Introduction: Technical Theatre Terms

• Drama vs Theatre:
Drama is a word that comes from Greek Dran, which means to do or perform. It
literally means action. Drama is the literary genre. A person writes drama (a play).
Drama is closely connected to theatre. Drama depends on theatre so it as to take to
account the elements of theatre.
Theatre is not just the literary act of writing. Industrial commercial elements are related
to this term. It implies the business dimension. It requires space, individuals who play
characters, and people who see the act (audience). Theatre is a collective effort of many
people, dramatist or a playwright, a director, actors, and technicians.
• What is the difference between Drama and Theatre?
Drama can be in the form of a text, prose or a verse composition delineating a story full
of human emotions and conflicts. However, it becomes theatre only when it is
performed on stage with actors performing the roles of the characters in the text.
1. Drama is given life by performers on stage.
2. Audience and stage are necessary for theatre.
• Basic concepts:

The person who writes a play is a playwright

The types of plays are… comedy / tragedy

What do actors do? actors play roles/characters

The building where you perform plays is
a…
Where do actors perform?
What can you see on stage?
To rehearse / A rehearsal
Dialogue / Monologue / Soliloquy
People who attend a performance are
A play is divided into…
The instructions in the text to the
directors and actors by the playwright are
called…
“Enter” “Exit” “Exeunt” “Aside”
In order to wish an actor good luck you
say…
theatre or playhouse
on stage
actors/actresses + scenery + props + the
curtain
ensayar/ un ensayo
1. Conversation between two or more
characters
2. Just one character speaker in front of
other characters but they are in silent.
3. An speech of just 1 character who is
alone
spectators / the audience
acts and scenes
stage directions (acotaciones)
entrada, salida, entrada (pl), aparte
“Break a leg!”
 Medieval drama
Brief introduction

Drama: every kind of fiction to be performed

Medieval: it belongs to the middle age 5th-15th Century

Drama usually (always) appears in a religious context. A moment in which some people
impersonate some god etc. in order to show people some religious belief. The beginning
of drama in Europe was in ancient Greek in honour of God Dionysius (God of sex and
wine). We have to thank Greek writers as Sophocles, Euripides (tragedy), or
Aristophanes (comedy) for the best playwrights in the history of drama.
In these times, drama was not just entertainment, was something much more important.
In order to be a good citizen, you should go to the theatre. There you will be purified; it
is described as a process of catharsis).
After Greek, comes the Roman drama, in which we have to emphasize Terencio and
Plauto in comedy and Seneca in Tragedy
In the 2nd century, drama loses relevance to gladiators’ games and lions eating Christian.
In the 6th C. drama was forbidden because the Christian Church considered it immoral.

5th 1066 15th

The Norman Conquest
Pre-dramatic forms
From 5th to 1066: no important drama for 5 centuries (only minstrels). From 10th we
start to have very little example of dramatic forms, pre-dramatic forms:

