in London in his own time, and the characters are 
 such as every one of his audience must have often seen, 
 and could recognize readily as having been drawn from 
 the social life of that day. As to the "hitting" of the 
 * comic wit" one would think that Dry den's audiences 
 must have been well pleased; for the play is quite as 
 broad, though by no means deficient in genuine humor, 
 as any of the Restoration comedies. For a further 
 characterization of "The Wild Gallant", I refer to Saints- 
 bury's remarks in the Edition ; loc. cit., pp. 24 and 25. 
 It is written throughout in prose. 
 
 II. 
 
 " The Rival-Ladies" J a Tragi-Comedy, the next play 
 of Dryden's in chronological order (Ed., Vol. II, p. 125, 
 seq.) is preceded by the dedication noticed above. * This 
 play contains Dryden's first attempts in the use of 
 rhymed couplets, though a large part is written in blank 
 verse and a portion of Scene I, Act V, in prose. Evidently 
 Dryden was not yet so thorougly convinced of the 
 superiority of the kind of writing defended in the Dedi- 
 cation as to then venture upon writing an entire drama 
 in that form ; Perhaps, too, he doubted its entire accep- 
 tability with the audience at that time. Inded, he hints 
 at this in the words of the Dedication. — "I fear lest 
 I shall be accused for following the new way, I mean 
 of writing scenes in verse"; with which compare his 
 intimation in the "Essay of Dramatic Poesy" that the 
 
 * Part First, § I. 
 
(UNIVERSITT 
 
 audiences were too much prepossessed in fayor of plays 
 in blank verse* to readily accept rhyme. ^ 
 
 The entire drama contains but 178 rhymed lines; 
 among them six, which notwithstanding faulty rhyming 
 (here, fear, where; and fear, there, air) are no doubt 
 intended for triplets, and eight lines in strophe form 
 according to the scheme; a, b, a, b, c, d, c, d. The 
 first act contains, outside of the couplet ending the act, ** 
 but 26 lines which are rhymed and with the exception 
 of the two triplets, in the so-called "heroic couplet". It 
 is worthy of mention that in this short passage there 
 are three lines which do not rhyme— a usage which 
 Dryden advocates, .for the sake of variety, in the Essay 
 of Dramatic Poesy. *** The second Act contains only 12 
 rhymed lines, and these are at the end of the act. I 
 have not included in the 178 lines in rhyme, a masque 
 which occurs in the third A ct, since such intermezzi were 
 always in rhymed verse, so that to this act there fall 
 only 18 lines in "heroic verse", which includes two 
 couplets at the end of the act. The largest number are 
 in the fourth Act, namely 108. The six couplets which 
 occur in Act V seem, with the exception of those which 
 terminate scenes and the act itself, of an accidental 
 nature. From this sparing use of "the new way" it is 
 easy to conclude that Dryden wished first to make an 
 attempt with the taste of his audiences; perhaps, also, 
 he was trying his own strength and fitness for this 
 style of composition. 
 
 Notwithstanding its title of "Tragi- Comedy" there 
 
 * Arnold, loc. cit:— Crites says, p. 79 : "I might satisfy 
 myself to tell you, how much in vain it is for you to strive against 
 the stream of the people's inclination". Neander replies, p. 90 : 
 "As for what you have added— that the people are not generally 
 inclined to like this way, if it were true, it would be no wonder 
 that betwixt the shaking oft an old habit, and the introducing a 
 new, there should be difficulty." 
 
 ** It is a well known fact that these rhymed couplets at 
 the end of a scene or an act are to be found in plays which 
 otherwise are written in blank verse throughout, vide Abbott, A 
 Shakespearian Grammar, § 515. 
 
 *** Arnold, Ed., p. 85, line 29, seq. 
 
 3* 
 
— 36 — 
 
 is but little of a tragic element in The Rival-Ladies, 
 nor can it fall under Drj^den's idea of a "serious" pla}', 
 since neither the "argument" nor the "characters and 
 persons" are "great and noble". Therefore, in turning 
 our attention to the relation between theorj^ and practice 
 in this play, we cannot judge it by the principles laid 
 down for the use of rhyme in the "Essay of Dramatic 
 Poesy", since these (by agreement of the disputants) 
 apply only to' rhyme in tragedy. * Using what Dryden 
 says in the Dedication** we arrive at the following 
 results ; 
 
 As regards "the only inconvenience with which rhyme 
 can be charged", i. e. ending the lines with verbs (d); 
 we find Dryden often enough ''forced upon this rock". 
 On this account, too, the rhymed lines do not give the 
 effect of naturalness (e) ; since, in many instances, the 
 words are placed "for rhyme sake, so unnaturally as no 
 man would in ordinary speaking", nor is the ordering 
 altogether so judicious (f.) that the verses make the 
 effect of ''the negligence of prose." But it is perhaps 
 hardly possible to insist upon too exact an application 
 of the above rules, since the number of rhymed lines in 
 the play is so small. It may be added, however, that one 
 feature which Dryden mentions in the Dedication (Works, 
 1. c, p. 137) as an essential introduced by Waller;*** 
 namely, that each couplet should contain a complete 
 thought, is pretty closely followed in this drama. 
 
 The one passage of repartee (h) in the first Scene 
 of the fourth Act gains, without doubt, a "particular 
 grace" from tne use of rhyme, which well sets off "the 
 sudden smartness of the answer". This passage is the 
 first of those scenes of quick and ready, though often 
 far-fetched, repartee which afterwards occur so frequently 
 between Dryden's lovers. This scene is not, however, one 
 "of argumentation or discourse on the result of which the 
 
 * Arnold, loc, cit., p. 84, line 8. 
 ** vide Part First, § I, above; to which the following 
 divisions refer. 
 
 *** "He (Waller) first showed us to conclude the sense, most 
 commonly in distichs." 
 
— 37 — 
 
 doing or not doing some considerable action depends" : 
 in fact this remark of Dryden's must be understood as 
 applying to serious plays. 
 
 If "The Rival - Ladies" offers but little opportunity 
 for testing and applying his theories, the next play in 
 Dryden's works affords still less. I allude to: 
 
 m. 
 
 „27^e Indian Queen, a. Tragedy;" published early in 
 1665. (Ed, Vol. II, p. 223, seq.) 
 
 This play is only in part of Dryden's authorship, 
 since it is really the work of his brother-in-law, Sir 
 Robert Howard. Scott, and following him, Saintsbury 
 (Ed., 1. c, pp. 225. 226) seem certain that the incantation 
 scene of Act III is nearly, if not quite all Dryden's. But 
 an exact determination of how much falls to the lot of 
 each author is yet to be undertaken, is perhaps an im- 
 possibility. In view of these facts, I will omit any 
 further consideration of this play and turn to the next 
 in order, namely: 
 
 IV. 
 
 "T7«e Indian Emperor ; or the Conquest of Mexico hy 
 the Spaniards'^ ; first published in 1667 ; second edition, 
 with "A Defence of an Essay of Dramatic Poesv," 1668. 
 (Ed., Vol. II, p. 283, seq.) 
 
 This is Dryden's first great drama in the "heroic" 
 style. It is intended as a sequel to "The Indian Queen" 
 as the title-page expressly states, but Dryden is the sole 
 author. It is written throughout in rhymed couplets, of 
 which, by this time, Dryden was fully master; he felt 
 sure, besides, of carrying the taste of the larger part 
 of his audiences with him in this respect, since rhymed 
 plays had now become a matter of fashion. 
 
 In the application of Dryden's theories to this drama, 
 the Dedication to *^The Rival ■ Ladies" may be omitted, 
 since it touches only upon the question of rhyme and 
 contains practically nothing more than is to be found 
 
 (TJNIVERSITT 
 
 
— 38 - 
 
 on this subject in "The Essay of Dramatic Poesy". Upon 
 this latter and its companion-piece — "A Defence of the 
 Essay" — and the principles therein set forth , the follow- 
 ing consideration is based. 
 
 First, as regards the rhyme ; Here we must confine 
 ourselves to the remarks made in the "Essay" alone, 
 since those contained in the "Defence" are of too ab- 
 stract a character (dealing, as they do, with the natural- 
 ness or unnaturalness of rhyme as opposed to prose or 
 blank verse) for the present purpose. Again, as the 
 whole drama is rhymed, no concrete statement can be 
 made as to the use of this form in "repartee" or in 
 *'scenes of argumentation and discourse", save that it 
 cannot be denied that such passages (particularly the 
 former) do seem, to our ears, better suited to this style 
 of writing than those of either mere description or of 
 high tragic interest. 
 
 The lines are less frequently closed with verbs, in 
 proportion to the length of the play, than in "The Rival- 
 Ladies", as indeed the verse throughout is more finished. In 
 Act I, Scene II, are 24 verses in which two rhymes alter- 
 nate with each other (as in one short passage in „The 
 Rival-Ladies") after the scheme: a, b, a, b, c, d, c, d, 
 etc. It is a remarkable fact that nowhere, in any of 
 his theoretical or critical writings on the drama, does 
 Dryden expressly mention this exception from the rhymed 
 couplets which he considered as so appropriate to 
 heroic plays. 
 
