1 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 A SHORT HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 BY 
 
 BENJAMIN BRAWLEY 
 
 n 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1 92 1, BY 
 HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY, INC. 
 
 PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. BY 
 
 THE QUINN a BOOEN COMPANY 
 
 RAHWAM. N. J.
 
 625- 
 
 3 ' 
 
 ^0 
 
 WILLIAM ALLAN NEILSON 
 
 TEACHER AND FRIEND 
 
 415498
 
 PEEFACE 
 
 This book makes no special effort to be either original or 
 profound. It aims simply to set forth in brief compass 
 the main facts that one might wish to have at hand in his 
 first course in the English Drama. The great revival of 
 interest in this subject within recent years has produced 
 many noteworthy studies, especially in the literature of the 
 age of Elizabeth ; but, singularly enough, most of the books 
 that have been written have been for those who already 
 knew most about the subject. The present work pre- 
 supposes only that the student has had an elementary col- 
 lege course in the history of English Literature, and with 
 just so much as a basis it endeavors to assist him as he 
 passes on to the study of the greatest of the forms that this 
 literature has so far assumed. 
 
 The book holds itself strictly to the history of the drama. 
 There is accordingly no introductory discussion of tech- 
 nique. Such information may be given at the pleasure 
 of the instructor, or it may be found in convenient form in 
 Dr. Elizabeth Woodbridge's The Drama, its Lav) and 
 Technique or in Professor Baker's comprehensive Bra- 
 matic Technique, The bibliogTaphy is necessarily selective. 
 While emphasizing the books that one m.ight need in an 
 introductory course, it also contains some suggestions for 
 more advanced study. 
 
 In presenting the subject of the English Drama in this 
 form I have naturally had to be indebted to many students 
 of special men or periods. Quotations are frequent, espe^ 
 cially where statements are so final in their precision as 
 
 ▼
 
 Ti PREFACE 
 
 to leave no chance for me to improve upon them. All 
 students regard with respect Ward's History of English 
 Dramatic Literature and are grateful for the Camhridge 
 History of Englisli Literature, while such works as Lee's 
 Life of William SJiukespeare and Baker's The Develop- 
 ment of Shakespeare as a Dramatist have hecome simply 
 a part of the general tradition. In the Camhridge History 
 I feel especially indebted to the several articles by Mr. 
 Harold Child, and also to the one on ^' The Drama and the 
 Stage" by Professor G. H. !N'ettleton, while the latter 
 VvTiter's English Drama of the Restoration and Eighteenth 
 Century has proved altogether indispensable. Some sim- 
 ply written but very accurate works for school use have 
 helped again and again. Such are the Introduction to 
 Professor C. G. Child's edition of The Second Shepherd's 
 Play, Everyman, and other Early Plays, MacCracken, 
 Pierce, and Durham's An Introduction to Shalcespeare, and 
 jSTeilson and Thorndike's The Facts about Shalcespeare, 
 Constantly I have had to avail myself of the results of the 
 studies of Professor F. E. Schelling; to Professor Barrett 
 Wendell I must ever be gi-ateful for helpful criticism; 
 while to President W. A. l^eilson and Professor J. M. 
 Manly I feel an indebtedness difficult to express. Back 
 and forth between these last two teachers it was long my 
 happy lot as a student to pass ; their works are frequently 
 cited in the notes ; and while neither of course is respon- 
 sible for any statement on my own part, it is a pleasure 
 to take this occasion to thank two men who in themselves 
 so excellently represent the highest ideals of modem 
 scholarship. 
 
 Benjamin Brawlet. 
 
 Cambbidge, 
 January 15, 1921.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 I. THE BEGINNINGS OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1. Origin . 1 
 
 2. Artistic Connections 3 
 
 3. Miracle Plays 4 
 
 4. Early Development 5 
 
 6. Cycles 7 
 
 6. Secular Elements 8 
 
 II. MORALITY AND INTERLUDE 
 
 7. The Temper of the Middle Ages 11 
 
 8. Moralities 11 
 
 9. Interludes 15 
 
 10. John Heywood 16 
 
 11. The Vice 18 
 
 12. Conditions of Presentation 19 
 
 III. THE ELIZABETHAN AGE 
 
 Spirit of the Age 21 
 
 Elements Contributing to the Drama 21 
 
 First Regular Comedies 23 
 
 First Regular Tragedies 28 
 
 Chronicle Plays 32 
 
 First Theatres 34 
 
 Stage and Setting 36 
 
 Theatrical Companies 38 
 
 IV. SHAKESPEARE'S EARLIER CONTEMPORARIES 
 
 Prominent Dramatists 41 
 
 John Lyly 42 
 
 George Peele 45 
 
 Robert Greene 47 
 
 Thomas Kyd 50 
 
 Christopher Marlowe 52 
 
 V. SHAKESPEARE 
 
 27. Life 57 
 
 28. Indebtedness to Predecessors 59 
 
 29. Periods of Dramatic Work 60 
 
 yU
 
 Vlll 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGB 
 
 30. Plays of First Period 61 
 
 31. Plays of Second Period . . . . . . . 67 
 
 32. Plays of Third Period 74 
 
 33. Plays of Fourth Period 81 
 
 34. Shakespeare's Advance in his Art 84 
 
 35. The Tradition of Shakespeare 85 
 
 36. Shakespeare's Greatness 88 
 
 VI. SHAKESPEARE'S LATEPv CONTEMPORARIES AND 
 THE DECLINE OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 
 
 37. General Characteristics of the Period 90 
 
 38. Ben Jonson 91 
 
 39. George Chapman 98 
 
 40. John Marston 101 
 
 41. Thomas Dekker 102 
 
 42. Beaumont and Fletch'^r 104 
 
 43. Thomas Heywood 108 
 
 44. John Webster 110 
 
 45. Thomas Middleton Ill 
 
 46. Philip Massir^c'er 114 
 
 47. John Ford T 117 
 
 48. James Shirley 119 
 
 49. The Puritan Attack on the Stage 122 
 
 VII. DRYDEN AND HIS AGE 
 
 50. The Era of the Restoration. Heroic Drama .... 127 
 
 51. William D'Avcnant 131 
 
 52. John Dryden 132 
 
 53. Etherege, Wycherley, and Others 138 
 
 54. Nathaniel Lee 141 
 
 55. Thomas Otway 142 
 
 VIII. LATE RESTORATION DRAMA AND THE RISE OF 
 DEMOCRATIC TENDENCIES 
 
 56. Elements of the Transition 145 
 
 57. William Congrevc 148 
 
 58. John Vanbrugh 151 
 
 59. George Farquhar 152 
 
 60. CoUey Gibber 153 
 
 CI. Richard Steele 155 
 
 62. Joseph Addison 156 
 
 63. Nicholas Rowe 158 
 
 IX. THE ERA OF SENTIMENTALISM 
 
 64. The NcAV Age. Drama vs. Novel 160 
 
 65. Pantomime: John Rich 163
 
 CONTENTS ix 
 
 PAGE 
 
 66. Ballad Opera: John Gay 164 
 
 67. Domestic Tragedy: George Lillo 164 
 
 68. Burlesque: Henry Fielding 167 
 
 69. Adaptation: David Garrick 169 
 
 70. Romanticism: Jolin Home 171 
 
 71. Pure Comedy: Foote and Colman 173 
 
 72. Sentimentaiism : Kelly and Cumberland .... 174 
 
 73. Summary of the Period 178 
 
 X. GOLDSMITH AND SHERIDAN 
 
 74. Reaction from Sentimentaiism 179 
 
 75. Oliver Goldsmith 182 
 
 76. Richard Brinsley Sheridan 184 
 
 77. Close of the Century 188 
 
 XI. EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY DRAMA: 
 ROMANTICISM 
 
 78. Era of Romanticism 193 
 
 79. " Closet Drama " 197 
 
 80. Late Georgian Dramatists 200 
 
 81. James Sheridan Knowles 203 
 
 82. Edward Bulwer-Lytton 204 
 
 83. Robert Browning 205 
 
 84. Alfred Tennyson 207 
 
 85. Other Mid-Century Dramatists 210 
 
 86. Robertson, Gilbert, and the Transition 212 
 
 XII. LATER VICTORIAN AND CONTEMPORARY DRAMA: 
 ANALYSIS AND THE SOCIAL IMPULSE 
 
 87. Continental Influences 216 
 
 88. Oscar Wilde 220 
 
 89. Arthur Wing Pinero 221 
 
 90. Henry Arthur Jones 222 
 
 91. George Bernard Shaw 224 
 
 92. James Matthew Barrie 226 
 
 93. John Galsworthy 227 
 
 94. Stephen Phillips 228 
 
 95. Granville Barker 230 
 
 96. Irish National Theatre. Lady Gregory .... 230 
 
 97. William Butler Ysats 232 
 
 98. John Millington Synge 233 
 
 99. Other Recent Dramatists 234 
 
 100. Current Tendencies 235 
 
 Bibliography 239 
 
 Index 251
 
 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE 
 ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 CHAPTEE I 
 
 BEGINNINGS' OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 I. Origin. — The English Drama, of which we now 
 think as a highly developed form of entertainment, found 
 its origin not in any accepted centers of amusement hut 
 in the dignified service of the Church. While moreover in 
 later centuries the drama of Greece and Eome had con- 
 siderable influence on the English stage, there was no real 
 connection between the classic drama and the origins of the 
 new form that arose in the Middle Ages. If in the earlier 
 mediaeval centuries in England people could not go to 
 anything like a modern theatre, the theatre could at least 
 come to them ; and it came in the shape of the minstrel, the 
 scop, or the gleeman, who went from one great home to 
 another, and of whom we hear so much in early song and 
 story. The minstrels gave entertainments that we should 
 now term recitals, and into their work the idea of imper- 
 sonation was frequently introduced. Toward the end of 
 the ninth century, however, there began on the Continent a 
 development that was destined ultimately to revolutionize 
 all such means of passing tedious hours away. " The 
 Church, though it had sternly repressed the classic drama, 
 in time came itself to use dramatic action to enrich its 
 
 1
 
 2 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 liturpj anrl to enfon;e its teachings." ^ Elaboration of tlie 
 liturgy developed by means of *' tropes," wnich are defined 
 more generally as '^ any interpolations of liturgical texts," ' 
 and more specifically as " texts appropriate for special 
 days, adapted for choral rendering in the musical portions 
 of the Ma.^s." ^ '' Some of these tropes were simply lyric, 
 or hymnal, in character; some, involving dialogue, were 
 from the first dramatic in character. Certain tropes usee* 
 at Easter, Christmas, and Ascension were of special im- 
 portance as starting points of dramatic expansion." * Of 
 first importance is the Qaerti Quaeriiis, an Easter trope 
 based on the words of the angel who addressed the holy 
 women who went to anoint the body of Christ and an- 
 nounced to them the Resurrection, and preserved for us 
 from the Benedictine Abbry of St. Gail. ^' It was origi- 
 nally sung as a choral addition to the music of the Introit 
 of the Mass, that is, the procession with which the Mass 
 begins. In course of time, however, as its dramatic pos- 
 sibilities were developed, it was detached from this posi- 
 tion, where elaboration in the way of action was impos- 
 sible, and inserted in the services preceding the Mass." 
 The words of the trope were as follows : 
 
 Quern quaeritis in eepulchro, Christicolae? 
 lesiun Nazarenum crucifixum, eaelicola. 
 Non est hie ; surrexit sicut praedixerat : 
 Ite, nuntiate quia surrexit a mortuis. 
 
 These four sentences appear in all Easter plays. At first 
 they were of course not produced dramatically, but even in 
 
 * Child, Introduction to The Second Shepherds' Play, Everyman, 
 amd other Early Plays, xii. 
 
 * Manly. 
 
 » Child, Introduction, xiL 
 
 * Child.
 
 BEGINNINGS OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 3 
 
 t$ie tenth century they passed the boundary of non-drama 
 ind drama. ^ 
 
 2. Artistic Connections. — From such a germ as the 
 Quern Quaeritis one can easily see that expansion could 
 take place in various ways. Especially could there be 
 introduced various preliminaries to the actual dialogue at 
 the tomb. As the service of the Church moreover was so 
 universal in the western world in the Middle Ages, any 
 innovation that was countenanced on the Continent would 
 in course of time naturally find a place in England. Dia- 
 logue seems to find its ultimate origin in the antiphons, or 
 choral chants, of the sixth century, in which the two sides 
 of the choir alternately responded to each other, ^ilong 
 with dialogue developed dramatic action, tableaux being 
 recogujized as a means of impressing upon the unlearned 
 the principles of Christian trutk Everywhere, from the 
 tenth century on, the production in churches of a certain 
 species of alternating song was combined with some kind 
 of theatrical staging ; and, simultaneously with the progress 
 of this staging, the texts of the songs were enlarged by free 
 poetical additions.® " Most of the literary monuments that 
 enable us to reconstruct the gradual rise of the Christian 
 drama are of German or French origin ; " but one, Con- 
 cordia Regular^s, composed during the reign of Edgar 
 (959-975) and containing rules for divine senice in Eng- 
 lish monasteries, iiu niches us in the Quern Quaeritis 
 " the oldest extant example in European literature of the 
 theatrical recital of an alternating song in church." ^ 
 
 " Manly. 
 
 •Creizenach: "The Early Religious Drama," Cambridge Hiatorif 
 of English Literature (hereafter referred to as C. H. E, L.), V, 40. 
 ' Creizenach.
 
 4 A SHOET HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA; 
 
 Upon all of the very earliest plajs, however, severe limita- 
 tions were everywhere placed; the lang^uage was always 
 Latin, the subject was always taken from the Scriptures, 
 and the performance was in a church. Unconsciousl;) 
 everybody waited for the day when removal to the outside 
 of the sacred edifice would do away with a severely re- 
 pressive atmosphere and give freer play to genuine dra- 
 matic emotion. 
 
 3. Miracle Plays. — A few definitions ® may now be in 
 place. A Mystery play is one originating in the liturgy 
 and presenting an event or series of events taken from the 
 Holy Scriptures. A Miracle play is a dramatization of an 
 event or legend from the life of a saint or martyr. A! 
 Morality is a dramatization of an allegory intended to 
 inculcate some useful lesson of religion, morality, or sci- 
 ence. With the Morality we shall deal in our next chapter. 
 The word mystery was not originally in use in England ; ^ 
 on the other hand, as compared with France, strict miracle 
 plays were very few in number. In England, however, the 
 name of the thing of which the country had little became 
 attached to that of which it had much, so that for this 
 country at least it is generally best to speak of the early 
 productions as miracle rather than mystery plays. In 
 course of time the early religious plays came to consist of 
 three main groups of scenes: from the Old Testament, 
 scenes of the Creation, the Fall of Man, the Death of Abel, 
 
 " To be credited in substance to Manly. Note this editor's /Speci- 
 mens of the Pre-Shaksperean Drama, the best and most accessible 
 collection of early English plays. For general discussion, in addi- 
 tion to the work of Ward and Creizenach, note for a brief and 
 popular study Bates: The English Religious Drama, and, for further 
 study, Chambers: The Mediaeval Stage. 
 
 • Ward: "The Origins of English Drama," C. H. E. L., V, 15.
 
 BEGINNINGS OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 5 
 
 and the Deluge; and, from tlie New Testament, scenes 
 centering around the Birth of Christ, such as the Annunci- 
 ation, the Visit of the Shepherds, the coming of the Three 
 Kings and the Flight into Egypt, and also scenes con- 
 nected with the Kesurrection, such as those of the Entry 
 into Jerusalem, the Crucifixion, and the Walk to Emmaus. 
 The chronological order of development in the three 
 groups, however, was exactly the reverse of the order just 
 given. 
 
 4. Early Development. — It took in England more than 
 two hundred years (or until ahout 1250) for all the 
 changes to be made from the little dialogue that was simply 
 a part of the liturgy to Bible scenes or plays that were 
 regularly presented for public instruction or entertain- 
 ment. As the presentation of liturgical plays became more 
 elaborate, and as more space was required both for them 
 and for the audience, the place of performance changed 
 from the church to the churchyard, and then to the street 
 or marketplace or convenient open spaces about the town. 
 " Latin gave way to the vernacular, and the priests to lay- 
 men; and miracle plays representing the lives of patron 
 saints were given by schools, trade gilds, and other lay 
 institutions.'' ^° While moreover the scenes gathered 
 around the Birth of Christ were especially appropriate to 
 the Christmas season, and those of the Eesurrection to 
 Easter, more and more it became evident that because of 
 the weather at these seasons, some day in the late spring or 
 early summer would be preferable for the most elaborate 
 productions. In course of time Corpus Christi day (the 
 Thursday after Trinity Sunday) came to surpass all other 
 
 ^* Keilson:. Introduction to Juliita Caesar, in Lake Englieh Classics, 
 12.
 
 6 N SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 occasions. The feast of Corpus Christi was instituted in 
 1264 by Pope TJrhar IV; after an intermission it was re- 
 instituted in 1311; and very soon the celebration came to 
 represent within itself all the splendor and solemnity of the 
 Church. " This feast commemorated a miracle which was 
 believed to have given ocular evidence of transubstantia- 
 tion, that is, the change of the bread and wine of the sacra- 
 ment to the actual Body and Blood of Christ, and its char- 
 acteristic feature was, and in certain Conti Dental cities 
 is still, a procession in which the Host was carried ihrotif^'h 
 the streets so as to make a circuit of the parish or town.'' *^ 
 This procession became a sort of triumphal progress by 
 which the Church not only emphasized her own power but 
 also " satisfied the perennial inclination of the people for 
 disguisings and festal showq," ^^ In England esptKjially 
 these processions assumed a dramatic character, the differ- 
 ent scenes being distributed in such a way as to bear some 
 relation to the craft that performed it ; thus the carpenters 
 or shipbuilders would be given the scene or play of Noah's 
 Flood, and the goldsmiths that of the Adoration of the 
 Magi. The aciors stood on a stage (" pageant ") moving 
 about on wheels. In the course of ihe procession a certain 
 number of stations was appointed, at which the several 
 pageants stopped as they went along, and on which the 
 respective scenes were performed. Naturally the progress 
 of the action was interrupted as one pageant rolled away 
 and another approached; meanwhile the attention of the 
 people had to be held if disorder was to bo prevented. 
 '* The function of calling the people to order was, wherever 
 possible, intrusted to a tyrant, say Herod, the murderer of 
 the Innocents, or Pilate, who, dressed up grotesquely and 
 *^ Child, Introduction, xviii. *• Creizenach.
 
 BEGINNINGS OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 7 
 
 armed with a resounding sword, raged about among the 
 audience and imposed silence on the disturbers of peace." ^^ 
 5. Cycles. — More and more the control of plays and of 
 processions such as those just remarked passed from the 
 Church to the municipal authorities, and especially to the 
 gilds. These organizations were associations of men engaged 
 in the same craft and they had the advantage of being able 
 to assist financially in the performance of productions that 
 showed a tendency to be increasingly expensive. Gradu- 
 ally in ■. r.o of ±^ larger ceMicxc^ ihe \.(jwn took entire 
 charge of the presentation, and a complete series of plays 
 or pageants might embrace as many as forty or fifty scenes 
 running all the way from the Creation through the 
 Prophets and the Life of Christ to Dromsday. ± our great 
 seiii or cycles have been preserved for as. These are 
 the York cycle, with forty-eight scenes (exclusive of the 
 Innholder's fragment) ; '* the Chester cycle, with twenty- 
 five scenes; the Wakefie ld cycle (commonly called the 
 " Towneley cycle '^ from the family that owned the manu- 
 script), with thirty-two scenes or plays, and the so-called 
 Coventry cycle, with forty-two scenes. In these four great 
 cycles are to be four.d not less than one hundred and fifty 
 distinct plays, Itie York cycle is marked by many origi- 
 nal icaiiires; for instance, the presentation of Judas is 
 especially dramatic and impressive, both in the scene in 
 which he offers his services as betrayer and in the one in 
 which he begs the high priest to take back the money he 
 received for selling his Lord. The Chester cycle is on the 
 whole more didactic and less dramatic than the others. 
 
 ^' Creizenach. 
 
 " The rest of the paragraph is chiefly indebted to Creizenach, O. ^ 
 E. L., Ill, 60-54. ^
 
 8 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 The Towneley cycle is noteworthy for its realism and 
 humor. The so-called Coventry cycle is, like that of Ches- 
 ter, especially didactic, and it introduces several curi- 
 osities of mediaeval theology. Obviously the York and 
 Towneley cycles had most to do with the advance of the 
 drama. The performance of a whole cycle of plays was a 
 serious undertaking. It might consume several days. 
 That of the Chester group took three days; that of the 
 York cycle was completed within one day, but the first 
 scene began at half-past four in the morning.^^ 
 
 6. Secular Elements. — The outline just given obviously 
 gives no conception of the very strong human qualities that 
 entered into the new literary form and that did so much to 
 make for its ultimate success. Some of these were ob- 
 servable even while the miracle play was still a part of the 
 church service; when it was removed from the church to 
 the churchyard and to the streets, extraneous elements 
 developed space. The actors began to capitalize anything 
 that made for personal success, or for that of the business 
 or gild which they represented. Especially important was 
 an ever-increasing emphasis on the comic motiv e. As hu- 
 man nature lov^s to watch any kind of a contest, the un- 
 willingness of Noah's wife to enter the ark was made more 
 and more farcical. Herod, chagrined at the escape of the 
 Wise Men, entertained his audience by roaring and ranting 
 and tearing his beard. Episodes that had no generic con- 
 nection with the main theme of a play were sometimes 
 introduced, the most noteworthy instance being a little 
 farce of sheepstealing in the Second Shepherd's Play, 
 This same play also illustrates the portrayal uf the life of 
 the agricultural laborer of England in the Middle Ages, 
 
 ^' Child, Introduction, xxii.
 
 BEGINNINGS OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 9 
 
 there being stock complaints of bad weather, poor crops, 
 and heavy taxes. Of an entirely ditferent kind of dra- 
 matic portrayal, and noteworthy as the representation of 
 pure sentiment, was the tender and pathetic pleading of 
 Isaac in Abrahain and Isaac, this faintly resembling 
 little Arthur's entreaties to Hubert in Shakespeare's King 
 John. Very important was the iniiuence that crept into the 
 drama from folk-lore, games, and festivals — in short, from 
 the everyday customs of the people. Old pagan festivals 
 of Summer and Winter incidentally cultivated many con- 
 tributing elements, such as disguise or action, the pro- 
 cession or the combat. The sword-dance used as one of 
 its chief characters the Fool, who wore the skin of a fox or 
 some other animal; and it became mimetic in character. 
 It seems to have had its origin in the conflict between 
 iWinter and Summer, with the expulsion of Winter (or 
 Death) and the resurrection of Summer (or Life). "la 
 several of the extant sword-dances in Britain and on the 
 Continent, one of the dancers is, in different manners, at- 
 tacked or killed, or, perhaps, merely symbolically sur- 
 rounded or approached, with the swords ; and this feature, 
 which enshrines the memory of the sacrifice, becomes the 
 principal point of action in the mummers' or St. George 
 plays which developed from the sword-dance." ^® " The 
 invariable incident of the death and restoration to life of 
 one of the characters is the point upon which has been 
 based the descent of this play from pagan festivals cele- 
 brating the death and resurrection of the year.'' Per- 
 haps the best examples, however, of the turning of a folk- 
 festival into a play was the development of the incidents of 
 
 "H. H. Child: "Secular Influences on the Early English Drama,'* 
 0. E, E, L., V, 35.
 
 10 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 the Ma J game into the play of Robin Hood. The great 
 hero of the ballads seems to have had his origin in France, 
 where in some old plays he was the type of the shepherd 
 lover and Marion was his mistress. In course of time 
 Marion became Maid Marian; and the Mayday king and 
 queen became the central figures in a play in which second- 
 ary characters — Friar Tuck, Little John, the Sheriff of 
 !Nottingham, and others — found their pla-je^-. Thus, a'- 
 though the drama ultimately placed emphasis on aris^ hi- 
 eratic elements, at the same time that the glorious Arthi^r 
 was reg-nant in romance and legend, there arose a hero of 
 the people who thus early became the first real representa- 
 tive of the " drama of democracv."
 
 CHAPTER II 
 MORALITY AND INTERLUDE 
 
 7. The Temper of the Middle Ages. — Out of the dim- 
 ness of tiie JViiddlt,'. x^ge^ n»e ihice great institutions, 
 Chivalry, Eeudalism, and the Church, respectively domi- 
 nating the social, the economic, and the religious life of the 
 people. Each of these, it will be observed, ^^'as in its ovni 
 way aristocratic, and each subordinated the will of an indi- 
 vidual to a power greater than itself. Courtesy, loyalty, 
 and faith became ideals closely interwoven, and in the 
 seeking of these all transitory things were worthless. Eaith 
 indeed was ever enjoined, and Augustine, Bernard, and 
 Thomas Aquinas alike emphasized the wonders of a world 
 not seen. Such a world, however, was an abstraction; and 
 more and more the simple truths of life v. ere expressed in 
 terms of allegory snd moralizing. So-called Debates were 
 popular, the best being that between the Body and the 
 Soul; and there were Dialo/rues or Disputations — between 
 a Christian and a Jew, a Gooa Man and the Devil, and 
 between the Child Jesus and the Masters of the Law. 
 Besticries drew lessons for human conduct from the lives 
 of lower animals; hiunanity struggled against the Seven 
 Deadly Sins ; and even the language of love became stilted 
 and conventional. As such influences affected everything 
 within reach, they not unnaturally left their impress on the 
 drama. 
 
 8. Moralities. — Kot so much out of as by the side of 
 
 ^1
 
 12 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 the Miracle play in its later growth developed the Morality. 
 We have already found in the definition of this particular 
 form of play (§3) that it placed emphasis on a didactic 
 motive and that its characters were abstractions. It is 
 difficult to overemphasize the tendency toward allegory; 
 in fact, it is hardly too much to say that a Morality was 
 an allegory cast in the form of a play. The form has 
 many points of contact with early French literature, with 
 such a work, for instance, as the Roman de la Rose; and 
 it " originated in the desire to bring into clear relief the 
 great lesson of life — the struggle between good and evil to 
 which every man is subjected, and the solution of which 
 depends for every man upon his relation to the powers con- 
 tending for his souh" ^ The form became very popular 
 in the course of the fifteenth century^ and it continued even 
 until the close of the sixteenth. In the course of its later 
 development it occasionally incorporated comic elements, 
 and it even became a medium of controversy, in one way 
 or another reflecting the changes of church policy in the 
 difficult period from Henry VIII to the earlier years of 
 Elizabeth. Something of this later development was repre- 
 sented by Sir .David Lindesay's Satire of the Three Estates 
 (1540), an attack upon the corruption of the Church in 
 the period of the Eeformation. 
 
 The Moralities that have come down to us generally date 
 from about the middle of the fifteenth century, and they 
 show an interesting transition from the more general treat- 
 ment of the conflict of the powers of Good and Evil for the 
 soul of a man throughout his whole career to the more 
 particular consideration of a definite crisis in his life, espe- 
 cially that of approaching death. In The Castle of Per- 
 
 ^ Ward, C. E. E, L., V, 23.
 
 MORALITY AND INTERLUDE 13 
 
 severance, Humanum Oenus is portrayed in the different 
 stages of child, youth, mature man, and old man. Led 
 by his Evil Angel, he is brought to Mundus, who gives him 
 various gay companions. As a young man he comes under 
 the spell of Luxm^ia (Licentiousness), and he continues in 
 his evil courses until he is at length brought by Poenitentia 
 to Confessio, who leads him to the Castle of Perseverance 
 (or Constancy), where he is surrounded by seven Virtues. 
 The Castle, in a strong scene, is attacked by the powers of 
 Evil, and by the Seven Deadly Sins ; but the Virtues fight 
 valiantly, the besiegers are driven back, and the Castle is 
 saved. In his old age, however, Humanum Genus yields to 
 the temptations of Avaritia, who has crept up to the walls, 
 and under the spell of the new voice he goes forth from the 
 Castle that has been his fortress. When he dies his soul is 
 saved from his Evil Angel and Hell only by the entreaties 
 of Mercy and Peace. In Mankhid, a Morality which is 
 of about the same date as The Caatle of Perseverance, Man- 
 kind is portrayed '' in the world." Warned by Mercy to 
 beware of New Gyse, Now-a-dayi§^ and Nought, he applies 
 himself diligently with his spade at his work of tilling the 
 ground. Mischief comes on the scene, however, and Titi- 
 yillus, " arrayed like a devil and with a net in his hand," 
 makes temptation easy by his theft of the spade. When 
 Mercy comes on the scene again he finds that Mankind 
 has fallen. Repentance and forgiveness follow in approved 
 fashion. It will be observed that this play, while not as 
 great in scope as The Castle of Perseverance, had the 
 special merit of fixing attention upon a climax, or definite 
 critical moment in the life of the hero, and that it gave 
 some distinct opportunity for characterization and humor. 
 Greater than either of these plays, however, was Every-
 
 14 A' SHOET HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 man, a work of art that in superb fashion combined moral 
 import and histrionic effectiveness, and that even within 
 recent years has seen a noteworthy revival on the stage. 
 The date of the play is not fixed, but it was probably in 
 the latter part of the fifteenth century. Everyman, sud- 
 denly called to a long journey by Death, protests that he 
 is not ready, offers a thousand pounds for some delay of 
 the summons, and begs for twelve years in which to make 
 clear his account-book. ISTo respite is given; he is told, 
 however, that he might take with him any of his friends 
 who will bear him company. Fellowship, a brilliant and 
 gay character, who has lightly promised to stand by him 
 even unto death, refuses to move when put to the test; 
 Kindred and Cousin are also unwilling to go on the jour- 
 ney; and Riches, a friend at other times, scoffingly bids 
 Everyman good-day. Only Good Deeds, who, bound by 
 Everyman's sins, had long lain cold in the ground, seems 
 willing to help him in his hour of need. At this point 
 enters Knowledge, who advises Everyman to go with him 
 to the dwelling of Confession. Everyman now subjects 
 himself to the scourge of penance and puts on the robe of 
 contrition. Good Deeds meanwhile has gained so much 
 strength as to be able to rise and join Everyman and 
 Knowledge. Discretion, Strength, Five Wits, and Beauty 
 are summoned, and all journey on together until they ap- 
 proach the grave. Beauty refuses to enter ; she leaves, and 
 in turn is followed by her companions. Knowledge re- 
 mains outside the grave, and only Good Deeds accom- 
 panies Everyman to the hereafter. In the sureness with 
 which it holds itself to the main theme, in its characteriza- 
 tion, and in its effort to humanize the abstractions of the old 
 Morality, Everyman is incomparable.
 
 MORALITY AND INTERLUDE 15 
 
 g. Interludes. — " The advance implied in the Morality 
 consisted not so much in any increase in the vitality of 
 the characters or in the interest of the plot (in both of 
 which, indeed, there was usually a falling off), as in the 
 fact that in it the drama had freed itself from the bondage 
 of having to choose its subject-matter from one set of 
 sources — the Bible, the Apocrypha, and the Lives of the 
 Saints." ^ Thus arose the Interlude, the next great form 
 that the drama assumed. The exact meaning of the term 
 has given rise to much discussion. It would seem to indi- 
 cate a short play thrust in between other things, such as the 
 courses of a fe;ist ; but, whctlier this is truf or not, the 
 Interlude was certainly intended as a brief comedy, rather 
 a farce, designed primarily for entertainment; and, plac- 
 ing emphasis on ciu-rent social types, such as a Pardoner 
 or a Peddler, it became characterized by reidi^tic and 
 satirical elements. " The line between the mo.'aiiiy and 
 the interlude, as between the later interlude and regular 
 comedy, is artificial at best. But it is clear that the vital 
 principle of the morality was its interest in life and con- 
 duct as affecting the actions of man. The vital principle 
 of the interlude was also its interest in life ; but the ulterior 
 end and purpose, guidance to moral action, had been lost 
 and the; nrtiFtic sen«?e sp+ freo. The interlude deals with 
 comedy ; it loves what is near and familiar, and its methods 
 are realistic." ^ 
 
 Typical of the new form was Hick Scorner (or Ilycke- 
 scorner) (c. 1525), a play in which an old man, Pity, is 
 belabored and finally placed in irons by three rascals, Eree- 
 will, Imagination, and Hick Scorner, the first two of whom 
 
 ' Neilson, Introduction to Julius Caesar, 14. 
 • Schelling: Elizabethan Drama, I, 78.
 
 16 A SHOKT HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 had already engaged in a noisy fight. Toward the close 
 of the play a rather violent wrench forces Freewill and 
 Imagination to accord with the common and conventional 
 conversion to a better life. Such a play as this has little 
 plot; its strength rests rather upon the portrayal of such 
 a character as Imagination, a sharp and witty villain who 
 informs us that he can look in a man's face and pick his 
 purse and that even if his hands were smitten off he could 
 steal with his teeth. Hick Scorner also has a distinguish- 
 ing mark ; in a rather boastful passage he speaks at length 
 of his wide travels and his experiences in different coun- 
 tries. More and more in such a play was plot sacrificed to 
 the demand of the moment. The Interlude was in fact 
 much like the modern ^^ sketch;" largely transitional in 
 form, it was capable of development or adaptation in any 
 direction. In its later course the line between it and the 
 typical Morality was not always clear ; and farcical, didac- 
 tic, and controversial elements were frequently joined. 
 Representative of some of these different or mixed tend- 
 encies were The Interlude of the Nature of the Four Ele- 
 ments (ante 1536) and The Mamage of Wit and Science 
 (c. 1570), primarily reminiscent of the schoolroom, and 
 Like Will to Like (c. 1568), in which there are many ele- 
 ments of low comedy and buffoonery but little more em- 
 phasis on plot than Hick Scorner possessed. 
 
 10. John Heywood. — Foremost of the writers of Inter- 
 ludes and the prime representative of the form was John 
 Heywood (1497 ?-1577 ?). With this writer we are for the 
 first time confronted by a dramatist of whose life there is 
 documentary evidence and whose work may be considered 
 as a whole and in relation to his time. He seems to have 
 been interested first of all in music. At an early age he
 
 MORALITY AND INTERLUDE 17 
 
 entered the royal service, probably as a chorister, and in 
 the years of his young manhood he is more than once men- 
 tioned as a " singer '^ and a " player of the virginals.'' * 
 About 1540 he was still working in such capacities as 
 these, though at a lower salary than formerly. In March, 
 1537, he was paid 40s. for playing before Princess Mary 
 an interlude with his "children" (probably choir boys 
 from St. PauFs Cathedral). 
 
 While Heywood lived on well into the reign of Elizabeth 
 his dramatic work was done primarily in the reign of 
 Henry VIIL It was his distinctive achievement that he 
 '^ dispensed with allegorical machinery and didactic aim, 
 and gave a realistic representation of contemporary citizen 
 types.'" Undoubtedly his work ai-e The Play of the Wether 
 (1533), A Play of Love (1534), The Play called the 
 Fonre P. P. (c. 1535), and A Dialoque concerning Witty 
 and Witless. More important than all save the second of 
 these works, and generally attributed to him, are A Mery 
 Play hetivene the Pardoner and the Frere, the Curate, and 
 Neyhour Pratte (1533) and A Mery Play hetwene John 
 the Eushande, Joh<in Tyh his Wife, and Syr John the 
 Freest (1533-4). In The Four P's we meet first a Palmer 
 who recounts his journeys (recall Hick Scorner). While 
 he is still speaking the Pardoner enters to inform him that 
 after he has traveled as far as he can he will still come 
 home no wiser than he was when he went forth. The two 
 discuss at length the relative merits of pilgrimages and 
 pardons, and the veracity of palmers and pardoners. To 
 them enters the Poticary, and last of all comes the Peddler, 
 light of heart and with a well-filled pack (cf. Autolycus in 
 Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale). A debate now takes 
 
 * See Boas: "Early Comedy," C. H. E. L., V, 101.
 
 18 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 place as to who can tell the bigge?t lie, and the Palmer win:- 
 at kcst bj his declaration that in all his wanderings he ha^ 
 never seen a woman out of patience. On such a slender 
 thread d.d Hon wood work; and he could make a play with 
 only four characters. The important thing to be observed 
 about his work is that in it we have the drama ^' escaping 
 from its alliance wdth religion into the region of pure 
 comedy. Here is no well planned moral, no sententious 
 mouthpiece of abstract excellence, no ruin of sinners and 
 crownings of saints . . . nor is there any buffoonery." ^ 
 The playwright was simply an artist, working with no 
 theory to advance, but only w^ith the aim of setting before 
 his audience life as he saw it, with a touch of satire, but 
 satire all the more pleasant because no one was wounded by 
 the jest. 
 
 II. The Vice.— One of the most important contribu- 
 tions to the drama developed by the early plays, and espe- 
 cially by the morf?litv, was the Vice. One scholar has said 
 that '• this personage was probably descended from the 
 merry devil Tutivillus, who was taken over from the mys- 
 teries into the moralities." ® i i is to be noted, however, 
 that a spirit of mischief was attributed to all smaller 
 demorib ; and m this connection we might remark a spirit 
 of mockery that frequently characterized the old drama 
 and that was exemplified in such a thing as the so-called 
 Feast of Fools. In Heywood's Play of the Wether the 
 Vice takes the form of Mery-reporte, a self-assertive rogue 
 with a very free tongue ; and Like Will to Like opens with 
 N'ichol Newf angle playing a trick upon an auditor as soon 
 as he comes upon the stage. The Vice was regularly full of 
 fun, and he became important in the history of the drama 
 
 ^ Wynne, 83. • Creizenach, C. E. E. L., V, 63.
 
 MORALITY AND INTERLUDE 19 
 
 when he bequeathed some of his characteristics to the Fool 
 of more highly developed comedy. 
 
 12. Conditions of Presentation. — For the proper pres- 
 entation of a play certain conditions are of course neces- 
 sary. First of all a group of people must be together. 
 Such a group might be in a school, and it is astonishing 
 to learn of just how high an order of merit was some of 
 the work of schoolboys in the sixteenth century. The 
 most important group of hoys in England for the present 
 purpose was to be found in the Chapel Royal. The origin 
 of the Chapel is obscure; but ' it enierca the histrionic 
 field early " and ^'' it was, if we may trust the extant 
 records, a pioneer in the production of some important 
 kinds of plays." ^ In the reign of Edward IV (1461- 
 1483) eight children were included in the organization 
 of the school. Later the number was increased to twelve, 
 but the Chapel still limited itself strictly to its primary 
 purpose of the celebration of divine service. Under the 
 Tudor sovereigns, however, if not earlier, notable addi- 
 tions were made to its functions. " Both the gentlemen 
 and the children took part, frequently if not regularly, in 
 the pageants, masques, and plays produced at Christmas 
 and on other festal occasions." The activities of the 
 gentlemen seem to have ceased soon after the amusements 
 of the court took a more secular turn ; but the career of the 
 children continued longer. In the earlier years of the six- 
 teenth century no other company of people exercised a 
 more real leadership in the drama than that of these chil- 
 dren of the Chapel Royal. In course of time other com- 
 panies of boys also helped in the general advance, notably 
 
 ' Manly: "The Children of the Royal Chapel and their Masters/* 
 G. H. E. L., VI, 314,
 
 20 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE EXGLISH DRAMA 
 
 those of Paul's and of Windsor, and of the Westininster 
 and Merchant Tailors' schools. Such companies were of 
 course removed from the professional stage; and a group 
 of adult performers could be held together only hj some 
 stable and reliable patronage. We have seen that as far 
 back as the period of the miracle plays the responsibility 
 for a production had to be assumed by a town, or at least 
 divided by the towi among different gilds. More and more 
 it became the custom for a nobleman to keep a group of 
 players under his special patronage. Interludes were gen- 
 erally given by professional entertainers who were in the 
 service of persons of rank or who traveled from town to 
 town, and in the circumstances of their presentation were 
 to be found many of the conditions which gave rise to 
 modem comedy and to the traveling company.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE 
 
 13. Spirit of the Age. — The great outburst of the Eng- 
 lish Drama in the reign of Elizabeth (1558-1603) is to 
 be explained only by the larger forces at work in English 
 literature and life. The reign of Henry VII had sig- 
 nalized an era of unnnralleled dis^r^very, and to a national 
 imagination that roamed beyond the seas was now added all 
 "the culture of the Eenaissance. Improvements took place 
 in manners and customs ; a more tolerant temper was mani- 
 fest in religrion ; and a healthy spirit of the enjoyment of 
 life was everywhere. Almost suddenly England's dawning 
 greatness was seen and felt ; Catholic and Protestant alike 
 paid homage to the Queen ; and the Armada sent to break 
 the spirit of the country was shattered in 1588. In such 
 different ways was cultivated the feeling of nationality. 
 The common man sank himself in the general ideal — in 
 the glory of the sovereign; there developed an interest in 
 the heroes of the past ; and the form of literature demanded 
 was one that would respond to the bravado and daring of 
 the day — one that emphasized action. Thus a quickened 
 jmagination^^ broadening culture, improved living, ^condi- 
 tions, and- .patriotic achievement all imited^ to ^all into 
 ^^*^iMj.^-®-.g?6St flowenng7of tlie Elizabethan Drama. 
 
 14. Elements Contributing to the Drama. — So far as 
 literature and the stage were concerned, three powerful 
 
 21
 
 22 A SHOET HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 impulses were felt.^ " The first of these, the humanistic or 
 ^ classical ' impulse, is foreign and purely scholarly. The 
 second, the ' romantic ' impulse, is inherent in dramatic 
 inspiration, but in our drama received a special form and 
 direction from foreign sources. The third, the impulse 
 towards realism, is inherent, and might at any time become 
 dominant in particular works, or the works of particular 
 men." " The humanistic, or classical, impulse took its rise 
 in the classical plays of the universities and the schools, 
 •which included both plays written in Latin and English 
 plays written on Latin models. Humanism, — the study of 
 the classic to apply its lessons to problems of the present, 
 which formed so important a part of the complex move- 
 ment called the Kenaissance — affected the drama, as it 
 affected all other types of literature. In the universities 
 and the schools, plays were written on the model of the 
 Roman play^vrights, Plautus and Seneca, who were 
 adopted as exemplars of comedy and tragedy respect- 
 ively." ^ The socond impulse, that of the spirit of to- 
 iiiance. is not less imponaiit, as it gave ireest play to the 
 imagination. It was frpquently innate in the dramatist, 
 but derived sj)ecial inspiration from Italian sources — 
 from lyrics and pastorals and allegories as well as collec 
 tions of tales. Above any details oi texts or sources, how- 
 eve r, was the great lesson of artistic independence that the 
 spirit taught the Elizabethans. Greene and Marlow© 
 among Shakespeare's earlier contemporaries, Beaumont 
 and Fletcher among the later, and the great master him- 
 
 * They have frequently been dealt with, but in brief compaas 
 hardly ever better than in Prof. C. G. Child's Introduction previously 
 cited. 
 
 ' C. G. Child, Introduction, xxxix.
 
 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE 23 
 
 self, felt the impulse bpckoninp: them on to high ideals and 
 loftv fi'^hievement, finally there was the realistic influ- 
 ence, which of course placed emphasis primarily on Eng- 
 lish tradition and which had been so well exem-pU-R^d in 
 the iTiterludes of John Hoywood. Such dominating tend- 
 encies as these that have been remarked can not always be 
 clearly delimited ; together, however, they were to rear the 
 great edifice of the English Drama. 
 
 15. First Regular Comedies. — In view of the success 
 of the interlude as a form of entertainment, it was but 
 natural that comedy should develop faster than tragedy. 
 Especially potent vv'as the influence of P)autus. As early 
 as 1627 the boys of St. Paul s School performed before 
 Cardinal Wolsey a play by this dramatist; the students 
 at Eton and Westminster also cultivated his works under 
 the direction of their masters; and sometimes perform- 
 ances took place before the Queen. " The custom of giving 
 plays at great public schools and universities was a very 
 old one, though definite information is almost entirely 
 lacking until the performance of the Dido of Eightwise 
 between 1522 and 1582, We also know that in 1525 a 
 play was presented by the students of Eton College. The 
 practice continued uninterruptedly till the time of the 
 Commonwealth and, together with disputations, formed 
 the chief method of entertaining royalty at the universities. 
 Elizabeth seems to have been particularly fond of these 
 representations." ^ 
 
 One of the first English dramatic pieces which show 
 unmistakably the influence of Latin comedy is the inter- 
 lude, Calisto and Melihoea, published about 1530. TJipt- 
 sites and Jack Juggler also are indebted to the same source, 
 
 • Wallace: 'ilie Hirthe of Hercules, 39.
 
 24 A SHORT HISTORY. OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 though in the case of Thersites the contribution was more 
 directly French. This play was written in 1537. It con- 
 sists of a number of loosely connected scenes illustrative 
 of the character of the hero, who is a ridiculous braggart. 
 The farce of Jach Juggler in its prologue confesses itself 
 an unambitious adaptation of the Amphitruo of Plautus, 
 but there is very little similarity between it and the Latin 
 play if the two are considered as wholes. 
 
 The step of writing a regular English comedy on clas- 
 sical lines was taken by Nicholas Udall. This dramatist, 
 born in Hampshire in 1505, was educated at Winchester 
 and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford ; he was headmaster 
 at Eton from 1534 to 1541, and at Westminster from 1553 
 or 1554 until his death in 1556. He was a practical 
 teacher; he prepared for his pupils a handbook for the 
 study of Latin ; and he was complimented by the Queen for 
 his diligence in presenting before her certain dialogues 
 and interludes. He is primarily remembered for Balpk 
 Roister Doister (1553 ?), a play based on the Miles Glori- 
 osus of Plautus. The story is that of the wooing by a love- 
 sick and confident boaster, Ralph Roister Doister, of Dame 
 Christian Custance, whose heart has already been given to 
 Gawin Goodluck, a merchant whose business keeps him 
 much away at sea. The complicating force in the play 
 is Merrygreek, a parasite, who has many marks of the old 
 Vice. More and more as the action advances this char- 
 acter proves Ralph Roister Doister to be a gull. Ralph 
 first sends to Dame Custance an old nurse of hers with a 
 letter, then one of his own servants with a ring and token^ 
 and finally he sends Merrygreek, who is to bring back an 
 answer indicating the Dame's willingness to be " wedded 
 on Sunday next." Merrygreek, by changing the punctua-
 
 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE 25 
 
 tion, misreads Kalph's letter to Dame Custanee; and fur- 
 ther complications arise when a servant, Sim Suresby, 
 sent by Goodluck, misimderstands the relations between 
 Ealph and the Dame and replies rather curtly when the 
 latter speaks of sending a token to his master. An at- 
 tempt to carry off the lady by force, suggested to Kalph by 
 Merrygreek, results in the boaster's being completely 
 routed by the Dame's maidservants with scuttles and 
 brooms. Goodluck himself at length returns, however; 
 there are explanations all around ; and Ealph and Merry- 
 greek join in the wedding festivities. There is much in- 
 cidental comedy in the play. Among other things there 
 is a mock dirge when Ralph protests that his heart is 
 broken ; and the maids of the Dame, with their gay spirits 
 and love of song, add materially to the whole. The chief 
 characters moreover are drawn with considerable care, and 
 throughout there is evidence of knowledge of the bases of 
 comic appeal. Ralph Roister Bolster is thus not only 
 interesting in itself but has imique importance in the his- 
 tory of the English drama. 
 
 At Christ's College, Cambridge, probably not long after 
 1550, was acted another comedy, rather a farce, which 
 even more than Ralph Roister Bolster dealt with the hu- 
 mors and foibles of lower English life. This was Gammer 
 Gurtons Needle, "made by Mr. S. Mr of Art," which 
 phrase has recently been interpreted as applying to Wil- 
 liam Stevenson, who at the time seems to have had much 
 to do with the production of plays at Cambridge. '' Gam- 
 mer GurtoThS Needle is of enduring interest as the earliest 
 university play in English which has come down to us. At 
 first sight it shows little trace of scholarly influences. The 
 ' fourteener ' in which it is mainly written is a rough
 
 26 A SHORT HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 and tum"ble meter; and tlie dialogue, olteu coarse in strain, 
 is, as a wiioie, in that southwestern dialect which became 
 the conventional form of rustic r^peech on the Elizabethan 
 stage. The plot turns on the complications produced in a 
 small village society by the loss of the gammer's needle, and 
 the characters are typically English, including Diccon, who 
 combines the roles of a Vice and a vagrant Tom of Bedlam. 
 But, on closer examination, the effect of classical models is 
 seen. The comedy is divided into acts and scenes, and 
 the plot has a real organic unity. The parts played by the 
 different personages in the village community, from ' Mas- 
 ter Bailey ' and the curate downward, are neatly discrimi- 
 nated. The triumph of pastoral convention had not yet 
 blurred for English humanists the outlines of genuine 
 English country life.'' * 
 
 An important development in another direction was that 
 of plays with a didactic or satirical tendency. Some of 
 these were neo-classical rather than strictly classical in 
 tone, and more than one used in some way the theme of the 
 Prodigal Son. In Nice Wanton (c, 1560) is portrayed 
 the downward career of two spoiler! children and the re- 
 morse of their mother. Thomas Ingeland's The I>is- 
 ohedient Child, printed in 1560, but probably written some 
 years before, and largely adapted from an earlier original 
 in Latin, shows some connection with the Continent, where 
 the fashion of presenting biblical stories in classical form 
 had become popular. It " is one of the earliest English 
 plays undoubtedly modeled after the Christian drama of 
 the German humanists. . . . There is no division into 
 acts and scenes, but the play shows a real advance in 
 structural art, — a juster conception of plot as a progres- 
 
 *r. S. Boas; "JJuiyersity Plajs/' C. H. E. L., VI, 334.
 
 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE 27 
 
 sively developing unity." ^ To the same general class 
 (with influence from the Italian, or it may be from the 
 Dutch humanists with whom he was possibly in contact) 
 belongs G*: ">ro^e Gascoirne's The Glass of Governnuent 
 (1575). In this piay the prodigal and the virtuous son 
 appear in double guise. Two fathers are introduced, each 
 with two sons, the elder in each case being very bad and 
 the younger very good. All four are given in charge of a 
 schoolmaster, who at great length instructs them in their 
 duties. The older boys spend their time with coarse asso- 
 ciates and rebel against their teacher, while the younger 
 ones are diligent at their tasks. The younger ones grow 
 to distinction and renown, while the older ones are finally 
 saved from the consequences of their misdeeds only on the 
 plea of their old schoolmaster. This play is of course 
 mechanical in its moral scheme: at the same time ito style 
 and striT'-'^ure pre mfere^fvig, and the prose used throughout 
 makes the dialogue realistic. In other directions Gas- 
 coigne was Ijss artificial. His Supposes (1566), adapted 
 from Ariosto, further emphasizes prose as a comic medium, 
 has the importance of presenting in English for the first 
 time a characteristic Italian comedy of intrigue, and in 
 theme has much affinity with The Taming of the Shrew, 
 for which play by Shakespeare it was really the ultimate 
 English source. 
 
 Interesting as representing the fusion of clasrical and 
 native elements w^as Damon and Pithms, by Eiehard Ed- 
 ward?, a " tragical comedy '' presentea before the Queen in 
 156i. The plot is drawn from the annals of Syracuse, 
 and the loyalty of the two friends to each other is weR 
 portrayed. The Syracusan court is really the Elizabethan, 
 
 « Wallace, 51.
 
 28 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 and some of the characters, notably Grim tlie collier, are 
 distinctly English. " Though lacking in metrical charm 
 or verbal felicity, Daimn and Pithias has merits which go 
 some way towards accounting for the acclaim with which, 
 as contemporary allusions show, it was received ; and the 
 play possesses an importance of its own in the development 
 of romantic drama from a combination of forces and ma- 
 terials new and old." ® 
 
 i6. First Regular Tragedies. — The beginnings of regu- 
 lar tragedy in English show on every hand interesting con- 
 nections with the older dramatic forms of morality and 
 interlude, and with the chronicle play, which last is so 
 important as to demand further and special consideration. 
 Stronger perhaps than any other influence was that of 
 Seneca. Two plays might be remarked as representative 
 of the transition from the earlier forms to regular tragedy. 
 
 One of these was the " lamentable tragedy of Camhv^es '** 
 (not later than 1569), telling the story of Cambises, King 
 of Persia '^ from the beginning of his kingdom unto his 
 death; his one good deed of execution; after that, many 
 wicked deeds and tyrannous murders committed by and 
 through him, and last of all, his odious death by God's 
 justice appointed." The author of this production was 
 Thomas Preston, fellow of King's College, Cambridge, 
 and aftei'wards master of Trinity Hall. Cambises sets out 
 upon his conquests, returns and executes his deputy Si- 
 samnes, shoots the young son of the counselor Praxaspes ; 
 murders his own brother Smirdis; marries, against her 
 own wish and the law of the Church, his cousin, only to 
 execute her when she reproaches him for his crimes ; and 
 finally dies accidentally pierced by his own sword. Most 
 
 • F. S. Boas: " Early English Comedy," in C. H. E. L., V, 133-34.
 
 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE 29 
 
 of these horrors take place on the stage, and crime follows 
 crime in mechanical or melodramatic fashion, so much so 
 that Shakespeare in / Henry IV (II, 4) refers to " King 
 Oambyses' vein " as something proverbial for rant. At 
 the same time there is occasionally heard the voice of 
 genuine feeling, as in the farewell of Praxaspes to his little 
 son, and the play as a whole has the merit of clear con- 
 etruction. There are many signs of the survival of the old 
 morality; the Vice Ambidexter is ingeniously woven into 
 the play (he predicts the death of Cambises), and such 
 figures as Huf and Ruf furnish the low comedy. Another 
 play of the transition was the " tragical comedy " of 
 ^Appius and Virg^lnia, by one E. B. (1563), on a theme 
 iwhich was attractive to English dramatists from the days 
 of the beginning of tragedy down to those of James Sheri- 
 dan Knowles in the nineteenth century. In this we find 
 portrayed the domestic happiness of Virginius and his 
 wife and daughter, all of which is marred by the passion 
 of Appius. There are numerous allegorical personages in 
 the play, but they have little important part in the action. 
 Haphazard the Vice makes mischief, and there are other 
 such characters as Doctrine, Memory, Reward, and Fame, 
 who inscribe the " honor of Virginia's name." " The 
 Epilogue prays ' God save the Queen,' but makes no refer- 
 ence to what later Elizabethan poets would have joyed to 
 find an occasion of celebrating, her renown for the virtue 
 which is the subject of the play." ^ Appius and Virginia 
 has the merit of simplicity of theme, but it exhibits little 
 genuine tragic emotion, and places most exaggerated em- 
 phasis on rant and alliteration, as in the line, " O curst 
 and cruel cankered churl, O carl unnatural." 
 T Ward: English Dramatic Literature, I, 205.
 
 30 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 Generally contemporary with both of these productions 
 was Gorhoduc (15fi2), commonly known as the first Eng- 
 lish tragedy. This ]Dlay was first acterl h^fore Queen 
 Elizabetl], ar,*^ its authors were Thomas JSiorton and 
 Thomas Sackville, ISTorton seeming to be in the uain re- 
 sponsible for the first three acts and Sackville (after- 
 wards Lord Buckhurst and the Earl of Dorset) for the 
 others. The Argument furnishes the theme for the play: 
 " Gorhoduc, King of Brittaine, diuided his realme in his 
 lifetime to his sonnes, Ferrex and Porrex ; the sonnes fell 
 to discention; the youger killed the elder; the mother, 
 that more dearely loued the elder, for revenge killed the 
 younger; the people moved with the crueltie of the fact, 
 rose in rebellion and slew both father and mother; the 
 nobilitie assembled and most terribly destroyed the rebels ; 
 and afterwards, for want of issue of the prince, whereby 
 the succession of the crowne became uncertain, they fell to 
 ciuill warre, in which both they and many of their issues 
 were slaine, and the land for a long time almost desolate 
 and miserably wasted." Gorhoduc was built primarily 
 upon the model of Senecan tragedy, and yet it exhibits 
 some very distinct differences from classical originals. In 
 fact, because of what it does and what it does not do, the 
 play might serve as the occasion of long discussion as to the 
 theories of dramatic construction. Although the plot has 
 wdth classic models the affinity just remarked, its immedi- 
 ate source Was lU English legend, in the work of Ueoiirey 
 of Monmouth. The play h-ild t: the idea of division into 
 ^ve auio, and of a chorus (in this case of " four ancient 
 and sage men of Britain") ; and, while it placed no em- 
 phasis on the unities, its deeds of violence are reported by 
 messengers or witnesses rather than definitely set forth in
 
 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE 31 
 
 action. Characterization is not especially strong, and 
 speeches are long and argumentative. ^' Everywhere hur- 
 ried action and unreasoning instinct give place to delibera- 
 tion and debate. Between this play and its predecessors 
 no change can be more sweeping or more abrupt. In an 
 instant, as it were, we pass from the unpolished Camhyses, 
 savage and reeking with blood, to the equally violent events 
 of GorboduCj cold beneath a formal restraint. Had this 
 severe discipline of the emotion been accepted as forever 
 binding upon the tragic stage Elizabethan drama "would 
 have been forgotten. Conscious that the banishment of 
 action from the stage, while natural enough in Greece, 
 must meet with an overwhelming resistance from the popu- 
 lar custom in England, the authors invented a compromise. 
 ■Before each act they provided a symbolical Dumb Show 
 :which, by its external position, infringed no classical law, 
 yet satisfied the demand of an English audience for real 
 and melodramatic spectacles." ^ They also excluded comic 
 matter, and thus in one way or another they cultivated 
 a dignity that w^ould otherwise have been lost. 
 
 After Gorhoduc one of the most noteworthy produc- 
 tions belonging to the early history of English tragedy was 
 The Misfortunes of Arthur (15&7), mainly by I'homas 
 Hughes, an eniertainment by ^^ the Gentlemen of Gray's 
 jinn " presented before the Queen " the twenty-eighth day 
 of Eebruary in the thirtieth year of her Majesty's most 
 happy reign." Hughes also went back to the sources of 
 early English legend, to Geoffrey of Monmouth and 
 Malory ; and the play deals with the love of Mordred, the 
 incestuous son of Arthur, for the Queen Guenevora, with 
 the battle between father and son on Arthur's return from 
 
 • Wynne: The Qroicth of English Drama, 103.
 