1. Folk drama: popular Feast and celebrations: It involves the idea of someone
impersonating or making a role.
- May Day celebrations: these celebrations appeared in honour of Flora, the Roman
goddess of flowers; it is associated with the beginning of spring.
- Moris Dance: ritual folk dance performed in rural England by groups of specially
chosen and trained men with a variety of related customs
- Mummers or Hummering Plays: are folk plays performed by troupes of amateur actors
known as mummers). They were performed in special occasions. It refers particularly to
a play in which a number of characters are called on stage, two of whom engage in a
combat. The central character is the hero and it represent the positive value (normally
St. George or a prince), it also has a negative character called Slasher. Another
character, the doctor, brings back the antihero back (key message: even when you think
the evil has been defeated, you are not safe, so be aware). For the first time, they imply
the idea of asking for money (no drama theatre).
2. Liturgical drama (tropes): by the end of 9th and 10th c. Priests realised that they
could incorporate short performance to make people learn about the Bible and
religion. People (tropes) song little songs about the Bible in special occasions such
as Christmas or Eastern.
- Quem Quaretis: was a conversation between the Angels at Christ's tomb and the three
Marys, the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the sister of Lazarus.
- Officium Pastorum: was the announcement of the birth of Christ made by the angels to
the shepherds, and the subsequent adoration of Christ.
- Officium Stellae: a conversation between Herod and the Magi; and the subsequent
adoration of the Magi.
- Lamentio Rachel: based on the Massacre of the Innocents, an event recorded in the
Gospel of Matthew. These plays were probably performed as part of the liturgy for
Innocents Day.
+Little by little an evolution was changing in drama: The length of the plays, the people
involved in and left Church (physical movement)and started incorporating English in
the plays because not everybody could understand Latin.
Parody of Religious celebrations
- The Feast of Fools: the celebration by the end of December, for one day a reversal of
roles. In the church, you can become the Priest (doing a parody: dog Latin.
- The Boy Bishop: for one day, a boy (usually a boy with mental problem), will be the
bishop and everybody have to obey him.
- The Prose of the Ass: they used to take a real ass dressed as a real priest and someone
behind the altar speaking. From the distance, it looked as the ass was talking.
Mystery Plays
Mystery meant truth reveal. Its origins were the evolution of the tropes. It’s a little short
play (15-20 minutes each) in which it is performed a passage from the Bible,
traditionally the Corpus Christy. They were performed in the street in wagons. They
were also grouped in cycles. The writers of these mysteries plays are unknown but it
was probably someone with religious education as a priest. Guilds performed them
depending on their jobs they would perform a passage or another of the Bible; for
example, the crucifixion was performed by the guild of the Pinners. There was some
kind of competition between the representations of the different guilds.
Miracle Plays
Instead of passages of the Bible, miracle plays were focused on the representation of the
life of saints.
- York cycle: collection of plays used to be performed in York. It consists of 48
pageants of the Bible (48 guilds). There used to be a lot of anachronism (a person,
thing, or idea that exists out of its time in history, especially one that happened or
existed later than the period being shown, discussed, etc.). The anachronism was used to
make the play closer, available or familiar to the reader. They were more focused on
entertainment then in history accuracy; however, they give a lot of dates (state
directions).
- Chester cycle: 25 pageant in verse and 25 banns (short summary of the play in prose).
It has a religious intention more obvious. No humour or comic elements were used.
- Wakefield cycle: also called Townely Cycle because the manuscript belongs to this
family. It can be seen that the 32 plays were written by the same person (Wakefield
master) because of the style First dramatic playwright of English drama. Invent and
uses a lots of humour and comic situations around the Bible.
- Ludus Coventriae: collection of mystery plays and 42 banns. 21 of the Old Testament
and 21 of the New Testament. They are perfectly symmetrical.
Morality Plays
It belongs to the 15th century. It is connected to religious purposes but different to
mystery plays, performed in doors and also different in the themes.
- Allegorical plays: (Allegory: extending metaphor symbolic elements in order to
transmit message. Abstract concepts are represented by using character. Characters like
fear, anger, beauty, strength and the 5 senses are used in the allegorical plays. The idea
of temptation, sin, and salvation it’s called Exemplay.
They show you what to do in order to go to heaven and what not to do in order to not go
to heaven. It has a really obvious intention. Summons of death: the notion that
everybody; poor or rich, good or bad; will die and go to heaven or hell  anybody
cannot escape to death. The purpose of this life is win the eternal lives in heaven by
suffer.
Comic elements related to evil characters are used. Morality Plays are performed at any
time, not only at special occasions. They use colloquial expressions. The plays are also
performed by actor (earning money). At a certain time of the play they would stop the
performance and ask for money if the audience wanted to continue enjoying the play.
 The pride of life (C. 1400): The principal character is the King of Life and his best
friend is Pride. Pride tells the king to do evil things. King is almost defeated by
Death but saved by the Holly Virgin. Then, it comes the regret and the salvation.
 The castle of Perseverance: (C. 1425) The Humanus Generus is tempted and
converted into a sinner and he is placed in a castle defended by some solders
(moral). The castle is being attacked by enemies of soul.
 Mankind: Mankind temptation, sinner. Friend: mercy, good advice. Negative
character: now-a-days.
 Everyman: it tells the last day of a man. Friends: strength, beauty and 4 senses, but
they left him alone. 3 people appear (confession, knowledge and goodish): true
friends.
Interludes
Short plays between 2 long plays. They are not religious plays (secular plays). They
have a didactic purpose but not religious values. Secular or aristocratic values like
honour or bravery. It was performed by professional actors and university students.
Some authors:
- Fulgens and Lucrece (1495-1497) by Henry Medwall: Lucrece has 2 mans who want
to marry her daughter: a rich man and a humble one. The rich man is the one who wins-
this fact is revolutionary. The important this is who you are.
- Ralph Roister Doister (1567) is a play by Nicholas Udall, which was once regarded as
the first long secular play. It has an evident Greek-Roman influence. For example, it
was most influenced by Seneca (bloody, but death or violence never shown but
Elizabethan loves tragedy and violence.
- Gordobuc (1561) by Thomas Norton. It is considered the first tragedy in English.
Even, in Gordobuc we can find some of the features that will be important in
Elizabethan drama, for example, the Blank verse (the most used pattern) which is poetry
written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter.
In this play by Thomas Norton is strongly influence by Seneca. We can also see the use
of Stichomythia (the contrast between 2 characters who are fighting or the harmony
between two lovers.
John Redford, John Rastell, John Skerton… They all contributed to the boom of drama.
They created the special conditions; even the structure would have not been possible
without them. We have to thank these pioneers for the first playhouse in London: The
theatre in 1576. Also, without them Shakespeare probably would have never written a
play. That is why we have to remark the importance of being in the right place at the
right time, apart from the talent and effort of a playwright.