 Another point regarding this drama, for which we 
 can refer to the "Essay" and its "Defence", is the question 
 of the observance of the unities of Time and Place*. 
 In both essays Dryden is careful not to commit himself 
 to very exact statements, but allows a great deal more 
 latitude in the treatment of both time and place than 
 the French classical drama. The events of this play might 
 be easily imagined as happening within six or seven 
 days. The exact duration of the action is not easy to 
 
 * vide Part First, § II d) ; and § III, conclusion. 
 
^ CPTHE *^ 
 
 '^UNIVERSIT 
 CALIFORNIA; 
 
 determine from the drama itself, although an examination 
 with this end in view shows that at least three days 
 are required. Even the time of six or seven days may 
 seem rather too short for Cortez to declare war against 
 Montezuma; to fall in love with the latter's daughter; 
 to gain possession of Mexico, but lose his mistress through 
 the jealousy of a princess who also loves him, etc.; but 
 those acquainted with the nature of heroic tragedy will 
 know how many events are often compressed into a 
 comparatively short space of time.* Still it is not to ^ 
 be denied that Dryden has here committed one of the 
 errors of which he speaks in the "Defence"; namely, the 
 "oversight" of compressing "the accidents of a play into 
 a narrower compass than that in which they could natur- 
 ally be produced", though this is an error which Dryden 
 considers pardonable, since it produces variety. The 
 unity of place does not come away much better, if it 
 were to be judged by the rules of the ancient and French 
 classic drama. Dryden has, however, objected to such 
 rigidity which would confine the action to but one place 
 throughout the whole play, and has allowed that the 
 scene may be laid in "several places in the same town 
 or city, or places adjacent to each other in the same 
 country". The latter clause applies to "The Indian 
 Emperor", the action of which takes place, throughout, 
 in or around the city of Mexico, with the exception of 
 the first Scene of the first Act which is some leagues 
 distant from that city. The scene changes sixteen times, -^ 
 but notwithstanding the number of the changes, they are 
 not so great (with one exception) but that we can easily 
 suppose the characters of the drama to move from one 
 locality to another within the time of the representation. 
 This one exception occurs in the first Act: Scene I is 
 •A pleasant Indian country" at some considerable distance 
 from the city. Scene 11 is "A Temple" — 
 
 "Far from noise, without the city gate"; hither 
 
 * vide Holzhausen's treatise on '^Dryden' s heroisches Drama" j 
 in K5lbing's Englische Studien, Vols XIII, XY, XVI, which practi- 
 cally exhausts the subject of the heroic drama and ail its character- 
 istics. 
 
— 40 - 
 
 comes "hastily" Guyomar, and reports to his father 
 Montezuma that he has seen the ships of the Spaniards, 
 and in about a hundred lines more the ceremonies in 
 the temple are interrupted by the arrival of Cortez and 
 the others who figured in the first scene! The actual 
 distance between the two localities, and the actual time 
 required to go from one to the other are certainly greater 
 than even the latitude which Dryden would allow with- 
 out over stepping the bounds of probability*. Act IV 
 contains nearly as many changes of scene as can be found 
 in any of the older dramatists, and each scene contains 
 different characters from that just preceding it, as also 
 each new place is at a greater or less distance from the 
 former locality. Indeed, this act is like a series of distinct 
 pictures, and the time between each might well be supposed 
 much greater than even Dryden would have allowed, 
 with all his latitude. 
 
 Regarding certain remarks under b of the Essay we 
 find ; First, that there are certainly a sufficient number 
 of "under-plots or by-concernments" to produce that 
 variety which Dryden considered as arising from this 
 practice. Without doubt these all bear a relation to 
 the principal plot; namely, the conquest of Mexico by 
 the Spaniards. That the main plot and all the side 
 designs hinge^ upon the two motives of love and honor 
 is an indispensable feature of the heroic drama**. Whether 
 or not this "variety" is so well managed as to give more 
 pleasure to the audience than one single design, is a 
 moot question, though contemporary records (judging from 
 Scott's introduction in the Works) pronounce that the 
 play met with great applafice. 
 
 A second matter consTipered under h in the Essay 
 concerns the relative importance of the characters : 
 
 1 
 
 * To prevent misunderstandiiig, I must be allowed to state 
 that in my observations upon thel unities, I speak from Dryden's 
 standpoint, which regards the slavish adherence to the unities of 
 time and place of the French dramas as the gauge by which 
 deviations and exceptions are to b^ judged or excused. 
 
 ** vide Holzhausen's remarks on the heroic drama in general, 
 and this play in parti culai ; 1. c, B 2 and § 3 of Theil II. 
 
 ^ o o 
 
— 41 — 
 
 Naturally, the chief personages can only be Montezuma 
 and Cortez, and yet at least four=^ of the remaining 
 persons are very nearly equal to these in importance. 
 On this point, I should be inclined to decide that Dryden 
 has committed a fault, even when judging him by his 
 own liberal standard, since the four characters mentioned 
 are not of sufficiently secondary importance, nor is their 
 introduction well managed. 
 
 A third point concerns the "decorum of the stage" 
 The only real battle scene (Act II, Scene II) is indicated 
 and related, not represented. In the discussion upon this 
 point in the "Essay", Dryden admits** that "death ought 
 not to be represented" ; and yet at the end of the play 
 all but four of the principal characters have died on the 
 stage , in two cases by their own hands : in Act V, 
 Scene I, we have the pleasant spectacle in which "the 
 two Spaniards and three Indians kill each other, Vasquez 
 kills Odmar", and is shortly afterwards also slain. The 
 torturing of Montezuma and an Indian High Priest, in 
 Scene II of the same Act, is also a much greater con- 
 cession to the supposed or real love of Dryden's audiences 
 for -'objects of horrour" than can easily be justified. 
 
 In concluding the remarks upon "The Indian Emperor", 
 it must be said that it can by no means be considered 
 to be based upon the only foundation of dramatic poetry, 
 according to Dryden***, namely; "the imitation of nature", 
 nor does it meet with the definition of what a play ought 
 to bef : — "A just and lively imitation of human nature', 
 etc. This would apply, however, to the whole class of 
 heroic dramas ff, in which naturalness or an imitation 
 
 * Odmar and Guyomar (the two sons of Montezuma) and 
 two female characters, Cydaria and Almeria. 
 ** Arnold, loc. cit., p. 61, line 24, seq. 
 *** "Defence of the Essay", Arnold's Ed., p. 115, line 18 seq. 
 
 t Arnold, loc. cit., p. 17, line 20, seq. 
 ft Once more I must refer to flolzhausen's Eisay in "Englische 
 Studien", where the reader will find about all that can be said on 
 the subject of the heroic drama , and well said. A part of this 
 present paper was to have been taken up with a presentation of 
 certain characteristics of the heroic tragedy , for which I had 
 collected material before the appearance of Holzhausen's treatise. 
 I beg, theiefore, that any remarks I make upon this subject be 
 considered the result of individual investiga tion. 
 
 OF THE ^ 
 
 ',UNIVERSITT 
 
— 42 — 
 
 of nature would .at once destroy the entire "heroic" 
 character. It is ifot the place here to discuss in how 
 far the drama, and particularly tragedy, should or should 
 not be an exact pattern of nature or whether such exact 
 copying would not be inartistic because too grossly 
 realistic : But Dryden had set up such a standard, and in 
 this play, at least, with its absurd notions of love and 
 honor, he has fallen short of his ideal. 
 
 Dryden's next play in chronological order is: 
 V. 
 
 '^Secret Lave; or flw Maiden Queen''; published in 1668, 
 (Edition, Vol. H, p. 413, seq.) 
 
 This is a tragi-comedy, inasmuch as it combines a 
 serious and a comic action. This style of writing was 
 considered by Dryden to be one of the greatest advan- 
 tages of the' English drama over the French * up to 
 the death of Richelieu, since when it appeared also in 
 French plays. A perusal of the Preface and the Prologue 
 to this play would lead one to expect a drama as 
 strictly written as any of Racine's; for in the first 
 Dryden says:** "This play is regular according to the 
 strictest of dramatic laws ;" and the second contains the 
 following lines i'^** 
 
 "He who writ this, not without pains and thought, 
 From French and English theatres has brought 
 The exactest rules, by which a play is wrought. 
 
 The unities of action, place, and time ; 
 The scenes unbroken, and a mingled chime 
 Of Jonson's humour, with Corneille's rhyme." 
 
 ^ 
 
 * vide Part First, § II, b, of this paper ; and Arnold, Ed. 
 pp. 55, 56. 
 