 32 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 France, and the final engagement in Cornwall, -with the 
 death of Mordred and the wounding and suggested de- 
 parture of Arthur. Elank verse is used, as in Gorboduc, 
 but the style is sententious and argumentative, and again, 
 in accordance with the Greek tradition, action is rigidly 
 excluded from the play. Interesting for its literary con- 
 nections, however, is the Ghost, in this case that of Gorlois, 
 the first husband of Arthur's mother, Igerna — Gorlois, 
 Duke of Cornwall, who had so foully been slain by Uther 
 Pendragon, Arthur's father. 
 
 17. Chronicle Plays.— In one way or another in this 
 developing period of the drama there was exhibited an 
 eagerness on the part of Englishmen to hear about their 
 country's past, and such interest was greatly stimulated 
 by the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Thus^arose 
 the Chronicle Play. The ultimate origins of this might 
 carry us back to the period of the old miracle plays and 
 the ballads, and in later years there were close connections 
 with moralities. Interest attaches to Kynge J oh an, by 
 Bishop Bale, produced about 1538. This play is a defiance 
 of the Pope and of the system which he represents; it at 
 one time likens King John to a Moses leading his people 
 through the wilderness, and in the figure of Imperial 
 Majesty recalls the age of controversy in which it was 
 produced by strongly suggesting the person of Henry VIII. 
 Sedition, who is the sole comic character, and the one who 
 does most to further the action of the drama, is simply the 
 old Vice come again; the play as a whole is quite lacking 
 in the historical spirit ; and in general its tone and method 
 are such as to place it with the moralities rather than with 
 the strict Chronicle Plays. More important is Gorhoduc, 
 " the earliest of a long list of English dramas which laid
 
 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE 33 
 
 under contribution those legendary and pseudo-historical 
 materials of the early chronicles of Britain which emanated 
 from the fertile brain of Geoffrey of Monmouth. The 
 relation of the earliest English tragedy to the English 
 Chronicle Play is sufficiently defined in the recognition 
 of this fact." ® In the earlier years of Elizabeth moreover 
 great impetus to production was furnished by the work of 
 the professional historians, who responded abundantly to 
 the eager demand for books dealing with England's story. 
 Of surpassing importance was the work of Raphael Holin- 
 shed, whose Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 
 produced in 1577, became the great storehouse of material 
 for the historical plays of Shakespeare as well as those of 
 his contemporaries.^** In 1579 also, at Cambridge, ap- 
 peared a play exactly in the field of the Chronicle in 
 Bichardus Tertius Tragedia of Thomas Legge, Master of 
 Caius College and Vice-Chancellor of the University. 
 This production, which was in Latin, was greatly praised, 
 and not unnaturally it had influence on such university 
 men as Marlowe and Peele. It is " the earliest recorded 
 drama dealing with a subject derived from the actual his- 
 tory of England." By 1590 had very probably appeared 
 The Famous Victories of Henry V, The Troublesome 
 Reign of King John, and The True Chronicle History of, 
 EHng Leir and his Three Daughters, Gonorill, Bagan, 
 Cordelia, to all of which Shakespeare was indebted. By 
 this time, however, not only Shakespeare himself, but Mar- 
 lowe, Peele, and others, were using the Chronicle as a 
 
 • Schelling: The English Chronicle Play, 20. 
 
 **A slight influence, however, aa upon Shakespeare's Richard II, 
 came from Froiasart. See Smith: Froissart and the English Chrow* 
 cle Play.
 
 34 A' SHORT HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 regular dramatic medium and the great period of its popu- 
 larity had begun. 
 
 i8. First Theatres. — At this point it is well to see 
 under just what conditions plays were actually produced 
 in the latter part of the sixteenth century. The Eliza- 
 bethan theatre found its home first 6i all in the yards of 
 tJio inns of London. Tliese inns were most frequently 
 built in the form of a quadrangle surrounding an open 
 court. When a play was to be performed a platform that 
 was to serve as a stage was built out into the yard, and in 
 the galleries or balconies round about the spectators of the 
 better class would sit. aSTear the platform would stand 
 those who were admitted for the cheapest fee and who 
 would correspond most nearly to those who occupy the 
 " bleachers " at a modern baseball game or the top gallery 
 in a present-day theatre. These people became an impor- 
 tant element in the development of the Elizabethan drama. 
 Most of the coarse jokes were directed at them, and when 
 we remember this we see all the more the point of Hamlet's 
 reference to the " groundlings," "' who for the most part 
 are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumbshows and 
 noise." Naturally there was no covering to the yard; so 
 that if a shower came up the sj^ectators who were standing 
 near the 2:)latform might be sprinkled, while those in the 
 galleries would be protected. The dandies or gallants of 
 the period would sometimes occupy special seats on the 
 sides of the platform or stage proper, where they would 
 " drink tobacco " and sometimes rather noisily express 
 their opinion of the actors or the performance. The rear 
 of the platform was commonly just below a gallery, which 
 of course might serve all the more easily as a balcony or 
 upper window. The innyard detennined the general style
 
 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE 35 
 
 of the Elizabethan theatre. Keceiving from the bear-baiting 
 ring^ however, a suggestion for better acoustic quality, the 
 buildings that were first specially constructed for plays 
 were circular rather than rectangular in shape ; but through- 
 out the period of the Elizabethan drama they remained 
 open to the sky. *' In 1575 London had no theatres; that 
 is, no buildings especially designed for the acting of plays. 
 By 1600 there were at least six, among which were some 
 so large .iiid beauj...LL cia lu arouse the unqualified admira- 
 tion of travelers from the continent.'' ^^ '' The opposition 
 to playing in the city led to the erection, in 1576, 
 of the first Elizabethan playhouse, ine Theater. It was 
 built by James Burbage, formerly a joiner by trade, and a 
 member of the Earl of Leicester's company," just outside 
 the city on the north in Einsbury fields, " an open holiday 
 ground where archery, fencing, sword-play and other 
 sports were practised, f^nd where the +7'qined bands 
 drilled." ^^ Not far away, and very probably in 1577, 
 was erected a second playhouse, the Curtain, so called from 
 Curtain close, " a meadow once in the possession of the 
 priory on which, later, was built a house called Curtain 
 house." Next in order was the Eose, constructed by 
 Philip Henslowe, a well-known theatrical manager, on the 
 Surrey side of the Thames, possibly as early as 1587, but 
 certainly not later than 1592. In 1596, working over a 
 collection of rooms (including "seven great upper rooms") 
 in the old precinct of the " Blackfriars preachers," or- 
 Dominican monks, James Burbage opened an indoor or 
 
 *^ W. H. Durham, in MacCracken, Pierce, and Durham: An Intro' 
 duction to Shakespeare, 35. 
 
 "Rarold Child: "The Elizabethan Theatre," in C. H, E. L., VI, 
 ?82.
 
 36 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAl^IA 
 
 *^ private " playhouse, spending on it a larger sum than had 
 hitherto been spent on any playhouse in London. The 
 term ^^ private " does not seem to imply that the public 
 was excluded ; but " in making up his mind to establish a 
 playhouse, in defiance of the law, within the city walls, 
 Burbage must have counted for support less on the people 
 than on the nobility.'^ ^^ In ^November, 1596, the people 
 in the vicinity petitioned against the establishment of a 
 playhouse in their midst, but ineffectually, and, in spite of 
 other troubles, the Blackfriars continued to be one of the 
 best-known homes of the English drama down to 1642. 
 The suitability of the Surrey side of the Thames, com- 
 monly called the Bankside, as a place for the location of 
 playhouses is especially attested by the removal thither of 
 the Theater in the winter of 1598-99. The Burbage heirs, 
 seemingly unwilling to pay an increased rental when their 
 old lease expired, tore down the building, and erected it 
 again on the Bankside, this time calling it the Globe, which 
 was in the next few years to become the most famous of all 
 the London theatres. Other playhouses of the period were 
 the Swan, the Whitef riars, and Newington Butts ; and in 
 1600 Henslowe erected the Fortune. *' The situation of 
 the Fortune outside Cripplegate, although a considerable 
 distance west of the Curtain, was, roughly, that of the 
 earlier theatres, the northern suburbs of the city." ^* 
 
 ig. Stage and Setting. — We have already observed that 
 the stage in one of these theatres was primarily a plat- 
 
 »• H. Child, C. E. E. L., VI, 289. 
 
 ** Durham in MacCracken, Pierce, and Durham: An Introduction 
 to Shakespeare, 38. In general see also Neilson and Thorndike: 
 The Facts about Shakespeare, Chapter VI. Note also that there 
 were really two Blackfriars theatres, distinguished as Burbage or 
 Farrant. See Thorndike: Shakespeare's Theater, 62-63.
 
 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE S"? 
 
 form built out into the yard. At the Fortune this plat- 
 form was forty-three feet wide (though in connection with 
 such a figure it is well to remember that some seats were 
 provided on the stage). Projecting from the level of the 
 top gallery and extending for a few feet over the stage, was 
 a structure called the " hut," from the bottom of which 
 a roof, or " shadow," extended further over the stage. To- 
 gether hut and shadow made up what are commonly known 
 as the " heavens." Behind the platform or the front 
 stage was the rear stage, " an alcove in front of which cur- 
 tains could be drawn." In both front and rear stages were 
 traps out of which ghosts or apparitions could rise and 
 into which such properties as the caldron in Macbeth could 
 sink. From the " heavens," actors representing gods or 
 spirits — as Jupiter Cymheline or Ariel in The Tempest 
 — could be lowered by means of a mechanical contrivance. 
 Costumes were elaborate, but little effort was made for his- 
 torical accuracy; and scenery was by no means as pre- 
 tentious as it is to-day. Scenery in fact was primarily in- 
 tended simply to be suggestive and to be assisted by the 
 play of the imagination; one or two trees, for instance, 
 were supposed to indicate a forest. '* The capital differ- 
 ence between the pre-rebellion public stage and the modem 
 stage lies in the fact that the former was a platform stage, 
 while the latter is a picture stage. . . . The eye was 
 appealed to less forcibly than the ear. The drama was 
 rhetorical, and the actor more of a rhetorician than he is 
 to-day, since the audience looked to his enunciation of the 
 poet's words for much of the pleasure that the picture 
 stage supplies through the eye. . . . Authors, being free 
 from the modern playwright's necessity to lead up to a 
 ^ situation/ a stage picture, on which the curtain may
 
 38 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 fall sharply at the close of each act, made the play, rather 
 than each division of it, the artistic whole/^ ^^ These 
 differences from more recent tendencies are important. 
 
 20. Theatrical Companies. — In connection with the In- 
 terlude we have already seen how companies of players 
 began to be maintained by great nobles even before the 
 close of the fifteenlL centary. When these companies 
 were not employed by their patrons they were permitted to 
 travel about the country to give performance?. The fact 
 that some other bands of strolling players also went about 
 from place to place led to a law in 1572 to the effect that 
 all such companies would have to be under the protection 
 of some legally recognized patron. Very frequently the 
 oversight of the patron was merely nominal, extending not 
 beyond the securing of a license. Obviously, as patronage 
 might change, a single company might be known by dif- 
 ferent names from time to time. Thus " the Earl of 
 Leicester's Men became Lord Strange's in 1588. In 1592 
 Lord Strange became Earl of Derby, and the players 
 changed their title accordingly. In 1594 the Earl of 
 Derby died, and his company of actors became Lord Huns- 
 don's or the Lord Chamberlain's Men. In 1596 the earl 
 died, and his son, the second Lord Hunsdon, became their 
 patron; he also became Chamberlain in 1597. After the 
 accession of James in 1603, this same company was hon- 
 ored with the title of King's Players. William Shake- 
 speare was certainly a member of this company in 1594, 
 and one of itr foromoiit men in L598. Richard ]B■'■•^b^go, 
 greatest actor of his time, was Shakespeare's colleague 
 and first interpreted his great tragic characters. William 
 Kemp, the best comedian of his day, was a member of this 
 H. Child: C. H. E. L., VI, 295.
 
 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE 39 
 
 same company." ^* After this company one of the best 
 known was that of the Admiral's Men, managed by Hens- 
 lowe and having its home after 1600 in the Fortune 
 Theatre. Among its actors was Edward Alleyn, generally 
 ranked next to Burbage among the performers of the time. 
 Very popular also were the companies of boyb oi the Chapel 
 Eoyal and of St. PauFs. On the professional vsiage female 
 pans were regularly taken by boys throughout the Eliza- 
 bethan and Jacobean period of the drama; women were 
 not known on the sta^e until the reign of Charles 1, and 
 they found no real place there before the age of the Res- 
 toration. The boys in the two companies specially re- 
 marked, however, were usually well trained ; one company 
 at least had the advantage of royal patronage; and in 
 general these young players became serious rivals of the 
 performers on most of the commercial stages. " The per- 
 formances of the Children of the Chapel Eoyal at the 
 Blackfriars between 1596 and 1608 were the most fashion- 
 able in London. The children's companies were finally 
 suppressed about 1609." ^^ " The success of the com- 
 panies of choir boys in both early and later times was, 
 doubtless, due, in no small degree, to the songs scattered 
 through their plays and the instrumental music before the 
 play began and between the acts. Other companies, of 
 course, had incidental songs, but, apparently, not so many 
 of them, and instrumental music seems not to have been 
 given in the public theatres." ^^ These children moreover 
 "were pioneers in more than one interesting movement, 
 
 ^•Simonds: A Studenfs History of English Literature, 121-22. 
 ^^ Durham in An Introduction to Shakespeare, 49. 
 ^^ Manly: "The Children of the Chapel Royal and their Masters," 
 C. H. E. L., VI, 329.
 
 40 A SHOET HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 they produced the plays of some of the foremost dramatists 
 of their time, they were prominent in the curious, not to 
 say ludicrous, ^ war of the theatres,' ^^ and they were finally 
 put down because of the vigorous political satire spoken 
 through their mouths." 
 
 " See § 38,
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 SHAKESPEARE'S EARLIER CONTEMPORARIES 
 
 21. Prominent Dramatists. — In the decade between 
 1570 and 1580 there grew up at Oxford and Cambridge a 
 remarkable group of men who made a most distinct con- 
 tribution to the developing form of the drama and in one 
 way or another became forerunners of the great master 
 soon to appear. They were as definite in their ideas about 
 life and art as they were in their actual achievement. 
 " A pride in university training which amounted to arro- 
 gance, and a curious belief, not unknown even to-day, that 
 only the university-bred man can possibly have the equip- 
 ment and the sources of information fitting him to be a 
 proper exponent of new, and, at the same time, of really 
 valuable, ideas and literary methods — these were senti- 
 ments shared by all the members of the group of ^ univer- 
 sity wits.' " ^ The men to whom this term — this some- 
 times rather misleading term — is applied were primarily 
 John Lyly, George Peele, Robert Greene, Thomas Lodge, 
 and Thomas E"ash. " University bred one and all, these 
 ^YQ men were proud of their breeding. However severe 
 from time to time might be their censures of their intel- 
 lectual mother, they were always ready to take arms against 
 the unwarranted assumption, as it seemed to them, of cer- 
 tain dramatists who lacked this university training and 
 
 * Baker: "The Plays of the University Wits," C. H. E. L., V, 136 
 and 159. 
 
 41
 
 42 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 to confuse them bj tlie sallies of their wit." Lodge and 
 Nash made no such contribution as the others, and are in 
 fact more important in the history of the novel than of the 
 drama, though Lodge's story Bosalynde has vital connec- 
 tion with Shakespeare's As You Like It. Kyd and Mr-r- 
 lowc, who are also tioaled in the present chapter, while 
 early contemporaries of Shakespeare, are generally some- 
 what detached from the men just remarked, though their 
 own connections were close. Kyd, while he received some 
 foundation in things cultural, was not primarily a uni- 
 versity man; but it is rather by temper than by training 
 that Marlowe is to be distinguished from his contempo- 
 raries. A certain " high seriousness " characterized both 
 men, and in the case of Marlowe this took the form of a 
 soaring passion that was not the less effective because it 
 was arrogant, ambitious, and bold.^ 
 
 22. John Lyly.— John Lyly (1554?-1606) holds a 
 unique place in the history of the English drama. Emi- 
 nently a man of scholarly and cultured associations, he 
 was also the possessor of much good sense and humor. 
 After receiving the A. B. degree at Oxford in 1573, the 
 A. M. in 1575, and also the A. M. at Cambridge in 1579, 
 he went to London, where he was under the protection 
 of Lord Burleigh, afterwards the Earl of Oxford. He 
 married a lady of considerable standing, sat in four par- 
 liaments, and at times managed the children of St. Paul's 
 and of the Chapel at Blackfriars; but he aspired in vain 
 
 ' For texts of plays of men cocsidered in the present chapter see 
 Manly's Specimens, Vol. II, Neilson's The Chief Elizabethan Dra- 
 matics, or individual volumes in Mermaid Series. In addition to 
 critical articles by Baker and G, Gregory Smith in C. H. E. L., Vol. 
 V, note especially Baker: The Development of Shakespeare as a 
 Dramatist, Chapter I.
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S CONTEMPORARIES 43 
 
 to the oflSce of Master of the Revels. He is best known 
 for his prose work, Euphues, which appeared in two parts, 
 Ewphues and his Anatomie of Wit (1579) and EupJiues 
 and. his Ennlnnd (1580-81). Tiiis work gave to the lan- 
 guage a new word, euphuism, to designate a style marked 
 by alliteration, antithesis, similes, conceits, puns, mytho- 
 logical allusions, and a general show of wit; and in it 
 Lyly, himself a courtier, gave a model not only for the 
 writing but also for the conversation of the lords and ladies 
 at the court of Elizabeth. To his credit are eight plays, 
 all comedies : Campaspe (1580 ^), Sapho and Phao (1581), 
 Endimion (1585), Gallathea (1584), Midas (1589), 
 Ilother Bomhie (1590), The Woman in the Moone 
 (1591), and Love's Metamorphosis (1589). These plays 
 were generally first played before the Queen by " the 
 children of Paul's ; " they are mainly in prose ; and being 
 panegyrics on the virtue and glory of the Queen, they are 
 more or less allegorical. They also have a political touch 
 and were primarily addressed to a limited and sophisti- 
 cated audience. 
 
 Campaspe is generally considered the best and clearest 
 of Lyly's dramas. The prologue professes to mix mirth 
 with counsel and discipline with delight. Campaspe is a 
 Theban captive who in the first scene is brought into the 
 presence of Alexander, King of Macedon, and certain of 
 his soldiers. Alexander falls in love with her, frees her, 
 and commissions Apelles to paint her portrait. While the 
 painter is performing his task he himself falls in love with 
 Campaspe, and his affection is returned. At length Alex- 
 ander learns of the love between Apelles and Campaspe, 
 
 » Dates are of first appearance, in some cases only approximate, 
 and generally with indebtedness to Schelling.
 
 44 A SHORT HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 gives up tlie maiden to tlie painter, and sets out for Persia 
 with Hephestion, a general and his friend. Diogenes and 
 his servant Manes furnish the comic matter of the play, 
 as when, in the fourth act, Populus comes to see Diogenes 
 fly. Lyly does not succeed very well in connecting his 
 main plot and his comic matter; hut the main plot is 
 coherent and natural, and the love motive is sympatheti- 
 cally handled. The lyrics are of excellent quality, and the 
 drama as a whole is quite worthy to be the first original 
 prose play in the language. 
 
 If Campaspe is Lyly's clearest play, Endim-ion cer- 
 tainly holds the strongest allegory. Tellus, the earthly love 
 of the hero, has been abandoned by her lover for Cynthia, 
 the goddess of the moon. She persuades the witch Dipsas 
 to charm Endimion into a deep sleep, and he slumbers 
 for forty years. Cynthia banishes Tellus to the guard of 
 Corsites and sends into all parts of the world for a remedy 
 for Endimion. His friend Eumenides at length finds out 
 from an oracle in Thessaly that a kiss from Cynthia will 
 bring him back to life. The goddess hears this in the 
 presence of her ladies, visits Endimion, finds him g-rown 
 old, and kisses him. His youth is restored and he devotes 
 his life to the contemplation of Cynthia's glory and perfec- 
 tion. The subplots are joined to the main plot in romantic 
 fashion ; Dipsas, for instance, is loved by Sir Thopas, and 
 thus furnishes a parody on the love of Cynthia and En- 
 dimion. Various interpretations of the allegory of the play 
 have been given, but about all that editors are generally 
 agreed on is that Cynthia is Elizabeth and Endimion 
 Leicester. 
 
 Lyly's service to the stage was considerable. " In his 
 attitude toward love — ^his gallant trifling; his idealization
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S CONTEMPORARIES 45 
 
 of women, which, with him, goes even to the point of 
 making them mere wraiths ; above all, in the curious effect 
 produced by his figures as rather in love with being in love 
 than moved by real human passion — he is Italianate and 
 of the renascence." * He was artificial, and his works show 
 no great tragic emotion ; yet he discovered the possibilities 
 of repartee and the occasional lyric, he promoted the union 
 of the masque and the regular drama, and, aided by euphu- 
 ism in the choice of vocabulary and form, he definitely 
 established prose as the medium of high as well as low 
 comedy in English. He i:s in e\Lry cense worthy of the 
 high place he holds among the predecessors of Shake- 
 speare. 
 
 23. George Peele. — JSfot a very great deal is known 
 about the life of Peele (1558?-1597?). He attended 
 Christ's Hospital as a free scholar, and in March, 1571, he 
 entered what is now Pembroke College, Oxford; but from 
 1574 to 1579 he was at Christ's Church, where he received 
 the A. B. degree in 1577 and the A. M. in 1579. In 1583 
 he was already married and had obtained some land in 
 his wife's right. His life in London, generally sordid, was 
 given to making a living in any way he could by his talents. 
 In his Palladis Ta/tnia (1598) Francis Meres spoke of 
 him as dead. 
 
 In the list of Peele's plays, masques, and pageants, five 
 dramas stand out with prominence. These are The Ar* 
 raignment of Paris (1581), The Famous Chronicle of 
 ^ing Edward the First (1590), The Battle of Alcazar 
 (1691), The OU Wives' Tale (1590), and The Love of 
 ^King David and Fair Bethsahe (1589). The flattery of 
 Elizabeth in the first of these plays was deliberate; its 
 * Baker, 0, H. E, L., V, 139.
 
 46 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 unity and its poetry are admirable; and its production 
 was a veritable triumph. The theme is the classical one 
 of the throwing by the Goddess of Discord of the apple 
 with the motto Detur Pulchernrruie into the presence of 
 Juno, Pallas, and Venus. In the end no one of the god- 
 desses receives the apple, all agreeing that the nymph 
 Zabeta alone is worthy of it. The different acts of this 
 play stand out with perfect distinctness in their bearing 
 on the main plot. The first shows Pan, Faunus, and 
 Silvanus assembled to give welcome to Juno and her com- 
 panions, and bringing Flora on the scene, gives the neces- 
 sary atmosphere ; the second is concerned with the throw- 
 ing of the apple and the offers made to Paris by Juno, 
 Pallas, and Venus ; the third brings on the scene Mercury, 
 who has been sent with the Cyclops of Vulcan to summon 
 Paris to appear at the council of the gods ; the fourth shows 
 the council and gives the oration of Paris; and the fifth 
 contains Diana's glowins: description of Eliza, to whom 
 the three goddesses yield their claim. In the course of the 
 play Peele makes use of rhyme, blank verse, and the sep- 
 tenary. The oration of Paris is perhaps his best exauipie 
 of blank verse. 
 
 David and Bethsahe has the distinction of being the 
 only play on a scriptural theme by an Elizabethan dra- 
 matist that has been preserved and is by many critics 
 regarded as Peele's masterpiece. It has not the unity of 
 The Arraignment of Paris, however, and more and more 
 reveals itself as a sort of biblical chronicle play. The 
 various incidents in the life of David or of his children 
 are all here, but frequently they seem like so many sepa- 
 rate episodes rather than parts of a dramatic whole, espe- 
 cially as the play reaches over a great number of years.
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S CONTEMPORARIES 47 
 
 Peele, however, was not altogether without dramatic mo- 
 tive. The consequences of David's sin are seen throughout 
 the play, and Amnon's crime is but a reflection of it. The 
 blank verse moreover shows a distinct improvement on the 
 poet's earlier work. 
 
 Peele has interesting connections with the general trend 
 of English poetry. His Old Wives' Tale suggested to 
 Milton the plot of Comus, and Colin and Hobbinol in The 
 Arraignment of Paris have been thought to refer to Spen- 
 ser and Gabriel Harvey. To the development of the drama 
 he did not contribute as much as Lyly or Greene or Mar- 
 lowe ; but his humor is admirable, and the care that he gave 
 to diction and meter did rapch for the sreneral refinement 
 of versification. ^' Before Marlowe placed his stamp upon 
 blank verse Peele was writing it with great sweetness and 
 a charming musical quality." ^ 
 
 24, Robert Greene. — Greene (1558?-1592) was bom 
 in Norwich. He matriculated at St. John's College, Cam- 
 bridge, in 1575, received his A. B. there in 1578, and his 
 A. M. at Clare Hall in 1583, and, after an interval that 
 seems to have been spent mainly in Italy and Spain, he 
 also received the A. M. degree at Oxford in 1588. In his 
 later years he was proud of the fact that he represented 
 both universities. In 1585 he married a gentleman's 
 daughter and settled in IN^orwich, but he forsook his wife 
 after she had borne him a son and he had spent her dowry. 
 He was a man of jealous disposition ; his '* Address to the 
 Gentlemen Readers " prefixed to the pamphlet entitled 
 Perimedes the Blacke-Smith contains a rather satirical 
 reference to Marlowe's Tamhurlaine^ and in A Groatsworth 
 of Wit he spoke of Shakespeare as an " upstart crow " that 
 
 ' Neilson.
 
 48 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 beautified himself with the feathers of others and as '^ in 
 his own conceit the only Shakescene in a country." He 
 died in poverty at the home of a shoemaker who took 
 him in. 
 
 Greene was distinctively a man of letters, a sensitive 
 and ambitious author, and his writing generally exhibits 
 eminent refinement and good taste. His work draws much 
 on Italian sources, and some of his pamphlets are what we 
 should now call novelettes. Fandosto became the source 
 of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. In the field of the 
 drama Greene is generally credited with six plays, though 
 others have been ascribed to him. These are AlpJionsuSj 
 King of Arragon (1589), Orlando Furioso (1592), Friar 
 Bacon and Fnar Bungay (1589 j, James the Fourth 
 (1590), George a-Greene (1588?), and (in collaboration 
 with Lodge) A Looking Glass for London and England 
 (1589). In Alphonsus he seems to have had some idea of 
 rivaling Marlowe's Tamhurlaine, which had appeared in 
 1587; Orlando Furioso is of course founded on Ariosto's 
 poem and anticipates Shakespeare's As You Like It in the 
 posting of messages on trees; and A Looking Glass for 
 London and England^ in the story of Rasni, King of 
 Kineveh, furnishes '' a specimen of a peculiar Elizabethan 
 variation on the manner of the old religious drama." ^ 
 Much more important, however, arc the other two plays. 
 
 The Scottish Hystorie of James the Fourth, Slaine at 
 Flodden, although it sounds like one, is not really an his- 
 torical play. Suggested by a story in the Hecatommithi 
 of Giraldi Cinthio, it is rather romantic in tone. James 
 marries Dorothea, an English princess, only to find that he 
 has perjured himself, as he is really in love with Ida, 
 
 • Ward.
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S CONTEMPORARIES 49 
 
 daughter of the Countess of Arran. Ateukin, a parasite 
 of James, tries to get Ida to play the part of a mistress to 
 the king, but fails utterly. The noblemen of the realm 
 inform Queen Dorothea of the king's love for Ida, but 
 she does not believe them. Only when Jaques, a French- 
 man who has been bribed by Ateukin, attempts to kill her 
 does she change her opinion. Rescued by an old knight, 
 she assumes the disguise of a squire, and remains for a 
 considerable time in concealment, attended only by the 
 dwarf Nano. Ida now marries Eustace, an English gen- 
 tleman, and Ateukin, conscience-smitten, warns the king 
 of the consequences of his deeds. The English sovereign 
 meanwhile makes war on James because of the sufferings 
 of Dorothea, and the Scottish king is deserted by his 
 subjects. The queen, however, reappears on the scene and 
 restores good feeling. This play is noteworthy for its 
 good diction, its rapidity of action, its use of comic matter, 
 and the excellent characterization of Dorothea. 
 
 In Friar Bacon cmd Friar B'ungay there are two main 
 themes. The first is that of the magic of Eriar Bacon, 
 foremost of Englishmen in his art, who confounds the 
 German Vandermast. The second is that of the romance 
 of Margaret, " the fair maid of Fressingfield,'' beloved of 
 Prince Edward, who sends Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, to woo 
 her, only to have her fall in love with Lacy (all this being 
 of course simply a variation of the Miles Standish idea 
 which was also common in the age of Elizabeth, appear- 
 ing among other places in Twelfth Niglit). The scene at 
 Harlston Fair is one of Greene's best for the freshness of 
 country life. Comic interest is furnished by Bacon's 
 servant Miles, who is carried off by the devil with the 
 understanding that he is to have a lusty fire, a pot of good
 
 50 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 ale, and a " pair " of cards. Lacy, before coining finally 
 to take Margaret to be one of the ladies attending Princess 
 Elinor, in order to test her love and patience sends her 
 word to the effect that he is to be married to some one else. 
 This, as Ward points out, is simply a reappearance of the 
 Griselda motive. The play as a whole, however, well illus- 
 trates Greene's ability to weave together scattered threads 
 of story, and his appreciation of the elements of condensa- 
 tion and suspense. 
 
 By his plays as well as by his pamphlets Greene be- 
 comes more closely connected with Shakespeare than any 
 of his contemporaries. Especially did he anticipate the 
 master dramatis^ in introducing genuine comedy into seri- 
 ous plays, in portraying the character of women, in his use 
 of the fairy element, in the delineation of idyllic scenes, 
 and in suggesting the national spirit. Hardly too much 
 emphasis can be placed on his handling of the story ele- 
 ment. While other writers were making their contribu- 
 tion in form and sometimes even in spirit, Greene first 
 fully appreciated the practical possibilities of a compli- 
 cated and swiftly moving narrative. 
 
 25. Thomas Kyd— Thomas Kyd (1558 M594), the 
 son of a London scrivener, Frances Kyd, in his earlier 
 years attended the Merchant Taylors' School, but does 
 not seem to have attended the universities. He evidently 
 was a man of gloomy temperament, and a habit of 
 anonymity that seemed to characterize him has raised 
 many baffling questions with reference to his work. He 
 made one or two translations from the French, quite cer- 
 tainly wrote The Tmge-'^ie of l^oUmo'n and Pi rseda-, and, 
 according to the convictions of the individual investigator, 
 was also responsible for the First Paii of Jeronimo and
 
 SHAKESPEiVRE^S CONTEMPORARIES 6i 
 
 the so-called lost Hamlet, His place in tlie history of the 
 drama, however, depends upon one remarkable produc- 
 tion, The SpoMlsli Trrnpcly, which first took the stage about 
 1586 and which went through several editions in print. 
 
 Whatever may be said with reference to the authorship 
 of the First Part of Jeronimo, the story connection between 
 this and The Spanish Tragedy is very close. The greater 
 play opens with the Ghost of Andrea, recently a courtier 
 at the Spanish court, who had incurred the enmity of 
 Lorenzo, son of Don Ciprian, Duke of Castile (with whose 
 sister, Bel-imperia, he was in love), by being appointed 
 over Lorenzo ambassador to Portugal, and who had finally 
 been killed on the field of battle by Balthazar, son of the 
 Viceroy of Portugal, whom he had offended by his defiant 
 attitude. At the first meeting of Andrea and Balthazar, 
 Andrea had been saved by Horatio, son of Hieronimo, 
 knight-marshal of Spain. After xindrea had finally been 
 slain by other Portuguese soldiers, Horatio came up again, 
 and, finding Balthazar exulting over the corpse, himself 
 engaged the Viceroy's son, forcing him to the ground, only 
 to be robbed of the full glory of the achievement by Lo- 
 renzo, who rushed on the scene and received Balthazar's 
 sword. Here The Spanish Tragedy definitely takes up 
 the story. Balthazar is brought to Spain, and when the 
 question of his capture comes up in court, the king awards 
 to Horatio the ransom, but gives to his nephew Lorenzo 
 Balthazar's weapons and his horse, and the honor of guard- 
 ing the prince. With the goodwill of Lorenzo, Balthazar 
 falls in love with Bel-imperia ; but this young woman, now 
 that Andrea is dead, has given her heart to Horatio. One 
 night, while Horatio and Bel-imperia are together in a 
 bower, Lorenzo and Balthazar, assisted by two attendants,
 
 62 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRMIA 
 
 suddenly come upon them, hang the marshal's son, and 
 place Bel-imperia in close confinement. Hieronimo, 
 alarmed by the outcry, comes out to the garden, closely 
 followed by his wife Isabella. The rest of the play is con- 
 cerned primarily with his revenge, and in its violence and 
 sensationalism one sees perhaps as nowhere else the quali- 
 ties of the blood-and-thunder type of tragedy that became 
 so exceedingly popular with the Elizabethans. Hieronimo 
 first learns just who the murderers were from a message 
 from Bel-imperia written in blood, is driven to madness, 
 at length presents before the court a play in the course 
 of which he kills Lorenzo, and finally bites out his own 
 tongue, stabs the Duke of Castile, and kills himself. This 
 play, so strongly representative of the " tragedy of blood," 
 was greatly influenced by Seneca ; and through such things 
 as the motive of revenge (in this case that of a father for 
 the death of a son rather than vice versa), the ghost, the 
 madness of Hieronimo, the play within a play, and the 
 general slaughter, its affinity with Hamlet becomes rapidly 
 apparent. More and more in fact Shakespeare's master- 
 piece appears simply as the highest example of a popular 
 form of play that frequently contained many powerful 
 instances of tragic emotion but that also cultivated many 
 melodramatic and sensational elements. 
 
 26. Christopher Marlovi^e. — Christopher Marlowe 
 (1564-1593) was the son of John Marlowe, a shoemaker 
 of Canterbury. He was educated at the King's School in 
 his town and at what is now Corpus Christi College, 
 Cambridge, where he received the A. B. degree in 1584 
 and the A. M. in 1587. Very little is definitely known 
 about his career after he left the university. He was on 
 familiar terms with his fellow-dramatists, Kyd, Xash,
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S CONTEMPORARIES 53 
 
 Greene, and Chapman ; was probably also acquainted with 
 Shakespeare and Kaleigh ; and, while his atheistic opinions 
 have doubtless been exaggerated, he did say enough to 
 shock the sober religious conscience of the time. En- 
 gaging in a tavern brawl in Deptford, he was killed, and 
 thus died before he reached the age of thirty. By his 
 general achievement, however, and especially by the superb 
 poetry that flashes out in many of his passages, Marlowe 
 has generally been awarded the position of the foremost 
 of the early contemporaries of Shakespeare. 
 
 Marlowe has a name in the general literature of the 
 Elizabethan period primarily by his poem, Hero and 
 Leander, and the list of his dramatic works would also 
 include The Massacre of Paris and The Tragedie of Dido 
 Queene of Carthage. Both of these plays seem to have 
 been written in collaboration, however, and neither is in 
 typical vein or really represents him. Marlowe is really 
 remembered for five interesting productions : Taniburlaine 
 the Great (in two parts) (1587), The Tragicall History 
 of Dr, Faustus (1588), The Jew of Maltsi (1598), and 
 The TrouUesome Reign and Lam^entahle Death of Edward 
 the Second (1592). In general his plays are eloquent, 
 though frequently bombastic ; and his common type is the 
 embodiment of insatiable desire. lie invites comparison 
 with such a later poet as Byron, in whom the lyric rather 
 than the dramatic genius was dominant; like Byron also 
 he was not strong in the portrayal of women, and his men 
 are generally the reflection of his own powerful personality. 
 
 Tamhurla)ine was essentially the work of Marlowe's 
 youth. As such it is his most extravagant but at the same 
 time his most characteristic production. Each of the dram- 
 atist's plays represents some one overmastering passion,
 
 54 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 and in this case a great conqueror seeks worlf' -ponder. In 
 the first play he" subdues in succession Persia, Turkey, and 
 Damascus; in the second he gives way to unspeakable 
 grief for his ^' divine Zenocrate." It was these closely 
 related productions that began Marlowe's reputation for 
 the " mis-hty line " for which he has become known. 
 Oosroe, brother of the Persian king, intends to " ride in 
 triumph through Persepolis ; " and Tamburlaine justifies 
 his ambition in lines that cling to the memory: 
 
 The thirst of reign and sweetness of a crown 
 
 Doth teach us all to have aspiring minds. 
 
 While rhetoric and poetry are thus frequently admirable, 
 the extravagance of the play can be excused only as satis- 
 fying the demand of the day. Tamburlaine mounts up to 
 his throne with Bajazeth, the conquered Turkish emperor, 
 as his footstool; and in the second play he appears in a 
 chariot drawn by the kings whom he has captured. The 
 drama is entirely without moral significance and depended 
 for its success solely upon such characteristics as have 
 been remarked. 
 
 Dr. Faustus is a one-part play based on an old legend 
 and is rather a succession of scenes than a finished drama. 
 The hero by no means rises to the grandeur of Goethe's 
 conception; he is rather a mere sorcerer and sensualist who 
 sells his soul for the vain price of twenty-four years of 
 enjoyment and cringes when the forfeit is demanded. The 
 comic scenes hardly strengthen the play and indeed were 
 probably not written by Marlowe, who in general exhibits 
 no humor ; and many of the devices of the old moralities — 
 Good Angel, Bad Angel, Old Man (that is, Sage Coun- 
 sel), and the Seven Deadly Sins — are thrust almost
 
 SHAKESPEARE ^S CONTEMPORARIES 55 
 
 mechanically into the whole. In spite of all this, more 
 than one passage is in Marlo^ve'^ typical vein, and in at 
 least two places the verse rises to the plane of high poetry. 
 One of these is the address to Helen, " Was this the face 
 that launched a thousand ships ? " and the other is the 
 famous soliloquy of Faustus in the last scene. 
 
 The Jew of Malta through its chief character Barabas 
 of course invites comparison v^ith Shylock in The Mer- 
 chant of Venice; but v^hile both of these characters were 
 the product of an age that hated the Jews, Shakespeare's 
 holds his strength while Marlowe's degenerates. No play 
 moreover better illustrates than this Marlowe's difficulty 
 in sustaining energy at a given dramatic pitch, or his 
 tendency toward melodramatic and sensational devices. 
 Barabas first appears in a superb scene counting his money 
 and musing upon his successful ventures; at the close of 
 the play, however, not only has he awakened no sympa- 
 thetic understanding of the Jew, but he has raised more 
 than one question of dramatic justice. All the same The 
 Jew of Malta has its merits and its distinctive interest, 
 and is one of the Elizabethan dramas that one could least 
 afford not to read. 
 
 Edimrd II has been highly praised in some quarters 
 and not only excels Marlowe's other productions in tech- 
 nique, but was so well done as to give a new significance 
 to the current chronicle play. It has been much com- 
 pared with Shakespeare's Richard II, which appeared 
 about the same time. With all of its excellence in char- 
 acterization and workmanship, however, Edward II does 
 not possess the interest of some of Marlowe's earlier efforts ; 
 and, as crude as TamhurJaine and Dr. Faustus are in many 
 places, most people instinctively turn to these characteris«
 
 56 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 tic efforts rather than to the detail of the career of one 
 of England's weakest kings. Says Hazlitt : " Edward II is 
 dra^vTi with historic truth, but without much dramatic 
 effect The management of the plot is feeble and desul- 
 tory ; little interest is excited in the various turns of fate ; 
 the characters are too worthless, have too little energy, 
 and their punishment is, in general, too well deserved to 
 excite our commiseration; so that this play will bear, on 
 the whole, but a distant comparison with Shakespeare's 
 Richard II in conduct, power, or effect. But the death 
 of Edward II, in Marlowe's tragedy, is certainly superior 
 to that of Shakespeare's king; and in heart-breaking dis- 
 tress, and a sense of human weakness, claiming pity for 
 utter helplessness and conscious misery, is not surpassed 
 by any writer whatever." ^ 
 
 The value of Marlowe's contribution to the drama is in- 
 contestable. He definitely stamped blank verse as the 
 medium of the English drama and showed how great might 
 be the assistance to a play of soaring rhetoric and striking 
 poetry. Generally weak in characterization and frequently 
 so in construction, he still opened as no one else had done 
 the great founts of the imagination, and thus he challenged 
 his great contemporary to even greater effort and still 
 loftier achievement. 
 
 ' Lecture II in " Dramatic Literature of the Age of Elizabeth."
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 SHAKESPEAKE 
 
 27. Life. — William Shakespeare was born in Stratford- 
 on-Avon in Warwickshire on or about April 23, 1564, the 
 authority for this statement being the record of his baptism 
 under date April 26, 1564. His father, John Shakespeare, 
 passed through various municipal offices, and his mother, 
 Mary Arden before her marriage, was the daughter of a 
 substantial farmer of Wilmcote, near Stratford. There 
 are no records of the childhood and schooldays of the 
 dramatist, though it is supposed that for some time he at- 
 tended the grammar school at his home, learning the 
 rudiments of such a subject as Latin. He possessed re- 
 markable acquisitive power, however, and even if he had 
 little regular schooling he was able to take in and use to 
 the best advantage all the facts of language, science, or 
 art that were to be gleaned from reading, conversation, 
 or observation. On E'ovember 28, 1582, two farmers of 
 Shottery, near Stratford, signed a guarantee bond " to 
 free the bishop of responsibility in case of the subsequent 
 discovery of any impediment rendering invalid the pros- 
 pective marriage of William Shakespeare to Anne Hath- 
 away." Anne Hathaway was eight years older than her 
 husband; her marriage doubtless took place very soon 
 after the date of the bond; and her first child, Susanna, 
 was born May 26, 1583. Two other children, the twins 
 Hamnet and Judith, were baptized February 2, 1585* 
 
 6T
 
 68 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRMIA 
 
 These were all the children of Shakespeare, and the son 
 Hamnet, for whom he had hoped so much, died when he 
 was only eleven years old. About 1586^ influenced some- 
 what possibly by the pressure upon him after a traditional 
 deer-stealing episode, but doubtless more by the oppor- 
 tunities offered by the capital to a young man who was 
 already the father of three children, Shakespeare went 
 to London and soon became a part of the theatrical life 
 of the day. By 1592 (as we know from the reference of 
 Greene already cited) he was a rapidly rising playwright. 
 He received to some extent the benefits of patronage, and 
 he was an actor and a stockholder in the theatres of London 
 as well as a playwright. By 1597 he seems so far to have 
 improved his worldly station as to be able to relieve his 
 father from pressing financial obligations and also to pur- 
 chase New Place, the largest house in Stratford, though 
 he did not return to take up his regular residence in the 
 town for the next fourteen or fifteen years. For some 
 years previous io 1604, when he was producing many of 
 his greatest plays, Shakespeare seems to have lived at th^ 
 home of a wigmaker and hairdresser, Christopher Mount 
 joy, in Cripplegate ward, just shout a five-minute waP 
 from St. Pa^il'd. He was on pleasant terms with his 
 literary associates, especially with such a man as Ben 
 Jonson, but was also a man of unusual business ability, 
 his income from all sources in his later years being com- 
 puted at what would now be $25,000. About 1612 Shake- 
 speare seems to have ceased the writing of plays and to 
 have retired to Stratford. He died April 23, 1616^ and 
 was buried in the chancel of the Stratford church.^ 
 
 * The great authtuity on the biography of ShakespRare ia Sidney 
 L?e: Life of William Shakespeare; but for first study MacCracken,
 
 SHAKESPEARE 59 
 
 28. Indebtedness to Predecessors. — It is a mistake to 
 think of Shakespeare as a great and unheralded phenom- 
 enon who happened to he horn in the reign of Elizabeth. 
 His plays constantly reveal him as eminently of his age — 
 representative of his age aud ai liio same ili^xo univ ersal in 
 his appeal. We have seen that he was indebted to Lyly, 
 to Greene, to Kyd, and to Marlowe for the distinctive 
 contributions to the uiaiiM tuki he might utilize or not 
 at his pleasure; he was indeed the heir of all who had 
 preceded him in this particular form. An ?ig&..of_pa- 
 triotism, ^ertness^ and^^^jrnriositj^ jmoreover had placed 
 at JJiia.„^[isp^aLall_ the treasures o£_ the ^Renaissance. 
 Hardly a scholar in tte"tec£nical sense, he nevertheless 
 read widely and discursi > ely. and at the same time to good 
 advantage. Of Latin he possessed at I-ast an tiementary 
 knowledge ; but Greek, Italian, Spanish, and French works 
 he did not have to read in the original, as he could almost 
 always find what he wanted in an Enc:Hrli translation. 
 His plays m numerous mstaices thow him to have been 
 familiar with the school books, Lilly's Latin Grainmar 
 and Aesop's Fables and with such a Latin author as Ovid 
 as well, j-'or his Koman tragedies he depended on Sir 
 Thomas ISTorth^g translation through the French of 
 Plutarch's Lives; for Italian stories from Boccaccio, 
 Ariosto, Bandello, and Cinthio he availed himself of sucli 
 workb as Painter's Palace of Pleasure and Arthur Brooke's 
 poem, Tragicall ilistorye of Romeus and Juliet; he was 
 acquainted with early English folklore and legend; and 
 
 Pierce, and Durham: An Introduction to Shakespeare, and Neilson 
 and Tiiorndike: The Facts about Shakespeare are quite sufficient. 
 These are two excellent handbooks, admirably complementing each 
 other, as the method of approach is somewhat different.
 
 60 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 with the Bible, the greater works in English literature, 
 and the plays that were being presented in his own time 
 he was perfectly familiar. The whole matter of the sources 
 of Shakespeare's plays is a study in itself; but at leasf 
 enough has been said to show that in some measure at 
 least the dramatist was the product of his age. He was in 
 fact so well poised and possessed such an adequate sense 
 of humor and human values that he even ventured upon 
 mild satire of the conditions under which his own plays 
 were produced (as in the interlude of Pyramus and Thisbe 
 in A Midsummer Night's Dream). 
 
 29. Periods of Dramatic Work. — Shakespeare's dra- 
 matic activity is commonly divided into four periods. 
 These, with the plays produced, are as follows : 
 
 (1) 1590-1594. Comedies: Love's Labour's Lost, The 
 Comedy of Errors, The Two Gentleirmn of Yerona; 
 Tragedies: Titus Andronicus and probably the first draft 
 of Romeo and Juliet (the play being revised 1597) ; His- 
 tories: Henry VI (three parts), Richard III, King John, 
 Richard II, 
 
 (2) 1595-1600. Comedies: A Midsu7n\rrher Night's 
 Dream, The Merchant of Venice, The Taming of the 
 Shrew, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado ahoui 
 Nothing, As You Like It, Twelfth Night; Histories: 
 Henry IV (two parts), Henry V. 
 
 (3) 1601-1609. Comedies: Troilus and Cressida, AlVs 
 Well that Ends Well, Measure for Measure; Tragedies: 
 J'u.lius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, 
 Timon of Athens, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus. 
 
 (4) 1610-1612. Comedies: Cymbeline, The Winters 
 Tale, The Tempest, 
 
 This enumeration of course takes no account of the so-
 
 SHAKESPEARE 61 
 
 called Shakespeare Apocrypha. Pericles, in the composi- 
 tion of which Shakespeare probably had some part after 
 the second act, might be placed at the end of the third 
 period; and Henry VIII, in which he seems to have col- 
 laborated with John Fletcher, might be placed in the 
 fourth period. 
 
 30. Plays of First Period. — The first period of Shake- 
 speare's dramatic development was essentially one of 
 apprenticeship and imitation. The young artist was im- 
 proving himself in versification and studying the efforts 
 of his contemporaries to the end that he might be more 
 skilful in his own technique. Lyly, Greene, Kyd, and 
 Marlowe were all powerful in their influence; and while 
 the period placed most emphasis on comedy it also made a 
 strong beginning in tragedy and history. 
 
 Thoroughly typical is Love's Labour's Lost (1591). 
 This play makes unusual use of rhyme, a mark of the 
 dramatist's earlier years, and is dominated throughout by 
 the euphuistic style. The rather artificial plot of a kin^ 
 and three of his lords who forswear the company of ladies 
 for three years in order to devote themselves to study and 
 who are interrupted by a princess and her ladies who come 
 on an embassy, serves only as the basis of unlimited wit 
 and repartee. Among the lords Biron, a prototype of 
 Jaques in As You Like It, is outstanding ; while Armado, 
 his foil, is a forerunner of Malvolio in Twelfth Night. A 
 Spanish braggart slightly reminiscent of Kalph Eoister 
 Doister, he has also an experience like that of Malvolio 
 when entanglement in a device of letters leads to his ulti- 
 mate discomfiture. 
 
 The Conuedy of Errors (1591) depends for its merit 
 primarily upon its rapid action and its use of mistaken
 
 62 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 identity. The plot was taken primarily from the Me- 
 naecJimd of Plautus, with some suggestions from the 
 Amphitruo; and the play, dealing with the story of two 
 twin sons and their servants, the famous Dromios, while 
 it makes much use of word-play and doggerel, is in some 
 ways so excellent as to lead some scholars to doubt that 
 it should be placed among the dramatist's earliest efforts. 
 " Three things are especially noteworthy in Shakespeare's 
 adaptation : the far greater complication in story than in 
 the Latin originals; the skill with which the story is 
 adapted to the tastes of the immediate public ; and the in- 
 genuity combined with sureness with which Shakespeare 
 handles his many threads of plot." ^ 
 
 The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1592) is in every 
 way one of the most interesting of Shakespeare's plays 
 for the student of dramatic workmanship. In no other 
 are the mistakes of the young artist more apparent ; in no 
 other is his meritorious striving more manifest. The 
 play deals in highly artificial fashion with the love affairs 
 of four characters — Valentine, Proteus, Silvia, and Julia — 
 and contains several situations or incidents that within a 
 few years became conventional on the Elizabethan stage. 
 Some of these Shakespeare himself later used to better 
 advantage, such as the turning of a plot on the device of 
 a ladder of cords or the giving up of a betrothal ring, a 
 discussion of different suitors by two ladies, a young 
 woman's following the object of her love disguised as a 
 page, and this same young woman's being sent as a mes- 
 senger to the newer lo-'-e of her lord. The production 
 shows a lack of dramatic proportion, the first two acts 
 moving with unusual slowness, and the characterization, 
 
 ^ Baker: The Development of Shakespeare as a Dramatist, 135.
 
 SHAKESPEARE 63 
 
 strong at times, is rather uneven. On the other hand, the 
 excessive euphuism sometimes gives way to superb and 
 genuine pueUy ; Launce is an impressive experiment in 
 low comedy; and the highly romantic and lyric note that 
 is frequently struck gives good promise of greater things 
 to jome. 
 
 The three plays of Henry VI are concerned with the 
 historical events of the close of the Hundred Years' War 
 and of the Wars of the Koses. The first play deals pri- 
 marily with Joan of Arc and Talbot, the English com- 
 mander ; the second with the murder of Humphrey, Duke 
 of Gloucester, by Suffolk, the subequent overthrow of Suf- 
 folk himself, the insurrection led by Jack Cade, and the 
 battle of St. Alban's; and the third with the further 
 course of the Wars of the Eoses, from the death of Richard 
 of York to the elevation as king of his son, Edward IV. 
 These plays, based naturally on Holinshed and written to 
 some extent at least in collaboration, have offered to 
 scholars one of the most baffling problems in the history of 
 literature. It seems safe to say, however^ that with the 
 first one, which gives a strange and coarse portrayal of 
 Joan of Arc, Shakespeare had very little to do; that he 
 probably wrote a considerable part of the second, in which 
 the characteristics of his genius are frequently manifest; 
 and that he had much to do with the third, which reveals 
 throughout the hand of a painstaking w^orkman. 
 
 Titus Andronicus (1592) is a " tragedy of blood," writ- 
 ten for a public that had recently been thrilled by The 
 Spanish Tragedy and The Jeiv of Malta and that desired 
 more entertainment of the same sort, or plays even more 
 sensational and revengeful. Doubt has more than once 
 been cast on Shakespeare's authorship of this production,
 
 64 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 but it seems quite certainly his and nothing more than an 
 early and hasty performance in the " blood-and-thunder " 
 type of tragedy which later received such superb culmina- 
 tion in Hamlet. The spring of the action is the struggle 
 between Titus Andronicus, the Roman conqueror of the 
 Goths, and Tamora, the captive queen, the villain being 
 Aaron, a Moor, the lover of Tamora. There is killing 
 right and left; and Lavinia, the daughter of Titus, at 
 one time appears with her hands cut off and her tongue cut 
 out. The first act has some elements of strength and we 
 come more than once upon the Shakespearean accent, as 
 in the eulogy of Titus at the tomb of the Andronici : " In 
 peace and honor rest you here, my sons ! " As the play 
 progresses, however, it becomes more and more melodra- 
 matic in its seeking for violent and sensational effects. 
 
 Richard III (1593), based upon Holinshed, is possibly 
 also indebted to the earlier and anonymous The True 
 Tragedy of Richard the Third, and to the influence of 
 Marlowe. The play is unusually interesting as represent- 
 ing Shakespeare's study of the bases of appeal to an 
 Elizabethan audience. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who 
 killed his two nephews and committed other crimes to gain 
 his crown, was an excellent combination of hero and vil- 
 lain; and the play in its highly rhetorical quality (as in 
 Richard's soliloquy, "JSTow is the winter of our discon- 
 tent,'' Clarence's dream, the orations of Henry Tudor, 
 Earl of Richmond, and of Richard to their troops, and 
 Richard's call, ^^ A horse ! a horse ! my kingdom for a 
 horse ! ") was a strong forerunner of Henry V and Julius 
 Caesar. Early poetic and euphuistic effects are to be seen 
 in the word-play in the dialogues of Richard with Anne 
 and Elizabeth, while the ghosts of those whom Richard
 
 SHAKESPEARE 65 
 
 had killed and who rise to haunt him precede something 
 similar hut even more finely done in Julius Caesar, The 
 firm handling of the difficult fourth act moreover shows in- 
 creasing mastery of technique. Richard III is eminently 
 a work of a young artist, but on every page it bears the 
 mark of Shakespeare, and it is only by reason of merit 
 that after more than three hundred years it still remains 
 one of the dramatist's most popular productions. 
 
 King John (1593) is especially interesting as afford- 
 ing ground for a study of the drama as an aristocratic 
 form of literature different from such a democratic form 
 as the novel. The play owed much to The Troublesome 
 Raigne of John, King of England (§17), and nowhere 
 mentions Magna Carta, the great monument of the reign 
 to freedom and democracy. The Elizabethan age with its 
 emphasis on nationality glorified the hero, and either a 
 good or a bad man might succeed on the stage if he was 
 strong in quality. Shakespeare accordingly found excel- 
 lent subjects in such men as Henry V and Eichard III, 
 but in John he had a weak subject and one with which 
 under the circumstances he could not possibly succeed so 
 well. Constance, the mother of Arthur, and the patriotic 
 Faulconbridge are strong characterizations, however; and 
 the dialogue at the beginning of Act IV, in which Arthur 
 pleads to Hubert de Burgh, is one of the most pathetic 
 and powerful in the national literature. 
 
 Richard II (1594), while not quite so rhetorical as 
 Richard III and hence not so unusually popular, is fre- 
 quently more delicately poetic and especially shows advance 
 in the subtle art of characterization. This is best seen 
 in the interpretation of Eichard himself. His " love of 
 the spectacular and his enjoyment of his own emotions
 
 66 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE EIsTOLISH DRAMA 
 
 even of misery and despair, along witli his tendency to 
 substitute fluent and poetical utterance for action, are all 
 the conception of the dramatist." ^ Characteristic also 
 is the portrayal of his vanity at the time of his abdica- 
 tion, when he calls for a mirror in order that he might 
 read the marks of sorrow on his face, only to dash this 
 upon the ground in a fit of rage. Toward the end of the 
 play, Richard rises in dignity; and the scenes of his 
 farewell to his queen and his death are in the vein of 
 genuine tragedy. The two uncles of Eichard and his 
 cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, are also strongly portrayed; 
 and the speech of John of Gaunt on the glory of England 
 is typical of the dramatist's appeal to the patriotism of 
 the people of his time. 
 
 Word-play, conceits, and a highly lyrical character com- 
 bme to give Romeo and Jvl^H an early date among Shake- 
 speare's plays. It has been customary to give 1592 as 
 the date of a first version, and 1597 as that of a revision. 
 In general the euphuism and the rhyme indicate early 
 work, while the dramatic technique and the development 
 of character denote more mature workmanship. The story 
 was drawn ultimately from the Italian ; but Shakespeare's 
 immediate source was the poem of Romeus and Juliet by 
 Arthur Brooke (1562). The dramatist, while finding 
 almost every detail of his action in the materials at hand, 
 nevertheless again and again placed upon the story his 
 mastertouch. The great power in characterization that has 
 now come to him is best seen in his portrayal of the un- 
 folding of the womanhood of Juliet under the influence of 
 her great love ; but the poetic Mercutio and the comic figure 
 of the nurse are also eminently Shakespearean. The com- 
 
 • Neilson.
 