Elizabethan era
It was a period of very straight political control, nothing against the queen. There was
an evident straight censorship: You could not perform a play if it was ‘not appropriate’
for the audience…in other words, if it was not favourable to que Queen.
Elizabethan era was a time of political propaganda. Tudor myth: his grandfather killed
King Richard III so the Queen made effort to retail the History of England, to make
people believe her legitimate right to the throne. People could not read so theatre
became an easy way to manipulate people. In the plays, there were plenty of (positive)
allusions to the Queen.
Theatre was the only place where more than 10 people could be together so it was an
important political tool weapon. Nothing could compare to it. Almost everybody
attended to the theatre: lowest classes, working classes, the Queen…The only group that
was not interested in theatre were the Puritans. They believe that theatre was immoral,
also, many people used to stop work to go to the theatre and puritans did not like this
(the plays were performed at 2 pm because of the natural light)
 The University wits
At the beginning of the golden age of English drama (1580s), there appeared a
generation of men of letters (poets and playwrights) who attended to the university
(Cambridge or Oxford). It was not a usual thing, only lawyers or priest used to attended
to it.
 John Lyly: He wrote for the circle in a very refined style, in other words, not for the
general audience or popular tastes. He used diction (use of high level elements
which are not use in everyday situations)
 Thomas Kid: one of the most popular playwrights. The only one that we are not
sure if he attended to the university. A master in tragedy and strongly influenced by
Seneca. In turn, Shakespeare was influenced by Thomas Kid. He wrote the most
popular and performed play of the Elizabethan Era called the Spanish Tragedy, a
play which included a lot of violence.

Tragedies included the notion of disorder, but horrible things never took place in
England that was a ‘place of order’, in other words, a place of censorship. Example:
Hamlet (Denmark), Romeo y Julieta (Verona, Italy), etc.
Christopher Marlowe: the best playwright of the University Wits. He was a very
controversial person, atheist, homosexual…this was really dangerous at his time. He
was born in the same year that Shakespeare. Shakespeare considered him the best
playwright of his time…his master He used blank verse but in an innovating way,
exploring other possibilities. He died really young so he just wrote 7 tragedies.
1. Tragedy of Dido 4. The Jew of Malta
2. Tamburlaine I 5. Edward II
3. Tamburlaine II
6. Massacre of Paris: this play is unfinished because he died while he was writing it
7. Doctor Faustus
In this Doctor Faustus, we can see the clash between the medieval and the renaissance
world. The play is written in the Renaissance but the setting is the Middle age. In order
to get knowledge, Doctor Faustus (a renaissance man) would do anything, even sell his
soul. He prefers knowledge to God. This does not remember the medieval ideas of
‘accept the knowledge you are given and do not question it.’ Doctor Faustus is a
modern man in a medieval word. In the play, we can see 2 different points of views:
a. He is criticizing the old fashion medieval society who is not ready for the innovating
ideas and punishes Doctor Faustus. Doctor Faustus is able and brave enough to
challenge the structure of that society cannot be understood
b. Doctor Faustus is a villain who deserves punishment.
Even the ambiguity is obvious in the shape of the play. We can observe a mixed of
morality plays elements (explicit moral message, good angel and bad angel and
Renaissance elements (use of soliloquies, evolution in the character of Doctor Faustus,
sub-plot and clash of plots, the use of blank verse.
 Doctor Faustus
This play tells the story of Faustus, a well-respected and wise German scholar but his
hamartia is his ambitious. Nothing is good enough…fame, knowledge richness or
pleasure. Any disciple fulfils enough so he decides to learn to practice black magic and
he becomes an expert. He even is able to contact Mephistopheles, the secretary of
Lucifer. Despite Mephistopheles’s warnings about the horrors of hell, Faustus tells the
devil to return to his master, Lucifer, with an offer of his soul in exchange of twenty-
four years of pleasures; he would have anything he wanted. During the 24 years, he
travels around the world, he has omnipotent powers, and even he goes out of the earth.
He also summons the most beautiful woman of the Earth, Helen of Troy. After than 24
years, his soul belongs to Lucifer and he will be in hell forever. He begs for mercy but it
is too late. In this part, we can see the moral didactic message by the chorus. Don’t
imitate him; don’t go before the limits or look the consequences.

Excerpt 1: Act I: prologue (Enter chorus)

The chorus enters and introduces the plot of the play. It will involve the “form of
Faustus’s fortunes”. The chorus tells us that Faustus was born in a lowly family and he
was educated at a famous German university. After earning the title of doctor of
divinity, Faustus became famous for his ability to discuss theological matters.

Excerpt 1: Act I: scene 1 (Enter Faustus in his study)

In a long soliloquy, Faustus considers which discipline he should choose. He begins to

consider possibilities in a rational way and dismissing them with rational arguments.

He first considers logic but notes that disputing well seems to be the only goal of logic,
and rejects it.

Then, he considers medicine, with its possibility of achieving miraculous cures, is the
most fruitful pursuit—yet he notes that he has achieved great renown as a doctor already
and that this fame has not brought him satisfaction and dismisses it.

He considers law, but he finds out that he will always be subordinated to law. He does
not want to have limits and rejects it.

Divinity, the study of theology, seems to offer wider vistas, He then dismisses it. He
takes phrases from the Bible without a context. He is trying to manipulate the audience,
but also trying to manipulate himself. From his point of view, no matter what you do,
you are a sinner and you are going to die (the idea of predestination: subordinated by
someone who has written down his destiny; he is not free to choose his own decisions).

Then, he considers metaphysics of magician, which, when properly pursued, he

believes will make him “a mighty god”, in other words, an omnipotent master of
everything.
*** Analysis: In proceeding through the various intellectual disciplines and citing
authorities for each, he is following the dictates of medieval scholarship, which held
that learning was based on the authority of the wise rather than on experimentation and
new ideas. This soliloquy, then, marks Faustus’s rejection of this medieval model, as
he sets aside each of the old authorities and resolves to strike out on his own in his quest
to become powerful through magic.

Wagner, Faustus’s servant, enters as his master finishes speaking. Faustus asks Wagner
to bring Valdes and Cornelius, Faustus’s friends. While they are on their way, a good
angel and an evil angel visit Faustus. The good angel urges him to set aside his book
of magic and read the Scriptures instead; the evil angel encourages him to go forward
in his pursuit of the black arts. After they vanish, there is another soliloquy of Doctor
Faustus. He cannot find anything negative about this field. He feels fascinated by black
magic. He would get knowledge (wise), wealth (rich), in other words, immense power
without any limit. Then, Valdes and Cornelius appear and agree to teach Faustus the
principles of the dark arts.

Excerpt 3: Act V: scene II

 The Clock strikes eleven.

Faustus begins his final soliloquy. He pleads time to stop its forward rush. He realizes
time cannot stop.

“See, see, where Christ's blood streams in the firmament. / One drop would save my
soul, half a drop. Ah, my Christ!”

