The name “University Wits” is usually applied to a group of young men, nearly all of whom were associated with Oxford or Cambridge, who did much to found the Elizabethan school of drama. They were all more or less acquainted with each other, and most of them led irregular and stormy lives. Their plays had several features in common. These features were of a nature almost inevitable in strong and immature productions. (_a_) There was a fondness for heroic themes, such as the lives of great figures like Mohammed and Tamburlaine. (_b_) Heroic themes needed heroic treatment: great fullness and variety; splendid descriptions, long swelling speeches, the handling of violent incidents and emotions. These qualities, excellent when held in restraint, only too often led to loudness and disorder. (_c_) The style also was “heroic.” The chief aim was to achieve strong and sounding lines, magnificent epithets, and powerful declamation. This again led to abuse and to mere bombast, mouthing, and in the worst cases to nonsense. In the best examples, such as in Marlowe, the result is quite impressive. In this connection it is to be noted that the best medium for such expression was blank verse, which was sufficiently elastic to bear the strong pressure of these expansive methods. (_d_) The themes were usually tragic in nature, for the dramatists were as a rule too much in earnest to give heed to what was considered to be the lower species of comedy. The general lack of real humor in the early drama is one of its most prominent features. Humor, when it is brought in at all, is coarse and immature. Almost the only representative of the writers of real comedies is Lyly, who in such plays as _Alexander and Campaspe_ (1584), _Endymion_ (1592), and _The Woman in the Moon_ gives us the first examples of romantic comedy. =1. George Peele (1558–98)= was born in London, educated at Christ’s Hospital and at Oxford, and became a literary hack and free-lance in London. His plays include _The Araygnement of Paris_ (1581), a kind of romantic comedy; _The Famous Chronicle of King Edward the First_ (1593), a rambling chronicle-play; _The Old Wives’ Tale_ (1595), a clever satire on the popular drama of the day; and _The Love of King David and Fair Bethsabe_ (published 1599). Peele’s style can be violent to the point of absurdity; but he has his moments of real poetry; he can handle his blank verse with more ease and variety than was common at the time; he is fluent; he has humor and a fair amount of pathos. In short, he represents a great advance upon the earliest drama, and is perhaps the most attractive among the playwrights of the time. We give a short example to illustrate the poetical quality of his blank verse: