SUCCINCT HISTORY OF ENGLISH DRAMA – BEGINNING TO TRANSITIONAL

 

1.       The first phase in the evolution of English drama is the medieval era, which roughly spans the time period from the 9^th to the 16^th century. During this phase, drama developed in terms of two stages. The first entitled the stage of medieval religious drama, comprises of two types of plays namely the mystery and the miracle. The second called the stage of medieval secular drama, is constituted by similarly two types of plays, the morality and the interlude. The basic difference between the two stages could be explained thus. In the first stage, plays were exclusively religious in both conception and purpose, were performed and organized by only formal members of the catholic church, and were strictly enacted within the premises of the church. In the second stage, plays became more secular in scope and theme, were performed and organized by members of various trade guilds, and were enacted in a variety of secular locales as market place and inn yards.

 

2.       The Elizabethan era marks the second phase in the evolution of English drama, which covers the time period from 1558 till 1603, when England was ruled by Elizabeth I. It was during this phase regular drama emerged in England, with theatres being built all over London and the endeavor of play writing and play acting becoming professionalized. Christopher Marlowe is the first most important name to reckon with as far as playwrights of the period is concerned. He is widely regarded by one and all as the father of English drama, and is considered as the seminal member of the school of dramatists commonly dubbed the university wits. This school which comprises of such playwrights as John Lyly, George Peele, Thomas Kyd, Robert Greene, Thomas Lodge and Thomas Nashe, is generally credited for having laid the foundation of English drama before the advent of Shakespeare into theatre. Beside Marlowe and the university wits, two other playwrights of noteworthy repute in the period are William Shakespeare, arguably the most popular dramatist of all times, and Ben Jonson, probably his most telling rival at the time. It is notable unlike Marlowe and the university wits whose careers were relatively short and were formally over during the Elizabethan era itself, those of Shakespeare’s and Jonson’s were comparatively long and lasted well into the Jacobean era.

 

3.       The third phase in the evolution of English drama is rather long spanning a time period of about 57 years starting from 1603 till 1660. The period is comprised of four sub-segments which are respectively, the Jacobean era, the time England was ruled by James I from 1603 till 1625, the Caroline age, the time England was ruled by Charles I from 1625 till 1642, the English civil war which lasted from 1642 till 1649 when Charles I was beheaded, and the era of the interregnum from 1649 till 1660 when monarchy was abolished in England and the country was ruled by a common wealth. During this phase, the quality of drama in England generally went on a downward spiral, and collaborations became the order of the day due to the high demand for new plays. Some noteworthy playwrights of the era include, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, Thomas Middleton, John Webster, John Ford, Philip Massinger, Cyril Tourneur, Thomas Dekker, and Thomas Marston. With the outbreak of the civil war, the parliament issued an ordinance in 1642 that ordered the closure of theatres in England and banned the performance of plays in the country. This situation lasted for the next 18 years till 1660.

 

4.       The restoration age represents the fourth phase in the evolution of English drama, spanning the time period from 1660 when Charles II the son of Charles I was crowned as the king of England, till 1700 when Congreve’s play The Way of the World was originally performed and proved to be a telling flop. The age derives its name from the fact that monarchy was restored in England in 1660, which was immediately followed by the royal proclamation that ordered the lifting of the ban placed on drama by the parliament since 1642. So the period also marks in a way the restoration of drama in the island nation, which was accompanied by some key changes to the theatre such as the granting to women of permission to perform on the stage as actors, and the theatre itself becoming a purely private phenomenon that exclusively catered to the tastes of the upper class. Two types of plays became popular during the time. These are heroic play also called restoration tragedy, and the restoration comedy which are more popularly referred to as the comedy of manners. John Dryden is by far the most significant exponent of heroic plays in England, and as far as comedy of manners there are three playwrights to take note of, George Etherege, William Wycherley and William Congreve.

 

5.       The fifth phase in the evolution of English drama is marked by what is widely labelled the Augustan era, which covers the time period from 1700 till 1751 when Thomas Gray’s celebrated poem Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard was originally published. During this period, two types of plays dominated English theatre. These are sentimental comedy, which emerged as a reaction against the perceived vulgarities and immoralities in the comedy of manners, and domestic tragedy in which traditional aspects associated with a tragic play were debunked for the first time on the English stage. As far as sentimental comedy is concerned, there are two important playwrights that we need to take note of, Collie Cibber and Richard Steele, and with regard to domestic tragedy, the one name that stands out is that of George Lillo. It is notable that during this period the middle class emerged in England as the most prominent and powerful segment of the society, which transformed the theatre from exclusively catering to the interests of the upper class as during the restoration, to placing more emphasis on depicting middle class characters, and extolling bourgeois values.

 

6.       The sixth phase in the evolution of English drama is that of the transitional era, which covers the time period from 1751 till 1798 when the first edition of Lyrical Ballads was brought out. During this phase, domestic tragedies continued to retain their charm, so no new telling development in the realm of tragedy occurred. However, the period is marked by the emergence of antisentimental comedy, which emerged in conscious reaction to the clawing emotionalism and lack of humour in the sentimental comedies of the Augustan era. Two of the most noteworthy playwrights of antisentimental comedy are Oliver Goldsmith and Richard Sheridan. With the antisentimental comedies, the glorious tradition of drama in England comes to a close, with plays losing out their prime position of public adulation to the ascendancy of the novel form.