Then, new possibility he pleads with different aspects of nature to help him (ex.
mountains, earth), but they can't.

 The clock strikes for half past the hour.

He accepts he deserves punishment. He pleads that God will shorten his time in hell to
a thousand, or even a hundred thousand years but he knows that hell is eternal.

He wishes that Pythagoras' theory of transmigration of souls (reincarnation) were true.

He wishes that he could be an animal, a creature without soul. At first, any discipline
was good enough for him and now he would like to become an animal in order to be
saved. He curses his parents, they engendered him. Then curses himself, the one to
blame. He finally, accepts his own faults. He is the one who has private him from
heaven.

 The clock strikes midnight.

With thunder and lightning scarring the skies, he cries aloud for his soul to dissolve into
the air or little drops of water in the ocean, so that the devils cannot find it.

***We can find the three elements: earth (mountains), air and water (fire? No,
hell!)
The Devils enter. As Faustus begs God and the devil for mercy, the devils drag him
away.

***Important last words of Doctor Faustus: “I’ll burn my books”:

1. He wants to prevent people to commit his mistakes.

2. A prove of repentance, his books or knowledge has no value now.
3. He wants to be the only one to have done this: legendary. He has
lost the battle but not the war (a matter of pride)
 Epilogue:
The Chorus emphasizes that Faustus is gone, his once-great potential wasted. The
Chorus warns the audience to remember his fall, and the lessons it offers.

***Analysis: These lines come from Faustus’s final speech, just before the devils take
him down to hell. Faustus goes from one idea to another, desperately seeking a way out.
But no escape is available, and he ends by reaching an understanding of his own guilt.
 William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare [1564- 1616] was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely
regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and in the history of humankind.
Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the
age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna and
twins Hamlet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful
career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company. In 1611 he
wrote his last play, The Tempest. At age 49 around 1613, he appears to have retired to
Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life
survive, which has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his
physical appearance, sexuality, religious beliefs and whether the works attributed to him
were written by others; there are a lot of gossips and theories about him. For example,
after Shakespeare's death, doubts began to be expressed about the authorship of the
works attributed to him. Proposed alternative candidates include Christopher Marlowe.
In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been repeatedly adapted and rediscovered
by new movements in scholarship and performance. He is a cultural icon and a
profitable industry. A remarkable fact about Shakespeare is that he wrote for all people
from illiterate to the most sophisticated audience. His plays remain highly popular and
are constantly studied, performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political
contexts throughout the world.
Shakespeare's works include the 36 plays printed in the First Folio 1of 1623, listed
according to their folio classification as comedies, histories, and tragedies.
The Two Noble Kinsmen and Pericles is not included in the First Folio and is now
accepted as part of the canon, with today's scholars agreeing that Shakespeare made
major contributions to the writing of both.
Features of Shakespearean comedies (like a Midsummer Night’s Dream):
1. Comedies about love: they do not try to criticize, only entertain. No message or
didactic purpose. They all are innocent comedies about love. Love is the engine, the
centre of every action.
2. As consequence of the first feature: marriage at the end. Marriage is the logical
result of love and there should be a celebration.
3. Apparition of a lot of misunderstanding/confusion. Appearance vs reality, is a very
typical thee in Shakespearean comedies.
4. The characters of the play are a type of character in fiction that does not change too
much from the start of the narrative to its end, also known as flat characters.
5. A transition to the green world. The action moves to a natural place and there, the
solution for all problems will appear. Thanks to the disorder, they will eventually
find their solution and happy ending.

1
Foul papers: are an author's working drafts.
First Folio: In 1623, two friend of Shakespeare decided to publish 37 of his plays.
Quartos: Before the publication of the First Folio, eighteen of the thirty-seven plays in Shakespeare's
canon had appeared in quarto format. The plays printed originally in quarto format were branded
fraudulent
 A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595)
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare in 1595. It
portrays the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to
Hippolyta, the former queen of the Amazons. These include the adventures of four
young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors (the mechanicals) who are
controlled and manipulated by the fairies that inhabit the forest in which most of the
play is set. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is
widely performed across the world.