 SHAKESPEARE 67 
 
 pression of time, the emphasis on unity, and the swiftness 
 of the movement of the play are all noteworthy, and the 
 first act is one of the most remarkable examples of dra- 
 matic exposition in all literature. The characterization 
 of Tybalt in this act, in view of his later combat with 
 Komeo, and the fact that Mercutio, who helps to lighten 
 the earlier scenes, hastens the fall of the tragedy in the 
 banishment of Romeo, are only two of many examples of 
 Shakespeare's ripening artistry. The very essence of the 
 play moreover is poetry. Sometimes this takes the form 
 of a mere figure of speech, but at other times it is the 
 outburst of tremendous passion. The romantic sentiment, 
 the skilful workmanship, the brilliant poetry, and the 
 strong development of character in the course of the play, 
 have all combined deservedly to make Romeo and Juliet 
 one of the most appealing dramas ever given to the world. 
 31. Plays of Second Period. — In the plays of his second 
 period Shakespeare shows that he has become full master 
 of his art, and with the urbanity and poise of one who has 
 learned to look at life and see it whole he devotes him- 
 self mainly to comedy. All traces of apprenticeship and 
 imitatioxi disappear from his work. " If his portrayal of 
 Shylock sliows the mfiueuce of Marlowe's Jew of Malta, 
 it is in no sense derivative, and it is the last appearance in 
 Shakespeare's work of characterization clearly dependent 
 upon the plays of his predecessors. However much Shake- 
 speare's choice of themes may have been determined by the 
 public taste or by the work of his fellows, in the creation 
 of character he is henceforth his own master. Having 
 acquired this mastery, he uses it to depict life in its most 
 joyous aspect. For the time being he dwells little upon 
 men's failure and sorrows. He does not ignore life's
 
 68 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 darker side, — he loved life too "well for that, but he uses it 
 merely as a background for pictures of youth and happi- 
 ness and success." * 
 
 A Midsummer Night's Dreamji (1695), called by Pro^ 
 fessor Barrett Wendell " Shakespeare's first declaration 
 of artistic consciousness," holds together three plots: (1) 
 that of the complicated loves of fwo men and two women, 
 (2) that of the quarrel and reconciliation of the king and 
 queen of fairies, and (3) that of the subplay of Bottom 
 and his amiable companions. The problem offered the 
 dramatist was to bring together the court of Athens, the 
 fairies of the woods, and the common artisans of the town. 
 To solve it he puts the play into the remote past, and every- 
 thing becomes possible when the fairies sport by moon- 
 light in the woods. To them it is given to reconcile the 
 conflicting elements in the play; yet, as they must pos- 
 sess an interest of their own, the dramatist introduces the 
 complication between Oberon and Titania, making both in 
 love with an Indian boy. The device of a play within a 
 play is used to great advantage, and it has commonly 
 been supposed that in the strange shifts to which Quince 
 is reduced Shakespeare was satirizing the poor scenery of 
 the stage of his time. Over all, however, is the fine 
 sympathy of the master, given in the words of Theseus: 
 " The best in this kind are but shadows ; and the worst 
 are no worse, if imagination amend them." 
 
 The Merchant of Venice (1595) is distinguished by its 
 wealth of characterization and its unusual care in plotting. 
 Shylock and Portia are outstanding characters, but Shy- 
 lock, it seems, was long regarded as a comic figure, and 
 
 * Durham in MacCracken, Pierce, and Durham : An Introduction to 
 Shakespeare, 153.
 
 SHAKESPEARE 69 
 
 certainly until the close of the eighteenth century he was 
 presented on the stage in a red beard. Other characters, 
 however, especially Lorenzo, Gratiano, Morocco, Arragon, 
 Jessica, and Launcelot, are also powerfully drawn and 
 the effect is never that of detachment but of several strong 
 figures working together to produce an harmonious whole. 
 This quality of unity is further exemplified in the skil- 
 ful weaving together of three entirely unrelated threads of 
 plot, those of the bond, the caskets, and the ring. Portia, 
 around whom the last two are woven from the first, in the 
 fourth act dominates also the story of the bond. Over all 
 is the veil of lofty poetry; and whether the situation is 
 that of Shylock detailing the indignities he has suffered, 
 or Launcelot voicing his latest jest, or Lorenzo and Jessica 
 strolling in the moonlight, the effect is still the same, that 
 of a superb example of insight into nature and of high 
 dramatic craftsmanship. 
 
 The Taming of the Shrew '(1596) seems to have been 
 built on an earlier play of imknown authorship. The Tam- 
 ing of a Bhreiv, and ultimately to have received some sug- 
 gestions from Gascoigne's Supposes. The main story is 
 that of a wilful and ungovernable young woman who is 
 subdued by a husband who assumes a temper even more 
 wilful and ungovernable than hers. The situations are 
 frequently those of farce, but the strongest scenes are strik- 
 ingly realistic in their effect. It is by no means certain 
 that Shakespeare wrote the whole of the play, and even 
 those parts that were his were hardly of such quality as to 
 test his greatest powers. The induction dealing with the 
 drunken tinker, Christopher Sly, was taken from an 
 earlier play on the theme, but was so improved by Shake- 
 speare as to be of distinct charm and excellence.
 
 70 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 The source of the two parts of Henry IV (1597) was 
 naturally Holiushed, though Shakespeare seems to have 
 received some suggestions from a play of the period. The 
 Famous Victories of Henry V, The first part deals with 
 the revolt of the Percies, in which Hotspur is the brilliant 
 figure until he is killed by Prince Henry. The second, 
 largely episodic in character, leads to the death of 
 Henry IV and the final elevation of the Prince as king. 
 The supreme creation of the plays is Falstaff, one of the 
 greatest comic figures in all literature. " He is an incar- 
 nation of joy for whom moral laws do not exist." ^ He has 
 the strange faculty of making vices appear as foibles. We 
 smile alike at his conception of honor and his questioning 
 of his recruits, and when at last he is cast aside by his 
 old companion, now the new king, we can not help sym- 
 pathizing with him as with a friend. 
 
 The sources of Henry V (1598) were the same as those 
 for the two parts of Henry IV. There is original work 
 in the play, however, as in the English lesson that Henry 
 gives the Erench princess and the development of the 
 character of Pistol. If the doubtful Henry VIII be not 
 considered, Henry V is Shakespeare's last effort in the 
 field of the chronicle, and in his valedictory to the form 
 he gave his final portrayal of the ideal English King. 
 The drama relies for its great merit upon its rhetoric 
 and declamation, seen to best advantage in the speeches of 
 the strong central figure. It is not without its finer 
 poetry, however, as in the description of the sailing : 
 
 Behold the threaden sails. 
 Borne with the invisible and creeping wind, 
 
 • Durham
 
 SHAKESPEARE 71 
 
 Draw the huge bottoms through the furrow'd sea, 
 Breayling the lofty surge.* 
 
 The Merry Wives of Windsor (1598) is the only play 
 in which Shakespeare deals primarily with people of the 
 middle class and the only comedy whose setting is alto- 
 gether in England, There is a tradition, well supported 
 by internal evidence, that he wrote the play in little more 
 than a fortnight at the request of Queen Elizabeth, who, 
 delighted by the Falstaff of the historical plays, desired 
 to see this character in the toils of love. The main plot 
 accordingly deals with the adventures of Ealstaff with 
 Mistress Ford and Mistress Page, while the subplot is con- 
 cerned with the love affairs of Anne Page. Falstaff ia 
 by no means the same figure as in Henry IV. He indeed 
 resembles the other Ealstaif in size, cupidity, and con- 
 tempt for the vulgar; but he differs from him in that ha 
 is never master of the situation in which he is placed. 
 Other characters also remain clearly in the mind. Ford 
 is something more than the conventional jealous husband, 
 and Slender has proved to be a part of more than ordinary 
 Btage capabilities. The Merry Wives of Windsor, if com- 
 pared with the great comedies that followed it, at once 
 impresses us as belonging to an entirely different order of 
 work. If taken for what it is, however, a rollicking, good- 
 natured play bordering on farce, it appears as a highly 
 successful achievement. 
 
 In Much Ado about Nothing (1599) Shakespeare has 
 used for his main plot a situation that comes very close 
 to the tragic. " Don Pedro," the Prince of Arragon, we 
 
 " Compare with this the song in BrowTiing's Paracelsus, " Over the 
 sea our galleys went," and " set the sails," in Stephen Phillips'i 
 Ulysses.
 
 72 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 are informed, ^^ hath bestowed much honour on a young 
 Florentine called Claudio/' Don Juan, however, the vil- 
 lainous half-brother of the Prince, has made this same 
 Claudio believe that Hero, his intended bride, is unfaith- 
 ful, so much so that he is led to reject her at the very 
 steps of the altar. It is typical of Shakespeare's art that 
 he does not permit this painful situation unduly to possess 
 the scene. The leading woman of the play is not Hero, 
 but her cousin, the great wit Beatrice. This lady is most 
 famous for her combats with Benedick, a young lord of 
 Padua, the two being simply a high development of the 
 Rosalind and Biron of Loves Labour's Lost. Beatrice 
 shows her true quality, however, by her firm faith in 
 Hero ; she at length appeals to Benedick for assistance, and 
 when the mystery is cleared their love is sealed. Humor 
 of another sort is afforded by Dogberry, the constable 
 whose lot it is to untie tangles in the lives of those far 
 higher than himself in worldly station. When all is over 
 one remembers not so much the credulity of Claudio as the 
 fine humor and the still finer humanity of Beatrice and 
 Dogberry. 
 
 As You Like It (1599) was based upon Lodge's prose 
 tale, Rosalynde, which in turn was indebted to the pseudo- 
 Chaucerian Tale of Gamelyn, though there is no evidence 
 that Shakespeare made use of the ultimate source. Re- 
 jecting Lodge's euphuism, the dramatist retained most of 
 the pastoral characteristics of the prose story, such as the 
 lovesick shepherd, the hanging or carving of verses on 
 trees, and the figure of Hymen. Omitting much that was 
 not essentially refined, he added such characters as Jaques, 
 Amiens, and Touchstone, and introduced higher motives 
 for the action of the drama. There is a careful weaving
 
 SHAKESPEARE 73 
 
 together of serious and comic elements in the play, a fine 
 touch of satire is evident throughout, and the idyllic char- 
 acter of the whole never fails to arrest attention. Kosalind 
 is one of Shakespeare's most charming women, Jaques 
 is " a sentimentalist, but not a bad-hearted egoist," and 
 Touchstone is the wittiest of all the dramatist's fools. On 
 the other hand, the play suffers from insufficient change 
 of scenery, a fault more apparent to us of course than to 
 the Elizabethans; and the last act^ with four pairs of 
 lovers rapidly falling in love, while it has the excuse of a 
 masque of Hymen, can hardly fail to appear a little 
 mechanical to a modern spectator. In its breadth of view 
 and its insight into nature, however^ ^5 You Like It 
 remains one of Shakespeare's ripest productions. 
 
 Twelfth Night (1600) might well claim to be the finest 
 of all Shakespeare's comedies. The plot was drawn from 
 a variety of sources and few situations in the play are 
 essentially new. Again and again one comes upon the 
 shreds and patches of old garments, but he finds that they 
 have all been so skilfully woven together as to make the 
 most beautiful of costumes. K'ever were the high comedy 
 of romance and the low comedy of ordinary English life 
 more perfectly blended, two distinct groups of characters 
 meeting with the lady Olivia. The sentimentalism of the 
 Duke, the delicate humor and the grace of Viola, the 
 boisterousness of Sir Toby, the sheer joy in life of Maria, 
 the brainlessness of Sir Andrew, the lyricism of Feste, 
 and the fine satire on the Puritans in the self-importance 
 of Malvolio, all work together in harmonious accord. 
 Under all, however, is a note of tenderness and seriousness, 
 a sign of the coming tragedies. Twelfth Night was a 
 superb tour de force. On it Shakespeare lavished all his
 
 U A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 resources as a dramatic artist and by sheer force of crafts- 
 manship he produced a masterpiece. In the realm of 
 romantic comedy he could produce more but he could 
 hardly go higher. What remained for him now was ^* fate, 
 free will, and foreknowledge absolute." 
 
 32. Plays of Third Period. — In the third period of his 
 dramatic activity Shakespeare rose to his greatest heights 
 as a literary artist, and in his search for the deeper motives 
 that govern human life he naturally emphasized tragedy. 
 Before we consider the representative productions of this 
 period, however, it is well to remark three so-called 
 comedies, Troilus and Cressida, AlVs Well that Ends 
 Well, and Measure for Measure, that do not in every case 
 by a year or two precede Julius Caesar and Haralet, but 
 that in one way or another are characterized by a peculiarly 
 gloomy, serious, and even bitter cast of thought, and that 
 together form an easy transition from the greatest comedies 
 to the greatest tragedies. When one looks into the nature 
 of these three plays, however, it is easy to see why they 
 are among the least popular of the dramatist's produc- 
 tions. Each one is in its own way a study in disillusion. 
 
 Troilus and Cressida (1601), in small part at least 
 (and especially as regards the fifth act), has been thought 
 to be by another hand than Shakespeare's. The great 
 dramatist himself, however, was undoubtedly mainly re- 
 sponsible for the work. The play deals with the famous 
 story of Troilus and Cressida, to which Shakespeare had 
 already made passing reference in The Merchant of Venice 
 and Twelfth Night, and which Chaucer had used in his 
 masterly character study, Troilus and. Criseyde, It is well 
 to keep in mind Shakespeare's two previous references. 
 In the first (3/. of V., V, 1) he referred to the lovers
 
 SHAKESPEARE 75 
 
 at the heiglit of their romance; in the second (T. N., Ill, 
 1) he makes mention of Cressida's being a beggar, such 
 a state being the reward of her unfaithfulness."^ In the 
 present play Troilus learns of Cressida's later conduct and 
 unsuccessfully attempts to take revenge on Diomedes. The 
 love story is surpassed in interest, however, by the por- 
 trayal of conditions in the Greek and Trojan camps at 
 the siege of Troy. Especially graphic is the sketch of 
 the sulking of Achilles. This on one hand gives occasion 
 for the sage advice of Ulysses (note '' Time hath, by lord, 
 a wallet at his back") and on the other for the railing 
 of Thersites, a character taken from Homer whose pos- 
 sibilities as developed by Shakespeare have generally been 
 only dimly realized. Achilles finally slays Hector, how- 
 ever, and Troilus resolves to avenge his brother's death. 
 
 The source of AlVs ^yell tlmt Ends ^Yell (1602) was a 
 story in the Decameron that came to Shakespeare by way 
 of Painter's Palace of Pleasure, The story is a strange 
 one of a noble-minded young woman who falls in love with 
 a man hardly worthy of her, who is insulted by this man, 
 who places herself in a dangerous and compromising situa- 
 tion in order to win his loyalty, and who at length wins 
 him, having satisfied even the hard conditions that he 
 placed on her. The dramatist has so ennobled the char- 
 acter of the heroine, Helena, as to make her one of the 
 truest and most famous women in his plays. The scene 
 in which she confesses her love to the sympathetic old 
 Countess of Rousillon, the mother of Bertram, is singu- 
 larly tender and beautiful. 
 
 Measure for Measure (1603) has much connection in 
 theme with AlVs Well tlmt Ends Well, but the idealism of 
 
 ' Note Robert Henryson's poem, The Testament of Cresseid.
 
 76 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 Isabella also betokens connection witb Julius Caesar and 
 Hamlet, both of "which plays were in the mind of the artist 
 about the same time. Shakespeare borrowed the main 
 story from George Whetstone, author of a play, Promos 
 and Cassandra (15Y8), who in turn borrowed from Cin- 
 thio's HecatomwuitJiL Measure for Measure is a vivid 
 satire on the evils of society. A young man, Claudio, is 
 guilty under the law of a grave social crime. Angelo, 
 the magistrate, places before Isabella, the sister of Claudio, 
 the dilemma of saving her brother^s life by giving herself 
 to him or saving her honor and permitting her brother to 
 be led to execution. Claudio would save his life at the 
 expense of his sister's honor, so that in a sordid world 
 Isabella is forced to find her way to the light alone. Hav- 
 ing clearly presented his problem, Shakespeare ends the 
 play with Isabella's losing neither her brother nor her 
 honor; but the atmosphere is gloomy throughout. Singu- 
 larly enough, however. Measure for Measure is relieved 
 by many touches of the highest poetry. 
 
 Julius Caesar (1599 ?) was once termed by a great 
 scholar * " Shakespeare's best play of the second class." 
 What is meant is obvious, that in this production the strong 
 points are the surface merits of brilliant rhetoric and 
 declamation, qualities quite different from the high poetry 
 and the more searching characterization of the great plays 
 immediately following. Marcus Brutus, the central figure 
 of the drama, is a forerunner of Hamlet as a study of 
 the scholarly and idealistic temperament face to face with 
 the realities of the world; and throughout the play runs 
 the irony of fate. Brutus is drawn into a conspiracy by 
 his friend Cassius, a practical man of affairs, and by the 
 
 » F. J. Child.
 
 SHAKESPEARE 77 
 
 sheer force of his dignity and unquestioned honor domi- 
 nates everything within reach. In rapid succession he 
 makes three mistakes: he refuses to bind the conspirators 
 by an oath (and somebody divulges the plan) ; he rejects 
 the power of oratory as represented in Cicero (which 
 same power as used by Antony later overcomes him), and 
 he refuses to kill Antony along with Caesar (Antony 
 later becoming the concrete instrument in his overthrow). 
 The dramatist was especially skilful in handling the 
 fourth act, always a difficult one for an Elizabethan play- 
 wright. When after Antony's oration the action seemed 
 to be hastening to its conclusion too rapidly, he intro- 
 duced the quarrel between Brutus and Cassius, and the 
 ghost scene. The first of these episodes has been con- 
 sidered extraneous and the second mere dramaturgy; but 
 a practical dramatist was working for theatrical effec- 
 tiveness, and there can be no doubt as to the success of his 
 achievement. Again and again lines taken almost bodily 
 from E'orth's Plutarch, touched by the magic of the master, 
 leap into being; and after three hundred years of chang- 
 ing taste Julius Caesar still remains one of Shakespeare's 
 most popular plays. 
 
 Hamlet (1602, second version 1604) is a supreme 
 achievement in dramaturgy, but with such insight into 
 nature did the artist work that at the same time that he 
 satisfied the popular taste of his day he also produced a 
 world masterpiece. The play is eminently a " tragedy of 
 blood " and accordingly has affinity with such productions 
 as Titus Andronicus and Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy. 
 With the latter play in fact its connections are especially 
 close, Kyd's tragedy dealing with the revenge of a father 
 for the death of a son, and Shakespeare's reversing this
 
 78 A SHORT HISTORY OP THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 theme. In such things as this motive of revenge, and the 
 use of the ghost, the dumb-show, the play "within a play, 
 and madness as a dramatic motive, Shakespeare was sim- 
 ply employing old material; hut there is nothing trite 
 about his finished product. By its magnificent phrase and 
 rich poetry, its deep insight into human passion, and its 
 deliberate interplay of character (as in the placing of the 
 old pedant Polonius by the side of Hamlet), the play 
 continues to attract and baffle. By reason also of the un- 
 numbered linguistic, artistic, and ethical problems which 
 it has awakened, Hamlet has gathered unto itself a vast 
 literature of its own. The finished production is at once 
 the admiration and the despair of students of the drama 
 the world over. 
 
 Othello (1604) is Shakespeare's supreme achievement 
 in dramatic technique. Eor the story he was ultimately in- 
 debted to the seventh novel of the third decade of ( 'uithio'a 
 Hecatommithi, of which a French translation was made 
 in 1583-4; but he greatly improved on the original, espe- 
 cially as regards characterization, taste, and workmanship.^ 
 The play is a domestic tragedy, singularly modern in 
 tone, and has the advantage of holding attention on one 
 definite group of characters. The first act in masterly 
 fashion strikes the keynote of an emotional drama; the 
 second, emphasizing the fact that we are concerned not 
 with public but domestic affairs, shows lago not only 
 disgracing Cassio but beginning to use him in his larger 
 design against Othello and Desdemona ; the third act shows 
 Shakespeare's greatest villain working v/ith all the re- 
 
 • For a brief statement of his improvement see Neilson : Shake- 
 speare's Complete Works, 934, Hudson's Introduction to the plaj^ 
 Parrott's Introduction, etc.
 
 SHAKESPEARE 79 
 
 sources at his command and succeeding in his purpose; 
 the fourth act, already remarked as the most difficult for 
 an Elizabethan playwright, shows no slackening of interest 
 but makes the air more and more heavy with impend- 
 ing tragedy; and the fifth, by its swift and terrible close, 
 especially shows the artist's improvement on his sources. 
 All of this is done in Shakespeare's dignified and poetic 
 manner, and with a tenseness of emotion and a sense of 
 dramatic fitness never surpassed. For sheer skill in ar- 
 rangement, in the use of the element of suspense, and in 
 the play of character upon character, Othello remains 
 incomparable. 
 
 King Lear (1605) is indebted perhaps to several sources, 
 but prominence attaches to the play The True Chronicle 
 History of King Leir and his Three Daughters, and to the 
 ultimate source, Geoffrey of Monmouth. The drama is the 
 tragedy of old age, all the more effective because Lear is 
 unreasonable with the peevishness of years. Deceived as 
 he is by his older daughters, Goneril and Regan, it is 
 only after days of suffering and a terrible night of storm 
 that he finds out the true quality of Cordelia, his young- 
 est daughter, who loved him too much to humor his whims 
 and deceive him. Eeflecting the tragedy of Lear is the 
 skilfully interwoven underplot of the nobleman Gloucester, 
 who for a time seemed to favor his disloyal son Edmund 
 and to disown the more filial Edgar. King Lear is char- 
 acterized throughout by an atmosphere of lofty poetry, 
 represented especially by the words between Cordelia and 
 Lear at the beginning of Act Y, Scene 3. " There is a 
 strangely lyric element about this great tragedy, an element 
 of heart-broken emotion hovering on the edge of passionate 
 song. It is like a great chorus in which the victims of
 
 80 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 treachery and ingratitude blend their denouncing cries. 
 The tremulous voice of Lear rises terrible above all the 
 others; and to his helpless curses the plaintive satire of 
 the fool answers like a mocking echo in halls of former 
 enjoyment. Thunder and lightning are the fearful accom- 
 paniment of the song; and like faint antiphonal responses 
 from the underplot come the voices of the "wronged Edgar 
 and the outraged Gloucester." ^° 
 
 Macheth (1606) is commonly given a place with Harnlet, 
 Othello, and King Lear as one of Shakespeare's greatest 
 productions. It is much the shortest of the tragedies, 
 however, shorter in fact than any other play by Shake- 
 speare except The Comedy of Errors, containing hardly 
 two thousand lines. Hamlet, the longest of the plays, 
 contains nearly four thousand lines, and hence can not be 
 performed in one evening under modern conditions with- 
 out excision. Macheth most readily invites comparison 
 with two other well-known plays of the third group, Antony 
 and Cleopatra (1608) and Coriolanus (1609). If one 
 were disposed to strain matters a little, he might consider 
 each one of Shakespeare's great tragedies as a representa- 
 tion of some one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Certainly 
 King Lear is concerned with Anger. Similarly Macheth 
 stands for Envy (^'vaulting ambition"), Antony and 
 Cleopatra for Lechery, and Coriolanus for Pride. Each 
 one of these three plays has a hero who has some weakness 
 of character that proves his undoing, and each one is a 
 study in subjectivity. While Lady Macbeth to some extent 
 influences her husband and Cleopatra her lover, Macbeth 
 and Antony and Coriolanus are the architects of their own 
 
 *o Pierce in MacCracken, Pierce, and Durham : An Introduction to 
 Shakespeare, 186.
 
 SHAKESPEARE 81 
 
 fate, and all three say plainly, ^' The wages of sin is 
 death.'' These men are alike also in that they are short- 
 sighted. Antony's leaving of the sea of valor to follow 
 the sails of Cleopatra is characteristic of his action through- 
 out the play ; Coriolanus seems not to realize that " das- 
 tard nobles " and people who are " curs " and ^^ minnows " 
 may still have some courage in their bosoms ; and Macbeth 
 is notorious for taking a chance on " the life to come." 
 In spite of Enobarbus and Menenius moreover, these men 
 are different from Brutus and Hamlet and alike in this, 
 that no one of them has a friend close enough and strong 
 enough to keep him from going astray. Instead, each one 
 offends some other strong man; and Macduff, Octavius, 
 and Aufidius become in turn avenging forces. The type 
 seems to have been in Shakespeare's mind for some three 
 or four years, the tragedy in each instance consisting not 
 so much in the number of people killed as in the downfall 
 of a noble man. 
 
 33. Plays of Fourth Period. — We have already ob- 
 served that there were changing fashions in the Eliza- 
 bethan drama. Sometimes Shakespeare helped to make 
 these fashions; more frequently he followed the dictates 
 of popular taste. A case in point is his work in the field 
 of " blood-and-thunder " tragedy. About 1598, largely 
 through the work of Ben Jonson, there developed an em- 
 phasis on realistic comedy. To this fashion Shakespeare 
 did not immediately respond except perhaps as it finds some 
 reflection in the satire or realism of Troilus and Cressidd 
 or Measure for Measure; but he did turn away from pure 
 comedy and chronicle plays to devote himself more seri- 
 ously to tragedy, as we have seen. About 1607, however, 
 with two other contemporaries, Beaumont and Fletcher,
 
 82 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 there began an emphasis on romantic tragicomedy tliat 
 inflnenced him most profoundly. Representative plays by 
 these two dramatists were Philasier, A King and No King, 
 and The Maid's Tragedy. " The realistic comedies of 
 Jonson and Middleton, which, along with the great trag- 
 edies of Shakespeare, crowd the stage history of the pre- 
 ceding ten years, had offered nothing similar to these 
 romances which joined tragic and idyllic material in scenes 
 of brilliant theatrical effectiveness, abonnding in transi- 
 tions from suspense to surprise, and culminating in tell- 
 ing denouements. ... In its intriguing courts, or in 
 nearby forests where the idyls are placed, love of one 
 kind or another is the ruling and vehement passion, riding 
 high-handed over tottering thrones, rebellious subjects, 
 usurping tyrants, and checked, if checked at all, only by 
 the unexampled force of honor. . . . Characterization 
 tends to become typical, and motives tend to be based on 
 fixed conventions. . . . Cymbeline in its plot bears some 
 close resemblances to PMlaster, and it seems likely that 
 Shakespeare was adopting the methods and materials of the 
 new romance. . . . After Beaumont's retirement in 
 IGll or 1612 it seems probable that Fletcher and Shake- 
 speare collaborated on Henry VIII and The Two Nohle 
 Kinsman." ^^ Important also in this general connection is 
 the new form of the masque, especially cultivated by Jon- 
 son in co-operation with the architect Inigo Jones. This 
 was an elaborate amateur theatrical entertainment, the 
 fundamental element of which seems to have been dancing 
 in disguise, and which through dance and costume and 
 music more and more emphasized symbolism. 
 
 In this last period three plays stand out above others 
 '*Neil8on and Thomdike: The Facts ahoiit Shakespeare, 109-10.
 
 SHAKESPEARE g3 
 
 more doubtful: Cymbeline (1610), Thf, Winter's Tale 
 (1611), and The Tempest (1611). For the first of these 
 dramas Shakespeare received some suggestion from, Holin- 
 shed; for the second he went to Greune's I'andosto; and 
 for the third, receiving an idea from one scluh t, or another, 
 he relied mainly upon himself. In what ways now do 
 these plays reflect the new tendencies ? First of all, char- 
 acterization ceases to be of prime importance. Leontes, 
 for instance, is jealous; but he is by no means as strong 
 a conception as Othello. Moreover the characters tend to 
 become types. Ariel, Caliban, Cloten, and Prospero are 
 indubitably allegorical, while Posthumus, lachimo, Her- 
 mione, Alonzo, and Miranda at least have conventional 
 tendencies. In The Tempest moreover the dramatist em- 
 phasizes the supernatural element, and into the fourth act 
 of this play he thrusts a masque, using something also very 
 close to a masque in the dance of shepherds in The Winters 
 Tale, j^or in yielding to new impulses does he hesitate 
 to leave some of his old practices ; and in both Cymheline 
 and The Winter s Tale he shifts interest in the middle of 
 the play, in Cymlbeline from Imogen and Posthumus to 
 Belarius and the Princess, and in The Winter s Tale from 
 Leontes to Perdita. In all such ways as these he exhibits 
 a new freedom and fancy. That such work is not the result 
 of any real loss of technical ability is shown by the last 
 scene in Cymheline, in which there are " crowded some 
 two dozen situations any one of which would probably have 
 been strong enough to carry a whole act." ^^ In The Wiw- 
 ters Tale moreover Shakespeare does not mind introduc- 
 ing such an imj.^robability as the statue of Hermione, and 
 in The Tempest he idealizes everything into poetry. Gen- 
 ^* Wendell: William Shakespeare^ 358.
 
 84 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 erally then in liis last period the great dramatist forsakes 
 the tragic for the romantic, the probable for the improb- 
 able^ and the real for the ideal ; and such even now is the 
 sheer force of his ability that he makes the fanciful essen- 
 tially true. Then, when all is finished, like his own Pros- 
 pero the magician breaks his wand and bids farewell to 
 his art: 
 
 Our revels now are ended. These our actors. 
 As I foretold you, were all spirits, and 
 Are melted into air, into thin air; 
 And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, 
 The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces. 
 The solemn temples, the great globe itself. 
 Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve 
 And, like this insubstantial pageant faded. 
 Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff 
 As dreams are made on, and our little life 
 Is rounded with a sleep. 
 
 34. Shakespeare's Advance in his Art. — Shakespeare's 
 plays afford an interesting field for the study of a drama- 
 tist's advance in his work. The artist not only gained 
 with practice greater skill in the difficult matter of tech- 
 nique, but more and more he seemed to gain mastery of all 
 the resources of expression. In his earlier plays one ob- 
 serves a labored effect in his meter — a tendency toward 
 monotonousness in the ending of lines with heavy syllables. 
 Such a later play as The Tempest, however, is marked by 
 ease and variety in versification. Shakespeare also made 
 advance in taste. In the years when he was largely under 
 the influence of Lyly or Marlowe or other models he some- 
 times went far afield for conceits, or cultivated extrava- 
 gance or bombast; he even appealed sometimes to the 
 ^^ groundlings " of his day. By the time he wrote Antony
 
 SHAKESPEARE 85 
 
 and Cleopatra, however, lie had learned that he could be 
 even gorgeous in his poetic effects without being need- 
 lessly excessive. In characterization also he shows re- 
 markable advance. In such an early play as Love's La- 
 hour s Lost ^' he has not led us into the inner selves of his 
 men and women at all, has not seemed to realize that they 
 possess inner selves. At the conclusion we know precisely 
 as much of them as we should if we had met them at a 
 formal reception, and no more.'' ^^ We know Hamlet, 
 Othello, and Lady Macbeth, however, just as well as we 
 know Elizabethan men and women that actually lived. 
 Edmund in King Lear recalls Richard III ; but whereas 
 in Richard the dramatist satisfied the taste of the day by 
 portraying a brilliant rhetorical figure, in Edmund he 
 gives a more complex study of villainy and passion. Espe- 
 cially is his large humanity represented by his humor, 
 whether in Falstaff or Touchstone, Dogberry or Beatrice. 
 Finally, in pure technique he became the artist incom- 
 I^arable. In The Tiro Gentlemen of Verona he wasted 
 time; in Othello every word is in place. The whole 
 phenomenon of his development is as interesting as it is 
 unique. 
 
 35. The Tradition of Shakespeare.—^^ To him that hath 
 shall be given," and it was but natural that in the course 
 of literary history such a well-known playwright as Shake- 
 speare should have been credited with many things that he 
 never wrote. The question is complicated by the very com- 
 mon practice of collaboration on the part of Elizabethan 
 dramatists. We have from time to time remarked certain 
 plays (Titus Andronicus, 1, 2, and 3 Henry VI, Timon of 
 
 "Pierce in MacCracken, Pierce, and Durham: An Introduction to 
 Shakespeare, 91.
 
 66 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 ■Athens, Pericles, and Henry VIII) which are generally 
 classed with Shakespeare's works, but which awaken grave 
 questions as to collaborative effort, some students even 
 insisting that with such a work as 1 Henry VI he had 
 nothing at all to do. The so-called Shakespeare Apo- 
 crypha accordingly starts one on an interesting but 
 baffling trail, and one that raises all sorts of questions. 
 "Almost every class of play is here represented, and 
 one class — that of domestic tragedy — finds in Arden of 
 Fevershnm and in A York^lii ,. Tragedy, two of its most 
 illustrious examples. The Senecan tragedy of vengeance 
 is represented by Lorrine; the history or chronicle play by 
 Edward III, The First Part of the Contention, The 
 True Tragedie, The Troithlesoiv Raigne of John, King of 
 Englntid, Sir Thomas More, and Cromv^ell, and, less pre- 
 cisely, by The Birth of Merlin and Faire Em. The ro- 
 mantic comedy of the period is illustrated by Mucedorus, 
 The Merry Devill and The Two Nohle Kinsme7i,\ while 
 The London Prodigall and The Puritane are types of that 
 realistic bourgeois comedy which . . . won a firm hold 
 upon the aft'ections of the play-going community." ^* The 
 Two Nohle Kinsmen, which makes the strongest claim of 
 all of these plays, was based on the story of Palamon and 
 Arcite in Chaucer's Knight's Tale and published in 1634 
 an the work of " tlie memorable worthies of their time, Mr. 
 John Fletcher and Mr. William Shakespeare, Gent." 
 
 Of the plays undoubtedly Shakespeare's there are no 
 manuscripts that have come down to us. In general while 
 a writer of the day bestowed care on the form of a poem 
 that was to be given to the public, he seems to have felt 
 
 "Moorman: "Plays of Uncertain Authorship Attributed to 
 Shakispeare," C. H. E. L., V, 266.
 
 SHAKESPEARE 87 
 
 that lie had no further interest in a play that he sold to a 
 theatrical company. One or two exceptions occur, how- 
 ever; and we can see both the purpose of the author and 
 the ridicule he awakened when in 1^1 6 Ben Jonson issued 
 a folio edition of his ^' Works.'' Before 1623 seventeen 
 of fehakespeare's plays appeared in single quarto editions. 
 In this year, however, two of old colleagues and friends, 
 John Henins^e and Henry Condell, with considerable 
 pains brought out what is now knovni as the first folio 
 edition of the dramatist's work, i^r the twenty plays 
 that it printed for the first time the Eirst Folio must of 
 course be the chief authority ; for the remaining seventeen 
 it must sometimes share authority with the quartos. A 
 second folio, a reprint of the first, appeared in 1032 ; a 
 third, of ICO.], was reprinted in 10(54 with the addition of 
 Perichs and six even more dottbtful plays; and the fourth 
 folio appeared in 1685. In 1709 Mcholas Eowe set a 
 high standard for later editors by an edition in which he 
 modernized spelling^:, corrected grammar, added in many 
 cases lists of characters, and made many emendations. 
 In 1725 Al^xn-nder Pnpe brought ottt his mtich discussed 
 edition. He had excellent materials on which to work, 
 but he lacked the sympathy with his subject necessary 
 in an editor and he made many mistakes. His errors were 
 exposed in Lewis Theobald's Shalcespeare Restored 
 (1726), which study was demoted mainly to Hamlet, 
 Pope replied by placing Theobald in the Dundad and 
 succeeding in obscuring his reputation nntil comparatively 
 recent years, when modem scholarship has given him the 
 recognition he deserves. Since the days of Pope and 
 Theobald editions have appeared with increasing fre- 
 quency, and it would now take pages merely to enumerate
 
 88 A SHORT HISTOllY OF THE EXaLTSH DRAMA 
 
 these.^^ Special importance attaches, however, to the 
 monumental Variorum Edition, which began to be issued 
 in 1871 by H. H. Eurness, which is still carried forward 
 by his son, and which attempts to digest all the criticism 
 on a particular play. The best single volume of recent 
 years is the Cambridge edition edited by William Allan 
 JS'eilson. The ISTeilson text is the result of independent 
 study and is used as the basis of the separate little volumes 
 in the " Tudor Shakespeare." 
 
 The question of Shakespeare's reputation and of criti- 
 cism based upon him of course opens a wide field — one 
 so vast in fact that only slight reference can be made to 
 it here. TJie high points in the study .are the Kestoration 
 attitude that sought to refine Shakespeare's works, the ra- 
 tionalistic and didactic point of view represented_by such 
 a critie as Rymer, the attitude of the Erenjch classicist 
 Voltaire, the interest that developed so rapidly in Germany 
 near the close of the eighteenth century, the rather idola- 
 trous admiration at the height of romanticism in England, 
 and more recent studies of the dramatist's mind and art. 
 An interesting field of course is that of actual presenta- 
 tion on the stage in England, iu America, and on the con- 
 tinent of Europe; while hardly less fascinating to the 
 earnest student is the influence in music and painting. 
 Societies are still formed for the study of the dramatist's 
 works, his plays have a high place in colleges and high 
 schools in the United States, and even more in the future 
 than in the past he seems destined to be a force linking 
 the culture of America with that of England and the 
 world. 
 
 36. Shakespeare's Greatness — Shakespeare was the 
 
 " See C. E. E. L., V, 472-84.
 
 SHAKESPEARE 89 
 
 central figure of the Elizabeth aii__(Lr am a^ contemporary 
 with both Ljly and Fletcher.^ He is not to be regarded as 
 some great abnormal or isolated genius, but as eminently 
 a man of his age. He_came upon the scene at a time 
 when_national feeling ran higii-and,.wlien all England 
 was uplifted by a spirit qfjhope. One common custom 
 of the period" was for a man to use stories and plots 
 wherever he could find them, so that one of the first im- 
 pressions that one gains from a study of Shakespeare's 
 sources is that of something very like plagiarism. We can 
 best measure his success, however, when we place his 
 achievement by the side of that of others who had at hand 
 the same materials that he had. He then appears more 
 and more as the_uneguakd artist in ieclmiqn.e. and char- 
 acterization. I^^^one -eke-had.. such insight into human 
 motive ; no one else has created characters^o lifelike. 
 FinalTTj^ he is the poet incomparable not only of England 
 but of all ages and the world. lleTias his own distinctive 
 note, and he is master of all the sources of his instrument ; 
 yet he is not eccentric. He is with us in ^' the dark back- 
 ward and abysm of time," or as '^ the unfolding st£r calls 
 up the shepherd ; '' he " knows all qualities with a learned 
 spirit, of human dealings." "With him we live and love 
 and dream and hope. He beckons us to all things beau- 
 tiful — and to God.
 
 chapter vi 
 
 shakespeake's latee coxtemporakies 
 
 ais^d the decline of the 
 
 elizabetha:n^ drama 
 
 37. General Characteristics of the Period. — The pres- 
 ent chapter is concerned primarily with the story of the 
 English Drama, exclusive of Shakespeare, from ahout 
 the year 1596 to the closing of the theatres in 1612. The 
 earlier of Ihesij dales is -^iveii buCiuise it marks the begin- 
 ning of actual production on the part of Shakespeare's 
 later contemporaries; and in connection with the great 
 dramatist's later w^ork we have already remarked the in- 
 fluences that were brought to hear upon him in his later 
 years, in a very slight measure perhaps from the realistic 
 comedy of Jonson, and in a much larger degree from 
 the more romantic work of Beaumont and Eletcher. The 
 tradition of tragedy, so well held aloft by Kyd and Shake- 
 speare, was preserved in the work of Webster, with which 
 playwright indeed the drama of revenge and horror 
 reached its culmination. Other men of the period have 
 their distinctive merits : Dekker, for instance, is possessed 
 of a wholesome geniality of temper that has generally 
 endeared him to lovers of literature; Massinger's plays 
 are of unusual technical excellence; and Shirley has dis- 
 tinct poetic quality. In the earlier years of the century 
 also, in amateur or court circles, the pasroral play or the 
 masque flourished. More and more, however, the stand- 
 
 90
 
 DECLINE OP THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 91 
 
 ard drama of the period exhibited marks of decadence. 
 Themes became sensational or melodramatic; incest was 
 more than once a dominating motive. A great form of art 
 was being worn thin, and nnfortunately there was all too 
 much ground on which the sober Puritan temper could 
 base its opposition and because of which the playhouses 
 were at last officially closed. 
 
 38. Ben Jonson. — The facts about the life of Jonson 
 (1573-1637) that have come down to us, while not a great 
 many, are still more numerous than those of most of the 
 Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatists. Born in Westmin- 
 ster he attended the Westminster school. It is not known 
 that he was ever resident at either university ; yet he was 
 given his A. IL by each one, and by dint of his own effort 
 he ultimately became the leading man of letters of his 
 time. In his earlier years, finding his stepfather's trade 
 of bricklaying intolerable, he escaped to Flanders, where 
 the English were fighting against the Spaniards. Here he 
 challenged and slew one of the enemy in single combat. 
 In 1598 he fought what he called a duel with a fellow-actor, 
 Gabriel Spencer, and killed him; and he escaped the 
 gallows only by benefit of clergy. He went into the Catho- 
 lic faith but later returned to the Church of England. 
 Jonson quarreled with various ones of his contemporaries, 
 but not with Shakespeare, whom he uniformly held in 
 high regard. The most prolonged of his controversies was 
 in the so-called war of the theatres,^ which called forth 
 
 ^ Note Small: The Stage-Quarrel hetween Ben Jonson and the 80- 
 called Poetasters, and the studies of Penniman, in which the matter 
 is carried still further. Some idea of the complex nature of the dis- 
 cussion may be gained from the following quotation from Small 
 (199-200): 
 
 "Probably Munday cast some reflections on Jonson in 1598 j eer-
 
 92 A SHOKT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 his satirical play, Poetaster (1601), to whicli Dekker re- 
 plied with his Satiromastix. For his part in Eastward 
 Ho!, which contained a passage reflecting on the Scots, he 
 was imprisoned for a while in 1605. By this time, how- 
 ever, his literary position was assured. He became poet 
 laureate and enjoyed the patronage of James I. He 
 brought out a folio edition of his works in 1616. His 
 later years were far from being uniformly happy or pros- 
 perous; but in 1628 he succeeded Middleton as chronologer 
 to the city of London, and Charles I is on record as having 
 once sent him £100 in a season of illness. " His egoism 
 made everything that he wrote partly a portrait of him- 
 self. Almost every contemporary reference to him has 
 added something personal and characteristic. "VYe hear 
 of his quarrels, his drinking-bouts, his maladies and his 
 theories of literary art. . . . Huge of body, bibulous 
 
 tainly Jonson twice attacked him in the latter part of that year, 
 once in Every Man in his Humour and once in the first scene of 
 The Case is Altered, apparently added to the play about January or 
 February, 1598-99. Marston, then a close friend of Jonson, satirized 
 Munday and tried to compliment Jonson in Histriomastix, acted in 
 its revised form in August, 1599. Jonson took the intended com- 
 pliment as an insult; nevertheless the quarrel between the two 
 friends did not break out publicly until Jonson ridiculed MarBton's 
 vocabulary in Every Man out of his Humour, February or March, 
 1599-1600. Then followed rapidly several personally satirical plays — 
 Marston's Jack Drum, 1600, Jonson's Cynthia's Revels, February or 
 March, 1600-1, Marston's What You Will, March or April, 1601, and 
 Jonson's Poetaster, about June, 1901. In Cynthia's Revels and the 
 Poetaster, Jonson in his satire had coupled Dekkar with Marston; 
 Dekker then responded with Satiromastix, about August, 1601. 
 Jonson wrote the Apologetical Dialogue, refusing to continue the 
 contest. Either shortly after, or, more probably, shortly before that 
 time, Shakespeare wrote Troilus and Cressida, laughing at the whole 
 quarrel, but holding Jonson up to ridicule most exasperatingly. . . . 
 In the latter part of 1603, Marston and Jonson were fast friends."
 
 DECLINE OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 93 
 
 and brawling, he yet loved Latin as heartily as canary, 
 and could write the tenderest epitaph as well as the gross- 
 est epigram'. Laborious and pertinacious, he rode his 
 hobbies hard, confusing his scholarship with pedantry 
 and his verse with theory ; but few have ever served learn- 
 ing and poetry with so whole-hearted a devotion. '' ^ 
 
 Jonson's work falls naturally under four heads: (1) 
 Dramas, (2) Masques and other entertainments, (3) 
 Poems, and (4) Miscellaneous prose. It is because of his 
 work in the first class that he id most famous; but that in 
 any other would have given him a respectable place in Eng- 
 lish literature. Of the dramas two are ambitious tragedies ; 
 the others are comedies, frequently satirical. The masque 
 in Jonson consisted of dialogue, singing, and dancing. It 
 was based on mythology and used a simple plot. In some 
 respects it was similar to the comic opera of the present 
 day. As the decoration of the masque was lavish, this 
 form of entertainment was cultivated mainly by the no- 
 bility in private theatricals and on special occasions. Of 
 the collections of poems, Epigrams and The Forest are most 
 noteworthy. Jonson achieved distinct success with his 
 lyrics, many of which are m'ore tender and delicate than 
 one would expect from a man of his temperament. He 
 had an artistic sense of form, and his verse is chaste and 
 controlled rather than florid and spontaneous. Of his 
 prose Timber, one of the monuments of the period in 
 criticism, easily takes first place. Poetry, says this work, 
 is the highest form of art both in dignity and ethical 
 importance. Tragedy should teach and delight; comedy 
 should imitate justice, show moral life, purify language, 
 and stir up affection. The unities need not be slavishly 
 » Ashley H. Thorndike: "Ben Jonson," in C. H. E. L., VI, 1.
 
 94 A SHOKT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 adhered to, but some stress should be placed on those 
 of action and time. It will thus be seen that Jonson was 
 a classicist in choice of subjects, methods of work, and 
 in his opinions. It is hardly tv.o much to say thut he be- 
 gan in English literature the classical movement which 
 later culminated in the school of Pope. 
 
 It was in his iirst acknowledged play, Every Man in 
 his Humour (1597), that Jonson made to the English 
 drama his vv^it distinctive contribution, the comedy of 
 hutrwurs. Me defined a hiunuur as a peculiar aaeciaiion 
 vr distiniruiphing attribute of an individual. He did not 
 intend to put upon the stage any stich improbability as 
 that a child might grow up in the course of the play, and 
 he definitely laid down his program in the prologue, pro- 
 fessing to show 
 
 Deeds and language, such as men do use:' 
 And persons, such as comedy would choose. 
 When she would show an image of the times. 
 And sport with human follies, not with crimes. 
 
 In this play the plot is but slight; the characterization, 
 however, is better than that in most of Jonson's plays. 
 Here are types such as were common at the time: the 
 jealous husband (Kitely), the poetic young man 
 (Matthew), the gull (Stephen), and the braggart soldier 
 (Bobadill). Everybody follows his own oddity and reaps 
 the reward of his humour. Kitely reminds one of Eord 
 in The Merry Wives of Wvndsor^ and the part of KnoVell 
 is interesting as having been played by Shakespeare. 
 
 Sejanvs (1603, alt. 1605) was one of Jonson's two 
 tragedies, CatiKne being the other. The subject is the 
 well-known story of the fall of the minister of Tiberius. 
 The play shows Jonson's fidelity to historical truth, and
 
 DECL[NE OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 95 
 
 it also sh' ws his occasional tendency to use a great multi- 
 plicity of characters. The hero hardly appeals to one, as 
 we have li :tle sympathy with a man who is hopelessly bad. 
 There are some strong scenes in the play, however. That 
 in Act I. in which Livia and her physician Eudemus 
 discuss cosmetics and a murder in the same breath, and 
 that in Act V in which the terror-stricken Sejanus over- 
 turns the statue and altar of the priest, are deservedly 
 famous. The versification is good, rising at times to great 
 beauty. 
 
 Volpov-'^y (1606) is a satirical comedy on the moral 
 depravity of the age. An avaricious Venetian nobleman, 
 in order to receive gifts from his acquaintances, gives it 
 out that he is at the point of death, and would-be heirs 
 rush to present plate or money or a diamond to him, all 
 being represented as birds of prey. The ^^ fox " (Volpone) 
 is finally betrayed by his servant and accomplice Moscha. 
 The play shows how in the greed for gold the husband 
 will give up his v^ife to infamy, the father disinherit his 
 son, and even the gray-haired man become the slave of 
 avarice. The production is characterized by gi-im humor 
 and there is no goodness of heart in any prominent char- 
 acter. 
 
 More pleasing than Volpone because less bitter is The 
 AIch€m>ist (1610). Lovewit, a gentltman, on account of 
 the plague, leaves his city house in the hands of his servant 
 Jeremie and goes to a retreat. Jeremie lets the house to 
 the alchemist Subtle, who brings along with him his ac- 
 complice, Dol Common. Then the humble servant becomes 
 the vaunting Captain Eace and works with Subtle and Dol, 
 not without quarrels, to dupe " not one or two gulls but a 
 whole flock of them," Here comes Dapper, who wants
 
 96 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 a " familiar " to help him at gambling and who is made 
 to believe that he is nephew to the Queen of Fairies (Dol 
 later appearing to him as his aunt). Abel Drugger is 
 building a new shop and wants to know how to irrange his 
 door and shelves. Most important of all is Sir Epicure 
 Mammon, a really magnificent picture of grcrd and sen- 
 suality, who pours out a torrent of images and words and 
 knowledge. Then there is Tribulation, a pastor at Am- 
 sterdam, who wants money for the enrichment of his 
 church and who sends his deacon Ananias to deal with 
 the alchemist before he comes himself. Finally comes 
 Dame Pliant, who is also duped. Jeremie in the mean- 
 time, while Captain Face in the street, is in the house 
 Lungs, Subtle's assistant. Lovewit returns at last to 
 hear from the neighbors of unusual events at his house; 
 but Jeremie comes to an understanding with him inasmuch 
 as his endeavors have gained for his master a wife. The 
 Alchemist has been greatly praised. Coleridge remarked 
 enthusiastically that it was one of ^' the three most perfect 
 plots ever planned." When all possible detraction is made 
 for the superlative, the play still remains as that produc- 
 tion which later criticism has ranked highest among Jon- 
 son's dramas. 
 
 Bartholomew Fair (1614) is in prose and is a pure 
 farce, showing the humors of a London crowd on a clear 
 day. A Puritan preacher rebukes the wickedness of the 
 fair and then enjoys the good things there. Among the 
 prominent characters are Littlewit, the proctor, who has a 
 pretty wife; Cokes, the foolish squire; Edgeworth, the 
 cutpurse; Joan Trash, the gingerbread woman; and Ur- 
 sula, the pig-woman. One after another they all pass by, 
 and as we see the procession tbat Jonson has given us
 
 DECLiNE OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 97 
 
 more and more we wonder if this great master of satire 
 and cynic sm has ever drawn for us a truly noble man or 
 a truly virtuous woman. 
 
 From T\ hat has been said, Jonson's outstanding qualities 
 as a dramatist have perhaps been suggested. "His wide 
 and penetrating observation of manners, whether of city 
 or of court, and his ingenious and systematic construc- 
 tion of plots are obvious merits. But the gi'eat excellence 
 of both his tragedies and his comedies is their delinea- 
 tion of character. . . . What most discourages the 
 reader of Jonson is the absence of charm. Jonson was 
 certainly not incapable of depicting noble passions or of 
 writing winsome verse ; but in his plays resolutely refused 
 to attempt either. He did not write of passions, but of 
 follies — not of fairyland, but of London; he often de- 
 liberately preferred prose to poetry, and he always re- 
 strained poetry to his subject." ^ As a great realist, 
 however, he exercised an influence that has continued down 
 to the present day. In the novel as well as in the drama 
 this has been felt, and Fielding and Dickens especially owe 
 much to his suggestion. 
 
 The final influence of Jonson on his age, however, " was 
 an influence of restraint; and never were there wilder 
 steeds than those that drew the gorgeous, glittering car of 
 Elizabethan romantic drama. It was Jonson that re- 
 claimed the drama from amateurishness and insisted on its 
 serious function as an art existing for more than idle 
 diversion. It was Jonson that set a standard of literary 
 excellence, not recognized before his time; and assumed 
 in so doing an attitude of independence towards the public. 
 Jonson developed the masque and devised a species of 
 
 • Ashley H. Thorndike: "Bea Jonson/' in C. ff. E. L., VI, 29-30.
 
 98 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 Roman tragedy conceived historically and freed alike 
 from the restrictions of Senecan models and tae improb- 
 abilities of romantic treatment. Most important of all, 
 Jonson arlderl the (^o-re^y oi manners or humours, as he 
 called it, to the forms of the English drama. It was this 
 satirically heightened picture of contemporary life handled 
 with a restraint and finish ultimately traceable to classi- 
 cal example that survived on the stage after the Restora- 
 tion in the comedies of D^Avenant, Dryden, Etherege, and 
 Yanbrugh. In a word, Jonson gave to the later drama 
 one of its two permanent types." * 
 
 39. George Chapman. — George Chapman (1559?- 
 1634) was born near Hitchin in Hertfordshire and pos- 
 sibly studied at both Oxford and Cambridge. Erom pas- 
 sages in his plays he is thought to have traveled on the 
 continent and especially to have served on an expedition 
 to the Netherlands ; but many years of his life are a blank. 
 He was mentioned by Meres in 1598 as a writer of dis- 
 tinction in both tragedy and comedy. In 1605 he was im- 
 prisoned along with Jonson because of the passage in 
 Eastward Ho! referring to the Scots. He was distin- 
 guished among the contemporaries of Shakespeare, how- 
 ever, not only for his plays but also for his poem^- and 
 translations. He is perhaps best known for his vigorous 
 English version of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, in four- 
 teen and ten syllable lines respectively. In 1604 he was 
 appointed '' sewer (i. e. cupbearer) in ordinary '' to 
 Prince Henry, eldest son of James I. It was nnder the 
 patronage of this prince that the translation of the Iliad 
 was completed in 1611 and that of the Odyssey begun, a 
 
 * Schelling: Introduction to Eastward Eoe and The Alchemist,
 
 DECLINE OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 99 
 
 folio volume entitled The Whole Works of Homer appear- 
 ing in 1616. One recalls in this connection the highly 
 appreciative sonnet by Keats, '^ On First Looking into 
 Chapunan's Horner.'^ 
 
 Bussy D'Amhms (1598?) and All Fools (1599) were 
 among' che nrst and most successful of Chapman's come- 
 dies. The first of these, based upon the life of a French- 
 man of the sixteenth century, readily exhibits the qualities 
 of appeal to an Elizabethan audience. It contains much 
 braggadocio and intrigue, portraying the sudden eleva- 
 tion of Bussy from the condition of a poor man to that of 
 a courtier making love to the Duchess of Guise, and his 
 ultimate downfall through the schemes of the man who 
 first brought him to court. ^' Throughout the drama men 
 and women are playing for great stakes. No one is ever 
 at rest. Action and passion are both at fever heat. We 
 move in an atmosphere of duels and state intrigues by day, 
 of assignations and murders by night. Even the subordi- 
 nate persons in the drama, the stewards and waiting- 
 women, partake of the restless spirit of their superiors. 
 Thus Chapman aimed throughout at energy of expression 
 at all costs." ^ The plotting of the play is on the whole 
 better than the characterization. All Fools similarly 
 places emphasis primarily on plotting. The play is a satire 
 on the life of Elizabethan London, and is really an example 
 of the new comedy of humours, popularized by Jonson. 
 
 The Gentleman ^^sher (1601-2) and Monsieur D'Olive 
 (1605) are two other noteworthy productions. Tha Gen- 
 tleman Usher is Bassiolo, chief servant in the house of 
 Lord Lasso, father of Margaret, heroine of the play. His 
 
 " Boas: iTitroduction to Bussy D'Ambois and The Revenge of Bussy 
 D'AmJ)ois, xxvi
 
 100 A SHORT HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 business is to act as a go-between in the love affair of 
 Margaret and Yincentio, son of the Duke Alpbonso, who 
 is himself paying court to Margaret. All of this is con- 
 ventional enough ; but there is nothing conventional about 
 the actual working out of the plot. Monsieur D' Olive 
 is in every way one of the best examples of Chapman's 
 work. Above the story of Vandome, who must work to 
 bring his old mistress out of seclusion and to win his 
 brother-in-law to a healthier love than that for his em- 
 balmed first wife, stands the triumphant figure of Mon- 
 sieur D'Olive, an upstart and a braggart, but also a wit 
 whose good humor is imperturbable. As Bassiolo is 
 thought to have received some suggestion from Malvolio^ 
 60 D'Olive's questioning of his followers (III, 1) re- 
 minds one of Falstaff. 
 
 " The general impression left by a repeated and con- 
 secutive reading of Chapman's comedies is one of lively 
 and vigorous comic force. This is due in the main to the 
 abundance of action that characterizes his plays. It is 
 quite in keeping with this abundance of action that Chap- 
 man's humor should be one of incident and situation 
 rather than of character and dialogue. I*^or, it must be 
 confessed, is he any great master of characterization. Per- 
 haps his most noticeable defect, however, is his want of 
 constructive ability. On the whole more nearly allied 
 to Jonson than to any other Elizabethan poet, not only by 
 the circumstances of his life but by his scholarly acquire- 
 ments and the general temper of his mind, he quite lacks 
 Jonson's architectonic genius. With one or two excep- 
 tions his plays are ill-planned and badly proportioned. 
 [On the other hand] in certain plays, Sir Giles Goosecap, 
 Monsieur D'Olive, and especially The Gentleman Usher,
 
 DECLINE OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 101 
 
 Cliapiiiaii vias the first to strike into that field of romantic 
 comedy wLich is now so peculiarly associated with the 
 name of Fletcher." ® 
 
 40. John Marston. — John Marston (1575 ?-1634:) was 
 the son of John Marston, a lecturer of the Middle Temple, 
 and the daughter of an Italian physician. He was prob- 
 ably born and certainly received his early education in 
 Coventry. He was graduated at Brasenose College, Ox- 
 ford, in 1593. He began his literary career as a satirist 
 in 1598; the next year he turned to the drama; but in 
 1607 he gave up his literary career to become a clergy- 
 man. From 1616 to 1631 he held the living of Christ 
 Church, Hampshire. 
 
 Marston's satires of 1598 were " as strident as youth, 
 cleverness, and inexperience could make them.'' ' His 
 first plays, Antoriio and Mellida, and Antonio's Revenge, 
 were of such turgid quality as to bring down upon him 
 the ridicule of Jonson; yet it is important to note that 
 these plays had a distinct part in the revival of the " blood- 
 and-thunder " type of drama of which Hamlet remains as 
 the highest example. For most of the period of his literary 
 activity, however, Marston seems to have engaged in con- 
 troversy. Much of his effort was directed against Jonson ; 
 yet in a season of reconciliation he collaborated with this 
 great dramatist in the writing of Eastward Ho! and dedi- 
 cated to him his best play, The Malcontent (1600). The 
 malcontent is a banished duke who returns disguised to 
 his former court and under the form of a mad humor 
 speaks bitter truths. Other plays also contain strong 
 
 " Parrott : Introduction to All Fooles and The Oentlema/n Uaher, 
 xlvi. 
 