 ** Ed. Vol. II, p. 418. 
 *** Ed., Vol. II, p. 422. 
 
^ OF THE ■ 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 — 43 
 
 But the double action proves that one of the unities 
 has been neglected. Regarding place; — there are in 
 the entire play but three or four localities (all of them 
 within the precims of the royal court) and but six\ 
 changes of scene^ as the locality remains unchanged \ 
 throughout an entire act, except in Act IV where it is \ 
 once changed. This is certainly very nearly "regular", \ 
 even more so than Dryden considered necessary in his 
 "Defence of the Essay". The unity of time has been 
 observed with the greatest exactness, since the imaginary 
 time of the play does not exceed twelve hours (is 
 perhaps included in one afternoon) as nearly as can 
 be judged by internal evidence:* that this seems too 
 "narrow a compass" for the "variety of accidents" is a 
 criticism which applies to many other plays of the 
 "regular" type. The assertion of the Prologue that the 
 scenes are unbroken, is true with the exception mentioned 
 above in the fourth act, where the scene changes from 
 "the walks near the court" to "the Queen's apartments". 
 "Corneille's rhyme" (i. e. the heroic couplet) does not, 
 however, appear everywhere in the play, since by far 
 the larger part is in a mixture of prose and blank 
 verse; the former occuring throughout in the comic 
 scenes. There are only four rhymed passages of any 
 length; in each case a scene "of argumentation or dis- 
 course" or of repartee, though this cannot be made a 
 rule for this play, since other scenes of the above 
 description are in blank verse. Besides these longer 
 passages each act terminates with a couplet, and some 
 of the exits are marked in the same way. Otherwise 
 rhyme is but sparingly used and its occurrence seems 
 almost accidental. Taking all the above facts into 
 consideration, the play is neither regular according to 
 
 * In Act II the Queen says to Philocles "See me no more 
 this day" ; in Act III he is again taken into favor after his banish- 
 ment of "scarce half an hour ago". Celadon has been accepted 
 as a lover on trial by Florimel in Act II; in Act III he mentions 
 his "fidelity to you this long hour and a half". During that same 
 afternoon tiie events of Act IV take place (cf. "the invitation to 
 sup this afternoon", end of Act III) which are immediately 
 followed by those of Act V. 
 
-- 44 - 
 
 the French standard, nor has Dryden adhered entirely 
 to his own principles in its composition. One or two 
 general faults of the characterization and action are 
 either excused or acknowledged by Dryden himself in 
 the Preface, and cannot, therefore, be considered here. 
 
 Since Dryden had, up to this time, made no remarks 
 on the technicalities of dramatic composition in comedy, 
 his next play can be passed over with a few words. 
 I refer to: 
 
 VL 
 
 ^Sir Martin Mar-all or TJie Feigned Innocence' ' ; 
 published in 1668. (Edition, Vol. Ill, p. 1, seq.) 
 
 This is practically only an adaptation by Dryden 
 of a piece whose real author was the Duke of New- 
 castle, so that it would be somewhat fruitless to judge 
 of this play as if it were an original production of 
 Dry den's. His share in it was probably to make it 
 eftective for representation, and to add the wit and 
 humor. Although written in prose there are occasional 
 traces of what Saintsbury* calls "bastard blank verse". 
 The end of each act is marked by the usual rhymed 
 couplet. As the play is, to all intents and purposes, 
 only a translation of Moliere's "L'Etourdi" (with some 
 additions of coarseness and wit) it is not surprising 
 that the unities are as strictly observed as in its original; 
 though some changes might have been expected (after 
 Dryden's criticisms upon the French drama in the 
 Essay) particularly in the "unbroken scenes". 
 
 VII. 
 
 ''The Tempest, or The Enchanted Island ^'^ first pub- 
 lished in 1670; (Edition, Vol. Ill, p. 99, seq.) is perhaps 
 even less Dryden's performance than the last-mentioned 
 
 * Edition, 1. c, p. 39, note. 
 
— 45 — 
 
 play. It is the Avork of Sir William Davenant, and 
 Dryden's share of the drama was, according to Scott,* 
 principally in adapting it for representation. ** This 
 drama, in view of the above fact, falls naturally outside 
 the purpose of this paper; and it only remains to be 
 said that, notwithstanding* the high praise of Shake- 
 speare expressed in the Prologue, this adaptation of 
 his "Tempest" reflects no credit on the good taste, or 
 veneration for the great poet, of either of the authors 
 concerned in its composition. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 ^^An Evening's Love, or TJie Mock ^ifro/o^er" ; published 
 in 1668. (Edition, Vol. Ill, p. 227, seq.) 
 
 This is the first comedy of Dryden's which can be 
 judged by distinct utterances of his upon the nature and 
 technique of this style of dramatic composition; Such 
 utterances are contained in the Preface,*** and yet there 
 is but very little in the way of direct statement of 
 theory upon which to base a consideration of the poet's 
 practice in this particular case. Dryden, too, has care- 
 fully forestalled unfavorable criticism arising from a 
 comparison of this drama with that which he has stated 
 as essential to the composition of a good comedy, by 
 denying that he has either the taste or the talent 
 for this branch of dramatic composition; and yet an 
 examination and criticism of this play cannot be omitted. 
 
 * Edition, 1. c, p. 102. 
 
 ** But compare Scott's remarks in his Life of Dryden (Ed., 
 Vol. I, pp. 90, 91) and Jahrbuch der deutschen Shakespeare- Ge- 
 sellschaft IV, p. 11 — 18 (article by Delius, who seems to ascribe 
 the greater part to Dryden) and also pp. 152, 153 (Elze, in an 
 article on Davenant); Rosebund, in a Halle Dissertation of 1882, 
 "Dryden als Shakespearebearbeiter", brings nothing new on this 
 point. 
 
 *** vide Part First, § IV, of this paper. 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
— 46 — 
 
 and may possibly prove capable of affording us still 
 further insight into the difference between Dryden's two 
 capacities of critic and author. 
 
 A strict observance of the "unities" is neglected, 
 except that of time; the whole action occuring during 
 "the last evening of the carnival". The place is indicated 
 only in two cases ; Act I, Scene II, "a chapel", and Act IV, 
 Scene 11, "a garden"; although judging from allusions 
 in the play, the place of action is, besides, partly in an 
 apartment, partly in a street or square. The comedy 
 is written throughout in prose, with the exception of 
 one couplet at the end of each act, and about 20 lines 
 in blank-verse at the very beginning. A reason for 
 this latter is hardly apparent, unless we proceed upon 
 the hypothesis that it was Dryden's original intention 
 to write a part of the drama in this meter, but that 
 he soon abandoned it in favor of tlie more suitable 
 prose. In the course of the play (seemingly accidental) 
 are three or four isolated lines of blank-verse. The 
 plot is so full of intrigue as to be quite complicated, and 
 the unraveling comes only in the fifth act. The distinction 
 between comedy and farce is well observed, except in 
 the scenes in which the mock astrologer plays his role 
 of deception; for these scenes border on the farthest 
 verge of high improbability and should, therefore, find 
 their proper place in farce. In his Preface,* Dry den 
 considers that many of the comedies of his day (his 
 own and this particular play not excepted) are "too 
 much allied to farce", which he attributes to their being 
 translations from the French. And yet notwithstanding 
 the source, this drama as a whole contains but little 
 (outside of the scenes mentioned above) which could not 
 be considered as proper to comedy. Perhaps these 
 exceptions are to be excused by Dryden's stated preference 
 for "the mixed way of comedy, neither all wit, nor all 
 humour, but the result of both." As regards the wit 
 in the play, it may be said that Dryden has distinguished 
 between the different qualities of it in the different 
 
 * Edition, 1. c, p. 242. 
 
/ ^ OFTHK '^ 
 
 _ 4'^U-NIVERSITY 
 
 characters with some success. We~~uertatniy see "the 
 imperfections of human nature" in the persons of the 
 garrulous and credulous Don Alonzo and of the would- 
 be fashionable Donna Aurelia; whether or not "the 
 humours, adventures, and designs are such as are to 
 be found and met with in the world" is a matter of 
 grave doubt: Besides the improbable scenes with the 
 mock astrologer I refer only to the flirtation in the 
 chapel (Act I Scene II) which is both unreal and 
 unseemly. But these improbabilities and unrealities 
 (of which further examples in this play are not wanting) 
 can be laid to the blame of the whole genre of Spanish 
 intrigue plays, which at that time formed (through the 
 medium of the French, in most cases) the principal 
 source for the plots of English comedy. In fact, this 
 drama is but ill adapted for a comparison of the way 
 in which Dryden wrote comedy with his ideas of how 
 it should be written, since it is not a piece upon which 
 he prided himself (nor are his remarks on this subject 
 to be considered in the same light as that affected 
 modesty which is so obtrusive in his Dedications) nor 
 is it, with all his claims of having "heightened" the 
 original plot, very much more than an adaptation (with 
 additions, it is true) of a foreign play. To permit of 
 an effective comparison between Dryden's comedies and 
 those of Fletcher, Jonson and Beaumont (which he 
 criticizes, on various grounds, in the Preface) with a 
 view to establish the superiority or inferiority of Dryden 
 and his manner of carrying out his own principles, he 
 should have furnished us with a specimen of a more 
 genuinely English production and one written with the 
 intention of illustrating certain theories. I need however, 
 only to call to mind what I have before stated, that 
 Dryden first wrote his plays and then the theoretical 
 or critical essays published with them; so that it can 
 never be safely asserted that the play to which the 
 essay is attached is intended as an illustration of the 
 principles stated in its preface, especially as Dryden 
 usually is careful to state that the particular play 
 contains many faults. Of course, however, in these 
 
— 48 - 
 
 present considerations of the relations between his theory 
 and practice we must judge him, in spite of his protests 
 and assumed modest}^ by his own standard. 
 
