The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-04-10

years OF Elixabeth's reign. Another name OF
mark In the childhood Of the English
drama II that Of George Gascoirne. who
In 1900 wrote two plays which were acted
in tho hall Of Grey's Inn. One was
translation into English prose OF
Ariosto's II suppositl:" tho other was trae-
edy. "Jocasta." taken. not directly from the
"PhGnisse" Of Euripides. but from an italian
drama. "Glocasta," which was based upon the
Greek. Gascoigne's version Of Ariosto's play
10 tho first English prose comedy In our litera-
ture, and in It the descent from the Latin
drama Is clearly defined. In tho "Jocasta"
lyric chorus is used In seneca's manner for
the closing Of each act, but when the chorus
speaks with actors in the course OF the plny IL
10 In tho blank verse used for all the dialogues.
According to Prof. Morley tho blank verse OF
this piece Is not wanting In dignity. and Is
consequently an improvement on the work
manship Of "Gorboduc." In 1875 Gascoigne
published Whit he called traGcal comedy
entitled. Tho Glass OF Government" This
is q didactic piece. but arranged with
characters and dialogues rs comedy;
. metrlcal chorus closes each act OK
cept tho nth. which has in place OF
It q metrlcal epiloRue. It Is to be
remarked OF this comedy. which recounts
the story Of two gentlemen Of Antwerp. that 1t
processes to depict contemporary manners.
In 1878. tho year after Gascoigne's death.
George milestone published Tho History OF
Promos and Cassandra. divided into two COM
ical diecourses" These we're two flve-sct
plays founded upon story in tho Hundred
Novels OF Giovanbattista Giraldi Cinthio.
Upon Whetstone's Enacted "Promos and Cas-
sandra," Shakespeare. twenty five years later.
formed his play OF Measure for Measure"
While these stops toward the evolution OF
the native drama were taken In England. an
effort In the same direction had been made by
tho Scotch historian and scholar. George Blu
chanan. From 1880 to 1912 Buchanan taught
in the College dc Guyenne. which had recently
boon established ut Bordeaux. and 1t Is inter-
estlng to learn thut Montague was one Of the
boys who lived under his caro- and received in
struction from him. At this time Buchanan
wrote two translations into Latin Of the
Medea" and "Alcestis Of Euripides and
two plays Of his own. also In Latin. "Jepththcs"
and Baptistes." which. as tho names imply.
are founded respectively on the stories Of
Jephtha's daughter and OF John the Baptist
In the latter play tho author is not 30 much
telling . story with dramatic art IS
shaping parallel through which he can OK
press his ideas regarding the policy OF priests
and princes in his time. Prof. Morley is mis-
taken when he says that Buchanan. while he
lived in Paris during the two years following
1853. was befriended by Margaret OF Nevarre
to whom he dedicated his "Medea" The
first Of the two French Processes OF the six
teenth century. known Us Margaret Of Nevnrre.
had died in 1549 and the second had only been
born In May. 1853
III.
In tho success Of "Gorboduc" other needy
graduates OF the universities recognized their
opportunity. It was manifestly possible to
give pleasure to large audiences by real plays
in English. while. on the other band. there
were companies OF actors. servants Of great
houses trained to the playing OF interludes
and ready enough to apply their skill to more
attractive matter. They lost their licenses to
act II in their interludes they were held to have
touched religion or Govenment: while as ac-
tors OF plays In the true classical sense OF the
word. they would earn more from the people
and be loss molested BY those in authority.
The new form OF entertainment soon made
it's way at court and through the coun-
try. Gorboduc" was repeated before the
Queen at whitehall on Jan. ID 1852. and no
later than the first Of February following there
was play Of Julius Cesar acted at court
An English comedy called "Misogonus" be-
longs to this birth time; indeed. there Is In
ternal evidence pointing to 1880 as the proba-
BILE date Of its composition. Thomas Preston.
a Fellow OF Kings College and afterward Mas
ter Of Trinity. Is said to have pleased Queen
so greatly by his acting in the traR-
in 1894. that she made him grant
OF EGO year. Perhaps this included recogni-
ton OF his skill as dramatist. for he was
the author OF the play OF "Camby-
$685." to which Shakespeare is sup
posed to have alluded when he made
Faistaf say. "Give me cup OF sack
to make mine eyes look red that it might be
thought have wept: for must speak in pas
sion. and will do 1t In King Cambyses' vein.'
The play OF "Cambyses" Is called a comedy.
but It was neither comedy nor tragedy: it
was to u considerable extent an allegory. At
Christmas Of the same year 1854 Richard
Master Of the Chapel. produced be-
fore the Queen at Whitehall his trugical COM
edy. as he called it. OF Damon and Pythias"
The action Of this piece is interrupted by the
lude OF Grim the Collier. who is robbed
while no Is shaved. The difiiculty OF
keeping the fooling Of tho clown within tho
bounds OF art in the first days OF the English
diana tempts Prof. Morley to the difficult
task Of formulating the definition OF q play.
It Is a formula about which critics will not
agrec. but as the author has evidently spent O |
good deal OF thought upon 1t wo quote 1t at
length. A play. Prof. Morley thinks. is a |
story OF human action, shown throughout by
imagined words and deeds Of tho persons con.
cerned In it, artfully developing problem in
human life. and ingenously solving it after
having excited strong natural interest anl
curiosity as to the manner OF solution. 1t must
not be too long to be presented to spectators
at single sitting.
work wanting In any one OF these require
ments Is either no play at all or q bad play. It
must be q story Of action. not recital Of
thought In the form Of dialogue. and 1t must
be tho story OF single action. its whole So
quence OF events bound together by their re-
lation Of cause or effect to the main incident
on which oil turns. Whom two stories are in
terwoven they must be necessary to each
other. and so blended as to become one to the
This one story Is not written
to be only read. but to be shown. the persons
OF 1t seeming actually to appear and speak and
act; their words and deeds must also be i'm
agined for them not literally repeated out OF
and must be shaped throughout by
the poets art to excite human interest in the
~ vt 49, 70