The record-union., 1894-03-22
UNIVERSITY EXTENSION.
First of Professor Gayley's Lectures
Last Evening.
The Evolution of English Comedy and
It's Beginnings-An Interest,"
ing Subject.

A large and intelligent audience greeted
Professor Charles NJ. GayIey at the Su-
preme Courtroom last evening, and
listened with the closest attention to a
most fascinating exposition of the evolu-
ton of English comedy from its earliest
beginnings. He is a most pleasing
speaker and keeps closely in touch with
his audience.
He said that it was possible to trace three
epochs in the development of the comics
that of chance, of caprice and of art.
The first pertains to ones personal mis-
fortunes or accidents; the second contains
an element of malignity; the comic of
art possesses an element of enmity. He
gave illustrations of each. The divisions
of the latter he made to be by seizing the
wrong horn of the dilemma, by inversion
and by irony. There is sometimes a con-
hict between conception through the
senses, and thought, which produces a
sense of the comic. There is also tragic
conflict, in which either the man or the
idea Is crushed.
When we pass into the realm of poetic
justice, we ind combined in the play
elements of both the tragic and the
dramatic.
Comedy is fictitious representation by
human action OF an ethical conflict in
poetic justice. We have the comedy OF
humor, the comedy of wit, farce and
burlesque. The two former are comedy
proper and the two latter low comedy,
and prevail largely upon the stage to-
day. There are large numbers of Eng
lish comedies which could be produced
upon the stage with profit to the auditors.
The speaker then passed to the historI-
cal-the comic in the early English liter
ature. He spoke of the source of Eng
lish comedy, the humors, realistic and
satiric elements in the miracle plays, the
development of individualities and man
ners in the morality plays; of interlude
and satire in the interludes and of wit,
situation, plot, Characterization and secu-
lar interest in the comedy of Latin origin.
He gave most interesting description
of the Coventry plays, the Townley mys-
teries, the Chester plays, the Digby mys-
teries, the Y ork mysteries and DodSley's
old plays.
The description of the photographed
plays, as performed by the different
guilds, which were even SO ambitious as
TO attempt representations of the crea-
ton, the creation OF Adam, the flood and
the ark and numerous other biblical in
cidents, was unique and they would
probably be a revelation TO the theater-
goers OF to-day. The last OF the York
plays was about the time that Shakes
peare was 20 years of age.
He read extracts from the play of
"N oah and the Ark" which gave an ex-
cellent idea of the crudity Of the earlier
efforts Of the drama.
Noah's wife is represented as being as
obstinate and hard to manage by her
husband as some modern ladies are found
to-day, and the recital of his efforts to get
her to come on board the ark excited
much merriment in the audience.
The miracle plays displayed a great
deal of dramatic power in the arrange
ment of the scenes; much realism in de-
picting the passions and emotions; many
touches Of nlial affection; much attention
to mechanical effects. The humorous is
also very strongly marked in them, es-
pecially in the \ Ork and Townley plays.
The miracle plays were to teach men
Biblical history; the moralities, to teach
men how to be saved, and the latter soon
degenerated into the utmost drearinesS.
He then took up the first stage-the
comedy of the Tudors and early Stuarts,
embracing the period from the natural
iZatiOn OF attn comedy in A. D. 1910 to
the closing of the theaters in 1912; the
natural or romantic comedy, from Udall
to D'Avenant; spoke of the social and
literary conditions in the middle of the
sixteenth century, and gave an account of
the immediate predecessors and earlier
contemporaries of Shakespeare.
Viewing his subject from the critical
standpoint he spoke of the development
of comic material by the pro-Shakes-
pearians; the multiplication of critical in
cidents; the comic in situation; the pro-
gress of didactic to artistic purpose, and
the comedy of conceits.
The lecture was a most interesting one,'
the material being of kind that very
few are familiar with, and the lecturer
has the happy art of so presenting it that
he enchains the closest attention of his
hearers from first to last.