Representative English Comedies, v. 1. From the beginnings to Shakespeare
General
Representative English Comedies, v. 1. From the beginnings to Shakespeare
English drama (Comedy)
To the romance of wonder, saints' plays, legends, and biblical stories
had purveyed from early times. From 1570 on the narrative of chivalry
and adventure, of which shadowy lineaments had already appeared in one
or two miracle plays and in the interludes of Wit and Science, began to
gather to itself kindred elements of romantic interest, and to occupy
the stage with such plays as _Common Conditions_, written perhaps
between 1572 and 1576, and _Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes_, written
perhaps as early,--dramas of love, fable, and adventure, absolutely
free from didactic purpose. At the same time still another variety of
romantic comedy, unhampered by the trammels of instructive intent, but
dealing essentially in domestic intrigue, kept alive the method of _The
Supposes_. This variety was represented by _The Bugbears_, between 1561
and 1584, and _The Two Italian Gentlemen_ (S. R. 1584), which, based
upon Italian models, availed themselves on the one hand of a burlesque
parody of the magical, and on the other of genuine English mirth. The
latter indeed added something of the 'humours' element soon to be
exploited by Porter, Chapman, and Jonson. Beside these dramas, there
sprang into notice a certain half-moral, half-romantic kind of play
which, availing itself of the mould of the interlude, fused therein
the materials of the chivalrous, the magical, and the passionate, and
produced certain anomalous comedies of great popularity between the
year 1580 and the end of the century. The best of these "pleasant and
stately morals" are: _The Rare Triumphs of Love and Fortune_, _The
Three Ladies of London_, _The Three Lordes and Three Ladies of London_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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