 Dryden again abandons that style of writing (comedy) 
 which he so often declares distasteful and unpleasant to 
 him and occupies himself with a higher style of tragedy, 
 but seldom attempted in English literature — the religious 
 drama — in his next production: 
 
 IX. 
 
 '^ Tyrannic Love, or The Virgin Martyr ;" first printed 
 in 1670 (Edition, Vol. UI, p. 369, seq.) 
 
 The verse of this play is the heroic couplet through- 
 out, occasionaly interrupted by broken lines. The quality 
 of the verse is inferior to much of that in the foregoing 
 dramas: although the lines scan well, as a rule, the 
 fault of ending them with verbs is of frequent occurrence; 
 in many cases that "judicious" ordering of words, upon 
 which Dryden insists (in passages which I have before 
 quoted) being altogether absent. The Preface to the 
 play states, however, that "the equality of numbers is 
 not everywhere observed" — the reasons for this being 
 partly haste, and partly because Dryden "would not have 
 his sense a slave to syllables." 
 
 The Preface* claims for the play that "the scenes 
 are everywhere unbroken, and the unities of place and 
 time more exactly kept, than perhaps is requisite in a 
 tragedy". The scenes are all laid with in a compara- 
 tively narrow limit, namely : "under the walls of Aquileia", 
 in or near the camp of Maximin. It is also true that 
 the scenes are unbroken, but this leads Dryden to commit 
 the very absurdity for which he criticizes the French 
 dramatists in the "Essay of Dramatic Poesy":** — "by 
 tying themselves strictly to the unity of place, and un- 
 
 * Ed., 1. c, p. 379. 
 ** Arnold's Ed., p. 63, line 17 seq., and p. 04. 
 
~ 49 - 
 
 broken scenes, they are forced many times to omit some 
 beauties which cannot be shown where the act began ; but 
 might, if the scene were interrupted, and the stage cleared 
 for the persons to enter in another place ; and therefore 
 the French poets are often forced upon absurdities; for 
 if the act begins in a chamber, all the persons in the 
 play must have some business or other to come thither, 
 or else they are not to be shown that act"; etc. An 
 illustration of the absurdity which Dryden commits in 
 following the rules he condemns is the fourth act of 
 "Tyrannic Love." The scene is "An Indian Cave"* in 
 which a conjuror summons certain spirits to answer the 
 questions of Placidius regarding the success of Maximin's 
 love for Catharine : This is an action fitting to the 
 scene, and so also the appearance later on of Maximin 
 himself might be considered. But utterly absurd is the 
 arrival of Maximin^s daughter, Valeria, whose dramatic 
 "business" has nothing to do with magic, in such a 
 place ; and still more so the entrance of Berenice, Catha- 
 rine and others ; particularly as, with the arrival of each 
 new character, the reason for the locality to be "An 
 Indian Cave" disappears more and more completely, since 
 the dialogue and action have become different from the 
 time that the spirits and visions of the first hundred 
 or so lines of the act have left the scene.** The same 
 absurdity is also present (when perhaps in less degree) 
 
 * In itself a topographical absurdity ! but see Saintsbury's 
 note (1, c, p. 419) for the only reasonable explanation. 
 
 ** An explanation of the above, perhaps onh* apparent, 
 "absurdity" could be found in the construction of the stage of 
 that period. From the many directions in plays by Dryden, such 
 as "the scene draws" or "the scene closes", we are justified in the 
 inference that a part of the center of the set scene at the back 
 was closed b}^ a curtain, which was withdrawn and closed in such 
 cases as would be indicated by the stage directions I have men- 
 tioned. In this particular case we have the stage direction, before 
 the entrance of Maximim, "the scene closes." Possibly the "Indian 
 Cave" was represented as behind this curtain, so that after it was 
 again drawn together, the scene would be the camp or pavilion 
 of the other acts. But if we adopt this explanation, then it is 
 not strictly true that the scenes are unbroken throughout the 
 play. 
 
 universitt) 
 
— 50 — 
 
 in the other acts ; for no matter whether the locality 
 indicated is ''The Camp" or "The Royal Pavihon", all the 
 characters of the play come thither. Indeed, were it not 
 lor the introduction of the incantation scene (one of the 
 weakest passages in the whole drama, by-the-way) the 
 place could have remained unchanged throughout the 
 entire drama, which would thereby have become still 
 more regular; for (with the exception just noted) the 
 dramatic "business" could have transpired as well in one 
 locality as another, and the fith act is without any in- 
 dication of place whatever. The time is also brought into 
 very narrow limits— possibly only one day, but certainly 
 not more than two are required for the whole action. 
 Dryden might, with advantage, considering that "the 
 design is weighty, and the persons great", have allowed 
 more time; especially as this would not have been in- 
 consistent with his own expressed ideas on this point. 
 Dryden makes no statement in the preface to this play 
 regarding the presence of under-plots, although there 
 are at least two of these;* which feature alone is a 
 departure from the boasted regularity of the drama, (since 
 it is a neglect of the unity of action) although in har- 
 mony with Dryden's personal taste, as expressed in "The 
 Essay ot Dramatic Poesy". Nor can it be said that 
 *'the unity of action is sufficiently preserved" by making 
 "all the imperfect actions conducing to the main design".** 
 The main plot of the play is the love of Maximin to 
 St. Catharine and her martyrdom in consequence of her 
 refusal to comply with his desires; the under-plots and 
 "by-concernments",*** stand in no, or in only a distant, 
 relation to this main design. The "decorum of the stage" 
 is also violated, since the death of three of the principal 
 
 * The love of Porphyrius to Berenice and of Placidus to 
 Valeria ; as a third might be added, the love of Valeria to 
 Porphyrius. 
 
 ** Arnold, "Essay" ; p. 57, line 15, seq. 
 
 *** One of these may possibly be an exception to my state- 
 ment ; namely the conversion of certain characters to Christianity 
 by the force of St. Catharine's words and example ; since this, 
 perhaps, by increasing Maximin's anger, hastens and heightens the 
 catastrophe. 
 
UNIVERSITY 
 — 51 -^^v^CALIFORNl^ 
 
 characters as well as certain ''combats" are represented. 
 Nor will Dryden entirely deprive bis countrymen of 
 others of those "objects of horrour" which they so love 
 (according to the Essay),* for we are given a sight of 
 the torture-wheel and of a gallows ; though he does not 
 gratify his audience by a use of these instruments in 
 the open scene (as in *'The Indian Emperor", and later 
 in "Amboyna") and, besides, narrates the execution of 
 St. Catharine and her mother. 
 
 Id view of the above examination we come to the 
 conclusion that "Tyannic Love" is neither an entirely 
 * correct" or "regular" play (according to the French 
 standard) nor are those departures from regularity which 
 Dryden had advocated up to this time, carried out; 
 This play forms, therefore, a good illustration of the 
 lack of any very close connection between theory and 
 praxis in Dry den's dramatic activity. 
 
 With regard to the avowed purpose of this drama 
 — ''to second the precepts of religion" by "lively images 
 of piety, adorned by action" — we must give Dryden 
 credit for an honest attempt in this line, as embodied 
 in the person of St. Catharine, and for as powerful a 
 contrast to her as could be wished in the character of 
 Maximin. We may be allowed to doubt whether the 
 •* precepts and examples of piety" had as much effect 
 upon a Restoration audience as the incantation scene 
 in the fourth act, and the curiosity to see how well 
 Nell Gwyn (Valeria) could act a serious part ; It is safe 
 to conclude that the extremely worldly tone of the 
 Epilogue which this actress spoke removed any lingering 
 feeling in the minds of the spectators that the theatre 
 had been used as an aid to the pulpit 
 
 In Dryden's next dramatic production we find him 
 fairly launched upon the sea of the heroic tragedy. 
 I refer to: 
 
 * Arnold, 1. c, p. 61, line 1, 
 
— 52 
 
 X. 
 
 ^^Ahnansor and Almahide, or Tlie Conquest of Granada 
 by the Spaniards f first published in 1672, (Edition Vol. IV, 
 p. 1, seq.) 
 