 ^ Schelling: English Dramas 128.
 
 102 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 situations. However, *^the texture of Marston's genius 
 was singularly unequal, and he constantly promises more 
 than he performs. In comedy only can it be truly said 
 that he achieved success ; yet in his more ambitious and less 
 successful work there resides an arresting quality. When 
 we are about to condemn unreservedly, he flashes into unex- 
 pected splendor; w^hen we lay down the book, his char- 
 acters refuse to be altogether dismissed into the limho 
 of forgotten things.'' ^ 
 
 41. Thomas Dekker.— Thomas Dekker (1570?-1640?) 
 with his literary work has left a tradition of singular 
 charm. Of his life comparatively little is known. There 
 is a notice in Henslowe's diary to the effect that he was 
 at one time loaned forty shillings so that he might get 
 out of jail, and he was in prison for debt from 1613 to 
 1616. He first appears in literary history in 1597, and 
 for several years thereafter he seems frequently to have 
 worked in collaboration with other playwrights. He was 
 engaged in the stage quarrels of the time, taking sides with 
 Marston against Jonson, and, as has been observed, writing 
 his Satiromasfix (1602) in reply to the Poetaster, exhibit- 
 ing, however, no real malevolence. He worked very fast 
 at times. " In the two years 1598 and 1599 Dekker wrote 
 six plays single-handed and collaborated in at least eigh- 
 teen." ^ In 1631 he said that he had been a priest in 
 Apollo's temple many years and that his voice had decayed 
 with age. He disappears from view after 1637. 
 
 The best of the plays undoubtedly Dekker's are The 
 
 * W. Macneile Dixon : " Chapman, Marston, Dekker," in C. S, 
 E. L., VI, 56-57. 
 
 " Bates : Introduction to Haywood's A Woman Killed with Kind' 
 nes8 and The Fair Maid of the West, xvr.
 
 DECLINE OP THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 103 
 
 Shoemake/s Holiday (1597-9), The Pleasant Comedy of 
 OU Fcrturuitus (1596), and The Honest Whm^e (1604), 
 to wiiich last a second part was alterwards added. The 
 Shoemalcers Holiday is realistic in method and shows the 
 life of the working class of London without the satire 
 or the sordidness of Jonson's BartholoTmw Fair, The 
 story deals with the rise in fortune of Simon Eyre, an 
 exuberantly jolly shoemaker with singular pride in his 
 craft and his burgher dignity; and the main plot has to do 
 with the love of young Lacy and the mayor's daughter. 
 The virtue of the work is not in its plot but in its char- 
 acters and the wholesome though boisterous fun. Old 
 Fortunatus is Dekker's version of the story of the purse 
 that never runs dry. Old Fortunatus robs the Grand Turk 
 of his wonderful hat and dies miserably in the second act. 
 His son, Andelocio, however, fails to profit by his experi- 
 ence and also comes to grief. The play has little regard 
 for probability and not mlich for dramatic unity. Its 
 merit lies in individual passages of poetry; the blank 
 verse, though careless, is often brilliant. The Homst 
 Whore, in the first part of which especially Dekker was 
 assisted by Middleton, uses in its two parts the same char- 
 acters and the same moral lesson. It tells the story of 
 Bellafront, " who has fallen but who is regenerated by a 
 sincere love and is aided in her determination to lead 
 an honest life by her own father, who has repudiated her 
 in her evil days but now in disguise befriends her." ^° 
 
 '' Dekker is in no sense .decadent, being the antithesis of 
 
 Jonson in almost every way. Jonson was learned, classic 
 
 and a theorizer, heavy and dignified; Dekker romantic, 
 
 spontaneous, with no theories, a man of the streets who 
 
 ^^ Schelling: English Drama, 113.
 
 104 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 knew London well by night and who wrote when he was 
 hungry whatever the publisher demanded." ^^ His works 
 texhibit " a certain careless geniality and wholesome sweet- 
 ness of temper which make him, though not the mx)st 
 admirable, perhaps the most lovable of all our old play- 
 wrights.'' ^^ 
 
 42. Beaumont and Fletcher. — The collaboration of 
 Beaumont and Fletcher is the most famous in the history 
 of dramatic literature. Both of these men were of the 
 gentility and their plays reflect the temper that was more 
 and more to dominate court life under the Stuarts. 
 Fletcher, the elder of the two, was a clever and very fast 
 worker, while Beaumont, so far as we can judge, was of 
 decidedly more than average poetic and dramatic power. 
 The two men together, however, left a mass of work the 
 question of whose authorship has within recent years been 
 a constant challenge to investigators. 
 
 Francis Beaumont (1584-1616) was the son of a 
 Leicestershire jurge of common pleas. In 1597 he entered 
 what is now Pembroke College, Oxford, but his father dy- 
 ing he left without a degree. In 1600 he became a mem- 
 ber of the Inner Temple, but he soon abandoned law for 
 poetry. His connection with Fletcher began about 1605, 
 and in the same year, moved by the art of Volpone, he 
 wrote some complimentary verses to his " dear friend 
 Master Ben Jonson." About 1613 he was married. When 
 he died he was buried in Westminster Abbey. 
 
 John Fletcher (1579-1625) was born at Eye, in Sussex, 
 the son of Eichard Fletcher, minister of Eye and later 
 Bishop of London. He entered what is now Corpus 
 Christi College, Cambridge, in 1591 ; but after this date 
 
 ^^Neilson. "Wendell.
 
 DECLINE OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 105 
 
 not a great deal is known with definiteness about his life. 
 After Beaumont's withdrawal from the literary partner- 
 ship he worked in collaboration with Massinger, Jonson, 
 and Shakespeare. He died of the plague, and he seems 
 to have left a pleasant reputation for modesty, simple self- 
 respect, and courtesy in his dealings with others. 
 
 Not less than fifty-two plays are commouly crerlited to 
 Beaumont and Fletcher, aside from such a work as Henry 
 VIII, in which Fletcher probably had some hand but 
 which is regularly assigned to Shakespeare. "It is prob- 
 able that, of the fifty-two plays which have commonly 
 passed under the joint names, at least one belongs to 
 Beaumont alone, and in some eight or nine others he co- 
 operated with Fletcher, taking, usually, the leading part 
 in the combination; that Fletcher was the sole author of 
 about fifteen plays, and that there are some two-and- 
 twenty, formerly attributed to the pair conjointly, in which 
 we find Fletcher's work combined with that of other 
 authors than Beaumont, besides five or six in which, ap- 
 parently, neither Fletcher nor Beaumont had any appre- 
 ciable share." ^^ As for the plays which quite certainly 
 belong either singly or jointly to the two men, criticism 
 has concerned itself most largely with the matter of style. 
 Those works known to be Fletcher's constantly exhibit 
 loose metrical structure and weak line-endings. Such a 
 play accordingly as The Knight of the Burning Pestle, of 
 markedly different quality, is regularly assigned to Beau- 
 mont. The younger dramatist also seems mainly to have 
 been responsible for the plotting and construction of 
 Philaster, The Maid's Tragedy, and A King and No 
 
 "G. C. Macaulay: "Beaumont and Fletcher," C. H. E. L., VI, 
 130-31.
 
 106 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 'Kmg, three plays, it will be observed, most representative 
 of the best that the men jointly left to the judgment of 
 time. 
 
 In connection with the work of these two collaborators 
 one hears a great deal not only of tragedies and comedies 
 brt also trngicomedies. This term Eletelier has himself 
 defined in the preface to The Faithful Shepherdess: '^ A 
 tragicomedy is not so called in respect of mirth and kill- 
 ing, but in respect it wants deaths, which is enough to 
 make it no comedy, which must be a representation of 
 familiar people, with such kind of trouble as no life be 
 questioned." Here, obviously, is ^omet^iing that points 
 two ways, and in this very definition we may find the key 
 to what is not only the chief ethical but also the chief 
 artistic fault of the work of Beaumont and Eletcher, and 
 one that gives their work a distinct place in the decadence 
 of the drama. A King and No King (1611), for instance, 
 is primarily concerned with the incestuous love of Arbaces, 
 King of Iberea, for young Panthea, whom he believes to 
 be his sister. All through the play this passion is the 
 dominating motive, and more and more we see the hero 
 deliberately moving forward to debasement. Toward the 
 end, however, comes a sudden " twist.'' Arbaces learns 
 that Panthea is not his sister and that his love for her 
 may after all be lawful. One can not help concluding that 
 something is wrong both logically and artistically. A bad 
 situation is allowed to dominate four acts and then at 
 the end a crumb is thrown to the moralist, when the 
 conclusion is radically at variance with all that has gone 
 before. 
 
 Aside from such a thing as this, however, the plays of 
 Beaumont and Pletcher will be found to contain much
 
 DECLINE OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 107 
 
 fine and beautiful fancy. Phihster (1609) is concerned 
 'with the love of Philaster, heir to the throne of Sicily, for 
 the Princess Arethusa, and with his jealousy of his page 
 Bellario, who turns out to be the beautiful young lady 
 Euphrasia, a sort of literary descendant of Julia and 
 Viola in Shakespeare. The minor characters, such as the 
 faithful Dion and the witty Galatea, are well drawn, and 
 the play as a whole is in the highest romantic vein of the 
 two dramatists. The Maid's Tragedy (1610) is also an 
 unusual production. The most notew^orthy character is 
 Evadne, a woman who in her low ambition will give her- 
 self up to a king she does not love and because of this 
 connection ruin the life of the man who marries her. The 
 conception is a daring one, and yet again we are led to 
 question the ultimate truth of the characterization. The 
 Faithful Shepherdess (1608), credited to Fletcher alone, 
 is a pa?toral dramr that contains some excellent passages, 
 and The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1607-8) is a keen 
 satire on the poor plays of the period. Bonduca (1616) 
 is founded upon ancient British history and presents a 
 rather free combination of the stories of Boadicea and 
 Caractacus. 
 
 Of these two collaborators " Fletcher was probably more 
 a playwright, more a realist — at least from the standpoint 
 of style, — more a wit ; Beaumont was somewhat more in- 
 terested in humanity, in poetry, and in humor. Fletcher 
 showed a genius capable of anticipating or shaping the 
 trend of English comedy in the later development of the 
 serious drama." ^* Neither man, however, had the insight 
 into nature which in such great measure distinguishes 
 
 ^* Alden: Introduction to The Knight of the Burning Pestle and 
 A King and No King, xlvi.
 
 108 A SHORT HISTORY, OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 the work of Shakespeare. With Beaumont and Fletcher 
 life seems ordered by the dictates of fancy rather than 
 by the inevitable laws that govern the world. In spite 
 of all faults, however, their work has an abiding fascina- 
 tion. It represents a decline from the moral and poetic 
 and artistic height of Shakespeare; but it still belongs to 
 the same great age, before the drama had fully fallen 
 into decay. 
 
 43. Thomas Heywood. — Close to Dekker in the field 
 of the drama of everyday life was Thomas Heywood 
 (1672 ?-lG41). Heywood was born in Lincolnshire and 
 for some time at least was a resident student at Cam- 
 bridge. In the foreword to the reader prefixed to The 
 English Traveller he assures us that he had either written 
 or had a hand in as many as two hundred and twenty 
 plays. Of these somewhat more than thirty-five have been 
 preserved. Heywood had little thought in his activity 
 beyond the immediate demands of the stage, and it was in 
 the drama of domestic life and mild adventure that he was 
 most successful. 
 
 One can hardly fail to be impressed by the clearness of 
 Heywood's main plots. In A Wornaii Killed ivith Kind- 
 ness (1603) the theme is the old one of the husband who 
 discovers the guilty love of his wife and some other man. 
 In this case the husband is Frankford and the lover Wen- 
 doll. In the indecision of Frankford, as this is evident 
 over a game of cards in which his wife and Wendell are 
 also participants, and in his return at night from a pre- 
 tended journey to find himself betrayed, there is some- 
 thing faintly reminiscent of both Hamlet and Othello. 
 The special point of interest in Hey wood's play is that in 
 a situation which according to conventional Elizabethan
 
 DECLINE OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 109 
 
 methods demanded bloodshed, he adapted a solution more 
 subtle and psychological. Frankford sends WendoU away 
 to his remorse, and to his wife (Anne) he denies the 
 presence of himself and their children, sending her to 
 a manor of his seven miles away. The result of all this is 
 seen in the broken-hearted penitence of Anne in the last 
 act. The main situation here Heywood attempted to 
 handle in at least two other plays, Edward IV and The 
 English Trdveller; but in neither case did he exhibit the 
 strength of sentiment or the directness of appeal evident 
 in his masterpiece. In The Fair Maid of the Y^est 
 (1603, or earlier) the theme is again a simple one, that 
 of the constancy of the affection of Besse Bridges, the 
 fair maid, " a girl worth gold," for her lover Spencer. 
 Closely connected with this matter of clearness, how- 
 ever, is a characteristic which most surely gives Heywood 
 a place in the disintegration of the drama. This is the 
 almost complete separation that he makes between his main 
 plots and his subplots. Even in A Wo'inan Killed with 
 ^Kindness there is little real connection between the matter 
 of Sir Charles Mountford and that of Frankford. An- 
 other of Heywood^s weak points is the general lack of 
 poetic distinction in his work. In no other man so far 
 studied has there been such sameness of tone. His in- 
 defatigable energy, however, " enabled him to hold his 
 own in dramatic species so diverse as the chronicle his- 
 tory, the romantic drama, and the comedy of manners. 
 In addition, he achieved at least one masterpiece in do- 
 mestic drama — a species in which his sincerity and direct- 
 ness, together with a pathetic power springing from a 
 manly, candid, and generous nature, found their most 
 congenial expression : w^hile several other of his plays may,
 
 110 A SHOET HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 at least in part, be regarded as having contributed to this 
 artistic growth.'' ^^ 
 
 44. John Webster. — Of the facts of the life of Webster 
 we know practically nothing. His literary activity natu- 
 rally falls into three periods : ^^ the first, that of collabo- 
 ration and apprenticeship (1602-7), in which he worked 
 chiefly with Dekker but also with Middleton, Heywood, 
 and others; the second, that of the two great tragedies 
 (1610-14) ; and the third, ^' that of the tragicomedies and, 
 probably, of Appius and Virginm, beginning about 1620, 
 the probable date of The BeviUs Law-case, and ending at a 
 time unknown." Wc are naturally chiefly concerned with 
 the second of these periods, the one that gave us The 
 White Devil (otherwise known as Yittoria Coromhona) 
 (1611) and The Duchess of Malfi (1617). 
 
 Both of these twj powerful productions were acted be- 
 fore 1612. In the first "we have the story of the in- 
 fatuation of the Duke of Brachiano for the beautiful Vit- 
 toria Coromhona, his murder of her husband and his own 
 wife at the instigation of Vittoria, their subsequent trial, 
 flight and marriage, with the vengeance of the brother of 
 the late Duchess on the guilty pair. The radiant beauty 
 of Vittoria pervades the play and, conscious though we 
 are at all times of her abandonment to passion and her 
 calculating cunning when Brought to her defense, we too 
 feel the fascination that perverted her judges and the spec- 
 tators at her trial." In The Duchess of Malfi we have 
 the guilty love of the Duchess for her steward Antonio, 
 and the vengeance of her brothers, Ferdinand, Duke of 
 
 ^^ Ward: "Thomas Hej-wood," C. H. E. L., VI, 119. 
 '"Vauglian: " Tourneur and Webster," C. H. E. L., VI, 190-91.
 
 DECLINE OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 111 
 
 Calabria, and the Cardinal, with the assistance of their 
 creature Bosola. The strength of the play rests most 
 largely on the dignity with which the Duchess meets the 
 horrors with which she is visited. Act IV, in which the 
 Duchess is presented with the hand of the dead Antonio 
 and subjected to the shrieking of madmen and the sight 
 of executioners with coffin, cords, a bell, etc., has been 
 criticized as extravagant; and it is a fact that Webster 
 has suffered from the excessive praiee of his admirers. 
 When all discount is mad ', however, there seems ample 
 warrant for the opinion of so many that on the basis of his 
 two great tragedies he taker, a place " second only to the 
 master poet himself." His tragedy has little real pathos 
 or humctuitarianism ; at the same time it exhibits tre- 
 mendous power in its gloom and despair, and the occa- 
 sional flashes that it throws into the souls of people are 
 startling.^'' 
 
 Commonly remarked in connection with Webster is 
 Cyril Tourneur, who is remembered especially for two 
 plays, 1 iic Revenger s Tragedy and The Atheist's Tragedy, 
 The titles sptaK for themselves. Tourneur has occasional 
 flashes of poetry, but although he dealt in sensational 
 matter he exhibited no special strength in either plotting 
 or characterization. While his qualities suggest Webster, 
 he never really rises to the power of this distinguished 
 contemporary. 
 
 45. Thomas Middleton. — Thomas Middleton (1570?- 
 1627) was born in London and evidently received a good 
 early education, though we know nothing definite about 
 
 ^^ See Rupert Brooke: John Wehster and the Elizabethan Drama; 
 also article in Seivanee Review (January, 1919), Lockett: "Marston, 
 Webster, and the Decline of the Elizabthan Drama."
 
 112 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 his training before he entered Gray's Inn, probably in 
 1593. He was evidently well acquainted with lav/yers, 
 as his works abound with references to the legal profes- 
 sion ; and he married the daughter of one of the clerks in 
 chancery. He was much employed in the writing of 
 masques and pageants, and in 1620 he became chronologer 
 to the city of London, which position he held until his 
 death. The most noteworthy event of his later years was 
 his being summoned before the privy council in 1624, 
 when it is possible that he was consigned to prison for 
 a while because of his satirical play, A Ga^ne at Chess, 
 This remarkable production grew out of the fruitless at- 
 tempt to unite the royal houses of England and Spain, and 
 appearing as it did at a time when the cause of Spain had 
 become very unpopular, it was highly successful. The 
 White and Black Kings are the sovereigns of England 
 and Spain; the White Knight is Prince Charles, and the 
 Black Knight is Gondomar, the intriguing Spanish am- 
 bassador. The play was ultimately suppressed on the 
 protest of the Spanish representative. 
 
 When we turn from' this interesting tour de force to 
 Middleton's typical plays we meet many baffling questions. 
 'Not the least of these grows out of his collaboration with 
 Dekker and other dramatists, but especially with William 
 Kowley. This younger play^vright is supposed to have 
 been born about 1585 and to have died at some time 
 after 1637. He was an actor in various companies, wrote 
 several pamphlets, and, aside from work done in connec- 
 tion with others, seems wholly to have been responsible for 
 the play All's Lost by Lust (1609). The best work of 
 both Middleton and Rowley was that which developed from 
 their co-operation, Rowley, so far as we can judge, proving
 
 DECLINE OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 113 
 
 to be a serviceable collaborator and one with a good eye 
 to theatrical situation. 
 
 Middleton's own work is frequently powerful, and his 
 versification and characterization almost always exhibit 
 something of the ease of the professional. Succeeding 
 Chapman and Jonson in the comedy of manners, however, 
 he catered constantly to a low public taste. The dates of 
 his plays are uncertain. The most pow^erful one, The 
 Changeling (1632?), was evidently written late in his 
 life, as its main plot was based on a story in John Eey- 
 nolds's Tnum{p}i of God's Revenge against Murther (pr. 
 1621). Beatrice, in order to marry the nobleman Al- 
 semero, employs De Flores, servant of her father, to mur- 
 der Alonzo de Piracquo, a suitor, only to find at last 
 that De Flores demands not gold but her honor as the 
 reward of his deed. Especially striking is the great dia- 
 logue at the end of Act III, and it is to Middleton's 
 credit that his villain has invited comparison with Kichard 
 III and lago. Much of the strength of the conception 
 however, was due to Rowley, who wrote both the begin- 
 ning and the end of the play. Antonio, the changeling, 
 who gives the title to the play, figures almost wholly in 
 the subplot. 
 
 In A Trich to Catch the Old One (1606) the spend- 
 thrift Witgood, in order to get the better of his uncle, the 
 usurer Lucre, induces a courtesan to play the part of 
 a rich widow, whom he deceives Lucre into thinking he is 
 about to marry. Hoard, however, another usurer, hearing 
 of the proposal, desires the prize for himself. All of this 
 develops as Witgood would have it ; Hoard relieves him by 
 getting the rich widow while he himself is freed from 
 his obligations. This play is typical of Middleton's
 
 114 A SHOET HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 ability, and also of his ethics and his tendency to use 
 stereotyped names. In Women Beware Women (1612) the 
 center of interest is Livia, "who by her cunning aids in 
 the seduction of another woman, Bianca, and then turns 
 to the abandoned husband for her own gratification. A 
 Chaste Maid in Cheapside (1612-13), in spite of some 
 power to amuse, is one long medley of libertiues, courte- 
 snps, j^nd e-ossips. Middleton was a remarkable dramatic 
 poet; but in subject and tone he is thoroujrhly decadent. 
 
 46. Pii^..p Massinger. — Philip Massinger (1583-1640) 
 was bom at Salisbury, the son of Arthur Massinger, who 
 was in the service of the Earls of Pembroke. He entered 
 St. Alban Hall, Oxford, in 1602, but for some reason 
 left in 1606 without taking his degree. Entering upon his 
 career as a London playwright, he seems more than once 
 to have had financial difficulties. He worked at times with 
 other dramatists, especially with Eletcher, and the im- 
 pression that he has left is that of a dignified and con- 
 scientious worker. In spite of the warning that he might 
 have received from! Middleton, he more than once intro- 
 duced into his plays references to contemporary persons 
 and politics. 
 
 The City Madam (1619) exhibits in its portrayal of 
 contemporary lite a union of the light movement and the 
 realism of Middleton with the underlying seriousness of 
 Jonson. The City Madam is Lady Frugal, who with her 
 daughters is cured of her follies and ridiculous preten- 
 sions. The Duke of Milan (1620) is built partly upon 
 the story of Ilerod and Mrtriamne, but its main theme is 
 that of lago and Othello. The language more than once 
 reminds one of Othello, as when the Duke demands of the 
 jealous Mariana " some proof " of his wife's guilt with
 
 DECLINE OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA llS 
 
 her husband. The Maid of Honour (1622) contains the 
 remarkable characitr Caniioip, who is in love with Ber- 
 toldo, the natural brother of the king, and who, when 
 this man is captured in a rash enterprise which he has 
 undertaken and his ransom fixed at an enormous price, 
 sends to him the money by her unhappy lover, Adorni. A 
 New Way to Pay Old DeUs (1625) received much sug- 
 gc;ti< a ['rom M'iddietoii's A Trick to Catch the Old One. 
 While not necessarily the strongest, it has proved to be 
 Massinger^s most popular 1)1 ay, for the reason that it 
 co'itains in Sir Giles Overreach a character that has been 
 a great favorite with actors on the Frglish stage. This 
 avaricious extortioner not only has bonds on all the re- 
 sources of his nephew, Frank Wellborn, but hopes by the 
 marriage of his daughter Margaret to Lord Lovell and 
 of Wellborn to Lady Allworth to win also the money of 
 these great people. His plans are frustrated by the mar- 
 riage of Lovell to Lady Allworth and by Margaret's 
 elopement with her young lover Allworth, page to Lovell. 
 Quite noticeable in the play is the Dickens method of char- 
 acterization with excessive emphasi? on some one quality, 
 an example being Greedy. The lioinan Actor (1626) tells 
 the story of the passion which an actor by his performance 
 in a play inspires in Domitia, the wife of Domitianus 
 Caesar, and of the revenge which Domitianus takes upon 
 him. It is a compliment to Massinger's technique that the 
 device of a play within a play is here used without at any 
 time impressing one as tedious or crude. In The Gi'eat 
 Duke of Florence (1627) an idyllic charm surrounds 
 the love of Giovanni and Lidia, and the whole work ex- 
 hibits more tenderness and refinement than is usually 
 shown by the dramatist. Believe as You List (1630) is
 
 IIG A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 concerned with the misfortunes and sad state of Antiochus, 
 King of Lower Asia, and is characterized by much that 
 is dignified and strong. The Guardian (1633) is a fit 
 representative of the decadent drama. The plot is unusu- 
 ally complicated; Durazzo, who has the title part, is 
 despicably gross ; and the whole tone of the play is on Mas- 
 singer's lowest level. 
 
 This dramatist is noted for what has been called his 
 mechanical morality — for his people without souls — 
 though it may be contended that this was to some extent 
 at least a protest against current decadence. In his plays 
 there are few flashes of poetry. He substituted sensa- 
 tionalism for natural vigor and his themes are frequently 
 improbable. When he attempts to draw ideal characters 
 he fails to convince, and the qualities of his people seem 
 to be external rather than a real part of them. One of the 
 most exasperating of his faults is his deliberate moraliz- 
 ing. More and more as one studies his work he becomes 
 convinced that he was, as Symons says, but *'the late 
 twilight of the long and splendid day of which Marlowe 
 was the dawn." 
 
 In connection with Massinger as well as anywhere, how- 
 ever, it might be worth while briefly to note the changes 
 that had taken place in the English drama since the days 
 of Lyly and Marlowe. The drama was essentially a 
 product of the Eenaissance and lost its power with the 
 decline of the forces that brought it into existence. As in 
 any great movement in literature or life, symptoms of 
 decay had begun to appear even while the form was at 
 its height. Before 1600 several forms had diea. First 
 passed the miracle plays; with John Heywood went the 
 interlude; and by 1600 the morality and the chronicle
 
 DECLINE OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAIVLA. 117 
 
 play Lad also run their coarbt. TiiLii in turn there was 
 emphasis on classical drama, the comedy of humors, the 
 comedy of manners, romantic tragedy, and the domestic 
 play. By 1620, then, or the time when j\Ias»inger began 
 to write for the stage, every noteworthy tendency of the 
 drama of the age had run its course. All that the men 
 who came after this date could do was to work over old 
 materials and adapt to their own purpose situations in 
 the work of their predecessors. Accordingly they threw 
 emphasis on workmanship, their characters became typical 
 and stereotyped, and their plots more and more sensa- 
 tional. It is true that the moral tone that developed was 
 such as largely to justify the opposition of the Puritans. 
 It is also true, however, that the terms " decadence " and 
 " disintegration '' may easily be overworked. The spirit 
 of the drama did not die under the Puritans — it only 
 slept; and when plays again took the stage in the period 
 of the Restoration, Jonson and Beaumont and Fletcher 
 were among the leading influences. 
 
 47. John Ford.— John Ford (1586-1640 ?) was a native 
 of Islington in Devonshire. A man of his name was 
 entered at Exeter College, Oxford, in 1601 ; but if this 
 was the future dramatist his stay was short, for he became 
 a member of the Middle Temple in November, 1602. Of 
 Ford's further career we know only from the dedications 
 prefixed to his plays and verses, and he disappears from 
 view after 1639. ^^ He seems to have been a man of a 
 somewhat melancholy temperament, independent in his 
 attitude toward the public taste, and capable of espousing 
 unpopular causes." ^^ 
 
 "Ford's dramas show a tendency to deal with illicit 
 **Neil8on: The Chief Elizabethan Dramatists, 874.
 
 118 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 and even incestuous love in a peculiar mood, the dra- 
 matist frequently creating strong sympathy for the tempted 
 and the sinner, and leaving the question of guilt open. 
 This, along with his fondness for the theatrical and the 
 sensational, has led to his being frequently chosen ?is an 
 example of the decadence of the drama. The charge is not 
 to be denied; but in spite of these defects, he shows a 
 power of insight into suffering and perplexity, and writes 
 at times poetry of such beauty and tenderness, that he 
 remains a figure of much intrinsic interest as well as his- 
 torical importance." ^^ 
 
 The chronology of Eord's plays is a much disputed 
 question. In general, however, those here remarked ap- 
 peared within the limits 1627-1633. After various non- 
 dramatic work and effort in collaboration, the playwright 
 passed to the composition of The Lot^er's Mdnnclioly 
 (1628), his first independent drama. Ihe theme is the 
 simple one of the melancholy and longing of Prince Pala- 
 dor of Cyprus for the lost Eroclea. The love-madness of 
 Palador, however, doubtless received suggestion from 
 Hamlet; the page Parthenophil is merely a weaker ver- 
 sion of Viola ; and the play as a whole by no means rises 
 above mediocrity. Very different, however, are the next 
 three plays, Pord's powerful and characteristic but de- 
 cadent tragedies. In 'TU Pity She's a ^Y}wrc (1627) 
 Annabella, daughter of Plorio, is sought in marriage by the 
 Eoman Grimaldi, the nobleman Soranzo, and the fool 
 Bergetto; but she leaves all three to bestow her love in 
 secret upon her brother Giovanni. Her sin is revealed 
 when she finally marries Soranzo. United with this main 
 plot is the minor one of Richardetto, a physician whose 
 ^•Neilsoii, ibid.
 
 DECLINE OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 119 
 
 wife lias been betrayed by Soranzo. A characteristic 
 scene is that in which Giovanni, having cut out Anna- 
 bella's heart, presents it on a rapier to the guests at 
 Soranzo's banquet. Most critics agree that The BroJcen 
 Heart (1629) is Ford's strongest play. There are in fact 
 four broken hearts in the drama, those of Orgilus, Penthea, 
 Ithocles, and Calantha, for when Ithocles, brother of Pen- 
 thea, has wrecked the love of Orgilus and his sister, 
 Orgilus proceeds to take revenge by making that between 
 Ithocles and Calantha impossible. There are some strong 
 scenes in the play; especially tense is that of the revels 
 (V, 2) in which Calantha hears successively of the death 
 of Penthea, Ithocles, and her father the king without emo- 
 tion. In Love's Snr.rifce (1630) the central figure is 
 Bianca, Duchess of Pavia, who at first repulses Fernando, 
 the friend of her husband who makes love to her, but who 
 later in her overmastering passion for him defies fate 
 itself and without ever losing her self-passession dies by 
 the sword of Caraffa, her weak and impulsive husband. 
 The play is a compound of genius and coarseness and 
 faulty construction that is almost without a parallel. Of 
 somewhat different quality is Perhin Warhech (1633), 
 which seems to be a belated chronicle but which is really 
 more of a problem play. Ford's versification and his 
 poetic effects are of a very high order; and his lines fre- 
 quently impress one by their musical quality. He was not 
 firm in construction, however, and for cold-blooded vil- 
 lainy and absolute lack of restraint he is not equaled by 
 any one that we have so far met in the history of the 
 English Drama. 
 
 48. James Shirley.— James Shirley (1596-1666) was 
 born in London and received his early education at the
 
 120 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 Merchant Taylors' School. He afterwards went to St. 
 John's College, Oxford, but transferred to Catherine 
 Hall, Cambridge, where he took his degrees. Having 
 taken orders about 1619, he obtained a living at St. Albans 
 in Hertfordshire, but becoming converted to the Church 
 of Kome resigned this, and in 1623 became master of a 
 grammar school. His first play was licensed in 1625 and 
 probably very soon after this date he went to London as 
 a professional dramatist. He received some noteworthy 
 commissions, especially for the composition of masques, 
 and was generally under the patronage of the court. He 
 engaged in the Civil War on the royalist side, but after 
 the battle of Marston Moor went back to London and to his 
 old profession of teaching. After the Restoration some 
 of his plays were revived, but he wrote no more. He and 
 his second wife died of shock in connection with the great 
 London fire. 
 
 Shirley wrote altogether nearly forty plays, and because 
 of the care that he took with his work these are unusually 
 well preserved. In fact, by the time he wrote, because of 
 the published work of Jonson, Shakespeare, and others, it 
 was beginning to be understood that a dramatist might 
 expect to be read a^ well as see his plays on the stage. 
 Shirley had an excellent sense of humor and most of his 
 plays are comedies, though two of his tragedies represent 
 his strongest work. Because of his associations, in his 
 comedies he emphasized society in the narrower sense. 
 Hyde Park (1632) is a realistic play of the manners of 
 the time, most noteworthy for the atmosphere of the horse- 
 racing of the day that it reproduces. Venture's song in 
 praise of the famous horses of the time comes back to us 
 now with something of the pathos of Villon's ballads.
 
 DECLINE OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 121 
 
 Even more popular was The Lady of Pleasure (1635), 
 the theme of which is the attempt of Sir Thomas, the hus- 
 band of Lady Bornwell, to cure his wife of her follies 
 by pretending to adopt her own course of living. The 
 play, however, is marred by an indecent tone, and even 
 more objectionable was The Gamester, In better taste 
 was the great masque, The Triumph of Peace, brought out 
 in 1634 before the King and Queen at an expense, we are 
 told, of £21,000. Passing to the tragedies we find in The 
 Traiior (1631) one of Shirley's most powerful produc- 
 tions. The play sets forth in strong fashion some of the 
 passions and evil ambitions that afflicted Florence at the 
 time of the Eenaissance, and the first and fourth acts are 
 especially good in technique. In spite of all this, however, 
 there is abundant ground for the statement that the drama 
 is simply " another example of the legerdemain of a 
 clever playwright in converting old and trite material into 
 new effects." ^° The Duke's kissing of the corpse of his 
 victim (Act V) is only one of several decadent features. 
 The story of The Cardinal (1641) is as follows: 
 " The Cardinal has induced the king to sanction the mar- 
 riage of a beautiful young widow, the Duchess Kosaura, 
 to the Cardinal's nephew, the proud and fiery Columbo. 
 Rosaura's heart, however, belongs to the Count d'Alvarez ; 
 and Columbo having been sent off in command of a mili- 
 tary expedition, she entreats him by letter to release her 
 from her engagement. He feigns assent, though at heart 
 stung to fury by her breach of promise ; and on returning 
 victorious from the wars kills his innocent rival and casts 
 his corpse before Rosaura's feet. Under the influence of 
 the Cardinal, the king forgives Columbo for this bloody 
 '° Schilling: English Drama, 21 L
 
 122~" A ffiORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 deed, and Rosaura resolves on private vengeance, for which 
 a captain called Hernando, who is smarting under an insult 
 offered him bv Columbo, presents himself as a willing 
 agent. In the fifth act the plot, and with it the character of 
 the Cardinal, take a new turn. Columho having been killed 
 by Hernando, the Cardinal resolves on a double crime — 
 vengeance for his nephew's death is to follow 1^ dis- 
 honor of the Duchess whom he believes to be its authoress. 
 Rosaura had feigned madness in order to conceal her own 
 intentions of revenge ; but the Cardinal pursues his hideous 
 design, which is only frustrated by Hernando's sword. 
 The king appears on the scene ; and the Cardinal, believing 
 himself on the point of death from his wounds, pretends 
 to have poisoned the Duchess, and feigning repentance 
 offers an antidote of which he drinks part. But the anti- 
 dote itself proves to be poison ; and as his wounds were not 
 really mortal he has thus killed himself as well as his 
 victim." ^^ "In the intensity of its interest, the vitality 
 of its characters, the splendor of its poetry and the im- 
 pressive fusion of the great tragic motives of ambition, 
 love, and revenge, \_The Cardinal] brings to a fitting close 
 the tremendous file of English tragedy." ^" 
 
 49. The Puritan Attack on the Stage. — It was not so 
 much in the work of the dramatists that have been 
 mentioned as in that of lesser men of the period, such 
 as Cartwright, Mayne, and Glapthome, that the real 
 decadence of the drama was to be seen. Long iefore^ the 
 da.y_.of these men, however, the Puritan ojpposition to the 
 stage had bejn__ga^ringJforce.^^ A full consideration 
 
 '^ Ward: English Dramatic Literature, III, 98-99. 
 
 "Neilson: "Ford and Shirley," C. H. E. L., VI, 226. 
 
 " See Wilson: "The Puritan Attack upon the Stage," C. H. E. L., 
 VI, to whom the section is much indebted.
 
 DECLINE OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 123 
 
 of this important subject would take us into a long dis- 
 cussion of the ultimate relation of art and ethics, and his- 
 torically perhaps even to the relation of Christianity to 
 the whole institution of the Roman stao-e. Even in the 
 fourteentjfcucentairy-jQpiiosi^^ was not un- 
 
 known ; it is^in^act hardly too much to say that English 
 dram4IRc criticism began witji_a .sermon, for in a volume 
 of homilies written near the end of this century has been 
 found an interesting Sermon against Miracle-Plays,^* 
 which took the position that miracle plays '' reverse " 
 Christ in making into a play " that that he took into 
 most earnest/' and that since they were of " the lust 
 of the flesh and mirth of the body " no one could effectu- 
 ally hear them and the voice of Christ at once. *' The 
 frequent religious changes in the middle years of the 
 sixteenth century made it dangerous for the government 
 to allow the theatre to be used for partisan purposes, and, 
 accordingly, one regulation after another was passed to 
 prevent the handling of matters of religio^i or state upon 
 the stage J culm in rating in the proclamation of May 16, 
 1559, whereby Elizabeth provided for the strict licensing 
 of the drama." ^^ T^i^he Puritan-^int^ of view the stage 
 of Jshakespeare was both immoral and unholy. Moreover 
 it sometimes encroached upon the province of the pulpit. 
 " The actor's practice, derived from mediaeval tradition, 
 of performing on Sundays and holy days did not tend to 
 soften the exasperation of the godly, who listened with 
 
 " Full text is given in W. C. Hazlitt's The English Drama and 
 Stage. 
 
 " For detailed study of the office of Master of the Revels and the 
 censorship of the period, see Gildersleeve: Government Regulation 
 of the Elizabethan Drama. For study of the Puritan point of view, 
 see Thompson: The Puritans omd the Stage,
 
 124 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 indignant horror to tlie sound of the player's trumpet pass- 
 ing the open door of the church and mingling defiantly 
 with the peal of the bells.'' Einally, the actor was bound 
 by the very necessities of his craft to infringe upon the 
 divine law (Deuteronomy, xxii, 5) which forbade one sex 
 to wear the costume of the other; and the point was a 
 particularly telling one in an age when it was customary 
 for boys to act female parts. For a long time the opposi- 
 tion had been a smoldering fire, but about 1576 it flamed 
 forth with violence. It made itself felt through preachers, 
 pamphlets, and through the civic authorities. Although 
 the Queen and her courtiers became powerful champions, 
 to the civic and commercial mind the player was a super- 
 fluous person, a very ^' caterpillar of the commonwealth." 
 Public calamities were interpreted as the judgment of 
 God against those who permitted stage-plays; accordingly 
 when the plague raged in 1572 actors were expelled from 
 the city, and when on the second Sunday in January, 
 1583, a scaffold at a bear-baiting just outside the city 
 collapsed, the Puritan argument against all vain amuse- 
 ments was used with tremendous effect. " The erection 
 of the Theater and the Curtain in 1576 and 1577 acted 
 at once upon the already highly charged atmosphere and 
 called down a veritable hail of sermons and tracts." In 
 1583, however, appeared a book that was destined to sur- 
 pass everything that had preceded it as a contribution to 
 the discussion. This was The Anaiomie of Abuses, by 
 Philip Stubbes, foremost of Puritan social reformers.^* 
 In the section devoted to ^' Stage-Playes and Enterludes " 
 
 *'Note that this book and Harrison's Description of England are 
 the chief contemporary sources of information upon the social and 
 economic conditions in the period of Shakespeare.
 
 V 
 
 DECLINE OF THE ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 125 
 
 Stubbes emphasized the infernal origin of plays, backed 
 up bis words with citations to Scripture, and asserted with 
 earnestness that to visit the theatre was ^' to worship devils 
 and betray Christ Jesus." His book was exceedingly 
 popular, passing through four editions in three years. 
 The controversy raged, once with a prolonged duel between 
 two Oxford scholars, until in 1612 Thomas Heywood 
 undertook to defend his profession with An Apology for 
 Actors. He was answered by one J. G. (John Greene?) ; 
 but in 1625, the year of Charles I's accession, an anony- 
 mous Puritan opened a new and ominous line of attack 
 with A Short Treatise against Stage-Flayes, This author, 
 evidently thinking that any appeal to the Crown was hope- 
 less, and that the city had given up the task in despair, 
 addressed himself to Parliament, and in a brief and busi- 
 nesslike manner enumerated the chief arguments against 
 the drama. The twenty-eight pages of this tract contain 
 in essence the whole of William Prynne's formidable 
 Histriommtix (1632-3). One of the most interesting 
 things about this later work, which really exhausted its 
 subject, is its form, there being a strange division into acts 
 and scenes with an occasional chorus.^^ In 1629 a com- 
 pany of French actresses, at the invitation of Queen Henri- 
 etta Maria, had attempted to give a performance at Black- 
 friars, but had been hooted and hissed from the stage. 
 Prynne referred to this incident with glee, and in the 
 table of contents at the end of his book he inserted some 
 remarks which were considered highly offensive and per- 
 sonally insulting to the Queen. He was '^ summoned 
 before the High-Commission Court and Star-Chamber, 
 which condemned his book to be ^lurnt, and the author to 
 " For a full analysis of the work, f^'% Ward, III, 240-45.
 
 126 A SHORT HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DHAMA 
 
 be expelled from the Bar and his Inn, to be deprived of 
 his Oxford degree, to stand in the pillory, to lose both 
 his ears, to pay a fine of £5,000 to the king and to be 
 perpetually imprisoned." ^* More and more, however, 
 with the approach of civil war the Puritan cause gained 
 force until on September 2, 1642. there went forth the 
 edict for the total suppression of stage-plays. This was 
 not wholly effective at first and had to be followed up by 
 other and more stringent acts ; nor, as has been suggested, 
 was the spirit of the drama really killed. For eirhteon 
 years, however, the theatre as an institution was officially 
 closed, and the love of Viola and the humor of Falstaff 
 became a tradition and a name. 
 " Ward, III, 243-44.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 DEYDE]^ AND HIS AGE 
 
 50. The Era of the Restoration. Heroic Drama. — 
 When at the accession of Charles II the English theatre 
 was formally opened again it witnessed a new age and 
 experienced new impulses. Unfortunately, and in spite of 
 much noble effort, its dominant tone and tendencies were 
 such as to incur as never before the censure of the moralist. 
 The characteristics of the period and its differences from 
 that of Elizabeth and James I, have been thus ably 
 summed up by one of the ablest students of the epoch : ^ 
 " In the mechanism of stage presentation the Restoration 
 theatre is distinct from its Elizabethan predecessor. . . . 
 It is enough to recognize that the general adoption of mov- 
 able scenery and the regular employment of women as 
 actors are noteworthy departures from the habitual usages 
 of the Elizabethan stage. . . . Elizabethan drama is 
 spontaneous and original, Restoration drama artificia l and 
 imitative. Elizabethan comedy at its height is creative; 
 Restoration comedy at its best is imitative of the fashions 
 and foibles of the heau monde. The one notably interprets 
 character, the other chiefly produces characteristics. ... 
 Again, the Elizabethans were impatient of artificial re- 
 straints. Shakespeare violated the dramatic unities; 
 Dryden advocated them even if his practice did not always 
 
 *Nettleton: English Drama of the Restoration and Eighteenth 
 Century, 3-9. 
 
 127
 
 128 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 square with his precept. . . . ISTo less marked is the 
 contrast between Elizabethan and Restoration drama in 
 breadth of scope. The former is national, the latter local. 
 Shakespeare sounds the whole gamut of life ; but the comic 
 dramatists of the Restoration repeat the notes of fashion, 
 frivolity, and vice. Comedy in Dryden's age represents 
 primarily only the life of the court. Hero and heroine 
 know the world, but the world is London. Shakespeare 
 portrays all the passions; Restoration comedy constantly 
 reverts to the single passion of unlawful love." Naturally 
 in Dryden's day Shakespeare was rewritten to suit an age 
 which found Elizabethan genius rude and unrefined. 
 " Beyond the Restoration horizon lay the forest of Arden 
 and the seacoast of Bohemia. . . . But perhaps the 
 most significant contrast between Elizabethan and Ref'tora- 
 tion drama is in moral tone. Restoration comedy dilfers 
 fundamentally from Elizabethan in deliberately enlisting 
 the sympathy of the audience in favor of the wi'ong-doer. 
 The earlier drama, with all its sins, inclines to award 
 dramatic justice, however belated, to the virtuous. Resto- 
 ration comedy, disdaining fifth-act compromise, often lets 
 vice rampant in the earlier acts remain vice triumphant. 
 It laughs not merely indulgently at vice, but harshly at the 
 semblance of virtue. Cavalier contempt went so far as 
 to regard the show of virtue as proof of hypocrisy. Cyni- 
 cism replaced religion. Piety was considered bourgeois." 
 It is easy to exaggerate such elements and characteristics 
 as affecting the general population of London; but as 
 affecting the theatre there can be no doubt. " As the num- 
 ber of playhouses was, for a time, limited to two, the 
 people who attended the theatre could not have comprised 
 any large part of the comfortably situated London popula-
 
 DRYDEN AND HIS AGE 129 
 
 tion. The King and his court generally formed a con- 
 siderable portion of one audience. Then, there would be 
 a number of that parasitic host that always follows in 
 the wake of royalty. These elements account, in large 
 measure, for the dissolute and indescribably low moral 
 tone of Kestoration drama as a whole." ^ 
 
 For a long time it was customary to attribute not only 
 such characteristics as have been remarked but also the 
 whole basis of Kestoration drama to French influence. 
 More recent scholarship, however, has shown that this in- 
 fluence has been considerably exaggerated, and that th 
 drama of the period followed the main stream of Englist, 
 trail ition — from Shakespeare and Jonson, Beaumont and 
 Fletcher. Of special importance was the realism of Jon- 
 son. E"evertheless it is true that the French did a great 
 deal to affect the nature of English drama and dramatic 
 theory. With prime emphasis on the classical, Corneille 
 influenced tragedy, and Moliere, frequently greatly 
 coarsened, influenced comedy, while the prose fiction of 
 France is also to be considered. The French code of rules, jy^ 
 with its adherence to the three unities, tended more and / 
 more to cultivate the mechanical, and the new comedy of 
 manners especially owed much to the Continent. While it 
 is true then that in any case the Eestoration would have 
 produced a comedy not very difl'erent from that which 
 appeared, the development was assisted by the comedy of 
 manners of Moliere ; and the reason why this foreign type, 
 not in its technical features, but in its animating spirit, 
 was ultimately more influential than Jonson's comedy 
 of humors or Fletcher's court comedy, is that it was " more 
 congenial to a society that was less interested in satirical 
 
 * Wright: Tyie Political Play of the Restoration, 174.
 
 130 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 portraiture or romantic exaggeration than it "was in its 
 own mundane existence." ^ 
 
 Different forces affecting the stage worked together to 
 produce a new kind of play, the Heroic Drama. As jsenti- 
 nient becamo more and more Jctuched and impersonal, it 
 also became chivalric and artificial; and it was affected 
 by the romances of La Calprenede and M^adeleine de 
 Scudery. It is to be noted, however, that there was heroic 
 romance on the stage even before the Eestoration, and the 
 ultimate origins seem to be found in the sometimes oyag- 
 gerated romanticism of Fletcher. " Love is the main, 
 theme of all heroic plays, and the sole theme of many. All 
 major and most minor characters are lovers. The hero is 
 always a warrior, but the martial element is made so unim- 
 portant that nought but the lover remains." * Along with 
 love went honor, ana as friendship is a form of honor, the 
 heroic play was sometimes concerned with the conflict 
 between love and friendship. " A second form concerns 
 four people, — a male and a female villain, and a hero and 
 his mistress. The male villain loves the mistress and the 
 female villain the hero; so their alliance is founded on 
 selfish interest. In the end both villains are killed by 
 opportune interference from the outside. ... A third 
 manifestation of the same idea is where the female villain 
 becomes infatuated with the hero, who is of course already 
 a lover. She offers him the choice of reciprocating her 
 passion or death. She meets her fate, likewise, through 
 external influence that also saves him from the embarrass- 
 ment of a decision; or she may be so successful as to 
 bring about the death of his love, and possibly that of him- 
 
 » Miles: The Influence of Upline on Restoration Comedy, 220-21. 
 * Chase : The English Heroic Play, 65.
 
 DRYDEN AND HIS AGE 131 
 
 self, before her own." ^ The heroic drama proper em- 
 ployed few characters, admitted no comic element, and 
 excluded all classes of society except the nobility. It cul- 
 tivated rhyme, which Dryden defended as " as natural 
 and more effectual than blank verse '' and as ^^ the only 
 way of writing in verse " that Shakespeare, Jonson, and 
 Fletcher had left to him and his contemporaries. For a 
 while the form was very popular, especially in Dryden's 
 earlier years of work; but its extravagances at length in- 
 vited ridicule and burlesque and led to its passing from 
 the stage.^ 
 
 51. William D'Avenant. — It is not to be supposed, how- 
 ever, that the spirit of the drama wholly died in 1642 and 
 suddenly came to life again in 1660. In the earlier years 
 of the interval at least professional performances of plays 
 were sometimes attempted, and regularly puppet-shows and 
 short comic pieces known as drolls were given without 
 interruption. The theatre as an institution, however, was 
 formally closed. It was really through printed works 
 rather than those presented on the stage that the great 
 Elizabethan tradition was passed on^ various plays of 
 Shirley and minor dramatists seeing publication under the 
 Commonwealth. The real link between the old and the 
 new was Sir William D'Avenant (1606-1668).'' This 
 
 • Ibid., 35. 
 
 •Note C. G. Child: "The Rise of the Heroic Play" {Modem Lan- 
 guage Notes, June, 1904, 166-73) ; and J. W. Tupper: "The Relation 
 of the Heroic Play to the Romances of Beaumont and Fletcher" 
 {Publications of Modern Language Association of America, 1905, 
 Vol. XX, 584-621). 
 
 ' Along with him may be remarked Thomas Killigrew (1612-1683), 
 who wrote several tragicomedies and who also was a link between 
 Elizabethan and Restoration drama.
 
 132 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 author, a representative Cavalier, had succeeded Jonson 
 as poet laureate, and his activities under the Common- 
 wealth had brought upon him imprisonment and even the 
 fear of death. In 1649 appeared in print Love and 
 Honour, " his first noteworthy step towards the neroic 
 play," ^ and in 1656 was produced The Siege of Rhodes, 
 usually regarded as the first English opera and some- 
 times as the first heroic play. Its lines contained from two 
 to five poetic feet, and with its varied rhyme it was 
 intended partly for song and partly for recitative. Obvi- 
 ously it owed much to the masque, and with its emphasis 
 on scenery it was destined to mark an epoch in the history 
 of the drama, while Dryden and others who cultivated the 
 heroic drama acknowledged their indebtedness to it. In 
 other works D'Avenant cultivated the new form of " dra- 
 matic opera," and his later pieces include various adapta- 
 tions from Shakespeare. 
 
 52. John Dryden. — Dryden (1631-1700) was emi- 
 nently representative of his age as dramatist, satirist, and 
 critic. A man of epic mold, had he written less, and not 
 so much for his own generation, he might have produced a 
 final masterpiece, though, as it is, in the field of English 
 political satire in verse he has no rival. Connected by 
 marriage with an aristocratic family, he wrote rapidly and 
 he wrote much, in the desire to make his pen yield him 
 as large a return as possible. With no strong predilection 
 or talent for the drama, by sheer force of ability he be- 
 came, on the basis of the twenty-eight plays that he wrote 
 or adapted, the foremost playwright of his day. His 
 work for the stage falls into three periods. " In the first 
 
 • J. W. Tupper : Introduction to Love wnd Honour and The Siege 
 of Rhodes, xii.
 
 DRYDEN AND HIS AGE 133 
 
 period, from 1663 to 1670, after some dramatic experi- 
 ments, Dryden foimd in the heroic play a congenial type 
 of drama, and in 1670 won his greatest popular triumph 
 with The Conquest of Granada. In the second period, from 
 1672 to 1678, [he] saw his favorite productions assailed 
 with bitter ridicule in The Rehearsal, and his own 
 supremacy in them shaken by the success of Elkanah 
 Settle, an adversary whom he could not but despise. In 
 the third period [he] was no longer primarily a dramatist ; 
 though he produced some plays, such as The Spanish Friar 
 and Don Sehastian, equal in literary merit to those of his 
 earlier life, he made no progress either in style or dra- 
 matic theory. In 1693, on the failure of Love Tnumphant, 
 he abandoned the stage in disgust." ^ These periods call 
 for consideration in somewhat greater detail. 
 
 In his first play, The Wild Gallant (1663), Dryden 
 " attempted to combine a complicated ^ Spanish plot ' with 
 scenes from Jonson's comedy of humours, and wit combats 
 suggested by Fletcher." He was thus a follower of Eng- 
 lish tradition, and he wrote in prose. The Rival Ladies 
 (1664) was also a comedy with an involved Spanish plot, 
 but in verse and filled with a romantic spirit. The Indian 
 Qiiepn (1664), on which the dramatist assisted his 
 brother-in-law. Sir Eobert Howard (1626-1698), was in- 
 fluenced to some extent by Eoger Boyle, Earl of Orrery 
 (1621-1679), to whom in the dedication of The Rival 
 Ladies Dryden gave the credit of an earlier adoption of 
 the new method of " writing scenes in verse," and who in 
 
 1664 produced The History of Henry the Fifth and in 
 
 1665 Mustapha, the Son of Solyvmn the Magnificent. 
 
 •Noyes: Selected Dramas of John Dryden (Introduction, xix), to 
 which source much of the following discussion of Dryden is indebted.
 
 134 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 Encouraged by the success of his collaboration with How- 
 ard, Drjden now wrote alone The Indian Emperor (1665). 
 This play definitely established his pt^cidun. It cultivated 
 the heroic couplet, used the love and honor conflict, and 
 placed such heroic figures as Montezuma and Cortez amid 
 scenes of stirring incident. In 1665 came the plague, and 
 the London theatres were closed until late in 1666. Ee- 
 tired for a while in the country, however, Dryden wrote his 
 Essay of Draniatich Poesie, though this did not appear in 
 print until 1G08. ±hen appeared five plays or adapta- 
 tions, among them being Tyrannic Love, or The Royal 
 Martyr (1668), the story of St. Catherine, a princess who 
 is forced to argue for her Christian faith and who is pur- 
 sued by the tyrant Maximin. In 1670 appeared The Con- 
 quest of Granada (in two parts and ten acts)^ a brilliant 
 success and the best example of the heroic drama by the 
 foremost exponent of the form. Almanzor, the hero, is 
 led through a complicated maze of '* incredible love and 
 impossible valor ; " yet such is the genuine vigor of the 
 action that the production is saved from becoming a mere 
 medley of bombast and noise. The Conquest of Granada 
 was so unusually successful as to lead Dryden into some- 
 thing of the extravagance of his own hero, for in the 
 epilogue to the second part of the work he gi*ew egotistic 
 over the progress he had made in dramatic art beyond 
 Jonson and other Elizabethans. At any rate the first 
 period of his dramatic activity had closed triumphantly. 
 The second period of Dryden's writing for the stage 
 was featured by some of his best work, but also by doubt 
 and confusion. For some years George Villiers, Duke of 
 Buckingham, assisted by Martin Clifford and Thomas 
 fiprat, seems to have been at work on a burlesque on the
 
 DRYDEN AND HIS AGE 135 
 
 heroic drama first popularized by D'Avenant The fa- 
 mous play, The Rehearsal, enriched by a long accumula- 
 tion of parody and ridicule of contemporary dramatists, 
 was finally produced in 1671, and Dry den as Bayes re- 
 ceived the post of poet laureate made vacant by the death 
 of D'Avenant in the meantime. While he thus became the 
 chief target of the jest, he had too much good sense and 
 too clear an appreciation of clever work to attempt a 
 reply. Instead, the next year, 1672, influenced largely 
 by the French comedy of manners, with Marriage-d-la- 
 Mode he made an excursion into the realms of high comedy. 
 About this time, however,, bis career was marred by a 
 coarse quarrel with Elkanah Settle (1648-1724), a young 
 dramatist who in 1666 had impressed the public with a 
 ranting tragedy, Canibyses, and whose The Empress of 
 Morocco ^^ received a sumptuous court production in 1673. 
 In 1675 appeared Aureng-Zehe, his last rhymed tragedy. 
 For this Eacine was the model. The plot is simple, the 
 characters plausible, the dialogue easily understood, and 
 the general tone more restrained than was customary in 
 the heroic drama. Dryden in fact was changing his 
 methods of work ; " accepting more fully than before the 
 rules of the French drama, he attempted to combine with 
 them a drawing of character modeled on that of the Eliza- 
 bethan dramatists."" In All for Love (1678) he de- 
 liberately turned to blank verse, io« ^ a Shakespearean 
 theme, that of Antony and Cleopatra, and while he was 
 
 *" " The Empress of Morocco has no literary pretensions; it is im- 
 portant in literary history for having so moved the wrath of Dryden, 
 and iu the history of the drama for having been issued with plates 
 which contribute greatly to our knowledge of the internal arrange- 
 ments of the Restoration Theater." — Garnett, 118. 
 
 ^^Noyes, xliil.
 
 136 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE EISTGLISH DRAMA 
 
 perfectly free in his handling of the story and wrote a 
 really great play, he frankly imitated the master drama- 
 tist in style and in the study of character. Compared 
 with Antony and Cleopatra, however, this, Dryden's best 
 loved play, shows classical restraint. Each act is com- 
 posed in a single scene, the time of action falls within a 
 single day, and the place of action changes hut once. Like 
 the heroic plays moreover, the drama is " narrative rather 
 than dramatic in its structure. The action, despite its 
 confinement within a single day, is, as Aristotle would 
 call it, ^ episodic; ' like that of The Conquest of Granada. 
 it deals with successive adventures in the life of one man, 
 not with one central crisis. . . . Despite its faults [how- 
 ever]. All for Love is the happiest result of the Erench 
 influence on English tragedy. However conventional the 
 emotion expressed in it may be, this tragedy remains 
 alive to-day by virtue of its vigorous, dignified, and truly 
 poetic style, and of sustained interest of the action." ^^ 
 
 The line between Dry den's second and third periods 
 as a dramatist is not to be indicated with absolute definite- 
 ness, though All for Love is commonly regarded as mark- 
 ing the passing of rhymed drama. In 1678 he collaborated 
 with [N'athaniel Lee on a classical tragedy, Oedipus, and the 
 next year he remodeled Troilus and Cressida on classical 
 lines. To this latter production he prefixed his Preface on 
 the Grounds of Criticism in Tragedy. lie cited with ap- 
 proval Thomas Rymer's The Tragedies of the Last Age, 
 Considered and Examin'd hy the Practice of the Ancients, 
 and hy the Commwn Sense of all Ages (1678), and de- 
 
 ^"Noyes, xlix. For further discussion of the play, including 
 especially a list of passages imitated from Shakespeare, see Strunk'g 
 Introduction to All for Love and The Spanish Fryar, xliii-xlv.
 
