The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1878-01-31
ENGLISH LITERATURE
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Lefures> Delivered BE-
tore asclass inEng!ish
Literature, at Wor-
Ellington, by the
Editor Of the
Advance.
MINOR DRAMATISTS.

,g,
This is the last evening we shall be
able to devote to the Elizabethan Era,
an era which, according to- all conces-
sion, witnessed the most splendid out
burst Of creative genius which the
world has SEEM: Towering above all
the poets, stands Shakespeare whose
works we considered in the last lecture
But we ought, before passing on, to
make some mention OF. the minor dra.
matists of this period; For the benefit
Of these who do not have copies of Shaw
and are not reading up us we pass along
I will mention the more prominent of
these.
ZEN JONSON.
At the head of these stands Ben jon
son, who WAS the lifelong friend of
Shakespeare. lie WAS probably the most
learned of all the poets of his time and
one of the greatest scholars of that age
He wrote; Il number of tragedies, come
dies and Mosques, not one of which is
familiar to the general reader of to-day.
The reason why Johnson is not read is
that he has failed to portray in his works
those universal qualities which belong
to all human nature and to all time.-
He dwelt rather upon the eccentrici-
Ties, monstroskies and artificial things
OF mankind, than ulon tie great and
universal passions. lie WAS thus Il fore
runner of the poets of Queen Anne's
time.
BEAUMONT AND FJICTCUEP.
Next to Jonson, stand Beaumont and
Fletcher, those literary twins, or broth
ers, who wrote their plays together and
published them us II joint product
We have IN instance of Il similar itera-
~ co-partnersl'ip in our own tlay in the
production of the novels Of those two
Frenchmen, Erckmann and Cllatrian
Beaumont and Fletcher are said to be
no mean rivals of Shakespeare in those
plays in which the graceful, the fantas-
tic and the romantic elements Eredom-
mate.
MNSS1NGER.
Another draMatist of this period was
Philip Massinger, il stately poet, WHO
eSce}lrd in <lelineating the SORROWS Of
pure and lofty minds exposed to unmer-
lted suffering. Shaw says Ire was the
poet OF moral dignity and tenderness.
FORD.
Next to Massinger, ranks John Ford,
remarkable as the delineator Of unhap-
ply love. lie had the mastery of the
Whole gahnut Of love sentiment.
WEBSTER.
John Webster WAS another of the
great poets of the second order. lie is
called by some one:. ''funereal genius y
and Shaw Says that his muse was
Death. lie seems to have loved to
dwell upon and picture Death as much
ITS Ford loved to drlineate Love.
Following these more remarkable
ones, were Il host Of Jesse: stars, among
man, Dtkkar, Middleton, MarstoE and
Shirley. All these are known only to
scholars. Shakespeare, the sun, puts
out all the stars, and the world knows
that the stars exist only because some
scholar has been examining the literary
heavens with his telescope and tells US
they are there. Yet these poets had
an influence upon their own and upon
subsequent times, and we feel them now
through other poets who are more gen
orally read.
The excellence of the Elizabethan
drama is due largely to two facts, Q)
the drama was the form OF literary ex-
preston for that age; and, (2) the stage
was the means Of conveying this litera-
tnre to the public. Hence the DRAMA
fists sacrificed nicely and artificial ex-
cellency to effect. They had to pro-
ducc al effect upon an audience, and to
do tins they knew that nothing could
equal the portrayal of human passion.
Shakespeare wa the mighty magician
of them all. Like his own Prospero, he
held tie wand which waived to his aid
all human nature, all history, i'll fiction,
all the range of the world OF spirits, of
witches, fairies, monsters and ghosts.
These he marsllalled upon the stage,
amassed quite fortune from their rep
resentation, retired to his rural home.
and left Il name which grows mightier
with each year, and which must go
|dOWl! to the future abreast OF 11oner's.
Let lis spend the rest Of this evening
in considering portions of some of his
great piHys and then plss on to Milton
and his times.
IThe selections were from Tempest,
Henry WILL, Richard III , Merchant
of Venice, Hamlet, Otlello, Macbeth,
and Henry wi
We yereceived the Fourth Annual
Report of State Fish Commissioners
from Commissioner D. C.. Burt. The
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