Characters in the play

Oberon, king of Fairies Demetrius, suitor to Hermia

Titania, Queen of Fairies Helena, in love with Demetrius

Theseus, Duke of Athens Quince, a carpenter

Hippolyta, Queen of Amazons Bottom, a weaver

Egeus, father of Hermia Robin, a puck

Hermia, in love with Lysander

Act I, scene I
As the play opens, Duke Theseus is hanging out at his palace in Athens with his bride-
to-be, Hippolyta, the Amazon queen who was recently defeated by Theseus and his
army “Hippolyta, I wooed thee with my sword, and won thy love doing thee injuries.
They discuss their wedding, to be held in four days, under the new moon. We can
observe two opposite perceptions of time. For Duke Theseus, time passes away slow
“how slow this old moon wanes!”, however for Hippolyta “four days will quickly
steep”. She is not as happy as Theseus with the wedding and does not want to marry
him.
Egeus, a citizen of Athens, strides into the room, followed by his daughter Hermia and
the Athenian youths Lysander and Demetrius. Egeus has come to see Theseus with a
complaint against his daughter: although Egeus has promised her in marriage to
Demetrius, who loves her, Lysander has won Hermia’s heart, and Hermia refuses to
obey her father and marry Demetrius.
We can observe an oppressive paternal authority. Egeus treats his daughter as a
property, an object “As she is mine, I may dispose of her. “He (Demetrius) hath my love
and what is mine my love shall render him.
Egeus demands that the law punishes Hermia if she fails to comply with his demands.
“Which shall be either to this gentleman, or to her death; according to our law”.
Theseus speaks to Hermia sharply. In these lines Theseus expresses the idea that she is
her father’s object and she should respect and obey him. Your father should be as
god…he composed your beauties …to whom you are but as a form in wax”.
According to Theseus, Egeus, as his father, has the power to destroy Hermia “by him
imprinted and within his power to leave the figure or disfigure it”. According to
Theseus both of them, Demetrius and Lysander, are worthy of Hermia; but her father
wants Demetrius to marry her so she must obey him:
T: “Demetrius is a worthy gentleman”
H: “So is Lysander”
T: “In himself he is…wanting your father’s voice the other must be held the worthier”
Now, we can observe that the conflict between Hermia and Egeus is a matter of
perception. She has a different perception because she is in love. Hermia sees with the
eyes of love “I would my father looked but with my eyes” and Egeus sees with the eyes
of judgment “Rather with your eyes must with judgment”.
Theseus tries to help Hermia and gives her a third option, to become a nun. “Whether
(if you yield not to your father’s choice) you can endure the livery of a nun”. He tries to
help her because he is also in love and understands her. This implies that she is going
to live in a cloister “for aye to be in a shady cloister mewed” and going to be virgin
“chanting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon”
Lysander interrupts, accusing Demetrius of being fickle in love, saying that he was
once engaged to Hermia’s friend Helena but abandoned her after he met Hermia.
Theseus admits that he has heard this story, and he takes Egeus and Demetrius aside to
discuss it.
Before they go, he orders Hermia to take the time remaining before his marriage to
Hippolyta to make up her mind “Take time to pause, and by the next moon…”
Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, and Demetrius depart, leaving Hermia alone with
Lysander. Theseus gives Hermia his fourth option, to escape. By distracting the
others, he again helps the lovers.
In the whole conversation, Hippolyta has not said a word. We assume that her facial
expression is quite significant “My Hippolyta: what cheer, my love?” Hippolyta is in
silent because she supports Hermia. Hippolyta was won in a battle feeling like an
object and has to obey the male authority she can identify herself with Hermia.
Hermia and Lysander discuss the trials that must be faced by those who are in love:
“The course of true love never did run smooth,” Lysander proposes a plan: he has an
aunt; at her house, Hermia and Lysander can be married—and, because the manor is
outside of Athens, they would be free from Athenian law. Hermia is overjoyed, and
they agree to escape and travel to the house the following night.
Helena, Hermia’s friend whom Demetrius jilted, enters the room, lovesick and deeply
melancholy because Demetrius no longer loves her. Helena would like to be Hermia
because Demetrius loves her. “Your ear should catch your voice…my eye your eye...my
tongue should catch your tongue’s sweet melody…were the world mine, Demetrius
being bated, the rest I’d give to be you translated” She would give everything just to be
Hermia, even able to become herself another person. Helena emphasizes the appearance
because sometimes people fall in love with the appearance; again the symbol of
perception.
Hermia: “The more I hate, the more he follows me”
Helena: “The more I love, the more he hateth me”
These lines express how sometimes we fall in love with people that mistreat us. Helena
loves Demetrius more intensely each time he refuses her. Also, love changes her
perception. Now, Athens is a hell because their love is impossible. “Before the time I
did Lysander see, seemed Athens as a paradise to me…that he hath turned a heaven
unto hell!”
Hermia and Lysander confide their plan (to escape) to her and wish her luck with
Demetrius. They depart to prepare for the following night’s journey.
Soliloquy of Helena: She talks about perception and love. According to Helena
“Through Athens I am though as fair as she” She expresses the power of love to change
our perception: Helena is as beautiful as Hermia; nevertheless Demetrius rejects her.
She also states that in love there is no judgement but it is also changeable.
Helena thinks up a plan: if she tells Demetrius of the elopement that Lysander and
Hermia are planning, he will be bound to follow them to the woods to try to stop them;
if she then follows him into the woods, she might have a chance to win back his love “I
will go tell him of fair Hermia’s flight…to have his sight thither and back again”.
Act I, scene II