 DRYDEN AND HIS AGE 137 
 
 nounced tragicomedy. As usual he was not very con- 
 sistent, for it was not long before he himself wrote another 
 tragicomedy, The Spanish Friar, or The Double Discovery 
 (1681), in which he exhioiis more than hi& usual comic 
 force. About this time his work was very varied. He was 
 writing operas as well as plays, was busy with his great 
 political satires, and since 1670 he had been historiog- 
 rapher royal and poet laureate. When in his later years, 
 after the accession of William of Orange, reverses came 
 to him and he again turned to the stage, he worked only 
 with the hope of immediate financial return. Don Sebas- 
 tian (1690) has sometimes been overpraised as a master- 
 piece, though the production shows general vigor and has 
 at least one strong and animated scene (IV, 3). Love 
 Trium,phant (1693), a tragicomedy, failed to exhibit har- 
 mony of tone and was not a success. 
 
 Taine, the eminent historian of English literature, has 
 defined Dryden as a great transitional figure whose dra- 
 matic work was after all chiefly of value in giving vigor 
 and point to his style for his great satires. ^' He strayed 
 on the boundaries of two dramas, and suited neither the 
 half -barbarous men of art nor the well-polished men of 
 the court.'' The English race, ^^ diverging from its own 
 age, and fettered at the outset by foreign imitation, formed 
 its classical literature but slowly; it will only attain it 
 after transforming its religious and political condition: 
 the age will be that of English reason. Dryden inaugu- 
 rates it by his other works, and the writers who appear in 
 the reign of Queen Anne will give it its completion, its 
 authority, and its splendor." All this is true; yet even 
 in the narrower limits of the drama Dryden has to his 
 credit distinct achievement. ^' Of tragedy [he] may be re-
 
 138 A SIfORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 ^ garded as the greatest writer during the Restoration period. 
 Though still an imitator he was here working in a field 
 far more congenial to his o^^1l talents [than comedy], and 
 by the genuine merits of his production he exercised a 
 strong influence on the future of tragedy in England. He 
 first developed, to such perfection as it was capable of 
 attaining, a new species of drama, the melodramatic heroic 
 play. He later succeeded in uniting the French tech- 
 nique with the English dramatic tradition, and thus gave 
 powerful aid in starting English tragedy in the direction 
 that it was destined to follow for almost a century after 
 his death, though it never again attained the height to 
 which he raised it in his All for Love. To his achieve- 
 ments in both these types of tragedy he gave distinction by 
 his supreme command of English verse. Always buoyant, 
 varied, melodious, and vigorous. Dry den's style pro- 
 gresses from bombast in his earlier work to sustained dig- 
 nity in his later. Those who do not know The Conquest 
 of Granada and All for Love can not fully understand 
 the spell that Dryden's name cast over the century that 
 followed him." '^ 
 
 53. Etherege, Wycherley, and Others. — While the 
 heroic drama was killing its victims and winning its con- 
 quests on the stage, the characteristic expression of the 
 drama of the reign of Charles II was more and more prov- 
 ing to be in comedy. The comedy of humours and that of 
 manners had indeed been known by the Elizabethans ; but 
 now developed a new species of " society comedy,'' largely 
 influenced by the French but also finding some origin in 
 Shirley. It was artificial, and, as it developed, it became 
 increasingly corrupt in tone. At the same time, it has 
 " Noyes, Iv.
 
 DRYDEN AND HIS AGE 139 
 
 the interest of reflecting an important period in the life of 
 the English people, at least of the English court. Lest 
 at any time the picture seem to be too darkly drawn, let 
 us keep in mind that this was also the age that first read 
 Paradise Lost and Pilgrim's Progress and that was nour- 
 ished on The Whale Duty of Man. The Puritan element 
 was no longer ascendant; but it was still present to give 
 solidity and poise to the national character. 
 
 The real founder of ihe new school of " society comedy "'T' 
 was Sir Georp-e Etherege (1634-1691), a man of fashion • 
 who was *' knighted for marrying a fortune," and who 
 for some years served as envoy to Eatisbon until he was 
 deprived of his post by William III. His representative 
 play is The Mayi of Mode (1676), containing the char- 
 acter Sir Eopling Flutter. Etherege was deficient in plot 
 and superficial in method ; at the same time his work hag 
 much graceful dialogue, and to him must be given the 
 credit for beginning that style of writing which was soon 
 to be so highly developed by CongTeve and which was later 
 carried to perfection by Sheridan. 
 
 Of stronger quality "was William, Wycherley (1640- 
 1715), the son of a Shropshire gentleman of good estate. 
 Wycherley's father, disliking the schools under the Com- 
 monwealth, sent the youth to France, where he became a 
 Roman Catholic. On his return, however, the young man 
 recanted, was entered at the Temple, and for some years 
 was a part of the gay life of the town. This was the 
 period of his comedies, Love in a Wood (1671), The 
 Gentleman Dancing-Master (1671), The Country Wife 
 (1673), and The Plain Dealer (1674). There can be no 
 doubt about the fact that Wycherley exhibited power far 
 beyond that of most comic dramatists of the Restoration.
 
 140 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 At the same time ^^ in his hands comedy is grasped with 
 brutal but imdeniable force, and dragged relentlessly 
 through the mire of animalism." ^* In his methods he 
 debased and corrupted Moliere. The Country Wife de- 
 tails the life of a woman who comes from the country to 
 the fashionable world of London, without sympathy either 
 for the degraded wife or the dishonored husband, Horner, 
 the villain who brazenly pursues his illicit amours, is really 
 made the hero of the play. The Country Wife is not 
 without its vein of satire, and even more on the basis of 
 The Plain Dealer might a case be made out for Wycherley 
 as a moralist castigating the vices of his age. From this 
 point of view, however, he was hardly regarded in his 
 own day, and all the more he made himself liable for the 
 stern rebuke he was so soon to receive. 
 
 Of similar tone, but with indebtedness more to Jonson 
 than Moliere, was Thomas Shadwell (1642 M692), a 
 Whig who succeeded Dryden as poet laureate and who 
 for even a number of years before had been a chief object 
 of Dryden's satire. His representative comedy is Epsom 
 Wells (1672), a lively picture of the life of the day in 
 which one finds not one but two deceived husbands. A 
 score of other productions for the stage bear witness to 
 ShadwelFs industry and include also some adaptation 
 from Shakespeare. 
 
 Other dramatists of the period generally reflected the 
 prevailing tone, though of course with differences. Sir 
 Samuel Tuke's Adventures of Five Hours (1663) was an 
 adaptation from a Spanish play. Edward Eavencroft did 
 much working over of Moliere and the Elizabethans and 
 wrote London Cuclcold^ (1682). John Crowne attempted 
 
 " Nettleton, 77.
 
 DRYDEN AND HIS AGE 141 
 
 tragedy and the heroic drama as well as comedy, but is 
 best remembered for his creation of the chief character in 
 Sir Courtly Nice, or It canmt Be (1685). Sir Charles 
 Sedley, of the circle of the King, is strongest in Bellamira, 
 or The M.idress (1687), founded on the Euibuciias of 
 Terence and giving a coarsely realistic picture of the 
 pleasure of the day. Mrs. Aphra Behn has to her credit 
 the humanitarian story Oroonoko, In her writing for the 
 stage, however, she plundered right and left and catered 
 to the coarsest taste of the time, being represented by The 
 Amorous Prhice (1671) and The City Heiress (1682). 
 
 54. Nathaniel Lee. — We turn now to tragedy. Very 
 different from the writers just mentioned, but contempo- 
 rary with them and with Dryden in his second period, was 
 ISTathaniel Lee (1653-1692). The son of a clergyman, 
 Lee attended Cambridge, where he was graduated B. A. in 
 1668, and later went to London, where he became an actor. 
 He was a good reader, but he did not achieve success on 
 the stage ; and his later years were sad, as he was afflicted 
 with insanity and is said to have died in the snow while on 
 his way home from a tavern. His occasional collabora- 
 tion with Dryden has been remarked ; but his works also 
 include Nero, Emperour of Ronte (1675), Sophonisha, or 
 Hannibal's Overthrow (1676), Glonana, or The Court 
 of Augustus Caesar (1676), The Rival Queens, or The 
 Death of Alexander the Great (1677), MWiridates 
 (1678), Theodosius, or The Force of Love (1680), Caesar 
 Borgia (1680), Lucius Junius Brutus, Father of his 
 Country (1681), The Princess of Cleve (1681), Constan- 
 tine the Great (1684), and The Massacre of Pans (1690, 
 but written some years before). These titles give some 
 idea, but only a very faint idea, of Lee's preference for
 
 142 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 semi-historical and grandiloquent themes and settings. In 
 his own da^ and t-j another generation he >vas known' 
 primarily for his rant. In The Rival Queens the main 
 theme is the jealousy between Roxana, Alexander's first 
 wife, and his second wife, Statira. Mithridates, in its' 
 introduction of the ghosts of the sons of Mithridates, sug- 
 gests the Elizabethans; and Caesar Borgia strangles the 
 heroine on the stage. With all of his extravagance, how- 
 ever — his glare and gewgaw and noise — Lee very fre-' 
 quently exhibits the mark of a genuine poet. He knew not 
 the springs of simple emotion; but he could often thrill 
 his audience even if he could not touch its heart, and there 
 was sufficient vitality in some of his plays to keep them 
 on the stage until the middle of the next century. Better- 
 ton appeared in his work to advantage, and years after- 
 wards Charles Kemble and Kean revived The Bival 
 'Queens with success. 
 
 . Along with Lee may be mentioned John Banks, a' 
 writer whose work was more or less melodramatic and 
 who constantly suggests the influence of Lee. The Rival 
 'Kings (1677) owes much to The Rival Queens, and a 
 representative later production, Cyrus the Great, or The 
 Tragedy of Love (1696), is full of rant and sensationalism. 
 With other such plays, however, as The UnJiappy Fa- 
 voriie (1682), dealing with the Earl of Essex, and The 
 ^Albion Queens (1704), dealing with Elizabeth and Mary 
 Queen of Scots, Banks entered the field of English history 
 and won a popular success. 
 
 55. Thomas Otway.— Thomas Otway (1652-1685) was 
 of more truly tragic quality than Lee and after Dryden 
 the foremost figure in the drama of the age. There are in 
 fact those who insist that his stiaongest tragedies are not
 
 DRYDEN AND HIS AGE 143 
 
 surpassed by anything in their period. It is hardly too' 
 much to say that Otway "was an Elizabethan born out of 
 his time. Partly educated at Winchester and at Christ 
 Church, Oxford, he appeared on the stage without suc- 
 cess; early sought the notice of Rochester, with whom he 
 soon quarreled; made some translations and adaptations 
 from the French, and plundered Shakespeare. For som6 
 years he nourished a hopeless passion for Mrs. Barry, the 
 celebrated actress of the day, who seems to have inspired 
 his best work ; and at one time he was rescued from want 
 by the Duchess of Portsmouth. In his earlier years he 
 cultivated rhymed tragedy, and with Don Carlos (1676), 
 based on a French romance^ won considerable popular favor. 
 Otway's reputation, however, rests upon his two strong 
 tragedies, The Orphan (1680) and Yen/icG Preserved 
 (1682). The Orpliau is a domestic play. Two brothers, 
 Castalio and Polydore, are in love with Monimia, their 
 father's ward. Castalio secretly contracts himself to her 
 in marriage; but Polydore, overhearing their plans for 
 meeting and ignorant of the tie that binds them, contrives 
 to supplant his brother. Castalio is repulsed and spends 
 the night in curses upon womankind. When the full truth 
 bursts upon all the next day, Polydore provokes a quarrel 
 in which he deliberately permits himself to be stabbed by 
 his brother, Castalio commits suicide, and Monimia take^ 
 poison. This plot demands considerable credulity; never- 
 theless in its simple emotion and the cumulative effect of its' 
 tragedy The Orphan must remain a noteworthy production. 
 Perhaps even more powerful, at least in its fourth act, is 
 Venice Preserved. An imderplot, which might have been 
 dispensed with, caricatures Shaftesbury imder the name of 
 Antonio. The main plot, however, advances rapidly and
 
 144 A SHOKT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 with unfaltering interest. " Pierre, a sort of Brutus with 
 the high Eoman courage, leads Jaffier to join the con- 
 spiracy against Venice. Belvidera, Jaffier's wife, per- 
 suades her husband to save her father and the senate by 
 revealing the plot. The action unfolds in masterly scenes, 
 where Pierre confronts his friend with his falseness, and 
 where Jaffier, conquered by his wife, melts into love., and 
 yields to her desire to save her father and the state. On 
 the scaffold, Jaffier is to pay the penalty of his vacillation, 
 but stabs both himself and Pierre. The apparition of the 
 ghosts of Jaffier and Pierre and Belvidera's madness and 
 death strongly suggest the Elizabethans." ^^ Both The 
 Ovphan and Venice Preserved show Otway's emphasis on 
 a single strong theme and his command of the resources 
 of pity. In an artificial age he appealed to simple human 
 emotion, and while he had not a broad conception of char- 
 acter or a strong sense of comedy, he succeeded by using 
 effectively the gifts that he had. 
 
 " Nettleton, 102.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 LATE EESTOKATION DKAMA AND THE KISE 
 OF DEMOCKATIC TENDENCIES 
 
 56. Elements of the Transition. — Important in the his- 
 tory of the English Drama was the decade 1690-1700. 
 Charles II was dead, 3 ames II in exile, and a Whig king, 
 William of Orange, had recently come to the throne. The 
 significance to the drama of these simple historical events 
 can hardly be overestimated. Some taste for heroic plays 
 or society comedy might still prevail; buF^lrea^y^way 
 was^heing made for a "drama more democratic_and wjth 
 more3S5SSsIjQn_ cormnon emotion. Dry den wa.s still 
 living; but he bade farewell to the stage in 1693, and 
 by this year also such popular playwrights as Otway and 
 Lee had passed from the scene. Restoration comedy had 
 not yet run its course, and in fact was still to receive its 
 finest expression in Congreve; but the plays of this bril- 
 liant dramatist were all written within the decade. By 
 lYOO, whatever the reason, he too had ceased to write, and 
 the day of society comedy was over. The age of Queen 
 Anne boasted of its/jlassic theory and styleTbut Addison's 
 only drama was a tour de force, and Steele was, con- 
 sciously or not, one of the foremost exponents of senti- 
 mentalism.. and — whiggism. Important as ever was the 
 relijgious question, and ona heard inuch_at_the tiine of 
 " occasional conformity." The Tories were yet to make 
 one last stand and close the War of the Spanish Succes- 
 
 145
 
 146 A SHORT HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 sion ; but their day had passed and for half a century the 
 .Whigs were to rule the country. 
 
 The change was by no means an unmixed good. As for 
 the drama, it needed reform undoubtedly; but unfortu- 
 nately this reform was to be wrouglit only at the expense 
 of a long probation in which sentimentality was substituted 
 for sent'r.jent, and the would-be pious for the genuinely 
 good. The drama is in its very essence an aristocratic 
 form of literature. It emphasizes not the commonplaces 
 but the crises of life. It is concerned not with the mere 
 details of living but with the grand passions that are the 
 very mainspring of action. It exalts, it idealizes, it glori- 
 fies, and its very world is effective and appealing because 
 it is unreal. Not unnaturally it is concerned with heroes 
 and heroines, kings and queens, and it was at its height in 
 England's greatest era of nationality. Any other em- 
 phasis, even that of the moralist, in a large way makes for 
 decay. 
 
 The high priest of the moral reform was Jeremy Collier, 
 who in 1098 published his Slwrt View of the ItmmralUy 
 and Pi'y/I'aneness of the English Stage. In his successive 
 chapters Collier treated such topics as the immodesty of 
 the stage, its profaneness, its abuse or misr^pxesentation 
 of the clergy, and the fact that chief characters in plays 
 were made vicious. He made references to heathen 
 philosophers, orators, and historians that, to say the least, 
 did not always bear directly upon the point at issue; but 
 with abundant opportunity for illustration he pointed out 
 characters and passages in Wycherley, Congreve, and 
 Vanbrugh that it was difficult to defend on any account. 
 Collier's attack was by no means consistently logical, nor 
 did he have a clear conception of the relation of ethics and
 
 THE RISE OF DEMOCRATIC TENDENCIES U1 
 
 aestlietics. With all his shortcomings, however, he was 
 essentially sound, and if his expression was not perfect he 
 at least had the conscience of the age behind him. Several 
 representatives of the stage undertook to reply to him, and 
 Congreve was only one of those who were baffled in the 
 encounter. 
 
 Collier was in a large way effective, though the im- 
 portance of his publication has within recent years received 
 much discount. As great a man as Dryden substantially 
 admitted more than once the soundness of his main con- 
 tentions, and the government officially took sides with him. 
 ^^ The censorship of the Master of the Kevels began to be 
 exercised more strictly; actors were prosecuted for the 
 use of profane language, and the playhouses were once 
 more presented as nuisances by the grand-jury; the ad- 
 mission of women wearing masks into any of the theatres 
 •was prohibited; and Convocation occupied itself with the 
 condition of the stage as a matter of moment to be pressed 
 upon the consideration of the Crown. The comic poets, 
 who had always been more or less aware of their sins, 
 now began with uneasy hilarity to allude in their prologues 
 to the reformation which had come over the spirit of the 
 town.'' ^ Not all at once, however, was the license of previ- 
 ous decades abolished. Mrs. Centlivre (1667?-1723) was 
 outstanding among those who continued to cater to vul- 
 garity. For more than a score of years this "writer em- 
 ployed a certain talent for play-writing in serving to the 
 public the comedy that it relished; and in such a char- 
 acter as Don Felix in The Wonder! A Wom/in Keeps a 
 Secret (1714) she afterwara^ furnished Garrick with one 
 of his most successful roles. Even Mi^. Centlivre, however, 
 
 ^ Ward, III, 514-15,
 
 148 A SHOET HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DBAMA 
 
 for a while at least showed some inclination to conclude 
 her plays so as to make them seem not to run too violently 
 counter to Collier; and in her latest work she too was 
 in the number of those who showed the influence of the 
 rising tide of sentimentalism. 
 
 This writer, however, was mainly a survivor from the 
 past. A much more important figure in the transition was 
 Thomas ttoutherne (1660-1746). This dram^atist had no 
 great genius, but he was not without some genuine pathos, 
 and he had a long, pleasant, and prosperous career. In 
 comedy he was fairly successful, and even more so in the 
 dramatization of popular fiction. The Loyal Brother, or 
 The Persian Prince (1682) was a blank verse tragedy 
 with some prose interspersed; and The Fatal Marriage, 
 or Innocent Adultery (1694) and Oroonoho, or The Royal 
 Slave (1696), both based on the work of Mrs. Behn, were 
 two of Southerners veiy popular adaptations. In his later 
 work he exhibited more and more the elements of appeal 
 that characterized the work of Otway. 
 
 57. William Congreve. — ^William Congreve (1670- 
 1729), famous in his own day and since for his wit and 
 elegance, was born in Leeds. His father was an army 
 officer stationed in Ireland, and he himself was educated 
 at Kilkenny and at Trinity College, Dublin. Going to 
 London ostensibly as a law student, he found ready ad- 
 mission into the best circles, and an unusually attractive 
 personality soon won for him numerous friends in litera- 
 ture and politics. With his f^ve plays that were given to 
 the public, the first in 1693 and the last in 1700, he 
 distanced all rivals in polite comedy. He was over- 
 whelmed with eulogy, and the foremost actors of the day 
 3were happy to appear in his productions, He was roughly
 
 THE RISE OF DEMOCRATIC TENDENCIES li9 
 
 handled by Collier, however ; and whether for this reason 
 or because his last plaj did not awaken the usual enthusi- 
 asm, or because he preferred to give his time to the life 
 of quality rather than to setting this forth on the stage, 
 he wrote no plays after the turn of the century. In his 
 later years he became blind, but in addition to the re- 
 turns which he received from his literary work, life was 
 made easy for him by sinecures ; Pope dedicated his trans- 
 lation of Homer to him; and he was buried with great 
 pomp in Westminster Abbey.^ 
 
 In January, 1693, appeared at Drury Lane The Old 
 Bachelor, which Dryden termed the best first play he had 
 ever seen. " From Betterton downwards, all the first 
 actors and actresses of the day were engaged in it; and 
 Anne Bracegirdle, the beautiful, the lovable, the discreet, 
 played Congreve's first heroine, as she was to play all the 
 rest." ^ The characters are for the most part conventional, 
 but interest attaches to Captain Bluffe, a cowardly blus- 
 terer somewhat after the pattern of Ralph Roister Bolster. 
 The Douhle-Dealer (November, 1693) was far more ele- 
 gant and polished, but by no means as immediately suc- 
 cessful as The Old Bachelor. The plot was rather too 
 complicated. Lady Touchwood is in love with Mellefont, 
 to whom Cynthia, daughter of Sir Paul Plyant, is prom- 
 ised. Maskwell, however, the Double-Dealer, who deceives 
 by telling the truth, knows her secret and determines to 
 use it for the undoing of Mellefont and for his own con- 
 quest of Cynthia. He is the typical villain of melodrama 
 
 ' See Thackeray's brilliant characterization in his chapter in Eng' 
 lish Humourists. 
 
 ' Archer : Introduction to WilUam Cmigreve in Masterpieces of the 
 English Drama series, 2-3.
 
 150 A SHOET HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 and leads the other characters through a maze of intrigue. 
 Less involved and better knit is Love for Love (1695), 
 the story of a witty young spendthriio, Valentine, who is 
 fortunate in his love with the rich young lady, Angelica, 
 and who has an especially clever servant Jeremy. While 
 Congreve was writing this play " the affairs of the Theatre 
 Eoyal, then the only playhouse in London, fell into sad 
 disorder, which ended in a split between the patentee 
 managers and their leading actors, headed by Betterton. 
 The seceding players obtained a special license from 
 William III, and constructed a new theatre within the 
 walls of a tennis-court in Lincoln's Inn Fields." * At 
 Easter the enterprise was inaugurated with the produc- 
 tion of Love for Love, with Betterton as Valentine and 
 Mrs. Bracegirdle as Angelica. The play scored an unex- 
 ampled success and made Congreve easily the foremost 
 dramatist of the day. In 1697 appeared his sole tragedy, 
 The Mowming Bride. This was an experiment in the 
 later Elizabethan drama, and in the love of Osmyn, a 
 noble prisoner, and Almeria, princess of Granada, has 
 many of the marks of the heroic play. The workmanship 
 is characterized by much artifice and the atmosphere by 
 much gloom. Interestingly enough, however, the drama 
 was very popular and highly regarded in its day. Con- 
 greve's last and in some ways his most brilliant comedy, 
 The ^Yny of ihr World (1700), contains the striking crea- 
 tion Millimaut. This is the dramatist's most characteristic 
 production. Interest centers not so much on the story 
 or action as on the dialogue. The general effect of the 
 play when presented, however, was that of clever and 
 sophisticated people talking rapidly in a parlor before some 
 * Archer, Introduction, 4.
 
 THE RISE OF DEMOCRATIC TENDENCIES 151 
 
 other people who lived in another and a lower world. Con- 
 greve's very brilliancy had overshot itself. 
 
 It is easy now to discount this dramatist who was 
 so popular in his own day. He has not effectiveness 
 of plot, it is true, nor have his strongest creations the 
 broad humanity that the greatest comedy requires. 
 He must be judged, however, not by his shortcom- 
 ings but by his merits; and these were genuine and 
 positive. To his wit he added grace and precision in 
 diction, and there is considerable truth in Hazlitt's eulogy : 
 ^^ His style is inimitable, nay perfect. It is the highest 
 model of comic dialogue. Every sentence is replete ^vith 
 sense and satire, conveyed in the most polished and pointed 
 terms. Every page presents a shower of brilliant con- 
 ceits, is a tissue of epigrams in prose, is a new triumph of 
 wit, a new conquest over dullness. . . . There is a peculiar 
 flavor in the very words, which is to be found in hardly 
 any other writer." ^ 
 
 58. John Vanbrugh. — Sir John Yanbrugh (1664- 
 1726), after some early training in France and an adven- 
 turous experience in the army, became famous as the archi- 
 tect of " Blenheim " and other mansions ; and, having 
 filled the offices "of comptroller of the royal works and sur- 
 veyor of the works at Greenwich Hospital, he was knighted 
 by George I. His work in architecture was not above 
 criticism ; he seems_to_ havfi_been rather too fond of mas- 
 sive effects,, and Swift was one of those who satirized him. 
 One might trace. some connection, however, between his 
 work in this field and that as a dramatist, for he excelled 
 in construction. In gaiety, lightness of touch, and ease of 
 
 = Lecture IV, " On Wycherley, Congreve, Vanbrugh, and Farquliar," 
 in The English Comic Writers.
 
 152 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 diabgue he was also distinguished, though the moral tone 
 of his work differed little from that of some of his con- 
 temporaries. He hardly ever surpassed his first effort as 
 a comic dramatist, The Relapse, or Yirtue in Danger 
 (1696). This play was ^a'itten as a sequel to Gibber's 
 Love's Last Shift, or The Fool in Fashion, and contains 
 the charming character Lord L uppington. The Provoked 
 Wife (1697) is not without merit, hut is hardly as amusing 
 as The Relapse. It is^^sternlx realistic,_and contains the 
 gross but strong character. Sir John Brute. The Con- 
 federacy (1705) has a plot that turns upon the possession 
 of a necklace, and is marked by its author's usual vivacity, 
 Dick Amlet and his mother and Flippanta, the lady's- 
 maid, being interesting characters. Unfortunately in this 
 play, however, the vices of the court have become those of 
 the common people and are more revolting than ever. Yan- 
 brugh also made some adaptations from the French and 
 Spanish, and left unfinished a comedy, A Journey to Lon- 
 don, which Gibber completed as The Provoked Husband. 
 59. George Farquhar. — George Farquhar (1678-1707)' 
 was born in Londonderry^ and had some early experience 
 on the Dublin stage; but he gave up this calling after he 
 had accidentally wounded a fellow-actor, and he served for 
 a while in the army. His first play, Love and a Bottle, 
 appeared when he was but twenty and even then showed 
 something of his ability in plotting and characterization 
 and his understanding of the bases of popular appeal. Th e 
 Recruiting Officer (1706) was intended as a sketch of 
 country manners in Shropshire and of the humours inci- 
 dent to the recruiting system; and with such characters 
 as Gaptain Plume and Sergeant Kite it enlarged the 
 bounds of comedy. Farquhar's masterpiece, however, is
 
 THE RISE OF DEMOCRATIC TENDENCIES 153 
 
 The Beaux' Stratagem (1707), which has an ingenious 
 hut not too improbable plot, and which, hovering as it does 
 on the borderland of comedy and farce, is a forerunner of 
 Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer, The scene is partly 
 that of an inn with a rascally landlord Bonniface, and 
 partly the home of Lady Bountiful, " an old, civil, country 
 gentlewoman, that cures all her neighbors of all distempers, 
 and is foolishly fond of her son. Sullen." The chief char- 
 acter is Archer, who is " very arch," and who pretends to 
 be the valet of his friend, Aimwell, the Beau, but who is 
 really interested in carrying on his own adventures. Ear- 
 quhar has not Yanbrugh's vivacity and lightness of touch, 
 and he still ostensibly writes the comedy of manners ; at 
 the same time he has some genuine originality, and his 
 early death was undoubtedly a loss to the drama. With 
 the outdoor atmosphere and the honest fun of The Beaux' 
 Stratagem he was pointing the way to a saner and more 
 wholesome English comedy. *' He emerges from the ranks 
 of the Orange and Augustan comedians as the prophet of 
 a new order. For while he introduced no comic principle 
 hitherto unknown, he blended the essentials of character, 
 plot, and situation in juster proportions than any previous 
 writer of realistic comedy, lifting their interest to an 
 equality with that of the dialogue, to which they had been 
 subordinated in the wit-ridden comedy of manners. The 
 result was a form of comedy unsurpassed for naturalness 
 and fidelity to life: the form adopted and perfected by 
 Sheridan and Goldsmith.^ 
 
 60. Colley Gibber,— Colley Gibber (1671-1757), the 
 son of a well-known sculptor, lived a long and prosperous 
 
 * Strauss : Introduction to The Recruiting Officer and The Beaux' 
 Stratagem, xiii.
 
 154 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 life, possessed of imperturbable good humor and ability to 
 meet and to handle without too much seriousness the acci- 
 dents of fortune. At the age of eighteen he went upon the 
 stage, and in later years he received as much as £50 a 
 night, the highest sum yet paid to an English actor. His 
 first play, Lovers Last Shift (1696), incurred the cen- 
 sure of Collier und also the criticism of Congreve, who 
 said that there were in it " a great many things that were 
 like wit, that in reality were not wit ; " but it kept pos- 
 session of the stage for forty years. The Careless Husband 
 (1704) was similarly successful, though sume oi its char- 
 acters are mere puppets. " However, Gibber, being a man 
 of the theatre, cared as little for human character as for 
 literature. It was for him to fill the pit and boxes, and 
 he filled them for two generations. In the making of plays 
 he was an expert, and he cared not whose work it was 
 that he adapted. He improved Shakespeare with as light 
 a heart as he improved Mrs. Centlivre." ^ His alteration 
 of Bichard III in fact gave to the stage a famous acting 
 version, that for more than half a century was the accepted 
 text. With his usual appreciation of the changes in public 
 taste, he gave aid to the rising tide of sentimentalism, and 
 in later years he rendered service to the stage by pleading 
 the cause of legitimate drama against mere pantomime and 
 spectacle. In 1730 he was appointed poet laureate, in 
 which capacity he failed, for he had not the fire of a 
 genuine poet. When, however, in a new edition of the 
 Dunciad he was elevated by Pope to the chief place recently 
 held by Theobald, although he replied he did not become 
 bitter and was still really impervious to attack. His most 
 
 'Whibley: "The Restoration Drama, II," in C. H. E. L., VIII, 
 200-1.
 
 THE RISE OF DEMOCRATIC TENDENCIES 155 
 
 valuable work in the opinion of modern scholarship is 
 Apology for the Life of Mr, Colley Cihher (1740), one 
 of the uiOfct impuiLant lecoids oi' ihe tiitatre ever written. 
 It gives such comment upon the comedy of manners and 
 the actors of the age of Queen Anne as is to he found no- 
 where else. Altogether Gibber was an important figure in 
 his day, and in general he worked for the improvement of 
 the drama. 
 
 6i. Richard Steele.—" If the plays of Colley Gibber 
 mark the transition toward healthier moral standards, the 
 new movement in eighteenth century drama is fairly in- 
 augurated in the work of Richard Steele (1672-1729). To 
 the conscious moral aim of Gibber, Steele added literary art 
 and genius. . . [He] was, m a sense, the founder oi 
 sentimental comedy. Yet it must not be thought that the 
 field of which he took possession had lain hitherto wholly 
 undiscovered. Perhaps the real origin of sentimental 
 comedy should be sought not simply in the moralized 
 comedy of Gibber but in the somewhat sentimentalized 
 tragedy of 0+way and Southerrie. The rising tide of senti- 
 ment invaded the entire drama." ^ It overflowed into 
 other forms of expression; Richardson and Sterne, for 
 instance, cultivated it in the novel. It was one of the most 
 interesting phenomena in iha lit< rature of the century. 
 
 Steele himself, spurred by Collier's Short View, pro- 
 ceeded to write four plays with a definite moral purpose : 
 The Funeral (1701) acted with success at Drury Lane; 
 The Lying Lov^.r (1703), an excessively pious production; 
 The Tender Husband (1705), perhaps the author's best 
 work in pure comedy; and then, after a period of essay- 
 writing for the Tatler, the Spectator, and the Guardian, 
 
 • Nettleton, 154-56.
 
 156 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 The Conscious Lovers (1722). This last play is " remark- 
 able because it resumes in brief all Steele's best ideas on 
 life and character. We have the sketch of servants whose 
 natural freshness is being gradually tainted by the corrupt 
 and contagious air of lackeydom ; we have satire on mar- 
 riages of convenience, duelling, and the chicanery of the 
 law; a glance at the opposition between the hereditary 
 gentry and the rising commercial class; while, in Bevil 
 junior, Steele portrays his ideal of a gentleman, chivalrous 
 and honorable to women, considerate to men, respectful to 
 his father and self-controlled amid the riotous pleasures of 
 the capital." ® Xo plays were more important than these 
 of Steele in the transition from the Restoration comedy 
 of manners to the drama of the middle of the eighteenth 
 eentur^' ; yet, ^' if Steele led the way to moral reform, he 
 also led the way to dramatic decay. The appeal of Steele's 
 sentimental comedy to the emotion of pity became with 
 inferior playwrights a false emotional motive ; " ^^ and, 
 as has been suggested, "the moral reform of English 
 drama was won at the expense of almost half a century 
 during which Comedy bowed her head in the presence of 
 Sentimentality." 
 
 62. Joseph Addison. — The distinguished essayist of the 
 Spectator (1672-1719), a staunch classicist, was essen- 
 tially a critic of manners and literature, and not primarily 
 a creative dramatist ; nevertheless he produced at least one 
 play that calls for mention in a review of the drama of the 
 period. At Drury Lane, April 14, 1713, appeared Cato, 
 a play built on the theme of the last stand of a pa- 
 triot against the usurpation of Caesar. The year was that 
 
 • Routh: " Steele and Addison," in C. E. E. L., IX, 71-72. 
 *• Nettleton, 165.
 
 THE RISE OF DEMOCRATIC TENDENCIES 157 
 
 of tlie Peace of Utrecht, and the time one of great political 
 excitement. Both Whigs and Tories made capital of the 
 drama, and it was acted in London five times a week for 
 a month to crowded houses. '' It pictures the last of the 
 Koman republicans, a statuesque outline magnanimous and 
 unmoved, surrounded by a treachery which is baffled by 
 the loyalty of his sons and Juba, accepting death rather 
 than dishonor, and, in his last moments, taking thought for 
 those around him. The plot is twofold. Side by side with 
 the study in public virtue and high politics, a drama of the 
 tender passion occupies the stage. When Cato's son 
 Marcius dies gallantly fighting against the traitor Syphax, 
 his brother wins the hand of Lucia, for which they had 
 both been honorable rivals, and Juba, the once rejected 
 suitor of Marcia, Cato's daughter, romantically rescues 
 her from the clutches of Sempronius in disguise and finds 
 that she has loved him all the time." " Cato is marked by 
 stately rhetoric and cold dignity, and the characters are 
 not lifelike ; nevertheless, as the play united the " grandiose 
 projection of characters " that the public admired in Mil- 
 ton with the " sentimental chivalry of a French romance," 
 it was a success. To modern taste, however, the style is 
 00 declamatory and the plot full of improbabilities; so 
 ^bat the work remains a solitary production without much 
 influence on the later drama. 
 
 Along with Addison might be remarked two other men 
 who represented the influence of French tragedy upon 
 English, and especially the innucnce of Eaeine — Edmund 
 Smith and Ambrose Philips. Smith'o Phaedra and Hip- 
 polytus was adapted from Phldre and Philips'^ The Dis- 
 irest Mother from Andrormque, For the first of these 
 
 "Eouth: "Steele and Addison," in C, E. E. L., IX, 71.
 
 158 A SHOUT HISTORY OF THE EN-GLISH DEAMA 
 
 plays Addison wrote the prologue, and for the second the 
 epilogue. The Distrest Mother was exceptionally popular 
 for a number of years. 
 
 63. Nicholas Rowe. — A final and important figure in 
 the transition was Nicholas Kowe (1674-1718), who car- 
 ried oxev '^vio trap;r(!y sonc+hing of Steele's sentimen- 
 talism in comedy, and who, ^nile largely influenced by 
 classic theory and method, is outstanding among the dram^- 
 atists of the period for his interest in Elizabethan sub- 
 jects. In 1709 he published his famous six-volume edi- 
 tion of Shakespeare, the first really critical edition of the 
 dramatist, and from 1715 until his death he served as poet 
 laureate. He was an accomplished scholar, a translator 
 of merit, and a man of engaging personality who enjoyed 
 great esteem for his talents. 
 
 The Fair Penitent (1703), an adaptation from The 
 Fatal Boivry of Massinger and Field, was one of the most 
 successful tragedies of the century. Of this production 
 Dr. Johnson said, " There is scarcely any work of any 
 poet so interesting by the fable and so delightful in the lan- 
 guage." The play is now primarily interesting, however, 
 as an piirhteenth century ver«Ton of Elizabethan dramatic 
 methods. The story is that of the downfall of the wife 
 of Young Charalois (Howe's Altamont) by her love for 
 Young !N'ovall (Howe's Lothario). This story, which Mas- 
 singer so tells as to gain respect and sympathy for the 
 husband, in the hand of Howe shifts interest to the 
 villain. Young !N'ovall, " a contemptible dandy, who 
 triumphs rather by his cunning than by his personal charm 
 or power of fascination,""^^ becomes in Lothario a lover 
 " whose seductive charm is exploited with every lavish 
 
 12 Hart : Introduction to TJie Fair Penitent and Jane Shore, xUl.
 
 THE EISE OF DEMOCRATIC TENDENCIES 159 
 
 device of rhetoric." The heroine, Calista, in Eowe's play 
 indeed satisfies poetic justice by her death, but this she 
 seems to meet without any real inner sense of regeneration. 
 The Fair Penitent turns its plot, that of a tragedy, very 
 largely on the discovery of a letter and really completes its 
 action at the end of the fourth act. In spite of any 
 technical shortcomings, however, the play was not without 
 its effective scenes and undoubtedly held the secret of ap- 
 peal to an audience. Tlie Tragedy of Jane Shore (1714), 
 professedly "written in imicadou uf Shakespeare's style," 
 deals with the sad story of the generous-hearted woman 
 who unhappily became the love of Edward lY. The 
 characters in the play are to some extent drawn from 
 Richard III, but there the resemblance to Shakespeare 
 ends. Jane Shore, however, is more deeply penitent 
 than Calista; and in general Rowe's plays were much 
 favored by great performers, and held their own on the 
 stage well into the nineteenth century. Tamerhne (1702) , 
 originally intended as a compliment to William III, with 
 a caricature of Louis XIV as Bajazet, was regularly per- 
 formed in London on November 5, the day of William's 
 anniversary and the Gunpowder Plot, until 1815.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 THE EEA OF SEISTTIMENTALISM * 
 
 64. The New Age. Drama vs. Novel. — The second 
 quarter of the eighteenth century was marked by many 
 conflicting forces, in the drama as in other forms of litera- 
 ture and life. In her political life never was England 
 more complacent — more inert — than under the first two 
 Georges and Walpolo. The period of Classicism was 
 ascendant, but passing; that of Eomanticism had not yet 
 reached its height; and realism and deism were in the 
 air. F< J tl.e moment in England perhaps no one fully 
 perceived the drift of contending forces. Form and rule 
 were being cast aside, it is true ; but something very like 
 artistic chaos had come. The effect of complacency and 
 liberalism on the drama was inevitable. " As the demo- 
 cratic ideas of the Eeformation more and more prevailed 
 in English life in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, 
 the drama came under their influence ; and before Eichard- 
 
 * In the general period covered by the present chapter the work 
 of two American scholars is outstanding. Professor Nettleton, of 
 Yale, the pioneer who has done most to give outline to the period, 
 contributed " The Drama and the Stage " to Volume X of the Cam- 
 "bridge Eistory of English TAteratvre. This discussion he afterwards 
 revised and enlarged in his book, English Drama of the Restoration 
 a/nd Eighteenth Century, to which reference has already been made. 
 In 1915 appeared The Drama of ^ensihility, by Dr. Ernest Bern- 
 baum, of Harvard and the University of Illinois, which book has the 
 importance of studying an important phenomenon through the entire 
 course of its development. 
 
 160
 
 THE ERA OF SENTIMENTALISM 161 
 
 son wrote it had become thoroughly bourgeoi!5.'' ^ Eor the 
 drama to become bourgeois, however, was fatal ; and not 
 unnaturally it gave way before long to a form of literature 
 less intense and better adapted to the life of the common 
 man — the novel. 
 
 One thing in its uncertainty the age could still do, 
 however; it could criticize. It could criticize and theo- 
 rize. Shakespeare and Moliere, Marlowe and Kacine, 
 Sophocles and Dryden were all before it ; and it could de- 
 cide for itself which was the best model to follow. Withal 
 there was beginning some genuine pJudy of the Eliza- 
 bethans. Rowe's editing of Shakespeare and Dennis' criti- 
 cism set good standards for those who came afterwards; 
 and Dodslpy's ColWMnn of Old Plays appeared in 1744. 
 Sometimes controversy became lively. In 1725, for in- 
 stance, appeared PoT>e's edition of Shnkespeare. The 
 next year Lewis Theobald issued a pamphlet with the title 
 Shakespeare Restored, or a Specimen of the many Errors 
 commuted as well as unnw^rilrd hy Mr. Pope ^'n hh late 
 edition of this Poet. Theobald, however, whose own edi- 
 tion of Shakespeare did not appear until 1733, was in the 
 habit of contributing notes on Shakespeare to a weekly 
 paper called Mist's Journal. This Pope termed " crucify- 
 ing Shakespeare once a week," and he made Theobald the 
 original hero of the Dunciad. Thus the feud went on, with 
 variations. 
 
 The eminent critic of the age, however, was another 
 Frenchman, a man of singular importance to the English 
 stage. In 1726 Voltaire began in England a residence 
 of almost three years. One of the first glimpses we catch 
 
 * Cross: The Development of the English Novel (Macmillan, New 
 York, 1909), 59.
 
 162 A SHORT HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 of him is in connection with Congreve. The famous dram* 
 atist, who was resting on his laurels, bore honors lightly 
 and on the basis of a gentleman rather than as a '^ repre- 
 sentative of literature '' received his guest. Voltaire, 
 to whom literature was a serious business, was baffled 
 and remarked in substance that if Congreve had been 
 simply a gentleman hr 'x^v'id never have bother; 1 to look 
 him up. This was the man who brought to England a 
 new emphasis on classical dramatic theory and practice, 
 and yet whose own work shows numerous adaptations from 
 the tY.&<tr,r Shakespeare. Yoltaiie s whole attitude toward 
 Shakespeare is in fact a baffling problem. There can be no 
 doubt that he did more than any other writer of the 
 century to make the works of the English dramatist fa- 
 miliar on the Continent. On the other hand, he developed 
 toward Shakespeare in his later years a relentless antago- 
 nism. Sometimes this has been ascribed to personal mo- 
 tives. Much of it, however, is doubtless to be ascribed 
 to the seventeenth century classicism which he upheld and 
 the influence of which he felt that Shakespeare did most 
 to undermine. He was engaged in a losing fight, but he 
 fought to the very end. 
 
 Two well-known English literary men were also in 
 greater or less degree under the influence of French classi- 
 cal tracedv, thou2:h neither was primarily a dramatist. 
 Edward Young (1648-1765), the poet of NigM Thoughts, 
 wrote three tragedies. Basins (1719) was in blank verse 
 and successful; The Revenae (1721) was on the F''rench 
 model and also succeeded for a while; and The Brofhers 
 (1728?) was withdrawn in rehenr^al T;ec:iuse of the au- 
 thor's taking holy order?. Jam^^s Thomson (1700-1748), the 
 poet of The Seasons, in Sophonisba (1730) used a theme
 
 THE ERA OF SENTIMENTALISM 163 
 
 handled fifty years previously by Lee. In this play the char- 
 acters declaim but hardly act ; moreover a certain labored 
 effect in the phrasing readily loaned itself to parody, as in 
 the line, " O Sophonisba, Sophonisba, O ! " AgatTiemnon 
 (1738) was greeted with applause by a splendid audi- 
 ence ; Edward and Eleanor a was rejected by the censor as 
 praising the Prince oi , » ales at the expense of the court ; 
 and Tancred and Sigisrn^mda (1745) was afterwards used 
 by Garrick with considerable success. The Masque of Al- 
 fred (1740) contained the ode ^' Eule, Britannia ! " Corio- 
 lanus (1749) was an attempt, hardly successful, to adapt 
 Shakespeare in conformity with the dramatic unities. 
 Thomson did some fair work in the drama ; but his plays 
 show a great tendency toward rant and labored expression, 
 and in general ho represents no new tendency. 
 
 65. Pantomime* John Rich. — In the uncertain age 
 under discussion regular drama had to encounter various 
 rivals for popular favor. One of these was pantomime. 
 This was a form of entertainment not altogether unknown 
 on the English stage. Ever since Gorhoduc and Hamlet 
 there had been some representation of action in dumb- 
 shows. Mrs. Aphra Eehn iiiOi cover had introduced a 
 Harlequin into one of her productions, and for John 
 Weaver, a contemporary of Eich, a case might be made 
 out as tho man who inirodnced the form in the new era. 
 To John liich (1628 'M761), however, the reaJ credit of 
 the pantomime belongs. He carried the form to such 
 popularity that the rival theatres of Drury Lane and 
 Lincoln's Inn Fields were able to advance prices on panto- 
 mime nights. At the latter playhouse Rich in 1723 com- 
 peted successfully with Drury Lane in a performance on 
 the subiect of Dr. Faustus. This was one of the kinds of
 
 164 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 entertainment which Gibber regarded as an encroachment 
 on the drama and against which he protested ; but panto- 
 mime continued to hold public favor. 
 
 66. Ballad-Opera: John Gay. — To his successes Eich 
 was destined to add jet another rival to the regular drama. 
 'At Lincoln's Inn in 1728 he produced John Gay's The 
 Beggar s Opera and thus brought before the public a new 
 species of entertainment with emphasis on songs, burlesque 
 of Italian opera, and an undercurrent of political satire 
 (in this case specially directed against Walpole). The 
 idea of the new piece was originally suggested to Gay by 
 Swift. Ballad-opera at once became immensely popular; 
 but Gibber still held aloof. "If the judgment of the 
 crowd were infallible," he said, " I am afraid we shall 
 be reduced to allow that The Beggar's Opera was the best- 
 written play that ever our English theatre had to boast 
 of." In spite of its great success with the public, how- 
 ever, the production was officially regarded as " an insolent 
 performance " containing " the most venomous allegorical 
 libel " against the Government that had appeared in years. 
 Prom this point of view of political satire it is important 
 not only on it^^ own account but as anticipating Fielding. 
 
 67. Domestic Tragedy : George Lillo. — The democratic 
 tendencies of the day and something of the influence of 
 ballad-opera, find further expression in the work of George 
 Lillo (1693-1739), who is primarily remembered, how- 
 ever, as a representative of sentimentalism and domestic 
 tragedy. The son of a London jeweller, Lillo was well 
 fitted to become the dramatist of domestic life. His first 
 venture, Silvia, or The Corinfry Burial (1730), was called 
 a ballad-opera, which in this case signifies not much more 
 than that it was interspersed with songs. The perform-
 
 THE ERA OF SENTIMENTALISM 165 
 
 ance at Drury Lane, however, of The London Merchant or 
 The History of George Barnwell (1731), commonly 
 known as George Barnwell, was an important event in 
 English dramatic history. Domestic tragedy was not 
 unknown on the English stage from the time of Thomas 
 Heywood down to that of Rowe. With Lillo, however, it 
 took on a new importance and came closer to the public 
 than ever before. The story is that of a merchant's clerk 
 who, led astray by a courtesan, Millwood, embezzles 
 money, murders his uncle, and is at last executed for his 
 crime. Throughout his trials he is supported and com- 
 forted by Thorowgood, his employer, Tnieman, a fellow- 
 clerk, and Maria, Thorowgood's daughter. Lillo stated that 
 his play was drawn from a " famed old song," referring 
 to " The Ballad of George Barnwell." ^ '' In the ballad, 
 neither Maria nor Trueman is mentioned, and Thorow- 
 good appears only as a nameless master for whom Barn- 
 well has no affection. Lillo's Thorowgood is character- 
 ized in detail: he has a high sense of the dignity of the 
 merchant class, a fatherly interest in young men, and a 
 pitying and forgiving heart in the hour of Barnwell's 
 distress. . . . The most important difference between 
 the play and the ballad is that between their respective 
 heroes. The Barnwell of the ballad is not placed in a 
 flattering light. It is he himself who thinks of murder- 
 ing his uncle; and, after enjoying the latter's hospitality, 
 he commits the deed with deliberation, and enjoys its 
 fruits without remorse. He brings about the capture of 
 Millwood by his testimony, and subsequently perpetrates 
 
 • See English <md Scottish Popular Ballads, edited by F. J. Child, 
 Boston, 1859 (VIII, 213). The ballad is also easily accessible in 
 Ward's edition of The London Merchant and Fatal Curiosity, 121-35.
 
 166 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 another murder.'^ * In the play there is considerable 
 change from all this. With a certain sense of chivalry 
 Barnwell protects Millwood; after he has resolved never 
 to see her again he is won back only through an appeal to 
 his sympathy for her supposed troubles; and his com- 
 mitting of the murder is not much more than an acci- 
 dent. " Throughout the last two acts his penitence is 
 extreme ; and his final endeavor is to save the soul of the 
 woman who has so vilely betrayed him." 
 
 " We may safely conclude that the audiences which 
 crowded to the early performances of The London 'Mer- 
 chant troubled themselves little about either the artistic 
 defects or the artistic merits of the play. What they wel- 
 comed in Lillo's tragedy was^ in the first instance, the 
 courage with which, resuming the native freedom of the 
 English drama, he had chosen his theme from a sphere of 
 experience immediately familiar to them; and, secondly, 
 the plainness of the moral which he enforced, and the 
 direct way in which he enforced it/' ^ 
 
 In The Christian Hero (1735) Lillo wrote tragedy of a 
 more eoiiveniionai type. He used blank verse and dealt 
 not with a London apprentice but a " patriot king," shift- 
 ing the scene from London to Albania. In Fatal Cnri- 
 osity (1736), however, while still using blank verse, he 
 reverted to domestic tragedy. 
 
 " In the history of English drama, Lillo holds a posi- 
 tion wholly disproportionate to his actual dramatic achieve- 
 ment. Like D'Avenant, his importance is chiefly that of 
 a pioneer. [He] set in motion powerful forces that 
 pointed toward natural tragedy. He deliberately put 
 aside the dignity of rank and title and the ceremony of 
 
 * Bernbaum, 153. "Ward: Introduction, xxxii.
 
 THE ERA OF SENTIMENTALISM 167 
 
 verse. He animated domestic drama, and paved the way 
 for prose melodrama and tragedy. ... To [his] influence 
 on the subjects of English tragedy must be added his no 
 less marked influence upon its language. He deliberately 
 adopted prose as the vehicle of expression for domestic 
 traofedy. He accepts, indeed, the convention of rime-tags 
 at the end of every act and at the conclusion of some 
 scenes during the act; but his main intent is to give 
 domestic drama the vocabulary and phrase that suit his 
 theme." "" 
 
 Iv connection with Lillo may be mentioned Edward 
 IVlooro (1712-1757), who also knew the London trading 
 class, having served as apprentice to a mercer. His 
 comedy, The Fowidling (1748), indebted for some sug- 
 gestion to Steele's 2'he Conscious Lovers, was fairly suc- 
 cessful. His representative production, however, was 
 The Gamester (1753), an attack on the evils of gambling. 
 In this work Moore labored imder some restraint, and 
 generally he showed the career of the gambler "by 
 effect rather than by cause ; " thus he sacrificed con- 
 siderable dramatic possibility when he kept any actual 
 gaming off the stage. The play, however, in spite of all 
 shortcomings, was a distinct success and furnished Gar- 
 rick with a leading role. Especially effective from the 
 sentimental standpoint was the scene in the last act be- 
 tween Eevevley and his wife. 
 
 68. Burlesque: Henry Fielding. — Henry Fielding 
 (1707-1754), the distinguished journalist and novelist, 
 walks amid the sentimental comedy and the domestic 
 tragedy of his day with a cool head, a slight smile of 
 cynicism, and a general air of detachment. He has 
 
 • Nettletoii, C. H. E. L., X, 85-88.
 
 168 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 breadth and keenness and delicate irony. The one thing 
 he lacks is the thing that Jonson lacked, and that any 
 satirist is in danger of lacking — charm. He has a keen 
 sense of the right, and a good heart, but no poetry. " The 
 first decade of [his] literary career was given over to the 
 production of twenty-six comic plays of various sorts and 
 conditions — regular comedies, adaptations from Moliere, 
 farces, satirical pieces, and burlesque." ^ In the history 
 of the drama he is remembered primarily for his bur- 
 lesques, of which the outstanding example is The Tragedy 
 of Tragedies, or The IJife and Death of Tom Thumb the 
 Great (first form, 1730). In this production he makes 
 ridiculous the tragedy Ghost, parodies lines from various 
 plays, commits half a dozen murders in as many lines, and 
 also echoes the noise of the Shakespearean wars that have 
 already begun. ^ Somewhat more constructively Fielding 
 labored to give genuine comedy and farce a place on the 
 stage. 
 
 Historically, in legislation affecting the stage. Fielding 
 has further importance. In 1736, as manager of the Hay- 
 market, he produced Pasquin, ^^ a dramatic satire on the 
 times," in which the bribery and other political methods 
 of Walpole were rather boldly suggested. The next year, 
 however, he went still further with The Historical Register 
 for 1136, referring again to Walpole, satirizing Colley 
 and Theophilus Gibber, and indulging in much social pas- 
 quinade as well. A movement for the restriction of the 
 license of the theatres had for some time been under way, 
 
 ' Hillhouse: " The Tragedy of Tragedies," 1. 
 
 ® For an interesting analysis of the play and comparison with 
 The Rehearsal and The Critic, see the introduction to it in F. 
 Tupper and J. W. Tupper's Representative English Dramas.
 
 THE ERA OF SENTIMENTALIS:\I 169 
 
 and Walpole had begun to regard Fielding as a most 
 dangerous enemy. Accordingly ^' the Licensing Act of 
 1737 limited the metropolitan theatres to two, and brought 
 plays, prologues and epilogues under direct legal au- 
 thority. . . . With the passage of this act and the 
 appointment of a licenser under his jurisdiction, in 1738, 
 the Lord Chamberlain was formally invested with the 
 censorship of the Stage.'^ ^ There was considerable popu- 
 lar indignation and some rioting; nevertheless henceforth 
 the stage acknowledged the authority of the censor, and 
 the dramatic career of Fielding was ended. He now 
 turned to the composition of his novels, and English litera- 
 ture was richer by the exchange. 
 
 69. Adaptation: David Garrick. — David Garrick 
 (1717-1779), as the greatest actor of the middle of the 
 century, belongs rather to the history of the English stage 
 than to that of the drama. !N'evertheless, even if he had 
 lever made his adaptations from other dramatists, he would 
 still deserve mention on his own account. In 1767, with 
 George Colman, he wrote The Clandestine Marriage, and 
 among the other plays, sketches, and farces attributed to 
 him are The Lying Valet, in two acts, ^Lethe, " a dramatic 
 satire," Lillijmt, " a dramatic entertainment," The En-- 
 chanter, or Love and Magic, "a musical drama," The 
 Farmer's Betvrn from London, " an interlude," The Irish 
 Widow, in two acts, Bon Ton, or High Life above Stairs, 
 in two acts, etc. The adapia lions are from numerous 
 sources ; altogether Garrick produced more than a score of 
 the plays of Shakespeare alone. One meets such titles as 
 Borneo and Juliet, " with alterations, and an additional 
 scene ; " The Fairies, " taken from A Midsumnmr Night's 
 
 • Nettleton, 222.
 
 170 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 Dream; " Catherine arid Petrucliio, " a comedy in three 
 acts;" The Country Girl, ^'altered from Wycherley;'' 
 Alfred: a Masque, " with some few alterations, and with 
 some new music/' etc. Modern scholarship, with its great 
 emphasis on faithfulness to text, sometimes deplores the 
 liberties taken with Shakespeare by Gibber and Garrick. 
 These were men, however, who held aloft the ideal of the 
 drama in their day, and preserved a great tradition. The 
 atmosphere of the scholar's cloister is very different from 
 that of the eighteenth century theatre with the sweep of 
 Garrick or Peg Woffington. In a large way adaptation 
 was to be attributed to the change that had come over the 
 art of the actor. James Quin (1693-1756), the last 
 tragedian of the old school, recognized this when he said of 
 Garrick that " if the young fellow was right," he and the 
 rest of the players had been all wrong; and far more 
 significant than might have been realized at the time was 
 Eich's dismissal of Charles Macklin from Lincoln's Inn 
 Fields. In the new day the actor's own personality was 
 capitalized, and the mere text of a play was often a very 
 secondary consideration. Macklin was the first who thus 
 brought his personality into his interpretations, and Gar- 
 rick was the foremost exponent of the school. 
 
 Two other names, of persons who enjoyed quite a vogue 
 in their own day, are at least worthy of mention in con- 
 nection with the Garrick era. William Whitehead (1715- 
 1785), poet laureate in his later years, with The Roman 
 Father (1750), a classical tragedy, won a success 
 comparable with that of Philips's The Distrust Mother. 
 Isaac Bickerstaff (1735 ?-1812 ?) was popular as a play- 
 wright, but is best remembered as a librettist, his repre- 
 sentative production being The Padlock (1768), a musical
 
 THE ERA OF SENTIMENTALISM 171 
 
 entertainment that received more than fifty performances 
 at Drnry Tap^. 
 