 This drama is an heroic tragedy of a pronounced 
 type and in every detail of form, action and character- 
 ization, and on this account is an examination of its 
 structure and technique of considerable interest. For 
 an analysis of the complicated ten-act plot (although 
 divided into two parts of five acts each, neither is in 
 itself complete) I refer to pp. 46—51 of Saintsbury's 
 "Life" in the "English Men of Letters Series", repeated 
 in the Edition, 1. c. pp. 7 — 10. The peculiarly heroic 
 elements are treated in Holzhausen's essay, particularly 
 in Theil II, §§ 3 & 4 ; * and in this connection it may 
 be said at once that the characters are thoroughly in 
 keeping with those which Dryden considers (in the 
 Preface to the First Part**) as fitting and proper for 
 heroic plays. All the bombastic absurdities and exag- 
 gerated notions of "love and honour" (the two mainsprings 
 of the whole heroic species) are defended by Dryden, 
 in his analysis of Almanzor and the comparison between 
 him and other heroes (in the above mentioned Preface) 
 in such a style, that we can only say: In this point 
 Dryden shows no deviations between theory and praxis. 
 So we have to hold ourselves principally to such theories 
 as had been advanced by him in former essays and not 
 revoked or reconsidered in the two ("Of Heroic Plays'V 
 and '^Defence of the Epilogue") which were published to- 
 gether with this play. In the opening words of the 
 •* Essay on Heroic Plays", Dryden regards the question 
 of the rhymed couplet as being definitely settled,*** 
 
 * Englische Studien, Band XV. 
 ** vide Part First, § VI, of this paper. 
 *** "Whether heroic verse ought to be admitted into serious 
 plays is not now to be disputed : it is already in possession of 
 the stage." Ed., 1. c, p. 19. 
 
— 53 — 
 
 and so this play is naturally rhymed throughout, with 
 the exception of the frequently employed broken lines. 
 Scenes of "argumentation or discourse," and of repartee, 
 are, as might be expected, numerous in a play which, 
 like this, is made up so largely of conflicts between 
 love and honor, and the pleadings of a rejected or 
 unrequited passion ; and such scenes are (for this style 
 of drama) exceedingly effective — owing, no doubt, largely 
 to the rhyme alone. * As regards the unity of 'pkice f 
 the scene does not overstep the limits of the Moorish 
 Kingdom, and is, in fact, limited to the capital of Granada 
 and its immediate surroundings. In the whole of the 
 first part there is, however, but one indication of place; 
 namely, in Act V. Scene II, "under the walls of the 
 Albayzyn." For Act I, Part I we can suppose, with 
 great probability judging from the character of the action, 
 that the place is some street or open square in the city. 
 Acts III and IV of Part I must be supposed to take 
 place in some apartment (probably of the Albayzyn) as 
 can be seen by the stage directions on pp. 68, 69, 81, 
 85 and 88 of the Edition, in which entrances through 
 doors are distinctly mentioned. In the second part the 
 place is indicated throughout, with two exceptions, namely; 
 Act IV, Scene I, and Act V, Scene I. For the first of 
 these we may suppose with reason the Alhambra to be 
 the scene of action, since Abenamar enters and converses 
 with Selin "bound"; the latter being, according to Act 
 III, Scene II (p. 165) — "a prisoner to his greatest foe: 
 
 Kept with strong guards in the Alhambra tower." 
 It is not easy to determine the locality of the first scene 
 of Act V, which consists in fact only of a few lines of 
 monologue and dialogue with no action except the bringing 
 in of Abdelmelech "guarded". Perhaps the most reason- 
 able conclusion is that no particular scene was intended 
 by the author, but that the few words are spoken in 
 front of a curtain which afterwards is withdrawn and 
 
 * See, for one instance among many, Act II, Sc. I, of Part I, 
 the dialogues between Abdalla and Lyndaraxa, and Abdalla and 
 Zulema. 
 
 (university 
 
— 54 — 
 
 discloses Scene 11; which, as it is "filled with spectators" 
 and contains "a scaffold hung with black" would require 
 most of the disposable stage room: In other words, 
 Scene I Act V, Part II is a ** carpenter scene". In both 
 parts the indications of place, when such are found at 
 all, are usually quite general, and principally "the Alham- 
 bra" or "the Albayzyn". * The time of Part I is within 
 the limits of one day. The action of Part II begins 
 upon the following day, as we can surmise from Boab- 
 delin's words (Act V, Part I, p. 115) after he has been 
 successful in routing his enemies — "Let war and 
 vengeance be to-morrow's care", — and by the bringing 
 in of Osmyn and Benzayda as captives in Act I Part II, 
 
 * Notwithstanding the advancement in scenery and decorations 
 of the English stage at the period of the Restoration, somewhat 
 of the " old Shakespearian naivete and simplicity, as regards the 
 representation of locality, must have remained. This can be seen 
 in many of the Restoration dramas and not for the least part in 
 the "Conquest of Granada", which must have been performed on 
 a stage not unlike the present Shakespeare-Bilhne in Munich. 
 Such a stage would excuse the absence of definite directions as 
 to locality in the drama as printed ; since, where no scene at all 
 is indicated, the reader of that time would put it at once, in 
 nearly every case, in front of that curtain of which I have spoken 
 in the note on p. 49 ; this arrangement explains also, perhaps, 
 the first scene of Act V, Part II of this play. So, too, could we 
 explain an apparent oversight of Dryden's in Scene II, Act V, 
 Part II, all of which (according to the printed text, since no 
 change of scene is indicated) transpires in the Vivarambla place. 
 But on p. 214, 1. c, Abdelmelech announces that the Spaniards 
 have gained possession of this place, although they have not, as 
 yet, entered upon the scene. The stage-direction for Scene II is: 
 "The Scene changes to the Vivarambla", etc., and if we assume 
 that this means only that the curtain at the rear has been with- 
 drawn and is closed again after the trial by combat (which is 
 to decide the question of Almahides conjugal fidelity) a.t the words : 
 
 (1. c, p. 207) "The judges rise from their seats ■— 
 
 they all go off", the seeming incongi-uity is clear enough. It 
 may also be mentioned, in this connection, that on the rear wall 
 of the Restoration Stage, as well as in Shakespeare's time, there 
 was a balcony, which plays an important part in more than one 
 of Dryden's dramas : for instance in this play, Act V, Scene II 
 (I.e., p. 213) and in "The Indian Emperor", Act V, Scene II (Vol. 
 Ill p. 403, seq.). Compare Gaedertz : Zur Kenntniss der alteng- 
 lischen Biihne, Bremen, 1888, p. 15. 
 
. , £S£ I. 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERS 
 
 who had fled from the city in Scene I, Act V, Part I. 
 The time of this second part does not exceed 24 hours: 
 need not, in fact, exceed twelve: The unity of action is 
 quite neglected, for there are two or three "underplots 
 and by-concernments" beside the principal action ; though 
 it must be admitted that these all stand in close connection 
 to the "main design" and "contribute (in greater or 
 less degree) to it." 
 
 The "decorum of the stage" suffers badly indeed, 
 inasmuch as we find many combats and tumults, as 
 well as the deaths of several of the principal charac- 
 ters, represented. On the whole, it must be concluded 
 i-egarding this play, as I have said above concerning 
 "Tyrannic Love", that it is neither "regular" according 
 to the French standard (although two of the unities are 
 strictly observed), nor is it written entirely after the 
 principles laid down by Dry den himself in the essays, 
 etc., written up to this date. But as an example of an 
 heroic drama it is one of the very best of its class. 
 
 An examination of this play with reference to the 
 assertions made in the Epilogue to the 2^ part, which 
 are enlarged upon in the "Defence of the Epilogue", 
 namely: ''that the language, wit, and conversation of 
 our age, are improved and refined above the last", would 
 certainly show up Dryden as being guilty of some of 
 the very faults for which he criticizes Jonson, Shakespeare 
 and Fletcher. To mention but one — it may be questimed 
 whether it is not as great an absurdity for Abdalla to 
 draw a simile from" Circe's isle", and for Lyndaraxa to 
 exclaim : "We have already passed the Rubicon" (to say 
 nothing of various other classical allusions in the mouths 
 of Moors of the 15" century) as for Demetrius (in Jonson's 
 "Humorous Lieutenant") to appear "with a pistol in his 
 hand, in the next age to Alexander the Great". It cannot 
 be denied, however, that there is a change, if not an 
 improvement and refinement, in the "language, wit and 
 conversation" of Dryden's plays, as compared with those 
 of his great predecessors; and that he has (and most 
 particularly in this drama) caught the style best adapted 
 
- 56 — 
 
 to that court and nobility to which he attributes these 
 advances in taste above the former age. 
 
 Dry den's next play was: 
 
 XI. 
 
 ^^ Marriage a la Mode''; published in 1673. (Edition, 
 Vol. lY, page 247, seq.) 
 
