CHAPTER III THE ELIZABETHAN AGE 13. Spirit of the Age.—The great outburst of the English Drama in the reign of Elizabeth (1558-1603) is to be explained only by the larger forces at work in English literature and life. The reign of Henry VII had sig nalized an era of unparalleled discovery, and to a national imagination that roamed beyond the seas was now added all the culture of the Renaissance. Improvements took place in manners and customs; a more tolerant temper was manifest in religion; and a healthy spirit of the enjoyment of life was everywhere. Almost suddenly England's dawning greatness was seen and felt; Catholic and Protestant alike paid homage to the Queen; and the Armada sent to break the spirit of the country was shattered in 1588. In such different ways was cultivated the feeling of nationality. The common man sank himself in the general ideal—in the glory of the sovereign; there developed an interest in the heroes of the past; and the form of literature demanded was one that would respond to the bravado and daring of the day-one that emphasized action. Thus a quickened imagination, broadening culture, improved living conditions, and patriotic achievement all united to call into being the great flowering of the Elizabethan Drama. 14. Elements Contributing to the Drama.-So far as literature and the stage were concerned, three powerful impulses were felt.1 "The first of these, the humanistic or 'classical' impulse, is foreign and purely scholarly. The second, the 'romantic' impulse, is inherent in dramatic inspiration, but in our drama received a special form and direction from foreign sources. The third, the impulse towards realism, is inherent, and might at any time become dominant in particular works, or the works of particular men." "The humanistic, or classical, impulse took its rise in the classical plays of the universities and the schools, which included both plays written in Latin and English plays written on Latin models. Humanism-the study of the classic to apply its lessons to problems of the present, which formed so important a part of the complex movement called the Renaissance-affected the drama, as it affected all other types of literature. In the universities and the schools, plays were written on the model of the Roman playwrights, Plautus and Seneca, who were adopted as exemplars of comedy and tragedy respectively." The second impulse, that of the spirit of romance, is not less important, as it gave freest play to the imagination. It was frequently innate in the dramatist, but derived special inspiration from Italian sourcesfrom lyrics and pastorals and allegories as well as collections of tales. Above any details of texts or sources, however, was the great lesson of artistic independence that the spirit taught the Elizabethans. Greene and Marlowe among Shakespeare's earlier contemporaries, Beaumont and Fletcher among the later, and the great master him 1 2 They have frequently been dealt with, but in brief compass hardly ever better than in Prof. C. G. Child's Introduction previously cited. self, felt the impulse beckoning them on to high ideals and lofty achievement. Finally there was the realistic influence, which of course placed emphasis primarily on English tradition and which had been so well exemplified in the intrudes of John Heywood. Such dominating tendencies as these that have been remarked can not always be clearly delimited; together, however, they were to rear the great edifice of the English Drama. 15. First Regular Comedies.-In view of the success of the interlude as a form of entertainment, it was but natural that comedy should develop faster than tragedy. Especially potent was the influence of Plautus. As early as 1527 the boys of St. Paul's School performed before Cardinal Wolsey a play by this dramatist; the students at Eton and Westminster also cultivated his works under the direction of their masters; and sometimes performances took place before the Queen. "The custom of giving plays at great public schools and universities was a very old one, though definite information is almost entirely lacking until the performance of the Dido of Rightwise between 1522 and 1532. We also know that in 1525 a play was presented by the students of Eton College. The practice continued uninterruptedly till the time of the Commonwealth and, together with disputations, formed the chief method of entertaining royalty at the universities." Elizabeth seems to have been particularly fond of these representations." One of the first English dramatic pieces which show unmistakably the influence of Latin comedy is the interlude, Calisto and Meliboea, published about 1530. Thersites and Jack Juggler also are indebted to the same source, 'Wallace: The Birthe of Hercules, 39. first play in Cuglich that shoves Latin inference. ་ though in the case of Thersites the contribution was more directly French. This play was written in 1537. It consists of a number of loosely connected scenes illustrative of the character of the hero, who is a ridiculous braggart. The farce of Jack Juggler in its prologue confesses itself an unambitious adaptation of the Amphitruo of Plautus, but there is very little similarity between it and the Latin play if the two are considered as wholes. The step of writing a regular English comedy on classical lines was taken by Nicholas Udall. This dramatist, born in Hampshire in 1505, and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford; he was headmaster at Eton from 4534 as educated at Winchester 1541, and at Westminster from 1553 or 1554 until his death in 1556. He was a practical teacher; he prepared for his pupils a handbook for the study of Latin; and he was complimented by the Queen for his diligence in presenting before her certain dialogues and interludes. He. He is primarily remembered for Ralph and (1558?), a play based on the Miles Glori Roister osus of Plautus. The story is that of the wooing by a lovesick and confident boaster, Ralph Roister Doister, of Dame Christian Custance, whose heart has already been given to Gawin Goodluck, a merchant whose business keeps him much away at sea. The complicating force in the play is Merrygreek, a parasite, who has many marks of the old Vice. More and more as the action advances this character proves Ralph Roister Doister to be a gull. Ralph first sends to Dame Custance an old nurse of hers with a letter, then one of his own servants with a ring and token, and finally he sends Merrygreek, who is to bring back an answer indicating the Dame's willingness to be "wedded on Sunday next." Merrygreek, by changing the punctua tion, misreads Ralph's letter to Dame Custance, and further complications arise when a servant, Sim Suresby, sent by Goodluck, misunderstands the relations between Ralph and the Dame and replies rather curtly when the latter speaks of sending a token to his master. An attempt to carry off the lady by force, suggested to Ralph by Merrygreek, results in the boaster's being completely routed by the Dame's maidservants with scuttles and brooms. Goodluck himself at length returns, however; there are explanations all around; and Ralph and Merrygreek join in the wedding festivities. There is much incidental comedy in the play. Among other things there is a mock dirge when Ralph protests that his heart is broken; and the maids of the Dame, with their gay spirits and love of song, add materially to the whole. The chief characters moreover are drawn with considerable care, and throughout there is evidence of knowledge of the bases of comic appeal. Ralph Roister Doister is thus not only interesting in itself but has unique importance in the history of the English drama. At Christ's College, Cambridge, probably not long after 1550, was acted another comedy, rather a farce, which even more than Ralph Roister Doister dealt with the humors and foibles of lower English life. This was Gammer Gurton's Needle, "made by Mr. S. Mr of Art," which phrase has recently been interpreted as applying to William Stevenson, who at the time seems to have had much to do with the production of plays at Cambridge. Gammer Gurton's Needle is of enduring interest as the earliest university play in English which has come down to us. At first sight it shows little trace of scholarly influences. The fourteener' in which it is mainly written is a rough 66 |