 70. Romanticism : J ohn Home — In the general poverty 
 of original drama in the middle of the century John Home 
 (1722-1808), of Scotland, stands out with unusual dis- 
 tinctness. A keen student of classical literature, and a 
 minister at East Lothian, Home wrote altogether six 
 plays, and by the great success of his Dounlas he so 
 awakened the opposition of his kirk that he was forced 
 to anticipate dismissal by withdrawal. On its com- 
 pletion in 1754 he offered to Garrick his first tragedy, 
 Agis^ but met a refusal. The next year he made a horse- 
 back journey to London to offer Douglas to the same man- 
 ager, but met a similar response. In his own Scotland, 
 however. Home fared better, and Douglas was produced at 
 the Canongate Theatre in Edinburgh December 14, 175 G. 
 The success of the play surpassed all expectations, and 
 Home received from his countrymen the most extrava- 
 gant compliments. Hume, the philosopher and historian, 
 said that he possessed '^ the true theatric genius of Shake- 
 speare and Otway, refined from the unhappy barbarism 
 of the one and the licentiousness of the other." The 
 following March, Eich, ever on the alert, produced the 
 play at Covent Garden; and its London success was so 
 great that Garrick now accepted Agis and himself played 
 the leading part. This play, however, impressed the 
 public as cold and dull and Home's other productions fared 
 little better. He received various honors and lived for 
 some years into the next century ; but he had to be content 
 with his one great success. 
 
 The story of Douglas ^^ is as follows : Lady Randolph, 
 " See Gipson: John Home, for this and other relevant discussion.
 
 172 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 years before the time of the play, had entered into a 
 secret marriage with Douglas, whose family and hers were 
 bitter enemies. Soon after the marriage Douglas went to 
 •war and was killed. Lady Randolph, fearing her father's 
 anger, sent her child away when it was born and did not 
 hear again of her son or of the servant who took him away, 
 though she never ceased to grieve for her husband and 
 the boy. In the play Lord Randolph enters bringing a 
 youth who has saved him from a band of outlaws. To this 
 youth, a shepherd in whom Lady Randolph feels the deep- 
 est interest, Lord Randolph promises his protection. Glen- 
 alvon, the villain of the play, however, is in love with Lady 
 Randolph and has resolved to destroy her husband at the 
 first opportunity. After Lord Randolph and the youth. 
 Young Nerval, have left for the camp, an old shepherd 
 is brought to Lady Randolph. By the jewels found upon 
 him she learns that Young jSTorval is her son, that he had 
 been rescued by Old is^orval in a storm and brought up 
 as a shepherd. Lady Randolph now makes arrangements 
 for a secret interview with her son. One is held and an- 
 other arranged for. Glenalvon, hearing of the plan, leads 
 Lord Randolph to the secret meeting-place, and he and the 
 youth fight. Glenalvon, coming up in the rear, stabs 
 Young l^orval, who, however, kills him. before he himself 
 dies. Lady Randolph, distracted at all that has hap- 
 pened, leaps off a cliff ; and Lord Randolph, having learned 
 how he was deceived, in his remorse leaves for the wars, 
 from which he hopes never to return. 
 
 This play has been much discounted within recent years, 
 and even in its ow^n day Johnson said that there were not 
 ten good lines in it. The reasons for its success with its 
 generation, however, are evident. The drama was essen-
 
 THE ERA OF SENTIMENTALISM 173 
 
 tially romantic and has many sympathetic and natural 
 touches. Douglas really sounded a note that was to be 
 heard more or less frequently for a hundred years. If 
 such a speech as 
 
 My name is Norval : on the Grampian hills, 
 My father feeds his flocks, 
 
 now seems heckneyed, the part of Lady Randolph in the 
 hands of Peg Woffington, or, later, of Mrs. Siddons, was 
 triumphant; and when all possible discount is nxade, 
 Douglas still remains the strongest original English drama 
 that appeared between George Barmvell (1731) and She 
 Stoops to Conquer (1773). 
 
 71. Pure Comedy: Foote and Colman. — Meanwhile 
 something of the spirit of pure comedy and the tradition 
 of Fielding was preserved and carried forward in the 
 work of Samuel Foote and George Colman, so-called the 
 elder, to distinguish him from his son of the same name 
 who was a dramatist nearer the close of the century. 
 
 Samuel Foote (1720-1777), comedian and mimic, was 
 famous in his day for his impersonations. In his 
 earlier years on the stage, in Dublin, lie iiuroduced vari- 
 ous caricatures into the part of Bayes in The Rehearsal. 
 Later there seemed to be no limit to the freedom with 
 which he mimicked on the stage prominent figures of the 
 day, though seldom did he really offend by his work. 
 " Did he not think of exhibiting you, sir ? " asked Boswell 
 of Johnson. " Sir,'' replied the sage, " fear restrained 
 him, for he knew I would have broken his bones." Foote's 
 original productions were most frequently short clever 
 farces, sometimes satirical in quality. The Englishman 
 at Paris (1753) and The Englishman Returned from
 
 174 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 Paris (1756) dealt 'with the French character so as to 
 appeal to the English. The Mi/nor (1760) satirized White- 
 field and the Methodists, while The ¥(tid of Bath (1771) 
 handled rather freely the early life of Elizabeth Linley, 
 the popular singer of the day who becam,e the wife of 
 Sheridan. Foote's work may easily be overrated. It de- 
 pended for its strength mainly upon personal caricature 
 and the gossip of the hour. 
 
 Of somewhat different quality was Ge^^^ge Colmaii 
 (1732-1794), who enjoyed the benefit of education at 
 Westminster and at Christ Church, Oxford. The Jealous 
 Wife (1761), ^one of the most popular comedies of the day, 
 was mainly a dramatization of Tom Jones, several of the 
 prominent characters being changed only in name. The 
 ClandeMine Marriage (1766) has already been remarked 
 as the result of collaboration with Garrick. A quarrel 
 arose between the two men over the refusal of Garrick 
 to assum,e the role of Lord Oglesby in this play, and affairs 
 were not improved when Colman became manager of 
 Covent Garden. Later, however, there was a reconcilia- 
 tion. " A member of the Literary Club, a successful dram- 
 atist and manager, a translator of the comedies of Ter- 
 ence, an editor of the dramatic works of Beaumont and 
 Fletcher, a writer of prologues and epilogues, among them 
 the epilogue to The School for Scandal, George Colman the 
 elder was a notable figure in the theatrical and literary 
 world of the last half of the eighteenth century." ^^ 
 
 72. Sentimentalism : Kelly and Cumberland. — In the 
 midst of pantomime and ballad-opera, burlesque and ro- 
 manticism, however, sentimentalism moved steadily on- 
 ward in its course and rose to its height. The origins of 
 
 "Nettleton, 262-63.
 
 THE ERA OF SENTIMENTALISM 175 
 
 this phenomenon are far to seek, and something of its 
 story depends upon a misinterpretation of Plautus and 
 Terence/^ For the present purpose, however. Gibber's 
 Love's Last Shift (1696) is a convenient starting-point. 
 This is the story of '' a woman of strict virtue," Amanda, 
 who, deserted by her husband, Loveless, later reclaims him 
 by placing herself in a compromising position. Steele's 
 The Lifrng Lover (1703) and Gibber's TliP. Careless Hus- 
 hand (1704) had similar sentimental tendencies, and after 
 these plays the type was fairly well established. Gom- 
 paratively little original work was done in the drama be- 
 tween 1710 and 1728,^^ when Gibber's The Provoled Hus- 
 hand appeared. In 1781 was produced George Barnwell; 
 but between 1732 and 1750 the drama of sensibility lan- 
 guished, while Akenside and Gollins in poetry and Eich- 
 ardson in the novel carried the influence over into other 
 forms of literature. Then came revival with Moore" s The 
 Gamester (1753) and other work down to Kelly and Gum- 
 berland, 
 
 Hugh Kelly (1739-1777) lives primarily by reason of 
 one strong and popular comedy^ False Ddicacy, presented 
 at Govent Garden January 23, 1768. The leading char- 
 acters in this play are unusually refined and are placed in a 
 delicate situation. " Lady Betty [Lambton] has a de- 
 pendent friend. Miss Marchmont. Lord Winworth re- 
 quests Lady Betty to convey to Miss Marchmont his offer 
 of marriage, and to urge its acceptance. The offer distresses 
 both the young women; for Lady Betty is herself in love 
 with Winworth, though she has formerly rejected him ; and 
 Miss Marchmont loves another man, but feels that her 
 obligations to Lady Betty are so great as to make it im- 
 
 " See Bernbaum, Chapter II. *• Berabaum, 225.
 
 176 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 possible to disregard her apparent wishes. Lord Win- 
 worth presently realizes that it is still Lady Betty whom 
 he loves, but he feels that a withdrawal of his proposal 
 to Miss Marchmont would be dishonorable. Thus the 
 motives of these characters are of the highest.'' ^^ This 
 play has been variously interpreted. One critic says, 
 " The very title of Kelly's comedy is, in fact, evidence 
 that sentimental delicacy may be carried to false extremes. 
 Yet with every allowance of non-sentimental elements 
 in Kelly's work, it remains indisputable that the primary 
 appeal of the dramatist is to sentimental emotion. The 
 chief personages voice their sentiments and emit their 
 moral platitudes in sober earnest and with a reformer's 
 zeal. Their speeches are without the irony with which 
 Sheridan turned sentimental rant to hypocritical cant in 
 the mouth of Joseph Surface. . . . With False Delicacy 
 the stage has become a school of morality." ^* Another 
 says, however : ^' Such was the success of False Delicacy, 
 and such the superficiality of contemporary criticism, that 
 tjie play came to be regarded as one which carried senti- 
 mentalism to an extreme, and was by enemies of sentimen- 
 tal comedy declared to be destitute of humor: when, as a 
 a matter of fact, it is a peculiar variation of the type, 
 and sometimes satirizes the very tendency it is supposed to 
 support." ^^ 
 
 Eichard Cumberland (1732-1811) was largely influ- 
 enced by Kelly, but coming even as late as he did seems 
 to have regarded himself as the real creator of sentimental 
 drama. A native of Cambridge, the nephew of Dr. Rich- 
 ard Bentley, Cumberland enjoyed the benefit of training 
 at Westminster and Trinity College. He wrote more than 
 
 * • Bernbaum, 225. * * Nettleton, 271. " Bernbaum, 226.
 
 THE ERA OP SENTIMENTALISM 177 
 
 fifty dramatic pieces. The Brothers (1769), one of tlie 
 earlier plays, was an unquestioned success. Cumberland's 
 real reputation, however, is based on The West Indian 
 (1771). Conscious that this play would be regarded as 
 his masterpiece, he ^' recorded in his Memoirs the place 
 and the circumstances of its composition with a particu- 
 larity and seriousness resembling Gibbon's on an incom- 
 parably worthier occasion." ^^ He might be excused 
 for being proud of his achievement. The four char- 
 acters that are at the center of the action are young Bel- 
 cour, the West Indian, Lady Eusport, and Charles and 
 Louisa Dudley, children of a retired captain. Belcour 
 was believed by his grandfather to be a foundling. He 
 has prospects of an inheritance and goes to London to 
 Stockwell, the merchant. Lady Rusport has rejected 
 Charles Dudley because of his poverty. In reality, how- 
 ever, her fortune belongs to Dudley, and she bribes her 
 lawyer to destroy the will proving this. Louisa Dudley 
 is the intended victim of a design of Belcour's. The land- 
 lady who aids this design is baffled, however, and the hero 
 at length honorably wins Louisa. Major O'Flaherty 
 moreover, an Irish officer, makes known the secret of the 
 will, so that Dudley and Miss Rusport are also united; 
 and there is the further disclosure of the fact that Stock- 
 well is in reality Belcour's father. The questionable 
 ethics in this plot needs no comment ; by an ingenious rear- 
 rangement of old themes, however, Cumberland produced 
 a play that became very popular. He deliberately made 
 a West Indian and an Irishman his heroes ; Belcour re- 
 ceives many suggestions from Tom Jones, and Major 
 O'Flaherty is a prototype of Sir Lucius O'Trigger. As in 
 " Bernbaum, 237.
 
 178 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 the admirable person of the Major, Cumberland tried to 
 overcome a national prejudice against the Irish, so in 
 Colin Macleod in The Fashioriahh Lover (1772) he tried 
 to do away with any lingering feeling against the Scotch. 
 73. Summary of the Period. — It is evident that in the 
 period we have been considering the legitimate drama was 
 subjected to many opposing forces. Such forms of enter- 
 tainment as pantomime and ballad-opera naturally raised 
 some question with the orthodox, while the embarrassing 
 Licensing Act largely accounts for the comparative dearth 
 of new plays and the numerous adaptations from old ones 
 by such a manager as Garrick. To this must be added the 
 consideration of the popularity of the novel, the new 
 form of literature that so rapidly developed in an age 
 emphasizing common sentiment. The legitimate drama 
 moreover was itself not altogether certain of its channel. 
 The romantic impulses showed the possibility of develop- 
 ment in a direction largely new. For the most part, how- 
 ever, the form struggled under the weight of sentimental- 
 ism, an influence that reached its height within the period. 
 Already the forces of revolt against it were gathering. 
 The burlesque of Fielding was only the prelude to the 
 encounter. The tearful and pathetic Muse had had her 
 day and was soon to be driven from the scene by the more 
 genuine comedy of Goldsmith and Sheridan.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 GOLDSMITH AND SHERIDA:Nr 
 
 74. Reaction from Sentimentalism. — For some years 
 now sentimentalism had been regnant as an influence in 
 the English Drama, and Richardson and Sterne had carried 
 the impulse into the novel. The forces of reaction were 
 gathering, however, and were soon to make themselves 
 felt with no uncertain sound. We have already seen how 
 such a man as Fielding burlesqued the tearful produc- 
 tions of his day ; and even when he passed to the composi- 
 tion of his novels the great realist did not cease his at- 
 tack. He, however, was mainly destructive. It remained 
 for Oliver Goldsmith constructively to show the way to sl 
 healthier and saner comedy. 
 
 For some years those who favored the sentimental drama 
 had dignified this by the word " genteel." Anything that 
 dealt with common people, however rich might be its dra- 
 matic possibilities, was stigmatized as " low." Goldsmith 
 first took up the cudgels of the attack in 1759, in the 
 preface to Tho Present State of Polite Learning. Said 
 he : " By the power of one single monosyllable our critics 
 have almost got the victory over humour amongst us. 
 Does the poet paint the absurdities of the vulgar ; then he is 
 low ; does he exaggerate the features of folly, to render it 
 more thoroughly ridiculous, he is then very low\ In short, 
 they have proscribed the comic or satirical muse from 
 
 179
 
 180 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRA]\L\ 
 
 every walk but high life, which, though abounding in fools 
 as well as the humblest station, is by no means so fruitful 
 in absurdity. Among well-bred fools we may despise 
 much, but have little to laugh at ; nature seems to present 
 us with a universal blank of silk, ribbands, smiles, and 
 whispers ; absurdity is the poet's game, and good breeding 
 is the nice concealment of absurdities.'' ^ More relentlessly 
 did he return to the attack in 1772 after the rather cool 
 reception given to his first play and before his second 
 had as yet appeared before the public. In December of 
 this year he contributed to the Westminster Magazine, An 
 Essay on the Theatre; or A Cormparison between Laugh- 
 ing and Sentimental Comedy, in which he spoke in part 
 as follows : " Comedy is defined by Aristotle to be a pic- 
 ture of the frailties of the lower part of mankind, to dis- 
 tinguish it from tragedy, which is an exhibition of the mis- 
 fortunes of the gi-eat. When comedy, therefore, ascends to 
 produce the characters of princes or generals upon the 
 stage, it is out of its walks, since low life and middle life 
 are entirely its object. The principal question, therefore, 
 is, whether, in describing low or middle life, an exhibition 
 of its follies be not preferable to a detail of its calamities ? 
 Or, in other words, which deserves the preference, — the 
 weeping sentimental comedy so much in fashion at present, 
 or the laughing, and even low comedy, which seems to have 
 been last exhibited by Vanbrugh and Gibber ? If we apply 
 to authorities, all the great masters in the dramatic art 
 have but one opinion. . . . Yet notwithstanding this 
 weight of authority, and the universal practice of former 
 ages, a new species of dramatic composition has been intro- 
 
 1 See Dohson : Introduction to The Good Natur^d Mem and She 
 Stoops to Conquer, xiii.
 
 GOLDSMITH AND SHERIDAN 181 
 
 duced, under the name of sentimental comedy, in which 
 the virtues of private life are exhibited, rather than the 
 vices exposed; and the distresses rather than the faults 
 of mankind make our interest in the piece. These come- 
 dies have had of late great success, perhaps from their 
 novelty, and also from their flattering every man in his 
 foible. In these plays almost all the characters are good, 
 and exceedingly generous ; they are lavish enough of their 
 tin money on the stage; and though they want humour, 
 have abundance of sentiment and feeling. If they happen 
 to have faults or foibles, the spectator is taught, not only 
 to pardon, but to applaud them, in consideration of the 
 goodness of their hearts; so that folly, instead of being 
 ridiculed, is commended, and the comedy aims at touching 
 our passions without the power of being truly pathetic. In 
 this manner we are likely to lose one great source of enter- 
 tainment on the stage ; for while the comic poet is invad- 
 ing the province of the tragic muse, he leaves her lovely 
 sister quite neglected. Of this, however, he is no way 
 solicitous, as he measures his fame by his profits. . . . 
 But there is one argument in favour of sentimental 
 comedy, which will keep it on the stage, in spite of all 
 that can be said against it. It is, of all others, the most 
 easily written. Those abilities that can hammer out a 
 novel are quite sufficient for the production of a senti- 
 mental comedy. It is only sufficient to raise the char- 
 acters a little ; to deck out the hero with a riband, or give 
 the heroine a title ; then to put an insipid dialogue, without 
 character or humour, into their mouths, give them mighty 
 good hearts, very fine clothes, furnish a new set of scenes, 
 make a pathetic scene or two, with a sprinkling of tender 
 melancholy conversation through the whole, and there is
 
 182 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 doubt but all the ladies will cry, and all the gentlemen 
 applaud." ^ 
 
 75. Oliver Goldsmith.— Oliver Goldsmith (1Y28-1774) 
 has left to literature a legacy of singular charm. " Even 
 his failings leaned to virtue's side ; " and however much 
 hackwork of his earlier years he might later have pre- 
 ferred to forget, however much his foibles excited the 
 amusement or the sympathy of his friends, when he passed 
 to the composition of his serious efforts he worked with a 
 clear conception of the requirements of art and wrote with 
 unfailing good taste. The Traveller and The Deserted 
 Village show as do few other poems the narrow line be- 
 tween sentiment and sentimentality, while The Vicar of 
 WaJcefield is so clearly constructed that it can easily be 
 made into a five-act play. His first drama, The Good- 
 Natured Man, was offered to Colman at Covent Garden 
 in 1767 ; but even though apparently accepted it had an 
 exceedingly hard time in actually getting before the pub- 
 lic.^ Something of the manager's indifference communi- 
 cated itself to the players, and Garrick, who as manager 
 at Drury Lane had recently become reconciled with Col- 
 man, and who had on hand a new play, False Delicacy, 
 for which he wished success, arrived at an understanding 
 with Colman by which Goldsmith's play should not be pro- 
 duced until Kelly's had enjoyed a preliminary run. The 
 result was that False Delicacy was produced January 23, 
 1768, and The Good-Natured Man not until six nights 
 afterwards. As Colman feared would be the case with 
 an audience attuned to sentimentality, special objection 
 was raised to the bailiff scene in Act III, though the parts 
 
 ' Quoted from Dobson's edition, 126-30. 
 ' See Dobson's Introduction, x-xxi.
 
 GOLDSMITH AND SHERIDAN 183 
 
 of Croaker and Lofty did not fail to impress the discern- 
 ing. Goldsmith " was bitterly disappointed. Yet al' 
 though his play ran but for nine nights, three of these 
 brought him profits which reached to £400, to which the 
 sale of the book, with the restored bailiff scene, added some 
 £100 more. Compared with the success of False Delicacy/, 
 however, these returns were inconsiderable." 
 
 Five years passed before Goldsmith brought forth hia 
 second play. He was doubtless discouraged by the diffi- 
 culties of actually getting a drama upon the stage; more- 
 over he realized that sentimental comedy, while it might 
 be despised, vv^as a rival that could not be disregarded, for 
 in the meantime Cumberland's The West Indian (1771) 
 had appeared. She Stoops to Conquer, though still un- 
 named, was evidently finished by the end of 1771. The 
 manuscript was in Colman's hands early in the next year ; 
 but again ensued a long season of harassing waiting. At 
 length Goldsmith wrote to Colman a moving appeal, to 
 which the manager replied " by returning the manuscript, 
 reiterating his intention to bring out the piece, but freely 
 decorating the ^ copy ' with vexatious remarks and criti- 
 cism.'' Deeply mortified, Goldsmith, with no great hope, 
 sent it on as it was to Garrick. Johnson, however, with 
 his usual kindness, now intervened, had the manuscript 
 hastily withdrawn from Garrick's hands, and himself went 
 to see Colman, with the result that the play was at last 
 produced March 15, 1773. Colman still was not enthusi- 
 astic, however; one after another of the actors had given 
 up their j^arts ; and further embarrassment had been caused 
 by the author's uncertainty about the title. The Belle's 
 Stratagem (a title afterwards used by Mrs. Cowley) and 
 The Old House, A New Inn were among the suggestions,
 
 184 A SHOET HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 while still a third one was The Mistakes of a NighL 
 Finally recalling a line from Dryden, " But kneels to con-- 
 quer, and yet stoops to rise," Goldsmith decided on She 
 Stoops to Conquer, with The Mistakes of a Night as a sub- 
 title. With such handicaps it was only by dint of sheer 
 merit that the play succeeded on its opening night and thus 
 began its triumphant progress through English theatrical 
 history. 
 
 She Stoops to Conquer is one of the landmarks of Eng- 
 lish comedy. The play was primarily based upon an epi-" 
 sode in the author's life, his mistaking of a private house 
 for an inn while still a youth in his native Ireland. The 
 tying of Mr. Hardcastle's wig to a chair was taken from 
 a trick that had been played on Goldsmith himself while 
 he was writing the play. The weak points in the comedy, 
 which on one hand has similarities with Earquhar's play 
 and on the other with Mrs. Cowley's, the critics were not 
 long in finding. The play abounds in farcial elements, 
 in improbabilities and inconsistencies; Tony Lumpkin, 
 for instance, who is so illiterate as not to be able to read 
 more than his own name in script, is clever enough to have 
 composed the excellent song of " The Three Pigeons." * 
 All shortcomings, however, recede before the abounding 
 good humor and high spirits of the play. Mr. Ilardcastle's' 
 old-fashioned courtesy, Diggory's unconscious humor, and 
 Tony Lumpkin's little designs were all warm-hearted and 
 genuine, and even in the eighteenth century could relieve 
 the commonplace qualities of other characters that were 
 more conventional. 
 
 76. Richard Brinsley Sheridan. — The attack that Gold- 
 * The remark is to be credited originally to Dobson, Introduction,
 
 GOLDSMITH A>TD SHERIDAN 185 
 
 smith had begun upon sentimentalism was carried still 
 further by Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816), who 
 differed, however, from his contemporary in his emphasis 
 on high comedy. Goldsmith recalled Farquhar ; Sheridan 
 was the heir of Congreve. He was the son of brilliant 
 parents, his father being an actor and a fashionable teacher 
 of oratory, while his mother, beautiful and charming m 
 manner, was accomplished with her pen and herself wrote 
 a play, The Discovery. Under highly romantic circum-- 
 stances he married the attractive singer and belle of the 
 day, Elizabeth Linley, the daughter of a fashionable teacher 
 of music; and now face to face with the problem of sup- 
 porting a wife he turned to the business of playwriting. 
 ^' Like Goldsmith, he reverted to classical comedy and 
 chose, as the basis of his plot, the marriage conf ict be- 
 tween parent and child which had come down from Ter- 
 ence through Italian and Erench theatres. A father and 
 an aunt arrange a suitable marriage for their respective 
 son and niece, while the young people have already chosen? 
 for themselves. Out of this hackneyed situation he ex- 
 tracted the equally hackneyed humors of mistaken identity 
 and of domestic discord, but with a dramatic sense which 
 borders on genius." ^ The Rivals appeared at Covent 
 Garden January 17, 1775. The play did not succeed at 
 first; it was not well performed and was altogether too 
 long. Revision, however, greatly improved it and then it 
 met with the success it deserved.^ The rivals are of course 
 
 » Routh: " The Georgian Drama," C. H. E. L., XI, 294. 
 
 " It is an open question, however, if for acting purposes it was 
 not capable of still further revision; see, for instance, account of 
 Joseph Jefferson's version in Nettleton: Major Dramas of Richard 
 Brinsley Sheridan, 323-25,
 
 186 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 one and the same person, the gallant young lover who has 
 introduced himself to the heroine as Ensign Beverly in- 
 stead of the heir of Sir Anthony Absolute that he really is. 
 Complication arises when the young man's father appears 
 on the scene bent on having him married at once in his 
 own person. Lydia Languish, w^ho has sentimentally 
 looked forward to an elopement and to the loss of her for- 
 tune with delight, is naturally disaj)pointed when she finds 
 that she is still to be well-to-do and conventional. Sir 
 Anthony, with his fits of temper, Mrs. Malaprop, with her 
 distinctive vocabulary, and Bob Acres with his swagger 
 might have had prototypes but were nevertheless irresist- 
 ibly effective in their own persons. A society that prided 
 itseK on its grace and sophistication, and that smiled at 
 those who fell short of its ideals, enjoyed the play and gave 
 it full approval. 
 
 Sheridan naturally desired to follow up his first suc- 
 cess as quickly as possible. On May 2 he sought to amuse 
 the public with a short farce, St. Patrick's Day. Much 
 more important than this, however, was The Duenna, a 
 comic opera on the libretto of which Sheridan had lav- 
 ished some of his best effort and for which his father-in- 
 law had w^ritten the music. The work was produced in 
 ^N'ovember, and was a tremendous success, being given no 
 less than seventy-five performances in its first season and 
 surpassing even the famous run of The Beggar s Opera, 
 Sheridan, now at the age of twenty-four, was acclaimed as 
 the foremost English writer of comedy of the day. 
 
 " Garrick, rendered uneasy by these successes at the 
 rival house of Covent Garden, revenged himself eifectually 
 in 1775 by parting with his half-share of the patent at 
 Drury Lane to a syndicate, at the head of which was
 
 GOLDSMITH AND SHERIDAN 18T 
 
 Sheridan." "^ The post of manager of London's most fa- 
 mous theatre that the yoimg dramatist now assumed was 
 one that he was to hold with varying success for most 
 of the rest of his life. An early attempt, however, to 
 remodel Vanbrugh's The Relapse under a new title prac- 
 tically failed. Something was needed and needed immedi- 
 ately to repair the loss of Garrick. Sheridan rose to the 
 occasion with The School for Scandal (May 8, 1777), gen- 
 erally considered his masterpiece. 
 
 This play, like The Rivals, seems to have been the result 
 of Sheridan's acquaintance with fashionable society at 
 Bath. The careful construction of the play at once elicited 
 favorable comment. Especially praised was the situation, 
 in the fourth act, where Sir Peter discovers Lady Teazle 
 in Joseph Surface's study. The test of time has fully 
 confirmed the praise thus bestowed on the " screen scene." 
 " It remains not merely the most notable scene in the 
 English comedy of manners, but one of the masterpieces 
 of English dramatic art. Only less noteworthy are the 
 ^ picture scene ' in the house of Charles Surface, the 
 scandal scenes, and the conversations between Sir Peter 
 and Lady Teazle. Though more dependent upon the wit of 
 the dialogue, they brilliantly illustrate Sheridan's dra- 
 matic skill." * 
 
 Sheridan's next production was The Critic (October 30, 
 1779), a burlesque on the general order of The Rehearsal 
 originally produced as an afterpiece. In this play with 
 his usual success he not only satirized sentimentalism and 
 such a contemporary character as the sensitive and jealous 
 Cumberland ('' Sir Fretful Plagiary"), but with a mas- 
 terhand swept the entire range of dramatic absurdity, 
 
 ' Seccombe, 210. ' NettletoD, 303.
 
 188 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 ''It is the triumph of sheer wit over the usual transitori- 
 ness of burlesque." 
 
 After these successes, when a brilliant career as a dram- 
 atist seemed all before him, Sheridan suddenly shifted 
 his chief interest to politics, becoming within the next 
 twenty years one of the most famous orators in Parliament. 
 This participation in public life naturally led to more or 
 less neglect of Drury Lane, which for a while was saved 
 from disaster only by the work of a group of unusually able 
 performers. In 1798 and 1799 Sheridan temporarily 
 saved the situation by two adaptations from the German of 
 Kotzebue, The Strangers and Pizarro, In 1791, however, 
 the theatre had been condemned as unsafe and had to be 
 reconstructed at great expense ; in 1809 it was totally de- 
 stroyed with heavy personal loss to the manager. When 
 it was rebuilt new officials took charge and Sheridan was 
 forced to retire. Other troubles had already come to him 
 — domestic, financial, political. He passed away at sixty- 
 five and was buried with great pomp in Westminster 
 Abbey. Neither he nor Goldsmith founded a school. He 
 himself was but the last and the most brilliant representa- 
 tive of the comedy of manners that had become so popular 
 in the Restoration era, and that had had such a long tradi- 
 tion in English dramatic annals. 
 
 77. Close of the Century.— The latter part of the eigh- 
 teenth century was hardly a period favorable to the com- 
 position of plays. Eor a longer time than ever before 
 or since the drama sank beneath the dignity of literature. 
 Much of the explanation of this is to be found in the 
 larger forces at work in the life of the English people. 
 The age was primarily democratic and industrial, and far 
 removed from the nationalistic ideals of Elizabeth. Not
 
 GOLDSMITH AND SHERIDAN 189 
 
 kings and queens, or heroes and heroines, but common 
 men and women were chiefly of interest. Accordingly the 
 country launched upon a great era of social and political 
 reform. Howard worked for the improvement of prisons, 
 Wilberforce and other abolitionists began their agitation, 
 and the decade 1790-1800 witnessed the founding of nu- 
 merous missionary and philanthropic societies. Some off- 
 set to these Whig tendencies might have been found in 
 romanticism; but this impulse had not yet risen to its 
 height, nor had the theories and ideas of liberty crystal- 
 lized into drama. 
 
 In such an era of discussion and reform the drama no 
 longer fulfilled the function it once performed. In the 
 age of Elizabeth the playhouse monopolized the attention 
 of the world of fashion. Now, however, it had to com- 
 pete with the novel, the newspaper, the opera, and all the 
 other media of enlightenment and entertainment. The 
 drama itself moreover had now built up a tradition and a 
 literature that kept many away from the theatre. The 
 scholar, hardly attracted by the current offerings of the 
 stage, turned to the perusal of the older dramatists in the 
 study. In an age of increasing criticism, largely of 
 Shakespeare, Dr. Samuel Johnson (1Y09-1784) was easily 
 most eminent. Years before (1749) he had offered to 
 Garrick, and Garrick had accepted, a rather lifeless trag- 
 edy, Irene, a story of the temptation placed before a Greek 
 maiden by the offer of a throne rejected by the loyal 
 Aspasia. In spite of considerable effort, as a dramatist 
 and poet Johnson did not quite succeed in winning the 
 laurels he sought ; he was to win a fame far more enduring, 
 however, by the critical efforts that very often he thought 
 ephemeral.
 
 190 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 Within the theatre itself moreover developed forces that 
 hardly promoted the composition of serious drama. From 
 what has been said it is evident that the stage was main- 
 tained in the latter part of the century only by the more 
 fashionable part of the population. The play became a 
 society function; Garrick, Macklin, Foote, and Mrs. Sid- 
 dons were discussed in the parlors of the ^' bluestock- 
 ings; " and polite conversation considered the relative 
 merits of Drury Lane and Covent Garden. "Not was the 
 situation improved by the sentimentalism that in varying 
 forms was still cultivated, or by the ^' bullies " of the day 
 who were tolerated and v^ho frenueutly browbeat the actors. 
 The chief force in making the drama less intellectual, 
 however, was the emphasis placed on scenery and costume, 
 the effect of which was not unlike that nt the present day. 
 " In the days of Quin, the characters appeared in a con- 
 ventional dress, incongruous to us because unfamiliar, 
 which raised the actors above the limitations of actual 
 existence and made them denizens of the suggestive stage- 
 world. But when Garrick played Ifacbeth in a scarlet 
 and gold military uniform and dressed Hotspur in a laced 
 frock and Ramillies wig, he was introducing realism, 
 which destroyed the universality of the characters ; so that, 
 after two generations of the new tradition, neither Lamb 
 nor Hazlitt could endure to see Shakespeare acted; and 
 Goethe, at a time when the picture stage had firm hold of 
 Germany, regarded Shakespeare more as a poet to be 
 read in seclusion than as a dramatist to be appreciated in 
 the theatre.'' ^ 
 
 Some names, however, of those who wrote plays within 
 the period are deserving at least of passing mention and 
 • Routh, C. E. E. L, XI, 314.
 
 GOLDSMITH AND SHFPTDAN 191 
 
 sometimes of further remark. Haimah More (1745- 
 1833), most famous for her work in education and reli- 
 gion, as a dramatist was strongest in Percy (1777) and 
 The Fatal Falsehood (1779). In the first of these plays 
 she availed herself of the new taste for romanticism; in 
 both, however, she discussed topics of interest in her day. 
 Mrs. Hannah Cowley (3743-1809), a successful writer 
 of comedy, began her work with a sentimental play, The 
 Runaway (1776), but soon shifted to the comedy of humor 
 and episode. " In The Belle'. ^ f^tratagem (1780), Laetitia 
 Hardy, to be sure of winning the affections of her be- 
 trothed, first disgusts him by pretending to be a hoyden 
 and then, while disguised at a masquerade, conquers his 
 heart by her real charms." Stronger perhaps than other 
 phywrigbts of the period, however, was General John 
 Burgoyne (1722-1792), who before going to America pro- 
 duced a classical comedy of the old school. The Maid of the 
 OaJcs (1774), and who on his return again proceeded to 
 work in a field in which he had long been interested and 
 wrote The Heiress (1786). This play "won a fortune 
 and was pr,eferred by some critic? to The Sclwol for Scan- 
 dal. , . . [It] has the unusual merit of combining the 
 features of a comedy of manner- with tho?^p of a comedy 
 of pathos." Thomas Holcroft (1745-1809), who was of the 
 circle of Godwin and Paine, introduces something of his 
 social theory in The Food fo Ruin (1792) and The De- 
 serted Daughter (.795). Mrs. Elizabeth Inchbald (1753- 
 1821), who knew well the life of the theatre, was singu- 
 larly successful in adapting her work to popular taste. 
 rU Tell You What (1784) was especially well constructed ; 
 Stirh Things Are (1787) deftly makes use of Howard's 
 agitation for prison reform; Wives as They Were (1797),
 
 192 A SHOKT HISTORY OF THE EI^GLISH DEAMA 
 
 " a study of a pleasure-loving girl in higli society whose 
 nobler qualities are gradually developed by the influence of 
 her father in disguise," was afterwards elaborated into the 
 strong novel, A Simple Story; and Every one Has Ms 
 Fault (1793) is a domestic play of ill-sorted marriage. 
 George Colman, the younger (1762-1836), has an inter- 
 esting place in the history of the English drama. '" Toward 
 the end of the eighteenth century the rage for dumb show 
 and musical additions invaded the regular drama. Even 
 Kotzebue ^^ had to be decked out with songs and choruses. 
 . . . This species seems to have been mainly due to the 
 ingenuity of George Colman. Those of his plays verging 
 on tragedy, of wLich ihe Battle of Hexham (1789), The 
 Surrender of Calais (1791), llie Mountaineers (1793), 
 and The Iron Chest (1796) are the chief, are lively med- 
 leys of tragedy, comedy, opera, and farce. ... In his 
 use of all the well-worn motives of serious drama and his 
 constant imitation of Shakespearean and Elizabethan dic- 
 tion, Colman displays remarkable as well as the most cheer- 
 ful effrontery. . . . He popularized, vulgarized, and 
 musicalized the great traditions of English tragedy, and 
 passed them along to the nineteenth century as the pos- 
 session of the illegitimate drama." ^^ 
 
 *" See next section, 78. " Thorndike : Tragedy, 333-34.
 
 CHAPTEE XI 
 
 EAELY OTNETEE^^TH CE:N^TUEY DRAMA: 
 EOMANTICISM 
 
 78. Era of Romanticism. — Important as furnishing 
 a background for the drama are the theatrical condi- 
 tions that obtained in London in the earlier years of the 
 nineteenth century. We have seen that in the last period 
 the theatres were primarily frequented by a special group 
 in society, though as time went on one heard more and 
 more about " illegitimate '' playhouses. The fact is that the 
 theatres were still oflScially under the control of the court ; 
 and the Lord Chamberlain recognized only the two 
 " patent '^ theatres, Drury Lane and Covent Garden, and 
 the one in the Haymarket. When near the turn of the 
 century the people in greater numbers began to attend the 
 playhouses, these three theatres proved to be altogether in- 
 adequate for the demands of a city as large as London, 
 though the first two were enlarged until they were really 
 enormous in size. Accordingly, in defiance of the law, 
 there arose various other theatres which were not supposed 
 to encroach on the field of the legitimate drama, but with 
 emphasis on music and dancing and other features to cor- 
 respond rather to the modern " variety " or vaudeville 
 houses. In spite of all the uncertainty as to their exist- 
 ence, however, these theatres with increasing assurance 
 offered to their patrons the regular drama until in 1843 
 they were formally legalized. 
 
 With the entrance of the people at large into the theatres 
 
 193
 
 194 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 there developed an emphasis on sensational incident which 
 the impulse of romanticism, now at its height, was only too 
 willing to satisfy. A new species of play, melodrama 
 (from the F^e'n^h r-r/lo^rnrn'^) , came into eyif^+pnce. " The 
 peculiar novelties of the inelodranoe were the supplement- 
 ing of the dialogue by a large amount of dumb-show and 
 the accompaniment of both dialogue and dumb-show by 
 descriptive orchestral music; otherwise, with its songs, 
 sensations, and mechanical devices, it resembled the pre- 
 ceding musical drama of Colman and others. . . . The 
 term ifielodranva ceased aftei a time to denote the peculiar 
 species brought from France in 1802, and came to be ap- 
 plied to all plays flependir g for eff'i^ct on situation, sensa- 
 tion, or machinery, rather than ojjaracterization.'' ^ The 
 origin ^ of romanticise n itself of courp-? go back to the 
 preceding century, and for the present purpose impoi*- 
 tance attaches especially to the " Gothic ■ ' romance of 
 Horace Walpole and Mrs. Eadcliffe. " Walpole himself 
 wrote an unacted play. The Myderions Moihtr, in 1768, 
 which is not an unworthy companion of The Casile of 
 Otranto, itself adapted for the stage and acted in 1781, as 
 Tl" Count of Narhonne, Other ^Gothic tragedies' are 
 liODert J'ephson\^ Braganza, 1775, which boasts itself, in 
 the prologue, as ' warm from Shakespeare's school,' his 
 Julia, 1787, a very popular play, the scene of which is 
 Elizabethan England, and Cuiriberland'f? Caniielite, 1784 ; 
 and all preceded the German romantic influence." ^ All 
 other single influences, however, were secondary to that of 
 the German Kotzebue, who about the years 1797-1801 had 
 a vogue such as perhaps has never been equaled in the his- 
 tory of the English theatre. This dramatist attacked the 
 » Thorndike, 334-36. ' Schelling: English Drama, 312.
 
 EAELY NINETEENTH CENTURY DRAMA 195 
 
 Englisli stage at its weak point, sentimentality, and more 
 than a score of his productions were rapidly translated. 
 Even Sheridan, as we have seen, yielded to the demand 
 of the moment, and within twelve years Pizarro passed 
 through twenty-nine editions. " The phenomenal fortune 
 of Kotzebue in England has been attributed to several 
 causes. In the first place he is a consummate master of 
 stagecraft and often as witty as he is clever. Secondly, he 
 appealed strongly to the prevailing love of the sentimental 
 from which English drama seems never to have been able 
 to shake itself free ; and this appeal is given a wider social 
 and political character which fell in thoroughly with the 
 democratic and humanitarian temper of the moment." ' 
 For at least one season, that of 1797-98, The CoMlc Spectre 
 of M. G. Lewis, with its emphasis on terror and mediaeval- 
 ism, was a serious rival of the works of Kotzebue; but 
 the underlying appeal was of course largely the same. 
 
 This was the period of Scott, whose poetry was for a 
 number of years singularly successful in satisfying the 
 taste of the public; and one has only to recall the great 
 critics of the day to know that at the time there was much 
 genuine appreciation of the ^^st that was to be found in 
 the national literature. Lamb issued his Specimens of 
 English Dramatic Poets (1808), Gifford brought out a new 
 edition of Jonson in nine volumes (1816), Toleridge wrote 
 Biographia Literana (1817), and JTazlitt produced such 
 works as Characters of Shale espeare's Plays (1817) and 
 Lectures on the Dramatic Literature of the Age of Eliza- 
 beth (1820). In a period of uncertainty in the crc. <^ive 
 drama moreover, some actors of the highest order of merit 
 appeared. Easily foremost were Sarah Siddons (1755- 
 
 • Schelling, 313.
 
 196 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 1831) and Edmund Kean (1787-1833) ; and the efforts 
 of sucE performers as these in behalf of the poetic drama, 
 as well as of William Macready (1793-1873) at a some- 
 what later period, can hardly be overestimated. 
 
 The word of three representative men, taken together, 
 may best give an impression of enlightened opinion of the 
 drama in the period. Said Jeffrey : '^ Of the old English 
 dramatists, then, including under this name (besides 
 Shakespeare) Beaumont and Fletcher, Massinger, Jonson, 
 Ford, Shirley, Webster, Dekker, Field, and Kowley, it may 
 be said, in general, that they are more poetical, and more 
 original in their diction, than the dramatists of any other 
 age or country. Their scenes abound more in varied 
 images, and gratuitous excursions of fancy. Their illus- 
 trations, and figures of speech, are more borrowed from 
 rural life, and from the simple occupations or universal 
 feelings of mankind. They are not confined to a certain 
 range of dignified expressions, nor restricted to a particular 
 assortment of imagery, beyond which it is not lawful to 
 look for embellishments." * Hazlitt, however, with his 
 usual frankness showed that intelligent appreciation on the 
 part of the public had yet a long way to go. Said he: 
 " It is the present fashion to speak with veneration of old 
 English literature; but the homage we pay to it is more 
 akin to the rites of superstition than the worship of true 
 religion. Our faith is doubtful ; our love cold ; and knowl- 
 edge little or none. We now and then repeat the names 
 of some of the old writers by rote, but we are shy of look- 
 ing into their works." ^ Something of a still more aristo- 
 
 * Review of Weber's " The Dramatic Works of Ford," Edinburghi 
 Review, August, 1811. 
 
 * Lecture I in Dramatic Literature of the Age of Elizabeth,
 
 EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY DRMIA 197 
 
 cratic point of view, and one that had much to justify it, 
 was expressed by Byron.^ This brilliant poet, as a young 
 satirist, showed no sympathy with the performances of 
 Master Betty, " the infant Eoscius,'' was repelled by the 
 extravagances of romanticism, and in a noteworthy pas- 
 sage in English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (11. 560- 
 607) plead for a truer national drama: 
 
 Now to the Drama turn — Oh ! motley sight ! 
 What precious scenes the wondering eyes invite ! 
 Puns, and a prince within a barrel pent, 
 And Dibdin's nonsense yield complete content. 
 Though now, thank Heaven! the Rosciomania's o*er. 
 And full-grown actors are endured once more; 
 Yet what avail their vain attempts to please. 
 While British critics suffer scenes like these, . . . 
 Who but must mourn, while these are all the rage, 
 The degradation of our vaunted stage! 
 Heavens ! is all sense of shame and talent gone ? 
 Have we no living bard of merit ? — None ! 
 Awake, George Colman ! Cumberland, awake ! 
 Ring the alarum bell ! let folly quake ! 
 Oh, Sheridan ! if aught can move thy pen. 
 Let Comedy assume her throne again ; 
 Abjure the mummery of the German schools; 
 Leave new Pizarros to translating fools ; 
 Give, as thy last memorial to the age, 
 One classic drama, and reform the stage. 
 
 79. " Closet Drama." — In spite then of the very genu- 
 ine interest of such men as Lamb and Hazlitt in the stand- 
 ard English drama, it is quite evident that the art of play- 
 writing was at rather a low ebb in the first quarter of the 
 century. The licensing act of 1737 had not encouraged 
 production; moreover under the influence not only of 
 
 « See in general Chew: The Relation of Lord Byron to Drama of 
 the Romantic Period,
 
 198 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 Jeremy Collier but also of tlie Wesleyan revival a very 
 sober and responsible element of tbe nation bad drawn 
 away from tbe stage. Many of tbese very men, bowever, 
 witb sometbing of tbe spirit of well-poised and cultured 
 Puritans, gi-eatly deligbted in tbe reading of tbe old mas- 
 ters. Some writers moreover, in tbe desire to ruacb a more 
 tbougbtful public, deliberately wrote dramas witb no 
 tbougbt of ever seeing tbem actually produ ed on tbe stage. 
 Tbus arose tbe '^ closet drama." 
 
 To cbis class of plays belongs most of tbe dramatic work 
 of tbe great poets of tbe era, tbougb occasionally ^^-f course 
 a production witnessed actual performance. Scott wrote 
 The House of Aspen, wbicb was actually put in rebearsal, 
 and The Doom of Devorgoil, wbicb was intended as a melo- 
 drama; but wj one of bis otber plays — Halidon Ilill, 
 2Iacck/'^'s Cross, and Aucliindrane — was intended for cbe 
 stage. Also under tbe German influence (of Scbiller 
 ratber tban Kotzebue, bowever) Word.^wortb wrote The 
 Borderers and Coleridge Osorio. Tbe brst of tbese plays 
 — tbe reflection of a mood of pessimism and tbe story of 
 tbe subjection of tbe magnanimous Marmaduke to tbe 
 villainous Oswald — was offered and refused at Covent Gar- 
 den in 1798; tbougb Coleridge's play, refused at Drury 
 Lane in tbis same year, later saw production under tbe 
 name of Rertwrse (1813), and was sufilciently successful to 
 lead to a temporary revival of tbe poetic drp.-ia. Soutbry 
 and Colerid.ero togetber wrote The FaU of JRohesnierre 
 (1794), and in tbe same year Southey wrote Wat Tyler, 
 tbougb tbis did not appear until 1817. Influenced by bis 
 reading in tbe Elizabetbans, Lamb wrote a tragedy, John 
 Woodvil, wbicb was offered to Cbarles Kemble in 1799 
 and publisbed in 1802. Landor wrote Cmnt Julian
 
 EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY DRAIVIA 199 
 
 (1812), and Keats in 1819 designed for Kean Otho the 
 Great J a play to which he attar^hed great hopes but which 
 never saw performance. Shelley, inspired by Guidons por- 
 trait of Beatrice Cenci in the Colonna palace, and hav- 
 ing in mind Eliza O'Neill, the great tragic actress at 
 Covent Garden, wrote The Cenci (1820). The play has 
 as its central theme Shelley^s favorite one of resistance 
 to tyranny, and in its conception of the heroine has marks 
 of undoubted power; dealing with a current and well- 
 known story of parricide, however, it was not unnaturally 
 refused by the manager. Byron expresseu his powerful 
 personality in Manfred (1817) and Cain (1821), and if 
 along with these dramatic poems we take Sardama/pdlus — 
 the story of a dissolute but aspiring hero and his '* better 
 angel " Myrrha — ^we shall have the poet's characteristic 
 productions. It was the irony of fate, however, that he 
 should be most successful in the type of drama at which he 
 sneered. Werner (1822), a play built on one of Harriet 
 Lee's novels, was an experiment in the drama of horror; 
 produced in 1830 it proved to be one of the most success- 
 ful plays of the period. Two Venetian plays. Marine) 
 Faliero and The Two Foscari, were professedly modeled 
 on Alfieri but were actually reminiscent of Otway. 
 2Iarmo Faliero, over Byron's protest, was presented for 
 six nights in 1821 at Drury Lane, but failed, as the author 
 predicted it would. Manfred remains the representative 
 production of a poet who was subjective and lyric rather 
 than dramatic in his genius. 
 
 The effort of these great poets in the field of the drama 
 was but representative of the striving of the period. Per- 
 haps the greatest example of diligence at the tim€ was 
 Joanna Baillie, who in 1798 began the publication of her
 
 200 A SHOET HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 Plays of the Passions, £er ultimate purpose being to illus- 
 trate each one of the dominant human passions by a 
 tragedy and a comedy. She kept at her task until 1812 
 and produced altogether twenty-eight pieces. In a preface 
 to her first group of plays she set forth her theory of the 
 drama, intending to trace a single passion from its begin- 
 ning to the final ruin, with recognition of the fact that 
 passion arises from within, without the necessary aid of 
 any external stimulus. " This absorption with a study of 
 emotion per se led to a subordination of plot and all exter- 
 nal incident, and — so she proposed — all poetic embellish- 
 ment, to a searching study of isolated passion. Her first 
 volume attracted attention, and Kemble and Mrs. Siddons 
 played De Mont fort, but without success." ^ 
 
 80. Late Georgian Dramatists. — In the London Maga- 
 zine for April, 1820, Hazlitt proved " very satisfactorily 
 and without fear of contradiction, that no modem author 
 could write a tragedy." ^ The age, he thought, was ^^ criti- 
 cal, didactic, paradoxical, romantic," but not dramatic. 
 Hardly since Home's Douglas, he declared, had a good 
 tragedy been written. Nevertheless, if there was no good 
 new English tragedy, it was not ]>ecause there was not 
 suflScient effort to disprove what Hazlitt had said. A few 
 of the more prominent authors of the period are mentioned 
 herewith. In the general connection hardly too much em- 
 phasis can be placed upon the j\'ork of MacreaJy, who 
 again and again proved himselt a great sponsor for the 
 poetic drama. Among other things this distinguished 
 
 ' Thorndike, 340. 
 
 ^ For the reference we are indebted to H. Child: "Nineteenth 
 Century Drama," C. H. E. L., XIII. To the same article the chapter 
 is largely indebted for the discussion of Sheil, as well as some other 
 things.
 
 EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY DRAMA 203j 
 
 actor has to his credit the fact that he was the first to give 
 recognition to the dramatic work of Knowles, Bulwer- 
 Lytton, and Browning. 
 
 The work of Charles Wells and Thomas Lovell Beddoes 
 at the beginning of the decade of the reign of George IV 
 (1820-1830) belongs primarily to the field of the '' closet 
 drama." Wells is remembered for Joseph and his 
 Brethren (1823), which passed practically unnoticed 
 at the time of its first appearance, but which was greatly 
 praised by Kossetti and Swinburne for its poetic beauty 
 fifty years later, and revised. Beddoes, distinguished for 
 his imagination and his wealth of imagery, was influenced 
 by the Elizabethans, especially Marlowe and Webster, and 
 also by the Germans and by Shelley and Keats. The 
 Bride's Tragedy, published in 182/2 when the author was 
 still a student at Oxford, is a work of unusual fascination 
 and power. Death's Jest-Booh was printed long after- 
 wards (1851) and again exhibited Beddoes's peculiar 
 quality. 
 
 Richard Lalor Shell (1791-1851), probably more fa- 
 mous for his work in the public life of the nation than as 
 a dramatist, first produced Adelaide, or The Emigrants, sl 
 story of the French Revolution, which was played in Dub- 
 lin in 1814 and for one night only in Covent Garden, being 
 severely attacked by Hazlitt because of its French royalist 
 leanings. A second tragedy, The Apostate (Covent Gar- 
 den, 1817), was somewhat more successful, but also re- 
 ceived Hazlitt's disapproval because of the too great 
 violence and horror of its situations. Bellamira, or The 
 Fall of Tunis (Covent Garden, 1818) is the author's best 
 play, but again the success was primarily theatrical rather 
 than truly dramatic. Somewhat more artistic — natu-
 
 202 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE EjS^GLISH DRAMA 
 
 rally, one might say, as it was built on Shirley's The 
 Traitor — was Evadne, or The Statue (1819). Montoni 
 (1820) was extravagant in incident though it contained 
 some good verse; and The Huguenot (written 1819, but 
 produced two or three years later) exhibited some of 
 SheiPs characteristic extravagances, and was a practical 
 failure. A revision of John Banim's Damon and Pythias, 
 however, was much more successful than any of his own 
 plays. 
 
 Charles Roben Maturin (1782-1824), an Irish clergy- 
 man, in 1816 and 1817 produced three tragedies — Ber- 
 irarru, or The Castle of St. Aldohrond, Manuel, and Fredolfo 
 — all in the highest vein of ^" Gothicism '' and the German 
 drama of Kotzebue. Maturin had considerable sensitive- 
 ness to beauty and genuine poetic quality, and his Bertram 
 was especially successful. Hazlitt, however, the mentor of 
 the drama at the time, said of this play as of others, 
 " There is no action ; there is neither cause nor effect. . . . 
 The passion described does not arise naturally out of the 
 previous circumstances, nor lead necessarily to the con- 
 sequences that follow ; " and time has justified his opinion. 
 
 Somewhat surer in touch was Henry Hart Milman 
 (1791-1868), afterwards dean of St. Paul's and distin- 
 guished as scholar and historian, who sought inspiration 
 in the Elizabethan tradition rather than in a more extrava- 
 gant romanticism. His plays include Fazio (published 
 1815, produced 1818), whose superb acting qualities kept 
 it on the stage for three decades, The Fall of Jerusaleia 
 (1820), The Martyr of Anfioch (1822), Belshazzar 
 (1822), noteworthy for its good lyrics, and Anne Boleyn 
 (1826), unfortunately marred by an extreme desire to 
 make out a case for Protestantism against Eoman Catholi-
 
 EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY DRAMA 203 
 
 cism. Milman wrote with intelligence and good taste, 
 and fully deserved the measure of success he received. 
 
 Marv Eussell Mitford (1787-1855), also well known as 
 a novelist, had a great desire to excel in the field of the 
 poetic drama, and after two or three earlier efforts pro- 
 duced at least one highly successful play Ri-enzi (1828). 
 This contained a passage, Eienzi's address to the Romans, 
 which became a famous selection for declamation through- 
 out the century. An interesting sidelight on the English 
 stage within the period is thrown by the career of the 
 American, John Howard Payne, in some of whose work at 
 least Kean performed.^ 
 
 8i. James Sheridan Knowles. — Stronger on the whole 
 than the dramatists just mentioned was James Sheridan 
 
 •See Quinn: "The Early Drama, 1756-1860," in Camlridge His- 
 tory of American Literature, Vol. I. This is the most authoritative 
 discussion of the subject that has yet appeared. Dr. Quinn, who is 
 Dean of the College and Professor of English at the University of 
 Pennsylvania, has further popularized the study of the drama in 
 America by his collection of twenty-five plays for college use, Repre- 
 sentative American Plays (The Century Co., New York, 1917). Of 
 this and related works note review, "The American Drama: A 
 Survey," by Archibald Henderson, Sewanee Review, April, 1918. 
 Note also important three-volume collection for library service, 
 Moses: Representative Plays hy American Dramatists (E. P. 
 Dutton & Co., New York, 1018). In the early period importance 
 attaches to the work of William Duulap (1766-1839), who wrote or 
 adapted not less than fifty plays and in 1833 published an authorita- 
 tive two-volume History of the American Theatre. Edwin Forrest 
 (1806-72), contemporary with Macready, greatly encouraged native 
 American effort and touched the life of the English stage in more 
 ways than one. The American drama of the last sixty years, includ- 
 ing the work of such men as Bronson Howard, Denman Thompson, 
 James A. Heme, David Belasco, Clyde Fitch, Augustus Thomas, 
 Charles Klein, William Gillette, William Vaughn Moody, Percy 
 Mackaye, and Edward Sheldon, is of course a study in itself.
 
 204: A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 Knowles (1784-1862), a descendant of Sheridan on his 
 mother's side. This playwright in the main sought to 
 purge the iDoetio drama of the extravagances of German 
 romanticifrn, and in this he succeeded. He was not well 
 paid for his work, however, and accordingly he not only 
 tried several professions and occupations hut also gave at- 
 tention to tragedy, romantic comedy, domestic plays, melo- 
 drama, and any other kind of work that for the moment 
 would seem to succeed. Prominent among his sixteen 
 plays were the tragedies, Yirninms (1820), Cavf^'i Grac- 
 chus (produced 1823, thuugh written earlier), and 
 William Tell (1825). The first two of these plays are 
 famous for their declamation, and into them — prohahly 
 under the influence of the era of social reform in which he 
 lived— Knowles introduced a new consciousness of class 
 distinction. In William Tell one can see still more the 
 w^ork of social revolution. In such plays as these Knowles 
 did away with the high-sounding words of the old romanti- 
 cism, used simpler diction, and in general let his situa- 
 tions arise out of his subject and characters. This he did 
 at the same time that his imagination and versification 
 were commonplace, and his work even frequently careless ; 
 and assisted hy the acting of Helen Faucit and Macready, 
 he almost restored the poetic drama to its old dignity. 
 For the moment, however, his comedies were even more 
 successful than his tragedies. Special popularity attached 
 to a rather heavy play. The HunrhhacJc (1832), but The 
 Beggars Daughter of Bethnal (Jreen, The Love Chase, 
 and Old Maids were also well received. 
 
 82. Edwaid Bulwer-Lytton. — In the very early years 
 of the Victorian era Knowles was surpassed in popularity 
 only by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873), one of the
 
 EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY DRAMA 205 
 
 most remarkable figures in the political, social, and literary 
 life of England in the nineteenth century. His versatility 
 and industry were amazing. He tried many things and 
 narrowly missed greatness in all of them. An aristocrat 
 and a man of fashion, he made in Parliament a more than 
 respectable showing; one who veered with the wind in 
 fiction, he wrote in The Last Bays of Pompeii one of the 
 best historical novels in the national literature; an ama- 
 teur and a dilettante in the drama, he yet wrote the most 
 popular romantic play of the century. He was, however, 
 unfortunately rooted in emotionalism and rhetoric; he 
 seldom went below the surface of his art; and the air of 
 ostentation and superiority that he assumed not only irri- 
 tated his contemporaries but have also invited undue be- 
 littlement at the hands of later critics. 
 