 Although the title-page calls tliis "A Comedy", it 
 contains also a serious plot, and therefore might properly 
 be classed as "Tragi-Comedy". The form is ajnixture 
 of prose, blank-verse and rhymed couplets; the ^o^ 
 lartteT being employed in the serious and some of the 
 love-making scenes without apparent discrimination- 
 one of those "scenes of argumentation or discourse" 
 which Dryden considered so particularly adapted to be 
 clothed in rhyme (Act 11, p. 288 — 293, 1. c.) is in blank 
 verse. The ends of all acts, and of Sc. I Act Til and 
 IV, Act IV are marked by one or more rhymed couplets. 
 The unity of action is broken by the double plot. The 
 unity of pZ«c<? is fairly observed according to Dryden's 
 own standard, since the action takes place throughout 
 in Syracuse, although the scene is indicated but twice 
 in the play; namely Act I, "Walks near the Court"; 
 and Scene IV, Act IV "An Eating-house". Although a 
 modern audience would require a change of locality, 
 in order to avoid an inconsistency occasioned by causing 
 so many events to transpire in the same place, the 
 construction of the stage of Dryden's time (see notes 
 on pp. 49 and 54) which left the actual scene so 
 much to the imagination of the spectator must be taken 
 into account as an explanation. If we were to assume, 
 however, that Dryden intended the entire action (with 
 the exception of the scene which he expressly indicates 
 as in an eating-house) to transpire in the "Walks near 
 the Court" we would be led into as great absurdities 
 as he himself condemns (because of "unbroken-scenes") 
 in the French; since assignations, a masquerade and 
 
— 57 - 
 
 grave altairs of state would have all but the one scene 
 as a background. One is justified in supposing that the 
 scenic decorations for ordinary comedy were of extreme, 
 almost naive simplicity,* however magnificent they 
 may liave been in the heroic dramas. The duration of 
 the time is not less than two days, although it cannot 
 be determined with any great exactness. This is a 
 reversion of the rule laid down by Dryden (in the 
 "Defence of the Essay") if we take the "Conquest of 
 Granada" as a comparison, for the time of each part of 
 this latter is confined within the "classical" limits and 
 to "Marriage a la Mode" is allowed a much greater 
 space; although, because of the weight of design and 
 action and the importance of the characters represented, 
 a tragedy may, according to Dryden, cover a larger 
 imaginary space of time than a comedy. The only critical 
 essay written by Dryden, up to this time, which has a 
 direct bearing upon comedy was the preface to "An 
 Evening's Love"** and judging "Marriage a la Mode" 
 by what is said in that place we find, first of all, that 
 Dryden has here well distinguished between comedy 
 and farce since there are no "forced humours and un- 
 natural events", and that the whole of the comic action 
 is strictly in character. Nor are "the follies of particular 
 persons" represented, but rather such as belong to different 
 classes of humanity and that, too, in a way which must 
 have seemed very real to the spectators of Dryden's 
 time. The characters are certainly "well chosen" and 
 kept "distant from interfering with each other", for 
 each is distinctly different in its own kind, nor are the 
 "ornaments of wit" wanting. Even in the repartee— 
 "the greatest grace of comedy" — Dryden has been careful 
 to avoid "the superfluity and waste of wit" which he 
 blames in Shakespeare and Fletcher, and has skillfully 
 characterized the particular quality of wit of each person. 
 
 * So the "Eating-house" in this play could have been suffi- 
 ciently characterized by the "Bottles of Wine" and the "Table" 
 mentioned in the stage directions, p. 330, 1. c. 
 
 ** vide Part I, § IV of this paper. ^^SE LIBR^^ 
 
 1 "aNIVERSITY 
 
— 58 — 
 Dryden's next drama was also a comedy: 
 
 XII. 
 
 ^[The Assignation^ or Love in a Nunnery '' ; published 
 in 1673 (Edition, Vol. IV, p. 365, seq.) which met with 
 no great success. The form is prose throughout, except 
 for some lines of rather indifferent blank-verse (parti- 
 cularly in the fifth act) and rhymed couplets at the end 
 of each act. The place is here exactly indicated for 
 nearly every scene; and where not, the action takes 
 place in the locality named in the last preceding stage- 
 direction. The scene is limited to the city of Rome; 
 and, especially, to the Nunnery "Torre di Specchi". The 
 time must be about three days, from indications in the 
 dialogue. The unity of action is violated, since there 
 are at least two plots, each of them of nearly equal 
 importance. The same favorable judgment regarding 
 the essential features of comedy cannot be passed here 
 as upon the last-mentioned drama, though there is, at 
 least, an avoidance of farcial elements.* 
 
 XIII. 
 
 „The State of Innocence and Fall of Man'\ publish- 
 ed in 1674 (Editon, Vol. V, p. 93, seq.) is a drama- 
 tization of Milton's "Paradise Lost", and was not 
 intended for representation. Indeed a representation 
 would have been hardly possible, even with the aid of 
 all the advances in stage-machinery which the Restoration 
 
 * It may be excused if I pass over with but few words — 
 "Amboijna, or The Cruelties of the Dutch to the English Merchants, 
 a Tragedy" published 1673 (Edition, Vol. V, p. 1, seq.); called by 
 Scott (1. c, p. 3) "the worst production whicli Dryden ever wrote". 
 An entire absence of artistic purpose in this piece with a purely 
 political tendency, renders an examination of its technique almost 
 superfluous. 
 
— 59 
 
 had introduced. From the very nature of this so-called 
 "opera" an application of any of Dryden's theories upon 
 technique is hardly feasible; eyen the •* Apology, for 
 Heroic Poetry and Poetic Licence" prefixed to it, gives 
 no points upon which to base such a consideration. The 7 
 
 piece is rhymed throughout, .-d^^^^^^a^i^^la*^ ^ tuJ^e^xJjA^ 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ■ctniversity) ^ 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Once more, and for the last time our author takes 
 up the heroic pen in ^^Aureng-Zebe"; published in 1676 
 (Edition, Vol. V, p. 179, seq.) and herewith furnishes one 
 of the best proofs that ''The Rehearsal", did not, as 
 Hettner * claims, put a sudden end to this style of drama, 
 for we have here still all the familiar features of rhymed 
 couplets and exaggerated notions of love and honor. 
 In the Dedication, however, Dryden expresses (1. c, 
 p. 195) an evidently genuine desire to abandon heroic 
 verse, and the Prologue (1. c, p. 20) makes the confession 
 that the author — 
 
 ''Grows weary of his long-loved mistress. Rhyme." 
 "Aureng-Zebe" is, however, (with the exception of 
 occasional "broken lines", and seven lines in blank- 
 verse on page 242 & 245 1. c.) rhymed throughout; 
 
 * "Geschichte der englischen Literatur im 18. Jahrhundert", 
 Braunschweig 1881, p. 90— "Die gereimte heroische Tragodie war 
 
 fur immer verloren Der Schlag war todlich gewesen." 
 
 But compare with this Saintabury's remarks in his Life of Drj'den 
 ("English Men of Letters") page 52; Ward, History of English 
 Dramatic Literature, Vol. II, p. 510, and Holzhausen 1. c. Xtll, 
 p. 434. The last-named has undoubtedly stated the effect of this 
 clever parody most clearly of all. I may take it for granted that 
 the incidents connected vvith the production of "The Rehearsal'', 
 the names of its authors, etc., are sufficiently well known by 
 all students of English literature of that period to make repetition 
 here unnecessary. I need only to refer (among other sources of 
 information) to Hettner (1. c , pp. 89 and 90) and, particularly, 
 to Scott, Life of Dryden, Edition, Vol. I, pp. 113— I2L 
 
— 60 — 
 
 although, as Scott points out in the Introduction (1. c, 
 pp. 182 & 185) the "heroic" character of the verse is 
 very much moderated. 
 
 Another line in the Prologue states that the author 
 "presumes" this play "the most correct of his," but it 
 cannot be called entirely correct, since (in the first 
 place) the unity of action is absent. There are as many 
 pairs of lovers, with their various intrigues, as in any 
 of Dryden's earlier heroic dramas: so, for instance the 
 loves of Aureng-Zebe and Indamora (the main plot), 
 then the passion of Nourmahal for Aureng-Zebe, of the 
 Emperor and Morat for Indamora, and one or two other 
 cases of unrequited affection. It cannot be denied, 
 however, that these side-issues stand in very close con- 
 nection to the main plot and contribute to the final 
 catastrophe. It is worthy of mention, too, that although 
 a further lack of "correctness" consists in the prominence 
 of several of the secondary persons, these are drawn 
 and characterized with much greater carefulness and 
 distinctness than in any earlier tragedy of our author. 
 As regards the unity of 'place, the drama is entirely 
 correct so far as can be judged from the printed text. 
 No changes of scene whatever are indicated, except the 
 general locality : Agra. As to whether the action takes place 
 in an apartment or in some street or open square, we 
 are left in doubt. The "absurdity" which Dry den finds 
 in the French plays would obtain in this, also ; unless 
 we are to suppose that, in- the representation, changes 
 of scene were effected which are not given in the text. 
 The imaginary time of this play does not exceed one 
 day; the action ending late at night of the same day 
 on which it begins. Although but little fighting takes 
 place by open scene, a sufficient number of deaths are 
 represented to disturb the "decorum" of the stage. 
 Altogether, however, this drama distinguishes itself from 
 others of the heroic stamp by its great moderation, 
 although it has no more claim to be called "regular" 
 or "correct" than "The Conquest of Granada". 
 