In another part of Athens, a group of common labourers meets at the house of Peter
Quince to rehearse a play that the men hope to perform for the grand celebration
preceding the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta.

Quince tells the group what play they are to perform: The Most Lamentable Comedy
and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe, which tells the story of two lovers,
separated by their parents and have to speak to each other at night through a hole in a
wall. In the play, a lion surprises Thisbe one night and tatters her mantle before she
escapes. When Pyramus finds the shredded garment, he assumes that the lion has killed
Thisbe and he commits suicide. When Thisbe finds Pyramus’s bloody corpse, she too
commits suicide.

Quince assigns their parts but Bottom often interrupts, announcing that he should be
the one to play the assigned part. He says that his ability to speak in a woman’s voice
would make him a wonderful Thisbe and that his ability to roar would make him a
wonderful lion. The group disperses, agreeing to meet in the woods the following night
to rehearse their play.

“Let me play the lion too. I will roar, that I will do any man’s heart good to hear me”
In this lines, we can observe the characters’ inability to distinguish between
drama/fiction and reality. Bottom thinks that if he roars like a lion, the lion will believe
he is; eventually in the play he will become a lion (anticipation).

Act II, scene I

In the forest, two fairies, one a servant of Titania, the other a servant of Oberon, meet by
chance in a glade. Oberon’s servant tells Titania’s to be sure to keep Titania out of
Oberon’s sight, for the two are very angry with each other. Titania has taken a little
Indian prince as her attendant, and Oberon wishes to make him his knight. Titania,
however, refuses to give the boy up. Oberon is jealous because since the moment has
taken the Indian servant boy, he has not seen her.

The two are interrupted when Oberon enters from one side of the glade. At the same
moment, Titania enters from the other side. The two fairy royals confront one another,
each questioning the other’s motive for coming so near to Athens just before the
marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. Titania accuses Oberon of loving Hippolyta and
of thus wishing to bless the marriage; Oberon accuses Titania of loving Theseus.

In this part, we can observe the forgeries of jealousy, a fail of perception. A jealous
person can see things that are not true. The conversation turns to the little Indian boy,
whom Oberon asks Titania to give him. She invites Oberon to go with her to dance in a
fairy round and see her nightly revels, but Oberon declines, saying that they will be at
odds until she gives him the boy. Oberon is in love with Titania; however, he wants to
take revenge on her, in other words, to punish her before the night is out. He sends
Puck to seek a white-and-purple flower2 called love-in-idleness, which was once hit
with one of Cupid’s arrows. He says that the flower’s juice, if rubbed on a sleeper’s
eyelids3 will cause the sleeper to fall in love with the first living thing she sees upon
waking. Oberon announces that he will use this juice on Titania, hoping that she will
fall in love with some ridiculous creature; he will then refuse to lift the juice’s effect
until she yields the Indian prince to him. “Having once this juice…the next thing she
looks upon (be it on lion bear, wolf or bull, on meddling monkey or on busy ape) she
shall pursue it with the soul of love” Here, we can observe anticipation: the first thing
Oberon mentions is a lion, what Bottom wants to perform in the play. He also mentions
an ape, and eventually Titania will fall in love with an ass.