 Aside from his two most famous productions the list of 
 Bulwer-Lytton's plays includes the titles. The Duchess 
 de la Valli^re (1837), Not so Bad as lue Seem (1851), 
 Honey (1840), The Rightful Heir (1868), Walpole, and 
 the unfinished Barnley, His reputation rests, however, on 
 The Lady of Lyons (1838) and Richelieu, or The Con- 
 spiracy (1839). The first of these two plays has been 
 criticized again and again for its tawdry imagery, its false 
 taste, and its sentimentality ; but it was full of life and in 
 Claude Melnotte and Pauline Deschappelles furnished 
 Macready and Helen Faucit with excellent acting parts. 
 Similarly Richelieu^ while possessing little historical faith- 
 fulness, exhibited much clever artistry and has furnished 
 to many great actors a medium for their art. Verily to 
 Bulwer-Lytton must be accorded the tribute of actual 
 success. 
 
 83. Robert Browning. — What Bulwer-Lytton lacked —
 
 206 A SHORT HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 characterization, an earnest searching of human motive, 
 and a perception of deeper dramatic values — ^waa pos- 
 sessed bv the great poet, Eobert Browning (1812-1889), 
 who in turn lacked the very things that made Bulwer- 
 Lytton successful — intrigue, stagecraft, and the secret of 
 immediate appeal to an audience. His first play, Straf- 
 ford, written at the request of Macready, was produced 
 at Covent Garden May 1, 1837, and won a fair measure of 
 success. The powerful dramatic poem, Pippa Passes 
 (published as ISTo. I of Bells and Pomegranates, 1841), 
 contains sufficient material not only for one but for four 
 plays, and in the searching scene between Ottima and 
 Sebald leaves no doubt of Browning's power when he is 
 working clearly. King Victor and King CJuirles (!N'o. II 
 of Bells and Pomegranates, 1842) and The Return of the 
 Druses (No. IV in series, 1843) were both considered by 
 Macready unavailable for stage production ; but A Blot 
 in the 'Scutcheon (No. V in series, 1843) was written at 
 the request of the actor-manager, with whom unfortu- 
 nately it led to a misunderstanding. This remarkable 
 production excels others of Browning's plays in the tense- 
 ness of its situations, its rapid action, and its brisk dia- 
 logue. The central theme — that of the problem before an 
 older brother whose young sister has sinned is firmly kept 
 in mind by the dramatist, who here along with his knowl- 
 edge of human motive and play of passion shows a stage- 
 craft beyond his wont. At the same time the play is built 
 upon one or two highly questionable situations, so that 
 fundamentally " it violates the tact both of the theatre and 
 of life." "^^ While it was given with some measure of suc- 
 cess for a few nights, one critic considered it a "most 
 "Dickinson: The Contemporary Drama of England, 23-24.
 
 EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY DRAMA 207 
 
 faulty play " and another as a " puzzling and unpleasant 
 business." Next followed Colombe's Birthday (No. VI 
 in Bells and Pomegranates, 1844 j, which also gave rise to 
 some misunderstandings, this time with Charles Kean, 
 Macready's real successor on the stage, so that it did not see 
 production until it was brought out by Phelps at the 
 Sadler's Wells Theatre in Islington in 1853. This play 
 is in many ways one of Browning's greatest achievements 
 and has an especially strong hero, Valence; at the same 
 time it was not a stage success. A Soul'^ Trarjedy (form- 
 ing with Luria No. VIII of Bells and Pomegranates, 
 1846) is simply a psychological study in two acts, and 
 Luria seems to have been written with no thought at all 
 of stage production. Thus one of the most truly dramatic 
 poets that England ever had, witnessed only a slight meas- 
 ure of success in the acted drama, so that his real achieve- 
 ment has given rise to endless discussion and comment. 
 
 84. Alfred Tennyson. — Less dramatic than Browning, 
 but by the irony of fate more successful, was the laureate, 
 Tennyson (1809-1892), who with others of the period 
 marks the passing of the rom antic tradition. Tennyson was 
 essentially a lyric poet ; nevertheless he was intensely inter- 
 ested in English history, occasionally (as in ^' Rizpah ") 
 he exhibited dramatic force in his poems, and, aided by 
 the art of Irving and Terry, at least one of his ambitious 
 productions was a noteworthy Success. Altogether he 
 wrote seven plays. Queen Mary (printed 1875) was pro- 
 duced by Irving at the Lyceum Theatre in 1876. Harold 
 (published 1876, dated 1877) did not appear on the stage. 
 Becket (formally published 1884) was refused in 1879 
 by Irving, who in 1891, however, asked leave to produce 
 the play and used it with g^eat success. The Falcon, in
 
 208 A SHORT HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 only one act, was produced by Mr. and Mrs. Kendal at 
 tlie St. James Theatre in December, 1879, and had a run of 
 sixty-seven nights. The Cup, in two acts, was produced 
 by Irving in January, 1881, and ran for a hundred and 
 thirty nights. The Promise of May, in three acts, was 
 produced at the Globe Theatre in November, 1882, and, 
 while severely condemned by the critics, ran for five weeks. 
 The Foresters, in four acts, was given at Daly's Theatre 
 in New York in March, 1892, and with Ada Eehan as 
 Maid Marian was an unqualified success. 
 
 In the trilogy of historical plays, as the poet notes in 
 his Memoirs (II, 173), is portrayed the making of Eng- 
 land. In Harold is set forth the " great conflict between 
 Danes, Saxons, and Normans for supremacy, the awaken- 
 ing of the English people and clergy from the slumber 
 into which they had for the most part fallen, and the fore- 
 cast of the greatness of our composite race." In BecJcet 
 is shown the age-long struggle between the Church and the 
 Crown; in Queen Mary the downfall of Eoman Catholi- 
 cism in England and the dawning of a new age. All 
 three plays awaken many technical questions. Harold in 
 plan seems to be somewhat clearer than the others. The 
 play opens brilliantly with a comet foretelling war, and 
 in the first act lays down three main threads of story: 
 (1) the strife between Harold and Tostig; (2) Harold's 
 determination to go to Normandy in spite of Edward's 
 advice not to do so; and (3) the plotting of Aldwyth, the 
 designing widow of a Welsh king whom Harold has de- 
 feated. The fourth act employs the element of suspense 
 in the victory at Stamford Bridge, but is otherwise unfor- 
 tunate ; there is frequent imitation of Shakespeare through- 
 out the play; the characters are strangely self-conscious;
 
 EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY DRAMA 209 
 
 and the last act misses a strong opportunity for action 
 when it has Stigand simply describe to Edith the events 
 of the Battle of Hastings. Qiieen Mary uses a multitude 
 of characters, and the first act presents at least four 
 threads of action which are to be woven together. The 
 overwhelming prominence of Wyatt's insurrection in the 
 second act, however, and of the matter of Cranmer in the 
 fourth, is not always clear in relation to the main theme; 
 moreover the chief characters seem rather to be acted upon 
 than to act. Beckei attempted to combine two things 
 which could not be brought into the same play without a 
 violation of unity — Henry II's political life, in which 
 Becket was prominent, and his romantic and domestic life, 
 in which Rosamund de Clifford was the center of interest. 
 In the opening game of chess, however, it has one of 
 Tennyson's very strongest situations. 
 
 The minor plays were on the whole more successful than 
 the trilogy, though by no means always above criticism. 
 The Falcon used a well-known story from Boccaccio. 
 .While it was a stage success, the central incident of the 
 cooking of a pet bird is too poignant to be permanently 
 pleasing, and the story seems best adapted not for the drama 
 but for the form that Longfellow has given it in Tales 
 of a ^¥ ay side Inn. The Cup was based on a story from 
 Plutarch. The unholy passion of the ex-tetrarch Synorix, 
 and the faithfulness of the matron Camma to her husband 
 Sinnatus, are both strongly set forth, and in various ways 
 the dramatist here shows excellence in technique. The 
 Promise of May, however, was unfortunate in theme. 
 The opinions of the principal man are such as to arouse 
 opposition in almost any English or American audience, 
 and the plan to have this character ruin one sister and
 
 210 A SHOET HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 five years afterwards pay court to another, is something of 
 an imposition upon credulity. If we can overlook such 
 things as these, liowever, we shall find much excellent work- 
 manship. The Foresters, once more placing on the stage 
 Ihe tradition of Kohin Hood, and aided by an astute man- 
 ager and capable performers, fully deserved the success 
 it achieved. 
 
 85. Other Mid-century Dramatists. — The middle of 
 the century, however, was on the whole a very uncertain 
 period in the history of the drama. Eomanticism was 
 passing, but between tragedy and melodrama, adaptation 
 and farce, hardly any one could tell just whither things 
 were drifting. The chaotic conditions were due most 
 largely perhaps to the Theatre Eegulation Act of 1843 
 legalizing the ^^ illegitimate " playhouses ; the old theatres 
 no longer had a monopoly and the newer ones that had 
 come into existence hardly throve under the far-reaching 
 power of the Lord Chamberlain's censorship. A rather 
 crude form of domestic play seemed to suit the popular 
 taste better than anything else, and in general any force 
 to combine all classes in the development of a national 
 drama was lacking. 
 
 To the field of thr ^^loset drama belong the poetic plays 
 of Eichard Hengist Home (1803-1884). Cosmo de 
 Medici (ISoV;, a tragedy in five acts, has a plot that 
 strangely reminds one of Otway. Two brothers fall into a 
 fatal quarrel. The murderer attempts to conceal the deed 
 which he hardly intended to commit, but is killed by his 
 father, who himself afterwards dies theatrically. The 
 Death of Marlowe (1837), Gregory VII (1840), and 
 Judas Iscarwt (1848) all have their marks of power. 
 
 Y\'ith *om8thing of the quality of George LiUo, John
 
 EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY DRA:VIA 211 
 
 Weatland Marston (1819-1890) attempted to brir^r tragedy 
 to the plane of contemporary life. The Patrwiarrs Daugh- 
 ter (1842) has a singularly clear plot and one that touched 
 very vitally the English life of the day. An able man of 
 affairs of humble rank is cultivated for political reasons 
 by a family of aristocratic birth. In course of time he 
 aspires to the hand of " the patrician's daughter," but his 
 proposal is spumed by the family. Later, however, the 
 family is forced to turn to him for assistance and is now 
 willing that he should marry the young woman. He now 
 in turn spurns the suggestion, and the shock kills the 
 heroine, who had really loved him all the while. This play 
 showed more than ordinary ability and was well received. 
 Among Marston's other dramas, all generally meritorious, 
 are Strafhmore (1849), Marie de Meranie (1850), A Lifr, 
 Ransom (185Y), and Life for Life (1869). He was 
 hardly as good in comedy as m tragedy. The Favorite 
 of Fortune (1866), which in the character of Mrs. Lor- 
 rington gave some opportunity for a comic actress, is his 
 most successful attempt in this field. 
 
 Out of the comedy, melodrama, adaptation, and farce of 
 the period, engaging the attention of such men as Isaac 
 Pocock, Douglas William Jerrold, John Baldwin Buck- 
 thorne, Charles Reade, Tom Taylor, and Henry James 
 Byron, somehow rises the name of Dion Boucicault 
 (Dionysius Lardner Bourcicault, 1820-1890). This pro- 
 lific author and adapter especiall}^ excelled in construction, 
 and though he borrowed from many sources he generally 
 wove his materials together in a swiftly moving plot, and 
 he did more than any other man to ^x the type of melo- 
 drama in his period. Early in his cnreor he j^roducrd 
 two of his best comedies, the famous London Assurance
 
 212 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 (1841) and Old Heads and Yrmug Hearts (1844). He 
 it was who adapted The Corsican Brothers (1852) from 
 the work of Dumas. He it was also who showed the pos- 
 sibilities of the Irish drama in The Colleen Bawn (1860), 
 Arrah-na-pogue (1865), and The tihaughraun (1875). 
 His work was light and for a day, but it has a very genu- 
 ine importance in the history of the national drama. 
 
 86. Robertson, Gilbert, and the Transition — Bouci- 
 cault was largely a transitioral figure. He was " at the 
 turning-point between the purel} theatrical drama of the 
 first half of the century and the more naturalistic drama 
 which was to put forth a bud while he was at the height of 
 his career a? a dramatist." ^^ Quite as indicative of chang- 
 ing taste, though in a way somewhat different, was Thomas 
 William Robertson (1829-1871). This dramatist, who 
 came of a family thoroughly acquainted with the English 
 theatre, served a long apprenticeship, making many adap- 
 tations, especially of Erench dramas and farces. To his 
 more mature work he brought a realistic method of treat- 
 ment that depended for its merit most largely on its simple 
 revelation of life. While he came into notice in 1864 
 with David Garrich, it was with Society (1865), a play 
 somewhat reminiscent of Thackeray, that success really 
 came to him. With this drama he placed on the stage the 
 new commercial class, the power of the press, and other 
 themes of social interest, always in natural dialogue and 
 with the utmost care for truth. Interestingly enough, this 
 highly successful play passed from one hand to another 
 until H. J. Byron recommended it to Marie Wilton (later 
 Mrs. Bancroft), who had recently taken the Prince of 
 Wales's Theatre in hand ; and there is no better instance 
 
 »» H. Child, C, H. H, L., XIII, 296.
 
 EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY DRAMA 213 
 
 of ilne faith in the history of the English stage than the 
 confidence reposed in the struggling dramatist by the 
 young manager, the enthusiasm with which his plays were 
 acted, and his gratitude as expressed in his series of well- 
 received comedies. Delicate in quality and with some touch 
 of the patriotism evoked by the Crimean War, was Ours 
 (1866). Caste (1867), however, is generally considered 
 Eobertson's artistic masterpiece. Here again, with some 
 influence from Thackeray, the dramatist dealt in simple 
 emotion. " The story of George D'Alroy's love for Esther, 
 of his sudden departure for the war, of his reported death, 
 and of his return to find his wife mourning his loss, and 
 himself the father of a boy, strikes to the root of true 
 pathos, and can never grow stale or unimpressive while 
 human nature remains what it is." ^^ Eobertson at the 
 height of his success supplied two or three theatres with 
 plays at a time, and amoug his later titles were Play 
 (1868), School (1869), M, P. (1870), and War (1871). 
 He never surpassed Society and Caste, however, and his 
 contribution to the drama remains a simple reliance upon 
 nature that helped to free the form from romanticism. He 
 deserves credit, also for his emphasis on the care in 
 production that helped to make the company of the Ban- 
 crofts famous in their time. He founded no school, though 
 he might easily have done so had not the Continental influ- 
 ences which we are soon to consider cut across his path. 
 
 Before this new influence rose to its height, however, 
 there appeared on the scene : dramatist of singularly origi- 
 nal and brilliant quality, William S. Gilbert (1836-1911), 
 most famous in his later years for his association in light 
 opera with Sir Arthur Sullivan. After some early work 
 
 *= Pemberton: Introduction to Society and Caste, xxxiii.
 
 2U A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 in burlesque, Gilbert passed to a period tbat included 
 sucb plays in verse as Pygmalion and Galatea (1871), 
 The Wicked World (1873), and Lroken Heurts (1875). 
 '^ Tbese plays and otbers of tbeir kind are all founded 
 upon a single idea, tbat of self-revelation by cbaracters 
 wbo are unaware of it, under tbe influence of some magic 
 or some supernatural interference. The satire is shrewd, 
 but not profound ; the young author is apt to sneer, and he 
 has by no means learned to make the best use of his 
 curiously logical fancy. That he occasionally degrades 
 high and beautiful themes is not surprising. ... In 
 Pygmalion and Galatea, and still more in Gretchen (1879), 
 a perversion of part of the story of jbuast, the vulgarity 
 is cynical and bitter. And in Gilbert's prose plays the 
 same spirit may be found in greater degree." ^^ By this 
 time, however, he had already shown his skill in the Bah 
 Ballads (1869), and his extraordinary ability in the 
 writing of graceful songs is the outstanding feature of the 
 series of comic operas which began with Trial hy Jury 
 (1875), developed into a vogue with H. M. S. Pinafore 
 (1878), The Pirates of Penzance (1878), and The Mikado 
 (1885), and ended with The Grand Duke (1896). Gil- 
 bert was a man with a singular gift of light satire and 
 with a serious undercurrent to his humor. In such a 
 record as this he wears an air of detachment, like that of 
 a sophisticated but urbane man of the world. Withal 
 there was something very practical about him too, and he 
 deserves much credit for his insistence on the rights of an 
 author in a production. 
 
 Robertson exerted some little influence on one or two 
 of his contemporaries, but Gilbert's singular genius de- 
 
 " H. ChUd, C. E. E. L., XIII, 304.
 
 EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY DRAMA 215 
 
 fied imitators. Both men in the light of history somehow 
 stand apart from other writers of their time. Neither 
 began a tradition, but together they did away with the 
 old drama and helped to make England ready for the new.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 LATEE VICTOKIAJST AI^D CONTEMPORAEY 
 
 DRAMA: ANALYSIS AND THE 
 
 SOCIAL IMPULSE 
 
 87. Continental Influences. — " There is a week that is 
 the turn of the year ; there was a year that was the turn of 
 the century. About 1870 the force of the French Revolu- 
 tion faltered and fell: the year that was everywhere the 
 death of Liberal ideas : the year when Paris fell : the year 
 when Dickens died. . . . Liberalism (in Newman's 
 sense) really did strike Christianity through headpiece 
 and head ; that is, it did daze and stun the ignorant and ill- 
 prepared intellect of the English Christian. And Chris- 
 tianity did smite Liberalism through breastplate and 
 through breast; that is, it did succeed, through arms and 
 all sorts of awful accidents, in piercing more or less to the 
 heart of the Utilitarian — and finding that he had none. 
 Victorian Protestantism had not head enough for the busi- 
 ness; Victorian Radicalism had not heart enough for the 
 business. Down fell they dead together, exactly as Macau- 
 lay's Lay says and still stood all who saw them fall almost 
 until the hour at which I write." 
 
 Thus brilliantly has the brilliant Chesterton ^ struck 
 the keynote of the period to which we have come. It 
 was not an age of idealism, but of pessimism, largely 
 
 * The Victorian Age in Literature, 213-15. 
 
 216
 
 VICTORIAN AND CONTEMPORARY DRAMA 217 
 
 consequent upon the materialism of which one had heard 
 for years. Romanticism "was dead, but it had an after- 
 glow in Pre-Raphaelitism, and a second afterglow in aes- 
 theticism; and when the exotic lilies could no longer con- 
 ceal their frailty they crumbled — into ashes. 
 
 All went back to De Quincey, " the first and most 
 powerful of the decadents ; '^ and De Quincey has some 
 affinity with Congreve. The principle also touched the 
 paganism of Keats. The sensuousness of this great poet 
 is reflected in Eossetti, his chivalry in Hunt, and his wood- 
 carving in Morris. Of the great poets of the middle of the 
 century, Browning alone opposed a solid front to the forces 
 of decay. Tennyson wrote In Memoriam and in the wide 
 field of criticism the influences at work developed the 
 '^ Art for Art's sake " heresy, one of the most subtle and 
 at the same time one of the most powerful forces ever 
 exerted in imaginative literature. Three great prose writ- 
 ers — De Quincey, Poe, and Pater — inspired or represented 
 this movement. De Quincey emphasized style, Poe beauty, 
 and Pater a rather eflete something called aestheticism. 
 The first influenced the second, and the second the third. 
 Poe's great divorce of art and morality was fatal, and it 
 is the key to much of the pessimism and many of the 
 wasted lives strewn like wrecks over the reign of Victoria. 
 His influence was frankly acknowledged by Rossetti. 
 Formerly romanticism, developing with the Wesleyan re- 
 viva], had encouraged the love of nature and communion 
 with God ; but now science, looking at Poe's three facul- 
 ties — intellect, feeling, will — appropriated the first; ra- 
 tionalism, substituted for religion, turned the will to its 
 purpose; and art was told to shift for itself. It did — 
 and with a vengeancej
 
 218 A SHOET HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 This decadent principle — this supremo emphasis on 
 style and lilies — was in 1870, however, largely a foreign 
 importation. Certainly it was foreign in so far as it af- 
 fected the drama. Gleaming in the lyrics of Musset or 
 Les Fleurs du Mai of Baudelaire, it was carried into the 
 drama in Musset's own Lorenzaccio, On the side of tech- 
 nique it devel oped / i ito a school with the pattern-made 
 plays of Scribe ; in subject-matter it was largely stimulated 
 by Dumas and Sardou. Swinburne was steeped in it, and 
 something of it entered into his poetic dramas. In 1871 
 moreover, after decades in which foreigners were unwel- 
 come, the company of the Comedie Frangaise came to 
 England and was received with enthusiasm. In 1879 it 
 came again, and this time it included such performers as 
 Favart, Delaunay, and Sarah Bernhardt. In the light 
 of the great art and the finish of the French productions, 
 Englishmen began to feel very provincial. Even Matthew 
 Arnold wrote an article, ^^ The French Play in London," 
 pleading for a stronger national theatre. 
 
 This, however, is only half of the story. One can not 
 fully estimate the English drama of the close of the cen- 
 tury if he does not also take into account the social impulse. 
 Here again the influence came from France, but perhaps 
 in even larger measure from j^orway. Something of it 
 was to be seen in the work of Feuillet and Augier. Still 
 more was it in Hugo. Sometimes it descended into melo- 
 drama. There was also about it, however, a serious ele- 
 ment that could not lightly be waved aside. Sue's Les 
 Mystlres de Paris and Hugo's Notre Dame became the 
 inspiration of a long line of plays, which with Les Mise- 
 rahles (1862) developed into a vogue. The Streets of 
 London, Lights o London, London hy Gaslight, Under the
 
 VICTORIAN AND CONTEMPORARY DRAMA 21i) 
 
 Gaslight, and London Life were only a few of many 
 similar titles. 
 
 If Hugo, however, was the heart of social unrest, its 
 soul was Henryk Ibsen (1828-1906). This great Nor- 
 wegian dramatist was first introduced to England by an 
 article by Mr. Edmund Gosse in the Fortnightly Review 
 in 1873. Not long afterwards Mr. William Archer made 
 himself the translator and general sponsor in England for 
 the new voice ; and within fifteen years the representative 
 plays of the dramatist had in one way or another been set 
 before the British public. Furious discussion arose. At 
 the head of the opposition and generally representative of 
 conservative elements was Clement Scott, probably the 
 foremost dramatic critic of the day. There could be no 
 question as to Ibsen's great ability in analysis and tech- 
 nique; and in the long run he contributed most vitally to 
 the emancipation of the drama by his insistence upon frank 
 discussion of the great social problems agitating the age. 
 He felt that there could be no progi-ess if there was not 
 absolute honesty. Naturally he developed upon the stage 
 many subjects that formerly had been proscribed. His 
 fearless driving of bad premises to a logical conclusion 
 tended toward pessimism, while his consideration of such 
 subjects as marriage and heredity tended toward an ab- 
 sorption with sex problems from which we are not yet 
 free. 
 
 These two great influences — a decadent principle that 
 emphasized surface beauty and style, and a realism that 
 easily descended into naturalism, in one way or another 
 constantly affected the drama in the closing years of the 
 century. Not inirequently they became interwoven. It is 
 also worthy of note in passing that England again wit-
 
 220 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 nessed an array of great performers. As at tiie beginning 
 of the century, a period of uncertainty in the drama was 
 partially atoned for by a great era in the history of the 
 English stage. The Bancrofts, the Kendals/ and Irving 
 and Terry gave a new care to their work and greatly in- 
 creased the dignity of the actor's profession.^ 
 
 88. Oscar Wilde. — The prime representative of aes- 
 theticism as it affected the drama was Oscar Wilde (1856- 
 1900), a writer who was singularly gifted in understand- 
 ing a passing mood of the day in which he lived and in 
 responding to this with brilliant epigrams. His plays were 
 as follows: Vera, or The NihiUds (1883), The Dutchess 
 of Padua (1891), Lady Winderm£res Fan (1892), A 
 Woman of No Importance (1893), Salome (1895), An 
 Ideal Husband (1895), and The Importance of Being 
 Earnest (1895). Lady Windermere's Fan, a study in the 
 attitiide of society toward a woman who has lost re- 
 spectability, is perhaps most typical of the dramatist's 
 skilful craftsmanship. Lord Windermere would have 
 Lady Windermere invite Mrs. Erlynne to her birth- 
 day party. The suggestion is indignantly spurned. Later, 
 however, Mrs. Erlynne, who is really Lady Windermere's 
 mother, saves ber daughter in an exceedingly compromis- 
 ing situation by taking the burden upon herself ; and Lady 
 Windermere never knows the real basis of the sacrifice. 
 Actual performance of this play, as with others by the 
 dramatist, almost invariably impresses one with his tense- 
 
 * Note that Mrs. Kendal was Madge Robertson, youngest sister of 
 T. W. Robertson. 
 
 ■ For a brief clear statement of the precision and finish of the 
 ■work of the Bancrofts and Kendals, and their encouragement of 
 native effort, as distinguished from Irving'a adherence to older tradi- 
 tions, see Dickinson, 49-67.
 
 VICTORIAN AND CONTEMPORARY DRAMA 221 
 
 ness of situation ; and there is in some ways even stronger 
 work in The Importance of Being Earnest, " a trivial 
 comedy for serious people.'^ Salome, sl one-act play built 
 on the story of the dancing before Herod, is in the style of 
 the decadents. The work proved to possess tremendous 
 theatrical appeal, however, and created something of a 
 vogue. In Wilde's wit and artifice there is much of 
 the spirit of Kestoration comedy at its best, and while the 
 period of his gTeatest popularity is now past, one is still 
 forced to reckon with the art and intellect that could give 
 life to so much that otherwise would be trivial and super- 
 ficial. 
 
 89. Arthur Wing Pinero — Sir Arthur Wing Pinero 
 (1855 — ) has won the very high place that he holds 
 among living English dramatists primarily by his ex- 
 celling craftsmanship. Beginning his professional life as 
 an actor, he soon turned to the composition of plays, and 
 it was not long before his gifts were recognized. In 1877 
 his first play, £200 a Year, was produced, and since that 
 time he has adapted or written for the stage not less than 
 forty pieces. Among the early and very successful farces 
 were The MagiMrate (1885), The Schoolmistress (1886), 
 and Dandy Dick (1887). Siveet Lavender (1888) by its 
 tender sentiment made the author famous. Beginning with 
 The Profligate (1889), however, Pinero entered the realm 
 of social study and the problem play. In this drama a 
 young man, Dunstan Eenshaw, on the night before his 
 wedding is brought face to face with the young woman he 
 has wronged. The play was originally designed to end 
 either with a tragedy or with the hero's being forgiven. 
 The Second Mrs, Tanqueray attracted an extraordinary 
 amount of attention and gave its author a place among
 
 222 A SHOET HISTOEY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 English plajwriglits that he has never since lost. The 
 drama, which was unusually well construcied, showed some 
 influence not only from Ibsen but also from such French 
 writers as Scribe and Augier. Aubrey Tanqueray would 
 marry Paula, a woman he loves and about whose past 
 he knows. Can such a marriage, asks the play, be a 
 success? Much is represented in the attitude of Tan- 
 queray's own daughter Ellean; and in spite of the good 
 will of a loyal friend, Cayley Drummle, the forces to be 
 met are too strong for Aubrey and still more so for Paula. 
 In even more decadent tone was The Notorious Mrs. Ebb- 
 smith (1895). Among Pinero's strong later dramas in 
 different vein are The Princess and the Butterfly (1897), 
 a play of fine fantasy and sentiment. The Gat/ Lord Quex 
 (1899), one of strong characterization and keen wit, 
 The Thunderbolt (1908), a searchingly realistic and 
 satirical study of a group of provincial characters inter- 
 ested in the will of a deceased relative, and Mid-Channel 
 (1909), largely a study in neurasthenia. Whatever may 
 be this distinguished artistes final place in the history of the 
 drama, there can be no question as to his mastery of 
 technique or his high conception of his calling. 
 
 go. Henry Arthur Jones. — Along with Sir Arthur 
 Pinero, Henry Arthur Jones (1851 — ) has worked within 
 the last generation for a general broadening of the scope 
 of the drama and for giving this a closer relation to life. 
 While not surpassing Pinero in technique, by the books 
 and essays he has written and the lectures he has delivered 
 he has made himself outstanding in work for the general 
 improvement of the English stage. In fact it is hardly 
 too much to speak of him as a propagandist for the theatre. 
 He has interested himself not only in such things as copy-
 
 VICTORIAN AND CONTEMPORARY DRAMA 223 
 
 right, censorship, and national support for the theatre, but 
 perhaps even more in the attitude of ordinary men and 
 women toward the drama. In 1895 appeared The Eenas-^ 
 cence of the English Drarmj in 1912 Foundations of a 
 National Theatre; and more recently (1919) Patriotism 
 and Popular Education. Jones's own plays, while includ- 
 ing tragedy and melodrama, are most distinctive as carry- 
 ing on the tradition of the fine satire and the high comedy 
 of Congreve and Sheridan. He owes little to foreign 
 influence. Beginning with several short plays, written 
 largely in collaboration with others, in 1882 he achieved 
 his first great success with the melodrama, The Silver 
 King, which deserved attention by reason of its well- 
 directed dialogue and its swift succession of startling situ- 
 ations. Encouraged and made more free by this success, 
 with Saints and Sinners (1884) Jones struck the real key- 
 note of his later work, giving a criticism of society which 
 showed more than usual foreign influence upon his work. 
 Outstanding in the long list of plays since this strong 
 drama are Judah (1890), a characteristic production with 
 figures good and bad, The Masqueraders (1894), a search- 
 ing study of social types marked by unflinching realism, 
 The Liars (1897), a comedy of manners with much clever 
 construction and dialogue, Mrs. Dane's Defence (1900), 
 the story of a sinning woman who in a new community en- 
 deavors to live down her past, and The Hypocrites (1906). 
 To these must be added the tragic and baffling play, 
 Michael and his Lost Angel (1896), a favorite of the 
 author among his works but hardly a stage success. With 
 such worthy productions has Henry Arthur Jones made his 
 contribution to the dramatic renascence that he ever longed 
 to see and of which he has been so large a part.
 
 224 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DEAMA 
 
 91. George Bernard Shaw. — Quite as representative as 
 Pinero and Jones of the age in which he lives (though 
 frequently representing that age on the negative side) is 
 George Bernard Shaw (1856 — ), one of those remark- 
 able individuals whose personalities somehow iake prece- 
 dence over their work, however brilliant or clever their 
 work may be. At the age of twenty Shaw went from his 
 native Dublin to London, and for fully twenty years there- 
 after labored as journalist, lecturer, novelist, playwright, 
 and critic of art, music and the drama, before any real suc- 
 cess came to him. Meanwhile he identified himself with 
 various unpopular causes ; he became a champion of Ibsen, 
 and his general sympathy for socialism tempered much of 
 his later work. Even as a member of the Fabian Society, 
 however, there was something intensely practical — some- 
 thing common sense — about his attack on capitalism that 
 distinguished him from the emotional revolutionist and 
 that made the common crowd instinctively draw away from 
 him. Afterwards in life, as in this case, he generally 
 was not where people thought he was. Any attempt at the 
 interpretation of George Bernard Shaw, however, is dan- 
 gerous, and he would probably be the first to say it is all 
 wrong. For him the theatre has been largely simply a 
 means to an end, an instrument through which he might 
 speak his message to the world. The world, however, was 
 slow to hear him. His plays won no real success before 
 they were formally published — as Plays Pleasant and TJri'- 
 'pleasant (two volumes, 1898) and Plays for Puritans 
 (1900). The stage directions, the descriptions, and the 
 personal touch given in this form attracted the public and 
 eventually built up an audience. Said Shaw in closing 
 the preface to the first of these publications : "A word as
 
 VICTORIAN AND CONTEMPORARY DRAMA 225 
 
 to why I have labeled the three plays in this first voliime 
 Unpleasant. The reason is pretty obvious : their dramatic 
 power is used to force the spectator to face unpleasant 
 facts. No doubt all plays which deal sincerely with hu- 
 manity must wound the monstrous conceit which it is the 
 business of romance to flatter.'' The plays thus brought 
 together and those that came afterwards were generally in 
 keeping with the principle here laid down. Widowers' 
 Houses (1892) arraigns a society that permits property 
 owners to support their luxuries by the high rents imposed 
 on poor people; The Philanderer (1892) is a satire di- 
 rected against those who fear the full logic of Ibsen ; Mrs. 
 Warreris Profession (1902, printed 1898) thrust before 
 the public some of the causes of prostitution ; Arm^ and the 
 Idan (1894) satirizes the extravagant and romantic ad- 
 miration with which the soldier is invested; Candida 
 (1897), probably the dramatist's strongest acting play, is 
 largely concerned with social reform and questions of sex ; 
 The Man of Destiny (189Y) makes an attack on hero- 
 worship by belittling Napoleon; The DeviVs Disciple 
 (1897), a shrewd study of the good and bad in humanity, 
 is essentially a criticism of melodrama; Man and Siipcr- 
 rmin (1903), which really marks a new stage in the work 
 of the dramatist — one of emphasis on mental states — is a 
 pitiless dissection of love and home; John BulVs Other 
 Island (1903) is a detached treatment of the author's 
 native Ireland that adds to the viewpoint of a British citi- 
 zen something of the Irishman's humor; The Doctors 
 Dilemnia (1906) through many episodes makes an attack 
 on the professional man; Fanny's First Play 1911), one 
 of the dramatist's most popular and characteristic produc- 
 tions, shows a play in progress and gives much oppor-
 
 226 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 tunity for satire and wit; while Androcles and the Lion 
 (1912) and Pygmalion (1913) are representative of later 
 powerful and mature work. Shaw's dramas are uneven 
 in quality; but it is evident that his very originality makes 
 it difficult to pass over any of his plays lightly. He is 
 not a great technical artist like Pinero, but he is an origi- 
 nal and clever dramatist and, more than all else, an emi- 
 nent critic of life. 
 
 92. James Matthev^ Barrie. — To pass from George 
 Bernard Shaw to Sir James Matthew Barrie (1860 — ) 
 is to go from realism to romance, from satire to delicate 
 fancy. Barrie is distinguished as novelist as well as dram- 
 atist, and the tenderness and charm of his Sentimental 
 Tommy and The Little Minister are also in Peter Pan 
 and What Every Woman Knows. To his fine fantasy he 
 has added a genuine spiritual quality, best seen in his 
 emphasis on the child in literature; and he has also ex- 
 celled in handling the mind of woman. [N'aturally with 
 such emphasis he is somewhat apart from his contempo- 
 raries. For him the stage is not for problems ; he has no 
 propaganda. Accordingly, by those who are most " ad- 
 vanced " he has sometimes been called a reactionary. He 
 is, however, rather an idealist searching for something more 
 enduring than the latest whim of fashion ; and in concep- 
 tion of character he is probably unsurpassed by any living 
 dramatist. Withal he has been a most practical and 
 facile worker, happily finding in America at least, in Miss 
 Maude Adams, an artist fully capable of interpreting his 
 productions. Probably most famous of his several very 
 famous plays are The Little Minister (1897), The Ad- 
 rmralle Crichton (1903), Peter Pan (1904), and What 
 Every Wonrnn Knows (190S). The Admirable Crichton
 
 VICTORIAN AND CONTEMPORARY DRAIMA 227 
 
 with humor and skill handles the situation of the family 
 of a peer wrecked on a desert island, where the butler of 
 the family proves himself the most resourceful person in 
 the group. Thoroughly typical of the dramatist are the 
 means to which he resorts in order to sustain interest. 
 Crichton, for instance, left alone by his haughty superiors, 
 depends on nightfall and hunger to bring them to his in- 
 viting camp-fire. After two years moreover, when Crich- 
 ton has fallen in love with Lady Mary, the boom of the 
 cannon of a passing ship indicates that they are about to 
 be rescued, and at once all the questions of returning to the 
 former class distinctions center in a moment of supreme 
 tension. In Wh<it Every Wonvan Knows Barrie also gives 
 beneath the surface a serious study. He will ever be most 
 widely known and loved, however, for Peter Pan, a drama- 
 tization of the novel, The Little White Bird. Peter Pan, 
 carefree and full of pranks, visits three little children while 
 they are asleep and teaches them to fly away with him. 
 He carries them to the fairy-world, to the pirate ship, and 
 at last to his own home in the treetops. The play com- 
 bines fancy, symbolism, and realism, but throughout the 
 whole is also the tenderness that is the very essence of 
 human life. A Kiss for Cinderella (1916) and Dear 
 Brutus (1917) are important in the dramatist's later 
 work. 
 
 93. John Galsworthy. — Like Barrie in that he is suc- 
 cessful both as dramatist and novelist, but more like Shaw 
 in his emphasis on social problems, is John Galsworthy 
 (1867 — ). This man is not only one of the finest intel- 
 lects but also one of the most sincere of living English 
 writers — simple, straightforward, and humanitarian. Es- 
 sentially earnest, he never fails to impress his audience
 
 228 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 by the wortli of "what he has to saj, and even in his first 
 play, The Silver Box (1906), he revealed his characteristic 
 qualities. Strife (1909) sets forth the contest between 
 capital and labor, the two outstanding figures being An- 
 thony, the honest and misguided capitalist, and Eoberts, 
 the honest but equally misguided representative of labor. 
 Justice (1910) is a plea for prison reform. Galsworthy's 
 very good-intention in such plays as these, however, has 
 somehow given them the air of sociological studies rather 
 than of artistic productions, excellent though they may 
 be. Some counteracting fancy was to be seen in Joy 
 (190Y), The Pigeon (1912), and The Little Dream 
 (1912). The Eldest Son (1912), The Fugitive (1913), 
 and The Moh (1914), however, return to the dramatist's 
 characteristic vein of seriousness and realism. Even yet 
 he solves none of the problems that he offers; he is still 
 detached, with the smile of experience and the yearning 
 for something better still pondering '' the riddle of the 
 world." 
 
 94. Stephen Phillips.— Stephen Phillips (1868-1915), 
 unlike most dramatists of recent years, chose verse as his 
 dramatic medium. In 1898, with the publication of his 
 poems, including *^ Christ in Hades " and " The Woman 
 with the Dead Soul," he became the most discussed poet 
 in England, and on the publication of Paolo and Fran- 
 cesca (1900) criticism as well as the common voice in- 
 dulged in superlatives. The day of the poetic drama 
 seemed to have come again, and the new author was com- 
 pared with the greatest figures in English literary history. 
 Ilerod) was presented on the stage in 1900, Paolo and 
 Francesca in 1901, Ulysses: and The Sin of David in 1902, 
 and Nero in 1906. These plays, however, did not so much
 
 VICTORIAN AND CONTEMPORARY DRAMA 229 
 
 impress the public in the theatre as in book form. There 
 could be no denying the highly musical quality of much 
 of the poetry of Phillips, or his lyrical imagination, or 
 even a certain command of the mechanics of the stage. 
 All these qualities taken together, however, did not make 
 him an effective dramatist, and his failure to justify the 
 promise of his earlier years furnished the greatest dis- 
 appointment in recent dramatic history. One critic* 
 summing up his work at the time of his death spoke ably 
 as follows : " Though he had his moments of inspiration, 
 he can scarcely be said to have established his right to be 
 accounted a great dramatist. The fertile fancy, power, 
 passion, or sheer literary beauty of his finest scenes exerted 
 a charm that distracted attention from occasional flaws 
 in workmanship, which in other circumstances might have 
 been only too apparent. It would not be true to say that 
 his plays, from Paolo and Francesca to Armageddon, are 
 more akin to romantic melodrama, even of a high order, 
 than to tragedy. They reach emotional heights which are 
 tragic in the fullest and strictest meaning of that word. 
 But, not infrequently, in construction and device, they 
 adopt expedients which are purely melodramatic and theat- 
 rical. Of his meditated effects, the climaxes of precon- 
 ceived situations, he had a secure grasp. He developed 
 them with unfailing skill and brilliant literary and dra- 
 matic coloring. Where he failed was in the exposition of 
 causes which should lead logically to results. lie was not 
 a great play-maker. He could not weave the pattern of a 
 plot with the plausible ingenuity of Scribe, Sardou, Sheri- 
 dan, Pinero, or Henry Arthur Jones. In great tragedy 
 there must be the element of apparent inevitability. Even 
 * J. Rankin Towse in New York Evening Post.
 
 230 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 in dealing with an ancient tale, with prescribed facts, this 
 is a law from which the dramatist has no appeal. It was 
 a law that Mr. Phillips either did not appreciate or dis- 
 regarded." 
 
 95. Granville Barker. — As moral as Galsworthy but 
 excelling him in artistry, as interested in life as Shaw but 
 excelling him in art, is H. Granville Barker (1877 — ). 
 This well-known dramatist came on the scene just at the 
 time when England was being stirred by various independ- 
 ent movements for the betterment of the theatre and when 
 there was a general clamor for more intellectual freedom. 
 He began life as an actor and in course of time played 
 with such artists as Ben Greet and Mrs. Campbell. Erom 
 time to time also he produced plays for the Elizabethan 
 Stage Society and in 1904 he assumed the management of 
 the Court Theatre in London. Here he made a great repu- 
 tation not only by his production of Shakespeare but also 
 by that of the modem intellectual drama of Shaw, Barrie, 
 Galsworthy, Hankin, and himself; and by his later work 
 at other houses as well as at the Court he gave a new 
 standard to the repertory theatre. Among the more inter- 
 esting and typical of his own plays, which show much 
 influence from Shaw, are The Marrying of Anna Leete 
 (1902), The Voysey Inheritance (1905), and The Madras 
 House (1910). The first of these three plays emphasizes 
 the freedom that comes to woman with the newer knowl- 
 edge of the world ; the second is a comedy of business in- 
 viting comparison with Pinero's The ThiiTiderholt ; and 
 the third is a further study of woman in modern society. 
 
 96. Irish National Theatre. Lady Gregory. — One of 
 the most interesting movements of the new century and 
 one with the greatest measure of success, is that of the Irish
 
 VICTORIAN AND CONTEMPORARY DRAMA 231 
 
 National Theatre. In 1899-1900 strong patriotic feeling 
 and interest in the peasant life and folk-lore of their coun- 
 try impelled a group of playwrights and patrons to or- 
 ganize the Irish National Theatre Society. Prominent 
 in the effort were Lady Augusta Gregory, William Butler 
 Yeats, Edward Martyn, George Moore, and G. W. Rus- 
 sell (" A. E.")- The object of the Irish National Theatre 
 is twofold : to produce plays of finer literary quality than 
 one witnessed in most theatres, and to set forth native Irish 
 life and character, both peasant and heroic. The move- 
 ment made strong patriotic appeal. Stories were gathered 
 from the lips of living peasants, and anything affecting 
 Irish tradition or folk-lore was treasured. While such 
 strong and constructive elements entered into the new insti- 
 tution, in another way, especially as represented by Yeats, 
 it has been but one more expression of the neo-romantic 
 tendencies of which we have already heard so much. 
 
 Lady Gregory, already distinguished for her studies in 
 Celtic mythology, from the very first has been one of the 
 most important figures of the Irish National Theatre. 
 She has lectured and written much, co-operating with in- 
 numerable organizations for the welfare of her country; 
 and especially has she been distinguished in her capacity as 
 manager of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Here she has 
 shown anew the dramatic possibilities of peasant life and 
 of the one-act play; she has built up a strong stock com- 
 pany with new traditions; and generally has succeeded 
 in improving the taste of her public. Representative of 
 her wholesome lighter comedy are Spreading the News 
 (1904) and Hyacinth Rnlvey (1906), both included in 
 the volume, Seven Short Plays; while The Gaol Gate 
 (1906), The Traveling Man (1901), and The Rising of
 
 232 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 the Moon (1907) represent her more serious temper. 
 Lady Gregory is the perfect representative of the Irish 
 Xational Theatre nninfliienced hy continental tendencies. 
 97. William Butler Yeats.— William Butler Yeats 
 (1865 — ), born in Dublin, in addition to training in his 
 native city and in London, also studied the theatre in 
 Paris in his earlier years. The fact is important in con- 
 nection with his work, for to his exposition of the lore and 
 legend of Ireland he has also brought some touch with the 
 neo-romanticists. In his wandering with " the wind 
 among the reeds " or by " shadowy waters " he is one of 
 the music-makers or dreamers of dreams of whom 
 O'Shaughnessy wrote; while in his mysticism, his sym- 
 bolism, and the general quality of his imagination he 
 invites comparison with Maeterlinck. In the midst of one 
 of the greatest political problems of the age, he has held 
 firmly to the creation of beauty. With a temperament so 
 subjective he is naturally more lyrical than dramatic ; but 
 his plays are not only fanciful and romantic but charac- 
 terized by much clever craftsmanship. Outstanding are 
 The Land of Heart's Desire (1894) and The Countess 
 Cathleen (1899). The first of these plays, partly in prose 
 and partly in verse, tells the story of a young bride who 
 grows weary of her monotonous life and entreats the fairies 
 to release her. The old parents tell her that she should 
 listen first of all to the voice of duty, and the priest begs 
 her not to leave her faithful young husband. The fairy 
 wins, however, and, leaving a dead wife in the cottage, 
 bears away the living bride to the mystic world. The 
 Countess Cathleen sets forth the great efforts and the 
 sacrifice of the Countess in behalf of the starving peasants, 
 many of whom sell their souls for food to the demons dis-
 
 VICTORIAN AND CONTEMPORARY DRAMA 233 
 
 giiised as merchants. The play is full of supernaturalism 
 and symholism, and guardian angels save the soul of the 
 Countess at the end. In similar vein^ but of even more 
 poetic than dramatic quality, are Cathleen ni Hoolihan, 
 The Shadowy Waters, and Deirdre, all embodying the 
 superstition, the fairy lore, and the lively imagination of 
 
 Ireland. 
 
 98. John Millington Synge. — John Millington Synge 
 (1871-1909) was one of the most promising of recent 
 English or Irish writers. Especially was he highly en- 
 dowed intellectually. He won with equal facility a prize 
 in Hebrew or Irish at Trinity College, Dublin, or a 
 scholarship at the Koyal Irish Academy of Music. x\s a 
 boy, we are told, '' he knew the note and plumage of every 
 bird, and when and where they were to be found.'' Eor 
 years he wandered about the Continent gathering impres- 
 sions here and there until his friend Yeats found him in 
 France and induced him to return to Ireland and write 
 for the new theatre. Back in Dublin he never mentioned 
 politics, he read no newspapers, and very little current 
 literature. With him, however, the dramatic exceeded 
 the lyrical faculty. He wrote only six short plays, all 
 between 1903 and 1907 ; but the very first of these showed 
 that he had come at once into full possession of his powers. 
 From the beginning his style was stripped of needless 
 verbiage and vibrant with emotion. Riders to the Sea, 
 a tragedy in one act, and one of the most powerful produc- 
 tions in recent dramatic literature, sets forth the im- 
 pressive sorrow of old Maurya, whose husband and five 
 sons have already been drowned, and who now sees her 
 last son, Bartley, given to the sea. The Playboy of the 
 Western World, a boisterous and fantastically humorous
 
 234 A SHOET HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DEAlilA 
 
 play in three acts, is concerned with the real awakening 
 of the Playboy, his performing of wonderful feats, and his 
 ardent love-making to the maiden Pegeen. At the time 
 of his death Synge was giving final form to Deirdre of the 
 Sorrows, a three-act play employing a theme also used by 
 Yeats and Eussell, that of the beautiful princess who, after 
 seven years of perfect union with her lover, when he was 
 slain went forth to be with him in the hereafter. He 
 was a true dramatist and his passing was an inestimable 
 loss to the theatre not only of Ireland but of the world. 
 99. Other Recent Dramatists. — The great emphasis on 
 the drama within the last generation has naturally brought 
 on the scene numerous writers, some of whom are quite as 
 worthy of detailed mention as those that have been con- 
 sidered. An early contemj^orary of Pinero and Jones was 
 Sydney Grundy (1848-1914), an honest and clever crafts- 
 man who was borne hither and thither by the moral, 
 decadent, and technical tendencies of his day and who 
 somehow failed to live up to early expectations. After 
 much adaptation from French dramatists he produced 
 such plays as A FooVs Paradise (1889) and Sowing the 
 Wind (1893). Another earnest worker wiio was also 
 alive to new ideas and tendencies but who failed of final 
 achievement was Si. Ji)hn Hankin (1860-1909), repre- 
 sented by The Tiuo Mr. Weatherhys (1903), The Cas- 
 silis Engagement (1907), and T'he Last of the De MuU'ins 
 (1908). John Oswald France's (1882 — ) first awakened 
 wide interest by his four-act jjlay. Change, winner in the 
 Welsh Drama Competition in 1912. Probably most repre- 
 sentative of the younger writers of the Irish National 
 Theatre is St. John G. Ervine (1883 — ), who shows un- 
 usual mastery of his craft and grasp of character, as u\
 
 VICTORIAN AND CONTEMPORARY DRAMA 235 
 
 Mixed Marriage (1911), Ja7}^ Clegg (1914), and John 
 Ferguson (1915). John Masefield (1875 — ) entered the 
 field of the drama with The Tragedy of Nan (1908), while 
 another outstanding poet of the day, John Drinkwater 
 (1882 — ), has recently achieved great success with Abra- 
 ham Lincoln (1919). Lord Dunsany, Arnold Bennett, 
 and W. Somerset Maugham also have high rank among 
 living English dramatists. 
 
 100. Current Tendencies. — It is evident from what has 
 been said that the decade 1880-1890 was one of experi- 
 mentation in the history of the English drama and the 
 decade 1890-1900 one of ferment. In the latter period 
 the drama assumed new importance as a social force, and 
 there was wide discussion of the mutual obligation of the 
 theatre and the public. About the year 1894 controversy 
 raged on the question of Ibsen and his influence, which by 
 many conservative and strong elements was considered 
 unhealthy, while playwrights and patrons of the theatre 
 were quite determined that the drama should l^e free. In 
 the same year in which this discussion was uppermost there 
 developed a new vogue of spectacle and melodrama, closely 
 associated with the dramatization of popular fiction, which 
 ran directly counter to the more intellectual element? of 
 reform. Itepresentative productions were Trilby, The 
 Prisoner of Zenda, The Sign of the Cross, and the Ameri- 
 can Ben-Hur, which for more than a decade excelled all 
 other productions in the attracting of great audiences. 
 Closely related to these rom,antic tendencies in the earlier 
 years of the century was a new emphasis on the old moral- 
 ity, represented by Everyman, and on plays based on 
 stories from the Bible. 
 
 Meanwhile organization went forward. We have al-
 
 236 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH DRAMA 
 
 ready remarked the Irish National Theatre. In 1891 John 
 T. Grein organized the Independent Theatre, which ran 
 for seven years and after an interval was succeeded by the 
 Stage Society, incorporated in 1904. Since 1895 the 
 Elizabethan Stage Society has also conducted its activities, 
 with emphasis on the representation of the best in both 
 English and continental tradition. To such sturdy efforts 
 as these, men like Shaw, Galsworthy, Barker, and Gordon 
 Craig have in one way or another given of their talents. 
 There also developed a new interest in the reading of 
 plays in printed form and an insistence on high stand- 
 ards of criticism. All such efforts and tendencies were 
 assisted by intercourse with America, where there was a 
 veritable renaissance. Throughout the country societies 
 for the study of the drama were formed, educational in- 
 stitutions began to give courses in the composition of 
 plays, and such organizations as the Portmanteau Theatre 
 and the Washington Square Players in Xevv^ York and 
 the Henry Jewett Players in Boston insisted on high 
 standards in a day when the stage had become almost hope- 
 lessly commercialized. 
 
 Just on the eve of the Great War the drama seemed 
 uncertain as to its course. The year 1912, for instance, 
 showed tendencies both romantic and realistic, as in Ed- 
 ward Knoblock's Kismet, a gorgeous play of the Orient, 
 and, on the other hand. Milestones, written by Bennett in 
 collaboration with Knoblock; and the next year there was 
 rather frank discussion on the stage of some unpleasant 
 social topics. With 1914 came at once the depression 
 caused by the war, and the beginning of the great develop- 
 ment of photo-plays. Against such opposition the legiti- 
 mate drama struggled with only a slight measure of sue-
 
 VICTORIAN AND CONTEMPORARY DRAMA 237 
 
 cess; and within the next five years the foremost play- 
 wrights of the day, with the notable exception of Barrie, 
 in their absorption by the questions of the hour, almost 
 ceased to write, or at least to produce. So-called war plays 
 were hurriedly thrust before a public that soon tired of 
 them in the desire for relief from the strain ; and brilliant 
 musical comedies, in London and still more in Xew York, 
 by the time of the armistice were demanding fabulous 
 prices for admission. Such tendencies, however, could not 
 undo all of the constructive work of the last three decades. 
 An intelligent and a growing audience was seeking more 
 than ever the best that the theatre had to offer, in the small 
 towns and villages as well as in the great centers of cul- 
 ture; and now that the "war is over, and now that it has 
 been shown that even the moving-picture can not wholly 
 displace the spoken drama, we may indeed hope for a new 
 inspiration in the art cultivated by Kean, and in the 
 heritage and culture of Shakespeare.
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Texts. 
 
 1 
 2 
 
 1. Collections of Plays. ^ ^. .^ , a 
 
 2. Works in Series, primarily for school use; Individual Au- 
 
 thors, etc. 
 
 3. Standard of Special Editions. 
 II. Criticism. 
 
 1. General Works. 
 
 2. Works on Special Periods or Subjects. 
 
 3. The Stage, Dramatic Technique, and the Function of the 
 
 Theatre. 
 
 I. TEXTS 
 1. COLLECTIONS OF PLAYS 
 
 Manly, John Matthews: Specimens of the Pre-Shakesperean Drama, 
 2 vols, (a third forthcoming). Ginn & Co., Boston, 1897. 
 
 Pollard A. W.: English Miracle Plays, Moralities, and Interludes 
 (revised). Oxford University Press, London, New York, etc., 
 1914 
 
 Cunliflfe, J. W.: Early English Classical Tragedies. Oxford Uni- 
 versity Press, London, New York, etc., 1912. , , , 
 
 Neilson, William Allan: The Chief Elizabethan Dramatists (exclud- 
 ino-' Shakespeare ) . Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1911. 
 
 Gayley! Charles M. : Representative English Comedies. Vol. I. From 
 the Beginnings to Shakespeare. Vol. IL The Later Contem- 
 poraries of Shakespeare: Ben Jonson and Others. Vol. Ill- The 
 Later Contemporaries of Shakespeare: Fletcher and Others. 
 The Macmillan Co., New York, 1903. 
 
 Tupper F., and Tupper, J. W. : Representative English Dramas from 
 Dryden to Sheridan. Oxford University Press, London, New 
 York etc 1914. 
 
 Tatlock. John's. P., and Martin, Robert G.: Representative English 
 Plays. The Century Co., New York, 1916. ^ ,. 
 
 Matthews, Brander: The Chief European Dramatists. Houghton 
 Mifflin Co., Boston, 1916. 
 
 Dickinson, Thomas H.: The Chief Contemporary Dramatists. 
 Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1915. 
 
 See also in Ever\Tnan's Library (E. P. Dutton & Co., New York) 
 Everyman, and other Interludes, edited by Ernest Rhys; Minor 
 Elizabethan Drama (2 vols.), edited by Ashley H. Thorndike; 
 and A Volume of Restoration Plays, edited by Edmund Gosse. 
 
 28d
 
 240 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 For further and more advanced study in early drama see York 
 Plays, edited by L. Toulmin Smith, Oxford University Press, 
 London, New York, etc., 1885; English Nativity Plays, edited by 
 Samuel B. Hemingway, Yale Studies in English, No. 38, Henry 
 Holt & Co., New York, 1909 ; and in the Publications of the Early 
 English Text Society, Oxford University Press, Digby Plays, 
 edited by F. J. Furnivall, 1896, and Townelev Mysteries, edited 
 by G. England and A. W. Pollard, 1897. For 'old plays not 
 otherwise accessible, see A Collection of Old English Plays, edited 
 by A. H. Bullen, London, 1882-85, 4 vols., new series 3 vols., 
 1887-90; and note R. Dodsley's famous Select Collection of Old 
 Plays, 1744 (4th edition, 15 vols., edited by W. C. Hazlitt, Lon- 
 don, 1874-76). 
 
 2. WORKS IN SERIES, PRIMARILY FOR SCHOOL USE; 
 INDIVIDUAL AUTHORS, ETC. 
 
 Meemaid Series ("The best plays of the Old Dramatists"). Im- 
 portations of Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. (This has 
 long been a well known series for first reading, and it has de- 
 served the place that it has held. In recent years, however, it 
 has been rivaled and sometimes excelled by the series that 
 follow.) 
 
 Beaumont and Fletcher, with introduction and notes by J. Strachey. 
 Plays: Vol. I, The Maid's Tragedy, Philaster, The Wild Goose 
 Chase, Thierry and Theodoret, The Knight of the Burning 
 Pestle; Vol. II, A King and No King, Bonduca, The Spanish 
 Curate, The Faithful Shepherdess, Valentinian. 
 
 Chapman, George, edited with introduction and notes by W. L. 
 Phelps. Plays: All Fools, Bussy D'Ambois, The Revenge of 
 Bussy D'Ambois, The Conspiracy of Charles, Duke of Byron; The 
 Tragedy of Charles, Duke of Byron. 
 
 Congreve, William, edited and annotated by A. C. Ewald. Plays: 
 The Old Bachelor, The Double Dealer, Love for Love, The Way 
 of the V/orld, The Mourning Bride. 
 
 Dekker, Thomas, with essay and notes by Ernest Rhys. Plays: 
 The Shoemaker's Holiday, The Honest Whore, Old Fortunatus, 
 The Witch of Edmonton. 
 
 Dryden, John, edited wdth introduction and notes by George 
 Saintsbury. Plays: Vol. I, Almanzor and Almahide, or The 
 Conquest of Granada; Marriage fi. la Mode, Aureng-Zebe; Vol. 
 II, All for Love, The Spanish Friar, Albion and Albanus, Don 
 Sebastian. 
 
 Farquhar, George, with introduction by William Archer. Plays: 
 The Constant Couple, The Twin-Rivals, The Recruiting Officer, 
 The Beaux' Stratagem. 
 
 Ford, John, edited by Havelock Ellis. Plays: The Lover's Melan- 
 choly, The Broken Heart, Love's Sacrifice, Perkin Warbeck. 
 