- 61 
 
 XV. 
 
 Dryden's next play was another remodelling of 
 Shakespeare, namely; ^^AU for L(yvc, or the World well 
 Losf\ published 1678 (Edition, Vol. V, p. 305, seq.) — 
 an adaptation of *'Antony and Cleopatra". If in the 
 Dedication and Prologue to '"Aureng-Zebe" our author 
 shows himself evidently weary of rhymed verse, he 
 would attribute the rhymlessness of this play simply 
 to his wish to follow Shakespeare more closely; for 
 he does "not condemn his former way" but blank-verse 
 is "more proper to his present purpose". "Aureng-Zebe" 
 was, however, his last play rhymed throughout, and we 
 may properly conclude that Dryden was convinced of 
 the necessity of a change of form ; either because rhyme 
 was out of favor through the success of "The Rehearsal", 
 which made sport of the whole heroic style, or (as he 
 states in the Dedication to the "Essay of Dramatic 
 Poesy".)* because he found "the way of writing plays 
 in verse troublesome and slow." The exact reason for 
 Dryden's abandoning a form of verse which he had 
 defended so strongly is not easy to find, nor do 
 his own statements upon the subject help us very 
 much, since they are somewhat at variance with one 
 another. It is hardly possible that an author who 
 wrote so much and so easily in rhymed verse is in 
 earnest when he calls himself "the Sisyphus of the 
 Stage", or finds rhyming "troublesome and slow"; Nor 
 can it be his thorough conviction that — "Passion's 
 too fierce to be in fetters bound" or he would have 
 considered twice before enchaining the verse of "Aureng- 
 Zebe" with such "fetters"; Least of all is "The Re- 
 hearsal" entirely the cause of the change; for Dryden 
 ignored (or affected to ignore) this attack upon his 
 work and his personality. Though each one of these 
 reasons may have had its share in bringing about the 
 change, no single element is alone responsible for it. 
 
 ^-^^ 
 
 :iC;P 
 
 Arnold, Edition, p. 2, lino 4, seq. /" ^^ of the 
 
— 62 — 
 
 Besides all this, it is beyond dispute that Dryden, from 
 the very beginning of his di*amatic career, had more 
 or less respect for, and sympathy with, the elder English 
 dramatists, probably including even the form in which 
 they wrote; but in the conflict between this sentiment 
 of veneration on the one hand, and the Gallicized taste 
 of the court as well as the number of French "authorities" 
 on the other, the style of composition most in conformity 
 with this second party triumphed, f(>r a while at least. 
 I am inclined, in fact, to attribute the abandoning of 
 rhyme quite as much to the ^'secret shame" which 
 Dryden says, in the Prologue to "Aureng-Zebe" invaded 
 *'his breast at Shakespeare's sacred name" as to any 
 other assignable reason. Outside of the question of 
 rhyme Dryden's opinions on certain points here, at the 
 time of composing "All for Love", were practically 
 unchanged, judging from the Preface; for although he 
 brings to notice the regularity of the drama, he still 
 considers such a strict observance of the unities "more 
 than the English theatre requires", and that the ancient 
 models are -'too little for English tragedy." An 
 examination of the play as regards technique seems 
 hardly necessary, since Dryden himself gives all that 
 is important upon this point in the Preface. For a 
 comparison with Shakespeare's drama, I refer to Rosbund's 
 essay, "Dryden als Shakespearebearbeiter", Halle 1882; 
 and Scott's Introduction, 1. c, pp. 307—313. 
 
 The next play in order is: 
 
 XVI. 
 
 ^'LimberJiam, the Kind Keeper'' ; a Comedy, published 
 in 1678. (Edition, Vol. VI, p. 1, seq.) 
 
 Although one of Dryden's best comedies, as far as 
 regards structure and dialogue, this play was not 
 successful. The reason is not clear, but can hardly lie 
 in its extreme indecency, since an audience of the 
 
CFTHE *^ 
 
 /crisriVERsiTY 
 
 — 63 -^^OMIFORNIA: 
 
 Restoration period would scarcely make very serious 
 objections to it on that score. The form is prose 
 throughout; even the rhymed couplets at the close of 
 the acts failing, except at the very end of the play. 
 It is worthy of remark that the scenes of repartee 
 (particularly between Woodall and Mistress Pleasance) 
 seem quite as lively and telling in this form as if 
 written in rhymed verse. The action is fairly one, since 
 it all turns upon tlie gallant adventures of the rake 
 AVoodall, and his final surrender to the conjugal yoke. 
 The imaginary time of the action is between two and 
 three days. The unity of place is almost strictly observed, 
 since the locality is "a lodging-house", and all the scenes 
 transpire in some room of the house or in the garden 
 belonging to it. The comedy is never farcial, and the 
 wit (though extremely broad, to say the least) is well 
 adapted to each person indulging in it. The characters 
 are certainly '-well-drawn and kept distant from inter- 
 fering with each other": they give the impression of 
 being taken from life* in all particulars. Otherwise 
 this drama does not call for especial remark in this 
 place, since Dryden's attitude towards comedy had not 
 undergone, up to this time, any change — at least as 
 expressed in any theorizing upon the technique of this 
 branch of dramatic art From what I have said above 
 it can be seen, however, that "Limberham" shows a fair 
 amount of consistency to the theories and criticism 
 already expressed by Dryden. 
 
 xvn. 
 
 ''(Ediims\ a Tragedy, published in 1679; (Edition, 
 Vol. VI, p. 121, seq.) was the joint work of Dryden and 
 Lee. Noticeable in the short Preface (1. c, p. 133) is 
 Dryden's defence of the '-underplot of second persons" 
 
 * Vide Scott's introduction; 1. c, p. 1. 
 
— 64 — 
 
 on the ground that "'custom has obtained" that this 
 should be so; to which he adds; "Perhaps, after all, if 
 we could think so, the ancient method, as it is the 
 easiest, is also the most natural, and the best. For 
 variety, as it is managed, is too often subject to breed 
 distraction ; and while we would please too many ways, 
 for want of art in the conduct, we please in none." 
 Tentatively and cautiously as Dry den here expresses 
 himself, it is easy to recognize a desire for greater 
 simplicity and "regularity" than had been his practice 
 in tragedy up to this time, or his theory as expressed 
 in the "Essay of Dramatic Poesy".* In some other 
 particulars, however, "CEdipus" (at least) shows no 
 advance towards better taste; since, as Scott well remarks 
 in the Introduction (1. c, p. 128), there is no English 
 play "more determinedly bloody in its progress and 
 
 conclusion. Of all the persons of the drama 
 
 scarce one survives the fifth act The play 
 
 which begins with a pestilence, concludes with a massacre." 
 The rant and bombast of certain scenes is also quite as 
 bad as anything which had been produced up to that 
 time. But, regarding both these points, we must not 
 forget that Dryden is not the sole author of the drama, 
 and that a good deal of the blame, as regards both 
 plan and execution, might well be attributed to his 
 collaborateur, Lee. This fact of a joint authorship also 
 precludes the necessity for an examination of this play 
 similar to that to which the foregoing have been sub- 
 jected. It may be remarked, however, that the form is 
 blank-verse, except for the rhymes of the incantation 
 scene in the third act and the couplets terminating 
 each act. 
 
 xvni 
 
 Dryden again devotes himself to Shakespeare in 
 his next play, ^'Troilus and Cressida, or Truth Found 
 too Late''; published in 1679. (Ed., Vol. VI, p. 241, seq.) 
 
 Vide Arnold's Ed., pp. 56, 57 & 59. 
 
— 65 — 
 
 What "improvements" he has made upon his great 
 model are recorded by Dryden himself in the Preface, 
 and by Scott in the Introduction to this play. An 
 examination of this play in comparison with the prin- 
 ciples laid down in the essay "On the Grounds of 
 Criticism in Tragedy",* would occupy too much time 
 and space; but it may be said, in general, that the 
 wicked are punished in accordance with the demands 
 of dramatic justice as stated in tliat place; that the 
 "manners" are treated in harmony with the rules there 
 promulgated and that the "unities" are as strictly 
 observed as the model upon which this adaptation is 
 founded would allow. Dryden had broken once for all 
 with rhyme, so it is not surprising that this play contains 
 none, except the customary couplets at the ends of the 
 acts. Among other particulars we note the great advance 
 made towards simplicity of style as compared with the 
 heroic dramas; so, for instance, in the absence of bom- 
 bast and rant. 
 
 / ^ OF THE *^ 
 
 rCJNIVERSITY 
 XIX.^^-^.CAUF0RN1A: 
 
 The remaining dramas of Dryden are, in the chron- 
 ological order of their publication, the following: 
 
 1) "T/^c Spanish Friar, (w The Double Discovert/', 
 a Tragi-Comedy; published in 1681. (P]d., Vol. VI, 
 p. 393, seq.) 
 
 2) ''Tlie Dule of Guise", a Tragedy (written in 
 coDJunction with Lee); published in 1685. (Ed., Vol. VII, 
 p. 1, seq.) 
 
 3) ^^ Albion and Alhaniiis'\ an Opera; published in 
 1685. (Ed., Vol. VII, p. 221, seq.) 
 
 Vide the analysis in Part L § IX of this paper. 
 
 5 
 
— 66 — 
 
 4) ''Don Sebastian'^ a Trao^edy; published in 1690. 
 (Ed., Vol. VII, p. 285, seq.) 
 
 5) ^^Amphifrtfon, or The Two Sosias'\ a Comedy; 
 published in 1690. (Edition, Vol. VIII, p. 1, seq.) 
 
 6) jjKing Arthur, or The British Worthif\ a Dramatic 
 Opera: published in 1691. (Ed., Vol. VIII, p. 123, seq.) 
 
 7) '■^Cleommcs, The Spartan Hero", a Tragedy; 
 published in 1692. (Ed., Vol. VIII, p. 203, seq.) 
 
 8) ^^Lovc Triumphal, or Nature ivill PrevaiV\ a 
 Tragi-Comedy; published 1693—94. (Edition, Vol. VIII, 
 p. 365, seq.) 
 
 — The evidence in favor of Dryden's authorship 
 for the two doubtful plays, "The Mall" and "The 
 Mistaken Husband", included by Saintsbury in his Edi- 
 tion (Vol. VIII), is by no means sufficiently conclusive; 
 on which account I omit any consideration of them 
 here. — 
 
 It is unnecessary to examine these eight dramas 
 with the same attention which I have devoted to the 
 foregoing, since Dryden's dramatic technique underwent 
 no important changes after this time, and the theories 
 which he utters after "The Grounds of Criticism in 
 Tragedy" are either a repetition of such as he had 
 before promulgated or merely a more definite declara- 
 tion of his change of taste in some particulars. So 
 (as regards this latter point) he bids a final farewell 
 to bombast in the Dedication to ^''The Spanish Friar","^ 
 and acknowledges the sins he had committed in that 
 direction. His tragedies are from this time on (and had 
 been, in fact, since "Aureng-Zebe") of a much calmer 
 nature in both action and dialogue, with the exception 
 of the bloodiness of "CEdipus". The Preface to ^^Don 
 
 * Vide Part First, § X, of this paper. 
 
- 67 — 
 
 Sebastian'^* in its statements regarding "love and 
 honour", only confirms the praxis of his latter days 
 in avoiding? the "heroic" conflicts between tliese two 
 motives. The attitude which he should observe towards 
 the ''unities" is as great a question with him in both 
 the theory and praxis of these latter days as it ever 
 had been. If he writes a tragedy without a comic 
 underplot {''Cleomenes'') he defends this as being "the 
 true way"; but he excuses a double plot (^^The Spanish 
 Friar'' and ^'Love Triumphant) by "the pleasure of 
 variety" or the "genius of the English". The other 
 unities (besides that of action) are treated as suits his 
 particular convenience {^^Don Sebastian", "'Cleomencs'' and 
 '^Love Triumphant) though not without explanation or 
 excuse in the accompanying dedication or preface. 
 
 * Vide Part Fh-st, § XII, of this paper. 
 
 lUNIVERSITY 
 
 -X « OF 
 
 ^^^IFORNlA- 
 
The whole question of the relation existing between 
 "^Dryden's dramatic theory and his praxis may be 
 summed up in the following sentences: Dryden evinces 
 on the one side, the greatest veneration for the authority 
 of the "Ancients" and the French Classicists (which 
 finds its highest expression in "The Grounds of Criticism 
 in Tragedy"); and on the other side, the desire to 
 jplease the court and public; which latter feature is 
 Istrengtliened by the fact (now undisputed) that his 
 / circumstances were seldom so good that authorship was 
 JNjnotnecessary as a means of existence. The expressed 
 admiration and" attempted imitarttoiinof Shakespeare in 
 the last 25 years or so of his dramatic career, bring 
 him more or less into conflict with the regularity demand- 
 ed by Aristotle, but yet from first to last (excepting 
 in "The Grounds of Ciiticism in Tragedy") Dryden has 
 been an advocate of a certain latitude in the observance 
 of the unities. But still with what pride he points out 
 the tact when he has written a play in which the 
 unities are almost exactly observed (as in ^^Tyrannic 
 Love'' or ''Aureng-Zehe'') and particularly does he con- 
 sider it a great merit on his part to have made some 
 of Sfi^Kp^p^^^'^^^ plaj[s_more ^^re gular'V On the whole, 
 I fail to discover any such intimate connection between 
 ^ theory and praxis in Dryden's dramatic authorship as 
 ( might reasonably be expected. Nowhere does he say; 
 \ -'thus and thus shall be written"' and then follow up 
 VJhese exact lines. The changes in both theory and 
 praxis after the appearance of ^^Aureng-Zche' (notably 
 in the abandonment of rhyme) make the impression of 
 being made to suit the taste of his audiences first, and 
 accounted for by critical dicta afterwards : — the aban- 
 
f'^ ^ OF THE ' 
 
 ' UNIVERSITY 
 ■g jUFORNlA : 
 
 douiug of rhyme being (as he would give us to under- 
 stand in the Prologue to ^^Aureng-ZM^ and the Preface 
 to the 2" Edition of the "Essay of Dramatic Poesy") 
 quite as much because it was "troublesome and slow" 
 as for any other i-eason. The heroic plays seem to 
 show the greatest consistency between theory and 
 practice. The heroic verse had been commended on 
 more than one occasion by Dryden, even from the time 
 of the Dedication to '^llie Rival-Ladies'\ and the other 
 characteristic features of the heroic style of drama are 
 treated in full in the "Essay of Heroic Plays", and occur 
 in all the heroic tragedies written by Dryden. Yet even 
 here one or two notable examples had been produced 
 before our author laid down his theories for the whole 
 species. With this exception of the heroic tragedy, 
 where, it is true, visible coherence exists between theory 
 and praxis, I must, in conclusion, emphazise the follow- 
 ing facts; A comparison of such statements of individual 
 opinion as are to be found in Dryden's essays, prefaces 
 and dedications regarding points of dramatic technique, 
 with liis practice in dramatic composition, lead to the 
 discovery of a lack of any exact organic connection in 
 every particular between the two: An attempt to show 
 either a complete reconciliation between theory and 
 praxis or a complete divergence of each from the 
 other leads to no precise results: The dramas were in 
 nearly every instance (the exceptions being the heroic 
 tragedies and the Shakespeare adaptations) composed 
 according to the fancy of tlie poet or the demands of 
 the sources of the plots, without slavish adherence to 
 theory: The theoretical writings are only to be regarded, 
 first of all as essays upon the style and nature of 
 dramatic art in general; and, secondly, as written to 
 justify the author in the eyes of the public in regard 
 to his own dramas. 
 
Vita. 
 
 I, George Stuart Collins, was born Sept. 25, 1862, 
 in New Eochelle, State of New York, U. S. A. My first 
 instruction I received from my Father, an evangelical 
 pastor, and afterwards studied at private schools and 
 the High School of Plainfield, New Jersey, from which 
 last-named institution I graduated in 1881. An intended 
 course of. study at Columbia College, New York City, 
 was prevented by long and frequent illnesses. In 1885 
 I came to Germany for the purpose of study, and was 
 immatriculated at the University of Leipzig in the 
 Winter Semester of 1885/86. Here I have since remained, 
 and have attended during this time the lectures of the 
 following professors and docents: Drs. Arndt, von Bahder, 
 Biedermann, Ebert, Hildebrand, Hirt, Kogel, Korting, 
 Lindner, Masius, Settegast, Sievers, Springer, Techmer, 
 Windisch, Wiilker, Wundt and Zarncke. I have also 
 been, for several semesters, a member of the Deutsches 
 Seminar, ausserordentliche Abtheilung, as well as, for 
 one semester each, of the Gesellschaften of Profs. Ebert 
 and Wiilker. During the past year I have been engaged 
 in lexicographic and literary labors. To Prof. Wiilker 
 I desire to express my thanks for many welcome words 
 of advice. 
 
 ^ OF THE *^ 
 
 Leipzig, Maj^, 1892.'^Xj NIVERSITY^ 
 
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