 Greene, Robert, with notes and introduction by T. H. Dickinson. 
 Plays: Alphonsus, King of Arragonj A Looking-glass for Lon-
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 241 
 
 don and England, Orlando Furioso, Friar Bacon and Friar 
 Bungay, James the Fourth, George a-Greene, the Pinner of 
 Wakefield. 
 
 Heywood, Thomas, edited by A. W. Verity, with introduction by 
 J. A. Symonds. Plays: A Woman Killed with Kindness, The 
 Fair Maid of the West, The English Traveller, The Wise 
 Woman of Hogsdon, The Rape of Lucrece. 
 
 Jonson, Ben, edited with introduction and notes by B. Nicholson 
 and C. H. Herford, Plays: Vol. I, Every Man in his Humour, 
 Every Man out of his Humour, The Poetaster; Vol. II, Bar- 
 tholomew Fair, Cynthia's Revels, Sejanus, his Fall; Vol. Ill, 
 Volpone, or The Fox; Epicoene, or The Silent Woman; The 
 Alchemist. 
 
 Marlowe, Christopher, edited with critical memoir and notes by 
 Havelock Ellis. Plays: Tamberlaine the Great, 2 parts. The 
 Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, The Jew of Malta, Edward the 
 Second. 
 
 Massinger, Philip, edited with critical and biographical essay and 
 notes by Arthur Symons. Plays: Vol. I, The Duke of Milan, 
 A New Way to Pay Old Debts, The Great Duke of Florence, 
 The Maid of Honour, The City Madam; Vol. II, The Roman 
 Actor, The Fatal Dowry, The Guardian, The Virgin Martyr, 
 Believe as You List. 
 
 Middleton, Thomas, with an introduction by Algernon Charles 
 Swinburne. Plays: Vol. I, A Trick to Catch the Old One, The 
 Changeling, A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, Women Beware 
 Women, The Spanish Gipsy; Vol. II, The Roaring Girl, The 
 V/itch, A Fair Quarrel, The Mayor of Queensborough, The 
 Widow. 
 
 Otway, Thomas, with introduction and notes by Roden Noel. 
 Plays: Don Carlos, The Orphan, The Soldier's Fortune, Venice 
 Preserved. 
 
 Shadwell, Thomas, edited with introduction and notes by George 
 Saintsbury. Plays: The Sullen Lovers, A True Widow, The 
 Squire of Alsatia, Bury Fair. 
 
 Shirley, James, with introduction by Edmund Gosse. Plays: The 
 Witty Fair One, The Traitor, Hyde Park, The Lady of Pleasure, 
 The Cardinal, The Triumph of Peace. 
 
 Steele, Richard, edited with introduction and notes by G. A. 
 Aitkin. Plays: The Funeral, The Lying Lover, The Tender 
 Husband, The Conscious Lovers, The School of Action, The Gen- 
 tleman. 
 
 Vanbrugh, John, edited with introduction and notes bv A, E. H. 
 Swain. Plays: The Relapse, The Provoked Wife, The Confed- 
 eracy, A Journey to London. 
 
 Webster and Tourneur, with an introduction and notes by John 
 Addington Symonds. Plays: The White Devil, The Duchess of 
 Malfi, The Atheist's Tragedy, The Revenger's Tragedy. 
 
 Wycherley, William, edited with introduction and notes by W. C. 
 Ward. Plays: Love in a Wood, The Gentleman Dancing Master, 
 The Country Wife, The Plain Dealer.
 
 242 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Belles -Lettres Series, D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, New York, etc. 
 
 Division of the Drama under the general editorship of George 
 
 Pierce Baker. 
 Gascoigne: Supposes and Joeasta, edited by John W. Cunliife. 
 Beaumont: A King and No King and The Knight of the Burning 
 
 Pestle, edited by Raymond M. Alden, 
 Beaiunont and Fletcher : The Maid's Tragedy and Philaster, edited 
 
 by Ashley H, Thorndike. 
 Chapman: All Fools and The Gentleman Usher, edited by Thomas 
 
 M. Parrott. 
 Chapman: Bussy D'Ambois and The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois, 
 
 edited by Frederick S, Boas. 
 Ford: 'Tis Pity and The Broken Heart, edited by Stuart P. 
 
 Sherman. 
 HeyM'ood: A Woman Killed with Kindness and The Fair Maid of 
 
 the West, edited by Katherine Lee Bates. 
 Jonson: Eastward Hoe and The Alchemist, edited by Felix E. 
 
 Schelling. 
 Jonson: Sejanus, edited by W. D. Briggs. 
 Jonson: Poetaster, and Dekkar: Satiromastix, edited by Josiah 
 
 H. Penniman. 
 Middleton and Rowley : The Spanish Gipsy and All's Lost by Lust, 
 
 edited by Edgar C. Morris. 
 Webster: The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfy, edited by 
 
 Martin W. Sampson. 
 Davenant: Love and Honour, and The Siege of Rhodes, edited by 
 
 J. W. Tupper. 
 Dryden: All for Love and The Spanish Friar, edited by William 
 
 Strunk, Jr. 
 Farquhar : The Recruiting OflBcer and The Beaux' Stratagem, edited 
 
 by Louis A. Strauss. 
 Otway: The Orphan and Venice Preserved, edited by Charles F. 
 
 McClumpha. 
 Wycherley: The Country Wife and The Plain Dealer, edited by 
 
 George B. Churchill. 
 Goldsmith: The Good-Natured Man and She Stoops to Conquer, 
 
 edited by Austin Dobson. 
 Lillo: The London Merchant and Fatal Curiosity, edited by A. W. 
 
 Ward. 
 Rowe : The Fair Penitent and Jane Shore, edited by Sophia Chantal 
 
 Hart. 
 Browning: A Blot in the 'Scutcheon, Colombe's Birthday, A Sours 
 
 Tragedy, and In a Balcony, edited by Arlo Bates. 
 Robertson: Society, and Caste, edited by T. Edgar Pemberton. 
 Shelley: The Cenci, edited by George E. Woodberry. 
 Swinburne: Mary Stuart, edited by William Morton Payne. / 
 
 Mastebpieces of the English Dbama, under the general editorship 
 of Felix E. Schelling. American Book Co., New York. 
 Christopher Marlowe, with an introduction by William L. Phelps.
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 243 
 
 Plays: Tamberlaine (both parts), Doctor Faustus, The Jew of 
 
 Malta, Edward the Second. 
 George Chapman, with an introduction by Havelock Ellis. Plays: 
 
 All Fools, Eastward Ho, Bussy D'Ambois, The Revenge of Bussy 
 
 D'Ambois. 
 Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, edited by Felix E. Schelling. 
 
 Plays: The Maid's Tragedy, Philaster, The Faithful Shep- 
 herdess, Bonduca. 
 Ben Jonson, with an introduction by Ernest Rhys. Plays: Every 
 
 Man in his Humour, Volpone, Epicoene, The Alchemist. 
 Thomas Middleton, edited by Martin W. Sampson. Plays : Michael- 
 mas Term, A Trick to Catch the Old One, A Fair Quarrel, The 
 
 Changeling. 
 Philip Massinger, edited by Lucius A. Sherman. Plays: The 
 
 Roman Actor, The Maid of Honour, A Xew Way to Pay Old 
 
 Debts, Believe as You List. 
 John Webster and Cvril Tourneur, with an introduction by Ashley 
 
 H. Thorndike. Plays: The White Devil, The Duchess of Malfi, 
 
 Appius and Virginia — The Revenger's Tragedy. 
 William Congreve, with an introduction by William Archer. 
 
 Plays: The Double-Dealer, The Way of the World, Love for 
 
 Love, The Mourning Bride. 
 Oliver Goldsmith and Richard Brinsley Sheridan, edited by Isaac 
 
 N. Demmon. Plays: The Good-Natured Man, She Stoops to 
 
 Conquer — The Rivals, The School for Scandal, The Critic. 
 
 Riverside Liteeatuee Seeies, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. (Some 
 of the numbers here listed have unusually excellent introductions. 
 All are inexpensive.) 
 
 The Second Shepherd's Play, Everyman, and other Early Plays, 
 translated and edited by Clarence Griffin Child. 
 
 Nicholas Udall's Ralph Roister Doister, edited by Clarence Griffin 
 Child. 
 
 Oliver Goldsmith's The Good-Natured Man and She Stoops to Con- 
 quer, edited by Thomas H. Dickinson. 
 
 Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Rivals, edited by Josiah Q. 
 Adams, Jr. 
 
 Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The School for Scandal, edited by 
 Hanson Hart Webster. 
 
 TuDOE Shakespeaee, a series of single volumes of the plays, using 
 the Neilson text, and issued under the general editorship of 
 William Allan Neilson and Ashley Horace Thorndike. The 
 Macmillan Co., New York. 
 
 Yale Shakespeaee, single volumes issued under the general super- 
 vision of a committee consisting of Wilbur Lucius Cross, Tucker 
 Brooke, and Willard Higley Durham. Yale University Press, 
 New Haven and New York. 
 
 Abden Shakespeaee, single volumes emphasizing literary more than 
 linguistic features, issued under the general editorship of C. H, 
 Herford. D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, New York, etc,
 
 244 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 New Hudson Shakespeaee, with introduction and notes by Henry 
 
 N. Hudson. Ginn & Co., Boston, New York, etc. 
 Rolfe's New Edition of Shakespeaee, edited by William J. Rolfe. 
 
 American Book Co., New York. 
 Selected Dramas of John Drvden, edited with an introduction by 
 
 George R. Noyes. Scott, Foresman & Co., Chicago, 1910. 
 The Major Dramas of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, edited with an 
 
 introduction by George H. Nettleton, Athenaeum Press Series, 
 
 Ginn & Co., Boston, New York, etc., 1906. 
 
 3. ST.AN"DARD AND SPECIAL EDITIONS 
 
 (Only outstanding works are here mentioned. For more extended 
 bibliography see Cambridge History of English Literature, especially 
 Vols. V and VI. ) 
 
 The Complete Works of John Lyly, now for the first time collected 
 and edited from the earliest quartos with Life, Biography, Es- 
 says, Notes, and Index, by R. Warwick Bond. 3 yols. Oxiord. 
 University Press, London, New Y'ork, etc., 1902. 
 
 The Works of George Peele, edited by A. H. BuUen. 2 vols. Oxford 
 University Press, London, New Y'ork, etc., 1888. 
 
 The Plays and Poems of Robert Greene, edited by J. Churton Collins. 
 2 vols. Oxford University Press, London, New Y^'ork, etc., 1905. 
 
 The Works of Thomas Kyd, edited from the original texts with 
 introduction, notes, and fac-similes. Oxford University Press, 
 London, New Y'ork, etc., 1901. 
 
 The Works of Christopher Marlowe, edited by C. E. Tucker Brooke. 
 Oxford University Press, London, New York, etc., 1910. 
 
 The Works of Christopher Marlowe, edited by A. H. BuUen. 3 vols. 
 J. C. Nimmo, London, 1885. 
 
 The Works of Christopher Marlowe, edited by F. Cunningham. 
 Chatto & Windus, London, 1902. 
 
 The Complete Dramatic and Poetic Works of William Shakespeare, 
 edited by William Allan Neilson. Cambridge Edition. Houghton 
 Mifflin Co., Boston, New York, etc., 1906. 
 
 The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (the "Oxford Shake- 
 speare " ) , edited by W. J. Craig. Oxford University Press, Lon- 
 don, New York, etc., 1916. 
 
 The \^'orks of William Shakespeare, edited by A. H. Bullen (10 vols., 
 limited edition) and issued at The Shakespeare Head Press, 
 Stratford-on-Avon, 1904-7. 
 
 The Plays of William Shakespeare. Varionmi Edition, edited by H. 
 H. Wrness. J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia. (These note- 
 worthy volumes, a monument to American scholarship, began to 
 be issued in 1869, and on the death of the elder Dr. Furness in 
 1912 the series was continued by his son, H. H. Furness.) 
 
 The Oxford Shakespeare Apocrypha (being fourteen plays at some 
 time attributed to Shakespeare), edited, with introduction, 
 notes and bibliography, by C. F. Tucker Brooke. Oxford Uni- 
 versity Press, London, New York, etc., 1908.
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 245 
 
 The Oxford editions of Lyly, Greene, and Kyd set the standard for 
 recent editing. For the most part the work of men later than 
 Shakespeare has not recently been reviewed and reissued in such 
 excellent form. Very important work is being done, however; 
 note, for instance, The Works of George Chapman, 3 vols., 
 edited chiefly by R. H. Shepherd, Oxford University Press, and 
 The Works of Thomas Middleton, 8 vols., edited by A. H. Bullen, 
 London, 1885-86. About the middle of the last century out- 
 standing was the work of the great editor, Alexander Dyce, who 
 brought out editions of most of the post-Shakespearean dram- 
 atists; and, in general, importance attaches to the works of 
 Heywood, Dekker, etc., in Pearson's Reprints, and to Sir Walter 
 Scott's monumental edition of Dryden, 18 vols., Edinburgh, 
 1808, revised and corrected by Saintsbury, Edinburgh, 1882. 
 Within recent years very special importance has attached to a 
 series of studies and editions of the different plays of Jonson 
 published by the Yale University Press. 
 
 II. CRITICISM 
 
 1. GENERAL WORKS 
 
 Ward, A. W., and Waller, A. R. (General Editors) : The Cambridge 
 History of English Literature. 14 vols. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 
 New York, 1907-17. (Vols. V and VI are wholly devoted to the 
 early and Elizabethan drama; special articles are in later 
 volumes. ) 
 
 Ward, Adolphus W. : History of English Dramatic Literature to the 
 Death of Queen Anne. 3 vols. The Macmillan Co., London, New 
 York, etc., 1899. 
 
 Schelling, Felix E. : English Drama. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York, 
 1914. 
 
 Thorndike, Ashley H. : Tragedy. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, New 
 York, etc., 1908. 
 
 2. WORKS ON SPECIAL PERIODS OR SUBJECTS 
 
 (Here more than ever the bibliography must be selective, with 
 emphasis on such books as are most important in connection with a 
 general view of the subject. Within recent years many doctor's 
 theses have been written on special topics. Of these, however, only 
 those are here listed that are mentioned in the footnotes or that 
 otherwise have an interest not too special or technical. It will be 
 observed that for convenience the order is not "alphabetic-al or ac- 
 cording to date of publication, but according to the general history 
 of the subject. The list thus begins with the mediaeval drama and 
 closes with that of the present day.) 
 
 Chambers, E. K.: The Mediaeval Stage. 2 vols. Oxford Univei^ity 
 Press, London, New York, etc., 1903.
 
 246 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Bates, Katherine L.: The English Religious Drama. The Macmillan 
 
 Co., New York, 1893. 
 Mackenzie, William Roy: The English Moralities from the Point of 
 
 View of Allegory. Harvard Studies in English, Vol. 2. Ginn 
 
 & Co., Boston, 1914. 
 Wynne, Arnold: The Growth of English Drama. Oxford University 
 
 Press, London, New York, etc., 1914. (This book considers the 
 
 subject generally from the beginnings through the earlier con- 
 temporaries of Shakespeare.) 
 Boas, F. S. : University Drama in the Tudor Age. Oxford University 
 
 Press, London, New Y''ork, etc., 1914. 
 Cunliffe, J. W. : The Influence of Seneca on Elizabethan Tragedy. 
 
 G. E. Stechert & Co., New York, 1907. 
 Cunliffe, J. W. : The Influence of Italian on Early Elizabethan Drama. 
 
 Modern Philology, 1907, Vol. IV, 597-604. 
 Wallace, Malcolm V/.: The Influence of Plautus on the English 
 
 Dramatic Literature of the Sixteenth Century. Published as 
 
 introduction to The Birthe of Hercules. Scott, Foresman & Co. 
 
 Chicago, 1903. 
 Saintsbury, George: Historv of Elizabethan Literature. The Mac 
 
 millan Co., New York, 1906. 
 Schelling, F. E.: The Life and Writings of George Gascoigne. Pub 
 
 lications of the University of Pennsylvania, 1894. 
 Schelling, F. E.: The English Chronicle Play. The Macmillan Co. 
 
 New York, 1902. 
 Schelling, F. E. : Elizabethan Drama. 2 vols. Houghton Mifflin Co. 
 
 Boston, New York, etc., 1908. 
 Brooke, C. F. Tucker: The Tudor Drama. Houghton Mifflin Co. 
 
 Boston, New York, etc., 1911. 
 Gildersleeve, Virginia Crocheron: Government Regulation of the 
 
 Elizabethan Drama. Columbia University Press, 1908. 
 Verity, A. W. : Marlowe's Influence on Shakespeare. Cambridge, 
 
 1886 (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York). 
 Ingram, J. H. : Christopher Marlowe and his Associates. G. 
 
 Richards, London, 1904. 
 Symonds, J. A.: Shakespeare's Predecessors in the English Drama. 
 
 1884, revised 1900. 
 Boas, F. S.: Shakespeare and his Predecessors. Charles Scribner's 
 
 Sons, New York, 1895. 
 Boswell-Stcne, W. G. : Shakespeare's Holinshed; the Chronicle and 
 
 the Historical Plays Compared. Duffield & Co., New York, 1907. 
 Brooke, C. F. Tucker: Shakespeare's Plutarch. 2 vols. Chatto & 
 
 Windus, London, 1909. 
 Seccombe, Thomas, and Allen, J. W. : The Age of Shakespeare, Vol. 
 
 II (Drama). George Bell & Sons, London, 1893. 
 MacCrackcn, H, N., Pierce, F. E., and Durham, W. H. : An Intro- 
 duction to Shakespeare. The Macmillan Co., New York, 1910. 
 Neilson, William Allen, and Thorndike, Ashley H. : The Facts about 
 
 Shakespeare. The Macmillan Co., New York, 1913. 
 Lee, Sir Sydney: A Life of William Shakespeare. The Macmillan 
 
 Co., New York and London, 1910. (Several earlier editions;
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 247 
 
 also the whole abridged for students as " Shakespeare's Life and 
 
 Work.") 
 Dowden, Edward : Shakspere : A Critical Study of his Mind and Art. 
 
 Harper Bros., New York, 1874, 3rd ed. 1881. 
 Wendell, Barrett: William Shakspere. Charles Scribner's Sons, 
 
 New York, 1894. 
 Mabie, Hamilton W.: William Shakespeare, Poet, Dramatist, and 
 
 Man. The Macmillan Co., New York, 1900. 
 Moulton, R. G. : Shakespeare as a Dramatic Artist. Oxford Uni- 
 versity Press, London, New York, etc., 3rd ed. 1897. 
 Baker, George Pierce: The Development of Shakespeare as a 
 
 Dramatist. The Macmillan Co., New York, 1907. 
 Hazlitt, William: Characters of Shakespeare's Plays (numerous edi- 
 tions since 1817). 
 Jameson, Mrs. Anna: Characteristics of Women (otherwise known 
 
 as "Shakespeare's Heroines") (numerous editions since 1832). 
 Kittredge, George Lyman: Shakspere: An address delivered on 
 
 April 23, 1916, in Sanders Theatre. Harvard University Press, 
 
 Cambridge, 1916. 
 Lowell, James Russell: The Old English Dramatists. Houghton 
 
 Mifflin Co., Boston, 1892, rev. 1897. 
 Kerr, Mina: Influence of Ben Jonson on English Comedy, 1698-1642. 
 
 D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1912. 
 Small, Roscoe Addison: The Stage-Quarrel between Ben Jonson and 
 
 the So-Called Poetasters. Breslau, 1899. 
 Penniman, Josiah H.: The War of the Theatres. University of 
 
 Pennsylvania Publications, Series In Philology, English Litera- 
 ture, and Archaeology, Vol. 4, No. 3, 1897. 
 Brooke, Rupert: John Webster and the Elizabethan Drama. John 
 
 Lane Co., New York, 1916. 
 Thompson, Elbert N. S.: The Controversy between the Puritans and 
 
 the Stage. Yale Studies in English, No. 20. Henry Holt & Co., 
 
 New York, 1903. 
 Nettleton, George Henry: English Drama of the Restoration and 
 
 Eighteenth Century (1642-1780). The Macmillan Co., New 
 
 York, 1914. 
 Miles, Dudley H.: The Influence of Moliere on Restoration Comedy. 
 
 Columbia University Press, New York, 1910. 
 Chase, Lewis Nathaniel: The English Heroic Play. Columbia Uni- 
 versity Press, New York, 1913. 
 Wright, Rose Abel: The Political Play of the Restoration. Printed 
 
 by A. E. Veateh, Montesano, Wash., 1916. 
 Garnett, R.: The Age of Dryden. George Bell & Sons, London, 1901. 
 Dennis, John: The Age of Pope. George Bell & Sons, London, 1901. 
 Bernbaum, Ernest: The Drama of Sensibility. Harvard Studies in 
 
 English, Vol. 3. Ginn & Co., Boston, 1915. 
 Hillhouse, James T.: The Tragedy of Tragedies, a Dramatic Bur- 
 
 lesque by Henry Fielding, edited with introduction and not«8. 
 
 Yale University Press, New Haven, 1918. 
 Gipson, Alice Edna: John Home: A Study of his Life and Works. 
 
 The Caxton Printers, Caldwell, Id., 1917.
 
 248 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Seccombe, Thomas: The Age of Johnson. George Bell & Sons, Lon- 
 don, 1900. 
 
 Marks, Jeannette Augusta: English Pastoral Drama from the 
 Restoration to the date of the Publication of the " Lyrical 
 Ballads," 1660-1798. Methuen & Co., London, 1908. 
 
 Chew, Samuel C: The Relation of Lord Byron to the Drama of the 
 Romantic Period. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 
 1914. 
 
 Dickinson, Thomas H.: The Contemporary Drama of England. 
 Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1917. 
 
 Boyd, Ernest A.: The Contemporary Drama of Ireland. Little, 
 Brown & Co., Boston, 1917. 
 
 Franc, Miriam A.: Ibsen in England. The Four Seas Co., Boston, 
 1919. 
 
 Hale, E. E.: Dramatists of To-Day. H. Holt & Co., New York, 1911. 
 
 Howe, P. P.: Dramatic Portraits. Mitchell Kennerlev, New York, 
 1913. 
 
 Chandler, Frank W.: Aspects of Modern Drama. The Macmillan 
 Co., New York, 1914. 
 
 Andrews, Charlton: The Drama To-Day. J. B. Lippincott Co., 
 Philadelphia, 1913. 
 
 Phelps, William Lyon: Essays on Modern Dramatists. The Mac- 
 millan Co., New York, 1921. 
 
 3. THE STAGE, DRAMATIC TECHNIQUE, AND THE 
 FL^NCTION OF THE THEATRE 
 
 Hazlitt, W. C. : The English Drama and Stage under the Tudor and 
 
 Stuart Princes, 1543-1664 (illustrated by a series of documents, 
 
 treatises, and poems). Printed for the Roxburghe Library, 
 
 1869. 
 Thorndike, Ashley H. : Shakespeare's Theater. The Macmillan Co., 
 
 New York, 1916. 
 Adams, Joseph Quincy : Shakespearean Playhouses. Houghton Mifflin 
 
 Co., Boston, New York, etc., 1917. 
 Lee, Sir Sidney: Shakespeare and the Modern Stage. Charles 
 
 Scribner's »Sons.. New York, 1906. 
 Woodbridge, Elizabeth (Mrs. Morris): The Drama: its Law and 
 
 Technique. Lamson, Wolffe & Co., Boston, 1898 (Allyn and 
 
 Bacon, New York). 
 Mackaye, Percy: The Playhouse and the Play. The Macmillan Co., 
 
 New York, 1909. 
 Matthews, Brander: A Study of the Drama. Houghton Mifflin Co., 
 
 Boston, New York, etc.,*1910. 
 Matthews, Brander: A Book about the Theatre. Charles Scribner^s 
 
 Sons, New York, 1916. 
 Archer, William: Play-Making: A Manual of Craftsmanship. Small, 
 
 Maynard & Co., Boston, 1912. 
 Burton, Richard: How to See a Plav. The Macmillan Co.. New 
 
 York, 1914.
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY g49 
 
 Hamilton, Clayton: Problems of the Playwright. Henry Holt & Co., 
 
 New York, 1917. 
 Clark, Barrett H. (editor) : European Theories of the Drama. 
 
 Stewart & Kidd Co., Cincinnati, 1918. 
 Baker, George Pierce: Dramatic Technique. Houghton Mifflin Co., 
 
 Boston, New York, etc., 1919. 
 Spingarn, J. E.: Creative Criticism. Henry Holt & Co., New York, 
 
 1917. 
 Odell, George C. D. : Shakespeare from Betterton to Irving. 2 volg. 
 
 Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1920.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Abraham and Isaac, 9 
 
 Abraham Lincoln, 235 
 
 Actresses, introduction of, 125, 
 127 
 
 Addison, Joseph, 145, 156-158 
 
 Adelaide, or The Emigrants, 202 
 
 Admirable Crichton, The, 226- 
 227 
 
 ^stheticism, 217-218, 220 
 
 Agamemnon, 163 
 
 Agis, 171 
 
 Albion Queens, The, 142 
 
 Alchemist, The, 95 
 
 Alfred, Masque of, 163, 170 
 
 All for Love, 135-136, 138 
 
 AlVs Lost by Lust, 112 
 
 AlVs Well That Ends Well, 60, 75 
 
 Alphonsus, King of Arragon, 48 
 
 Androcles and the Lion, 226 
 
 Anne Boleyn, 202 
 
 Antonio and Mellida, 101 
 
 Antonio's Revenge, 101 
 
 Antony and Cleopatra, 60, 80-81, 
 84, 136 
 
 Appius and Virginia (R. B.'s), 29 
 
 Appius and Virginia (Web- 
 ster's), 110 
 
 Apostate, The, 201 
 
 Arden of Feversham, 86 
 
 Armageddon, 229 
 
 Arms and the Man, 225 
 
 Arrah-na-pogue, 212 
 
 Arraignment of Paris, The, 45-46, 
 47 
 
 As You Like It, 48, 60, 61, 72-73 
 
 Atheist's Tragedy, The, 111 
 
 Auchindrane, 198 
 
 Aureng-Zebe, 135 
 
 Baillie, Joanna, 199-200 
 Bale, John, 32 
 3allad-opera, 164 
 v-nim, John, 202 
 h nks, John, 142 
 
 251 
 
 Barker, Granville, 230, 236 
 Barnwell, George, 173, 175 (see 
 
 The London Merchant, 165- 
 
 166) 
 Barrie, James Matthew, 226-227, 
 
 230, 237 
 Bartholomew Fair, 96-97 
 Battle of Hexham, The, 192 
 Beaumont, Francis, 81-82, 90, 
 
 104-108, 117, 129, 174, 196 
 Beaux' Stratagem, The, 153 
 Becket, 207, 209 
 Beddoes, Thomas Lovell, 201 
 Beggar's Daughter of Bethnel 
 
 Green, The, 204 
 Beggar's Opera, The, 164, 186 
 Believe as You List, 115-116 
 Bellamira, or The Fall of Tunis, 
 
 201 
 Belle's Stratagem, The, 183, 191 
 Belshazzar, 202 
 Ben-Hur, 235 
 Bennett, Arnold, 235, 236 
 Bertram, or The Castle of St. 
 
 Aldobrond, 202 
 Bickerstaff, Isaac, 170 
 Birth of Merlin, The, 86 
 Blood, so-called tragedy of, 52, 
 
 64, 77 
 Blot in the 'Scutcheon, A, 205- 
 
 206 
 Bonduca, 107 
 Bon Ton, or High Life Above 
 
 Stairs, 169 
 Boucicault, Dion, 211 
 Boyle, Roger, 133 
 Braganza, 194 
 Bride's Tragedy, 201 
 Broken Heart, The, 119 
 Broken Hearts, 214 
 Brooke, Arthur, as a source, 59 
 Brothers, The (Young's), 162 
 Brothers, The (Cumberland's), 
 
 177 
 Browning, Robert, 201, 205-207
 
 252 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Buckingham, Duke of (George 
 
 Villiers), 134 
 Buckthorne, John Baldwin, 211 
 Bulwer-Lytton, Edward, 201, 204- 
 
 205, 206 
 Burgoyne, John, 191 
 Burlesque, 167-169 
 Busiris, 162 
 Bussy D'AmhoiSy 99 
 Byron, Lord G. G., 199 
 Byron, as critic, 197 
 Byron, Henry James, 211 
 
 Ccesar Borgia, 141, 142 
 
 Cain, 199 
 
 Caius Gracchus, 204 
 
 Calisto and Meliho'a, 23 
 
 Camhises (Preston's), 28-29, 31 
 
 Camhyses (Settle's), 135 
 
 Campaspe, 43-44 
 
 Cardinal, The, 121-122 
 
 Careless Hushand, The, 154, 175 
 
 Case Is Altered, The, 92 (note) 
 
 Cassilis Engagement, The, 234 
 
 Caste, 213 
 
 Castle of Perseverance, The, 12- 
 
 13 
 Castle Spectre, The, 195 
 Cathleen ni Eoolihan, 233 
 Catiline, 94 
 Cato, 156-157 
 Cenci, The, 199 
 Censorship of plays, 147, 163, 
 
 169, 210 
 Centlivre, Mrs., 147, 154 
 Change, 234 
 Changeling, The, 113 
 Chapman, George, 53, 98-101 
 Chaste Maid in Cheapside, A, 
 
 114 
 Chesterton, as critic, 216 
 Children as performers, 17, 19- 
 
 20, 39-40 
 Christian Hero, The, 166 
 Chronicle plays, 32-34 
 Cibber, Colley, 152, 153-155, 164, 
 
 168, 170, 175, 180 
 Cinthio's Hecatommithi as a 
 
 source, 48, 59, 78 
 City Madam, The, 114 
 Clandestine Marriage The, 169, 
 
 174 
 
 Classicism, 94, 97, 160 
 CliflFord, Martin, 134 
 Closet drama, 197-200, 210 
 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 198 
 Coleridge, as critic, 195 
 Colleen Baivn, The, 212 
 Collier, as critic, 146-147, 154, 
 
 155, 198 
 Colman, George (the elder), 173- 
 
 174, 182, 183 
 Colman, George (the younger), 
 
 191 
 Colomle's Birthday, 207 
 Comedies, first, 23-28 
 Comedy of Errors, The, 60, 61- 
 
 62 
 Comedy of humours, 94, 98 
 Companies of actors, 38-40 
 Conditions of presentation, 19-20, 
 
 34-40, 127-129, 147, 193-197, 
 
 216-219, 235-237 
 Confederacy, The, 152 
 Congreve, William, 148-151, 154, 
 
 185 
 Conquest of Granada, The, 133, 
 
 134, 136, 138 
 Conscious Lovers, The, 156, 167 
 Constantine the Great, 141 
 Coriolanus (Shakespeare's), 60, 
 
 80-81 
 Coriolanus (Thomson's), 163 
 Corneille, influence of, 129 
 Corsican Brothers, The, 212 
 Cosmo de Medici, 210 
 Costume, 124, 190 
 Countess Cathleen, The, 232- 
 
 233 
 Count Julian, 198 
 Count of Narhonne, The, 194 
 Country-Wife, The, 139-140 
 Cowley, Hannah, 183, 191 
 Critic, The, 187-188 
 Cromioell, 86 
 Cumberland, Richard, 176-178, 
 
 187 
 Cup, The, 208, 209 
 Current tendencies, 235-237 
 Cycles of plays, 7-8 
 Cymheline, 37, 60, 82-83 
 Cynthia's Ret^els, 92 (note) 
 Cyrus the Great, or The Tragf 
 
 of Love, 142
 
 INDEX 
 
 253 
 
 Damon and Pithias (Edwards's), 
 
 27-28 
 Damon and Pythias (Banim's), 
 
 202 
 Dandy Dick, 221 
 Darnley, 205 
 D'Avenant, William, 98, 131, 135, 
 
 166 
 David and Bethsahe {The Love 
 
 of King David and Fai/i' Beth- 
 
 sahe), 46-47 
 David GarricJc, 212 
 Dear Brutus, 227 
 Death of Marloive, The, 210 
 Death's Jest-Book, 201 
 Deirdre, 233 
 
 Deirdre of the Sorrows, 234 
 Dekker, Thomas, 90, 92 (note), 
 
 102-104, 110, 196 
 Democratic tendencies, 188-189, 
 
 193-194 
 De Montfort, 200 
 Deserted Daughter, The, 191 
 Devil's Disciple, The, 225 
 Devil's Late-case, The, 110 
 Dido Dueene of Carthage, The 
 
 Tragedie of, 53 
 Discovery, The, 185 
 Disobedient Child, The, 26-27 
 Distresi Mother, The, 157-158, 
 
 170 
 Doctor's Dilemma, The, 225 
 Dodsley, as editor, 161 
 Domestic tragedy, 164-167 
 Don Carlos, 143 
 Don Sebastian, 133, 137 
 Doom of Devorgoil, The, 198 
 Double-Dealer, The, 149-150 
 Douglas, 171-173, 200 
 Dr. Faustus, The Tragicall His- 
 tory of, 53, 54-55 
 Drinkwater, John, 235 
 Drrden, John, 98, 127, 128, 132- 
 
 i38, 142, 145, 160 
 Duchess de la Vallihre, The, 205 
 Duchess of Malfi, The, 110-111 
 Duchess of Padua, The, 220 
 Duenna, The, 186 
 Duke of Milan, The, 114 
 Dumas, influence of, 218 
 Dumb-show, 31, 78, 163 
 Dunsany, Lord, 235 
 
 Eastward Ho! 101 
 
 Edward and Eleanora, 163 
 
 Edward the Second, 53, 55-56 
 
 Edioard III, 86 
 
 EdAvard IV, 109 
 
 Edwards, Richard, 27 
 
 Eldest Son, The, 228 
 
 Elements contributing to Eliza- 
 bethan drama, 21-23 
 
 Elizabethan age, spirit of, 21 
 
 Elizabethan drama, compared 
 with Restoration, 127-128 
 
 Empress of Morocco, The, 135 
 
 Enchanter, The, or Love and 
 Magic, 169 
 
 Endimion, 43, 44 
 
 Englishman at Paris, The, 173 
 
 Englishman Beturned from Paris, 
 The, 173 
 
 English Traveller, The, 109 
 
 Epsom Wells, 140 
 
 Ervine, St. John G., 234-235 
 
 Etherege, George, 98, 139 
 
 Evadne, or The Statue, 202 
 
 Everyman, 13-14, 235 
 
 Every Man in His Humour, 92 
 (note), 94 
 
 Every One Has His Fault, 192 
 
 Faire Em, 86 
 
 Fair Maid of the West, The, 109 
 Fair Penitent, The, 158-159 
 Faithful Shepherdess, The, 106, 
 
 107 
 Falcon, The, 207-208, 209 
 Fall of Jerusalem, The, 202 
 Fall of Robespierre, The, 198 
 False Delicaoy, 175-176, 182, 183 
 Fanny's First Play, 225 
 Farmer's Return from London, 
 
 The, 169 
 Farquhar, George, 152-153, 185 
 Fashionable Lover, The, 178 
 Fatal Curiosity, 166 
 Fatal Dowry, The, 158 
 Fatal Falsehood, The, 191 
 Fatal Marriage, The, or Innocent 
 
 Adultery, 148 
 Favorite of Fortune, The, 211 
 Fazio, 202 
 Field, N., 158, 196 
 Fielding, Henrv, 164, 167-169
 
 254 
 
 INDEX 
 
 First Part of the Contention, 
 
 The, 86 
 Fletcher, John, 81-82, 89, 90, 
 
 104-108, 117, 129, 174, 196 
 Fool's Paradise, A, 234 
 Foote, Samuel, 173-174, 190 
 Ford, John, 117-119, 196 
 Foresters, The, 208, 210 
 Foundling, The, 167 
 Four Elements, Interlude of the 
 
 Nature of the, 16 
 Francis, John Oswald, 234 
 Fredolfo, 202 
 Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay, 
 
 48 
 Fugitive, The, 2^8 
 Funeral, The, 155 
 Furness, as editor, 88 
 
 Oallathea, 43 
 
 Galsworthy, John, 227-228, 230, 
 
 236 
 Game at Chess, A, 112 
 Gamester, The (Shirley's), 121 
 Gamester y The (Moore's), 167, 
 
 175 
 Gammer Gurton's Needle, 25-26 
 Gaol Gate, The, 231 
 Garrick, David, 147, 169-171, 174, 
 
 183, 190 
 Gascoigne, George, 27, 69 
 Gay, John, 164 
 Gay Lord Quex, The, 222 
 Gentleman Dancing-Master, The, 
 
 139 
 Gentleman Usher, Tlve, 99-100 
 Geoffrey of Monmouth, as a 
 
 source, 30-31, 33 
 Gilbert, William S., 212-215 
 Gilds, trade, 5, 6 
 Gloriana, or The Court of Au- 
 
 guMus Ccesar, 141 
 Goldsmith, Oliver, 179-184 
 Good-Natured Mam, The, 182-183 
 Gorhodmc, 30-31, 32, 163 
 Gra/nd Duke, The, 214 
 Great Duke of Florence, The, 
 
 115 
 Greene, Robert, 41, 47-50, 53, 58, 
 
 59 
 Gregory, Lady, 230-233 
 Gregory VI I, 210 
 
 Gretchen, 214 
 Grundy, .Sydney, 284 
 
 Ealidon Hill, 198 
 
 Hamlet, 52, 60, 76, 77-78, 87, 101, 
 
 108, 163 
 Hankin, St. John, 230, 234 
 Harold, 207, 208-209 
 Hazlitt, as critic, 151, 190, 195, 
 
 200, 201, 202 
 Heiress, The, 191 
 Henry lY, 29, 60, 70 
 Henry V, The Famous Victories 
 
 of (early play), 23 
 Henry V (Shakespeare's), 60, 70- 
 
 71 
 Henry the Fifth, The History of 
 
 (Orrery's), 133 
 Henry VI, 60, 63, 85, 86 
 Henry VIII, 82, 86, 105 
 Herod, 228 
 Heroic drama, 127, 130-131, 134- 
 
 136 
 Heywood, John, 16-18 
 Heywood, Thomas, 108-110, 126 
 Hick Scomer, 15-16 
 Historical Register for 1736, The, 
 
 168 
 Holcroft, Thomas, 191 
 Holinshed, as a source, 33 
 Home, John, 171-173 
 Honest Whore, The, 103 
 Home, Richard Hengiat, 210 
 House of Aspen, The, 198 
 Howard, Robert, 133 
 Hughes, Thomas. 31 
 Hugo, influence of, 218, 21» 
 Huguenot, The, 202 
 Hunchback, The, 204 
 Hyaeinth Halevy, 231 
 Hyde Park, 120 
 Hypocrites, The, 233 
 
 Ibsen, influence of, 219, 222, 235 
 Ideal Hushand, An, 220 
 Idealism, 226 
 ini Tell You What, 191 
 Importance of Being Earnest, 
 
 The, 220 
 Inchbald, Elizabeth, 191 
 Ingeland. Thomas, 26 
 Indian Queen, The, 133
 
 INDEX 
 
 255 
 
 Interlude, 15-16 
 
 Irene, 189 
 
 Irish National Theatre, 230-233 
 
 Irish Widow, The, 169 
 
 Iron Chest, The, 192 
 
 Ja^k Drum, 92 (note) 
 
 Jack Juggler, 24 
 
 James the Fourth, 48-49 
 
 Jane Clegg, 235 
 
 Jane Shore, The Tragedy of, 159 
 
 Jealous Wife, The, 174 
 
 Jeffrey, as critic, 196 
 
 Jephson, Robert, 194 
 
 Jeronimo, First Part of, 50 
 
 Jerrold, Douglas William, 211 
 
 Jew of Malta, The, 53, 55 
 
 John Bull's Other Island, 225 
 
 John Ferguson, 235 
 
 John, King of England, The Trou- 
 blesome Raigne of (in Shake- 
 speare Apocrypha ) , 86 
 
 Johnson, Samuel, 189 
 
 Joseph a/nd His Brethren, 201 
 
 John Woodvil, 198 
 
 Jones, Henry Arthur, 222-223, 
 229 234 
 
 Jonso'n, Ben, 81, 82, 87, 91-98, 
 103, 117, 129, 140, 168, 196 
 
 Joy, 228 
 
 Judah, 223 
 
 Judas Iscariot, 210 
 
 Julia, 194 
 
 Julius Cccsar, 60, 76-77 
 
 Justice, 228 
 
 Keats, John, 198 
 
 Kelly, Hugh, 175-176 
 
 Killigrew, Thomas, 131 (note) 
 
 King and No King, A, 82, 105, 
 106 
 
 King Edward the First, The Fa- 
 mous Chronicle of, 45 
 
 King John (Shakespeare's), 9, 
 60, 65 
 
 King John, The Troublesome 
 Reign of (early play), 33 
 
 King Lear, 60, 79-80, 85 
 
 King Leir, The True Chronicle 
 History of, and His Three 
 Daughters, Oonorill, Ragan, 
 Cordelia, 33 
 
 King Victor and King Charles, 
 205 
 
 Kismet, 236 
 
 Kiss for Cinderella, A, 227 
 
 Knight of the Burning Pestle, 
 
 The, 105, 107 
 Knoblock, Edward, 236 
 Knowles, James Sheridan, 29, 
 
 201, 203-204 
 Kotzebue, influence of, 188, 192, 
 
 194-195, 202 
 Kyd, Thomas, 42, 50-52, 59, 90 
 Kynge Johan (Bale's), 32 
 
 Lady of Lyons, The, 205 
 
 Lady of Pleasure, The, 121 
 
 Lady Windermere's Fan, 220-221 
 
 Lamb, Charles, 198 
 
 Lamb, as editor, 195 
 
 Land of Heart's Desire, The, 232 
 
 Landor, Walter Savage, 198 
 
 Last of the De Mullins, The, 234 
 
 Lee, Nathaniel, 136, 141-142, 145 
 
 Legge, Thomas, 33 
 
 Lewis, M. G., 195 
 
 Liars, The, 223 
 
 Licensing acts, 123, 168-169, 178, 
 
 198 
 Life for Life, 211 
 Life Ransom, A, 211 
 Like Will to Like, 16 
 Lilliput, 169 
 
 Lillo, George, 164-167, 210 
 Lindesay, David, 12 
 Little Dream, The, 228 
 Little Minister, The, 226 
 Locrine, 86 
 
 Lodge, Thomas, 41, 42 
 London Assurance, 211 
 London Merchant, The, 165-166 
 Looking Glass for London and 
 
 England, A, 48 
 Love and a Bottle, 152 
 Love and Honour, 132 
 Love Chase, The, 204 
 Love for Love, 150 
 Love in a Wood, 139 
 Lover's Melancholy, The, 118 
 Love's Labour's Lost, 60, 61, 85 
 Love's Last Shift, or The Fool in 
 
 Fashion, 152, 154, 175 
 Love's Metamorphosis, 43
 
 256 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Lovers Sacrifice, 119 
 
 Love Triumphant, 133, 137 
 
 Loyal Brother, The, or The Per- 
 sian Prince, 148 
 
 Lucius Junius Brutus, Father of 
 His Country, 141 
 
 Lu/ria, 207 
 
 Lying Lover, The, 155, 175 
 
 Lying Varlet, The, 169 
 
 Lyly, John, 41, 42-45, 59, 89, 
 116 
 
 Macbeth, 37, 60, 80-81 
 
 Macduff's Cross, 198 
 
 Madras House, The, 230 
 
 Magistrate, The, 221 
 
 Maid of Bath, The, 174 
 
 Maid of Honour, The, 115 
 
 Maid of the Oaks, The, 191 
 
 Maid's Tragedy, The, 82, 105, 107 
 
 Malcontent, The, 101 
 
 Man and Superman, 225 
 
 Mankind, 13 
 
 Man of Destiny, The, 225 
 
 Man of Mode, The, 139 
 
 Manfred, 199 
 
 Manuel, 202 
 
 Marie de Meranie, 211 
 
 Marino Faliero, 199 
 
 Marlowe, Christopher, 33, 42, 47, 
 
 52-56, 59, 116, 160, 201 
 Marriage-a-la-Mode, 135 
 Marriage of Wit and Science, The, 
 
 16 
 Marrying of Anna Leete, The, 230 
 Marston, John, 92 (note), 101- 
 
 102 
 Marston, John Westland. 211 
 Martyr of Antioch, The, 202 
 Masefield, John, 235 
 Massinger, Philip, 90, 114-117, 
 
 158, 196 
 Masque, 82, 83, 93, 97 
 Masqueraders, The, 223 
 Massacre of Paris, The (Mar- 
 lowe's), 53 
 Massacre of Paris, The (Lee's), 
 
 141 
 Maturin, Charles Robert, 202 
 Maugham, W. Somerset, 235 
 Measure for Measure, 60, 75-76, 
 
 81 
 
 Melodrama, 194, 211, 218 
 Merchant of Venice, The, 60, 68- 
 
 69 
 Meres, Francis, 45 
 Merry Devill, The, 86 
 Merry Wives of Windsor, The, 
 
 60, 71, 94 
 Michael and His Lost Angel, 223 
 Midas, 43 
 Mid-Ch<innel, 222 
 Middleton, Thomas, 111-114 
 Midsummer Night's Dream, A, 
 
 60, 68, 169 
 Milestones, 236 
 Milman, Henry Hart, 202 
 Minor, The, 174 
 Mikado, The, 214 
 Miracle plays, 4, 123 
 Misfortunes of Arthur, The, 31 
 Mitford, Mary Russell, 203 
 Mithridates, 141, 142 
 Mixed Marriage, 235 
 Moh, The, 228 
 Moli&re, influence of, 129, 140, 
 
 161 
 Money, 205 
 
 Monsieur D'Olive, 99-100 
 Montoni, 202 
 Moore, Edward. 167 
 Morality, 4, 11-14, 235 
 More, Hannah, 191 
 Mother Bomhie, 43 
 Mourning Bride, The, 150 
 M. P., 213 
 
 Mountaineers, The, 192 
 Mrs. Dane's Defence, 223 
 Mrs. Warren's Profession, 225 
 Mucedorus, 86 
 Much Ado About Nothing, 60, 
 
 71-72 
 Munday. Anthony, 91-92 (note) 
 Mustapha, the Son of Solynian 
 
 the Magnificent, 133 
 Mysterious Mother, The, 194 
 Mystery plays, 4 
 
 Nash, Thomas, 41, 42, 52 
 
 Naturalism, 219 
 
 Neilson, as editor, 88 
 
 Nero, Emperour of Rome (Lee'i), 
 
 141 
 Nero (Phillips's), 228
 
 INDEX 
 
 257 
 
 l^ew Way to Pay Old Belts, A, 
 
 115 
 Nice Wanton, 26 
 Norton, Thomas, 30 
 North's Plutarch as a source, 59 
 Notorious Mrs. Ehhsmith, The, 
 
 222 
 Not so Bad as We Seem, 205 
 Novel as compared with the 
 
 drama, 160-161 
 
 CEdipus, 136 
 
 Old Bachelor, The, 149 
 
 Old Fortunatus, 103 
 
 Old Heads and Young Hearts, 
 
 212 
 Old Maids, 204 
 Old Wives' Tale, The, 45, 47 
 Orlando Furioso, 48 
 Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave, 
 
 148 
 Orphan, The, 143-144 
 Orrery, Earl of (see Roger Boyle) 
 Osorio, 198 
 
 Othello, 60, 78-79, 85, 108, 114 
 Otho the Great, 199 
 Otway, Thomas, 142-144, 145, 
 
 155, 199, 210 
 Ours, 213 
 
 Padlock, The, 170 
 
 Painter's Palace of Pleasure as 
 
 a source, 59, 75 
 Pantomime, 163-164 
 Paolo and Francesca, 228, 229 
 Pasquin, 168 
 
 Patrician's Daughter, The, 211 
 Peele, George, 33, 41, 45-47 
 Percy, 191 
 Pericles, 86 
 Perkin Warbeck, 119 
 Peter Pan, 226, 227 
 Phaedra and Hippolytus, 157 
 Philanderer, The, 225 
 Philaster, 82, 105, 107 
 Philips, Ambrose, 157, 170 
 Phillips, Stephen, 228-230 
 Pigeon, The, 228 
 Pinafore, H. M. S., 214 
 Pinero, Arthur Wing, 221-222, 
 
 229, 230, 234 
 Pippa Passes, 206 
 
 Pirates of Penzance, The, 214 
 
 Plain Dealer, The, 139-140 
 
 Plautus, influence of, 22-24, 62 
 
 Play, 213 
 
 Play within a play, 52, 78, 115 
 
 Playboy of the Western World, 
 The, 233-234 
 
 Play of the Wether, 18 
 
 Pocock, Isaac, 211 
 
 Poetaster, The, 92 (note), 102 
 
 Pope, Alexander, 87, 149, 154, 
 161 
 
 Preston, Thomas, 28 
 
 Princess and the Butterfly, The, 
 222 
 
 Princess of Cleve, The, 141 
 
 Prisoner of Zenda, The, 235 
 
 Profligate, The, 221 
 
 Promise of May, The, 208, 209- 
 210 
 
 Promos and Cassandra, 76 
 
 Provoked Husband, The, 152, 175 
 
 Provoked Wife, The, 152 
 
 Prynne, William, 125 
 
 Puritan attitude toward the 
 stage, 117, 122-126, 198 
 
 Pygmalion (Shaw's), 226 
 
 Pygmalion and Galatea (Gil- 
 bert's), 214 
 
 Queen Mary, 207, 208, 209 
 Quern Quaeritis, 2, 3 
 
 Racine, influence of, 157, 161 
 Ralph Roister Doister, 24-25 
 Reade, Charles, 211 
 Realism, 23, 219, 225-226 
 Recruiting Officer, The, 152 
 Rehearsal, The, 133, 135, 173 
 Relapse, The, or Virtue in Dan- 
 
 ger, 152, 187 
 Remorse, 198 
 
 Restoration drama, characteris- 
 tics of, 127-131 
 Return of the Druses, The, 205 
 Revenge, The, 162 
 Revenger's Tragedy, The, 111 
 Rich, John, 163-164, 171 
 Richard III, 55-56, 60, 65-66 
 Richard III, 60, 64-65, 85, 154 
 Ricardus Tertius Tragedia, 33 
 Richelieu, 205
 
 258 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Riders to the Sea, 2S3 
 
 Jiienzi, 203 
 
 Rightful Heir, The, 205 
 
 Rising of the Moon, The, 231-232 
 
 Rival Kings, The, 142 
 
 Rival Ladies, The, 133 
 
 Rival Queens, The, or The Death 
 
 of Alexander the Great, 141, 
 
 142 
 Rivals, The, 185-186, 187 
 Road to Ruin, The, 191 
 Robertson, T. W., 212-213, 214 
 Roman Actor, The, 115 
 Roman Father, The, 170 
 Romanticism, 97, 117, 160, 171- 
 
 173, 191, 193-215, esp. 193-197, 
 
 217 
 Romeo and Juliet, 60, 66-67, 169 
 Rowe, Nicholas, 158-159, 161 
 Rowley, William, 112, 196 
 Runaway, The, 191 
 Rymer, as critic, 136 
 
 Sackville, Thomas, 30 
 
 Saints and Sinners, 223 
 
 Salome, 220, 221 
 
 Sapho and Phao, 43 
 
 Sardanapalus, 199 
 
 Satiromastix, 92 (note), 102 
 
 School, 213 
 
 School for Scandal, The, 174, 
 187, 191 
 
 Schoolmistress, The, 221 
 
 Scott, Clement, as critic, 219 
 
 Scott, Walter, 198 
 
 Scribe, influence of, 218, 222 
 
 Second Mrs. Tanqueray, The, 
 221-222 
 
 Second Shepherd's Play, 8 
 
 Secular elements in early drama, 
 8-10 
 
 Sejanus, 94-95 
 
 Seneca, 22, 28-30, 52, 98 
 
 Sentimentalism, 146, 160-178, csp. 
 174-178, 179-182 
 
 Settle, Elkanah, 135 
 
 Seven Deadly Sins. 11, 54. 80 
 
 Shadowy Waters, The. 233 
 
 Shadweil, Thomas, 140 
 
 Shakespeare, William, 33. 50, 52, 
 65, 56, 57-58 (life), 59-60 (in- 
 debtedness to predecessors), 61- 
 
 67 (plays of first period), 67- 
 74 (plays of second period), 
 74-81 (plays of third period), 
 81-84 (plays of fourth period), 
 84-85 (advance in nrt), 85-88 
 (tradition), 88-89 (greatness), 
 90, 92 (note), 108, 127-129, 
 140, 154, 158, 150, 161, 162 
 (Voltaire's attitude toward), 
 169-170 (Garrick's adaptation 
 of), 190, 196, 236 
 
 Shakespeare Apocrypha, 86 
 
 Shaughraun, The, 212 
 
 Shaw, George Bernard, 224-226, 
 230, 236 
 
 Sheil, Richard Lalor, 201-202 
 
 Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 199 
 
 Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 176, 
 184-188, 197, 204, 229 
 
 She Stoops to Conquer, 153, 173, 
 183-184 
 
 Shirley, James, 90, 110-122, 196, 
 202 
 
 Shoemaker's Boliday, The, 103 
 
 Siege of Rhodes, The. 132 
 
 Sign of the Cross, The, 235 
 
 Silver Box, The, 228 
 
 Silver King, The, 223 
 
 Sin of David, The, 228 
 
 Sir Giles Goosecap, 100 
 
 Sir Thomas More, 86 
 
 Smith, Edmund, 157 
 
 Society, 212, 213 
 
 Solimon and Perseda, The Trag- 
 edy of, 50 
 
 Sophonisha, or EannihaVs Over- 
 throw (Lee's), 141 
 
 Sophonisha (Thomson's), 162-163 
 
 Soul's Tragedy, A, 207 
 
 Southerns Thomas, 148, 155 
 
 Southey, Robert, 198 
 
 Sowing the Wind, 234 
 
 Spanish Friar, The, or The Dou- 
 ble Discovery, 133, 137 
 
 Spanish Tragedy, The, 51-52, 77 
 
 Sprat, Thomas, 134 
 
 Spreading the Neics, 231 
 
 Stage, Elizabethan, 36-38 
 
 Steele, Richard, 155-156 
 
 St Patrick's Day, 186 
 
 iStrafford, 206 
 
 Strathmore, 211
 
 INDEX 
 
 259 
 
 ^rife, 228 
 
 Stubbes, as critic, 124-125 
 
 t:iuch Things Are, 191 
 
 Sue, influence of, 218 
 
 Supposes, 27, 69 
 
 tSurrender of Calais, The, 192 
 
 Sweet Lavender, 221 
 
 Synge, John Millington, 233-234 
 
 Tatnhurlaine the Great, 53-54 
 
 Tamerlane, 159 
 
 Taming of the Shrew, The, 27, 60, 
 69, 170 
 
 Tancred and Sigismunda, 163 
 
 Taylor, Tom, 211 
 
 Temper of Middle Ages, 11 
 
 Tempest, The, 37, 60, 83-84 
 
 Tender Husband, The, 155 
 
 Tennyson, Alfred, 207-210 
 
 Theatre, playhouse and institu- 
 tion, 34-36, 124, 127-129, 189- 
 190, 193-195, 218, 235-237 
 
 Theobald, as critic, 87, 154, 161 
 
 Theodosius, or The Force of Love, 
 141 
 
 Thersites, 23-24 
 
 Thomson, James, 162-163 
 
 Thunderbolt, The, 222 
 
 Timon of Athens, 60, 85 
 
 'Tis Pity She's a Where, 118-119 
 
 Titus Andronicus, 60, 63-64, 77, 
 85 
 
 Tourneur, Cyril, 111 
 
 Tragedies, first, 28-32 
 
 Tragedy of Nan, The, 235 
 
 Tragicomedy, 100, 110, 137 
 
 Traitor, The, 121 
 
 Traveling Man, The, 231 
 
 Trial by Jury, 214 
 
 Trick to Catch the Old One, A, 
 113-114 
 
 Trilby, 235 
 
 Triumph of Peace, The, 121 
 
 Troilus and Cressida, 60, 74-75, 
 81, 92 (note), 136 
 
 Tropes, 2 
 
 True Tragedie, The, 86 
 
 Twelfth Night, 49, 60, 61, 73-74 
 
 Two Foscari, The, 199 
 
 Two Oentlemen of Verona, The, 
 60, 62-63, 85 
 
 £200 a Year, 221 
 Two Mr. Weatherbys, The, 234 
 Tuo Noble Kinsmen, The, 82, 86 
 Tyrannic Love, or The Royal 
 Martyr, 134 
 
 Udall, Nicholas, 24-25 
 
 Ulysses, 228 
 
 Unhappy Favorite, The, 142 
 
 Unities, 30, 163 
 
 Vanbrugh, John, 08, 151-152, 153, 
 
 180 
 Venice Preserved, 143-144 
 Vera, or The Nihilists, 220 
 Vice, the, 18-19 
 Virginius, 204 
 Volpone, 95 
 Voltaire, 88, 161-162 
 Voysey Inheritance, The, 230 
 
 Walpole, 205 
 
 War, 213 
 
 Wat Tyler, 198 
 
 Way of the World, The, 160-151 
 
 Webster, John, 90, 110-111, 196, 
 
 201 
 Wells, Charles, 201 
 Werner, 199 
 
 Wesleyan revival, 198, 217 
 West Indian, The, 177, 183 
 What Every Woman Knows, 226, 
 
 227 
 What You Will (Maraton's), 92 
 
 (note) 
 Whetstone, George, 76 
 White Devil, The, 110 
 Whitehead, William, 170 
 Wicked World, The, 214 
 Widowers' Houses, 225 
 Wilde, Oscar, 220-221 
 Wild Oallant, The, 133 
 William Tell, 204 
 Winter's Tale, The, 48, 60, 83 
 Wives as They Were, 191 
 Woman in the Moone, The, 43 
 Woman Killed icith Kindness, A, 
 
 108-109 
 Wom,an of No Importance, A, 220
 
 260 INDEX 
 
 Wo7ider' The, A Woman Keeps Yeats, William Butler, 232-233, 
 
 a Secret, 147 234 
 
 Wordsworth, William, 198 Yorkshire Tragedu, A, 86 
 
 Wycherley, William, 139-140, 146, Young, Edward, i62 
 
 170 
 
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