Demetrius and Helena pass through the glade. Oberon makes himself invisible so that
he can watch and hear them: again, the fact of perception; Oberon will be there but
nobody will see him.

Demetrius harangues Helena, saying that he does not love her, does not want to see
her, and wishes that she would stop following him immediately. He curses Lysander
and Hermia, whom he is pursuing, hoping to prevent their marriage and slay Lysander.
Helena repeatedly declares her adoration for and loyalty to Demetrius “The more
you beat me, I will fawn on you…I am your spaniel…Only give me leave, to follow
you…” “What worser place can I beg in your love than to be used as your dog?”
Helena has a masochistic view of love, in other words, love as a suffering or
submission. She is willing to do anything, eve to die. They exit the grove, with Helena

2
White-and-purple flower: white related to purity and purple is the colour of the Cupid’s wings

3
Sleeper’s eyelids: in her eyes because it would affect her perception (love = perception)n and while she
sleeps because you cannot distinguish between reality and dream
following closely behind Demetrius, and Oberon materializes. Then, he declares that
before the night is out, Demetrius will be the one chasing Helena.

Act II, scene II

Robin appears, carrying the flower whose juice will serve as the love potion. Oberon
orders Robin to look for an Athenian youth being pursued by a lady (Demetrius and
Helena) and to put some of the juice on the disdainful youth’s eyelids, so that when he
wakes he will fall in love with the lady.

Titania falls asleep by the stream bank; Oberon creeps up on her and squeezes the
flower’s juice onto her eyelids, chanting a spell, so that Titania will fall in love with the
first creature she sees upon waking.

Lysander and Hermia wander into the glade. Lysander admits that he has forgotten the
way to his aunt’s house and says that they should sleep in the forest until morning, when
they can find their way by daylight. At some distance from each other, they fall asleep.

Robin enters, complaining that he has looked everywhere but cannot find an Athenian
youth, Demetrius, and pursuing lady, Helena. He is relieved when he finally happens
upon the sleeping forms of Lysander and Hermia. Assuming that they are the Athenians
of whom Oberon spoke, Robin spreads the potion on Lysander’s eyelids, and he
departs.

Simultaneously, Helena pursues Demetrius through the glade. He insults her again and
insists that she no longer follow him. Helena remains behind, bemoaning her unrequited
love. Then, she sees the sleeping Lysander and wakes him up. The potion takes effect,
and Lysander falls deeply in love with Helena. He begins to praise her beauty and to
declare his undying passion for her. Disbelieving, Helena reminds him that he loves
Hermia; he declares that Hermia is nothing to him. Helena believes that Lysander is
making fun of her, and she grows angry. She leaves in a huff, and Lysander follows
after her.

Hermia soon wakes and is shocked to find that Lysander is gone. She stumbles into
the woods to find him. She thinks that her dream was real (the only real dream in the
play). She feels unable to distinguish between dream and reality. She was dreaming but
her dream was a representation of the reality (Lysander has changed her feelings and
now is in love with Helena- symbol of the snake and the heart).

Act III, Scene I

The sleeping Titania wakes. When she sees Bottom, the flower juice on her eyelids
works its magic, and she falls deeply and instantly in love with the ass-headed weaver.
We can observe the obvious irony; the queen of fairies (a symbol of elegance and
beauty) is in love with an ass. She insists that he remain with her, embraces him, and
want him to continue singing. He takes these events in stride, having no notion that his
head has been replaced with that of an ass. Bottom answers with the voice of common
sense; there is no reason why she is in love with him, a low character. Although her
beauty, bottom does no realize that she is the queen of fairies. It is remarkable the
Titania’s phrase: “Don’t go, I love you…you come with me”; she never asks him if he
loves her…she does not care about that: idea of possession. Titania looks on him with
undisguised love as he follows her to her forest bower.

The end of the scene has a sexual tone. This part may be a rape scene of Bottom by
Titania “Lead him to my bower (vagina)…watery eye (some is going to lose its
virginity)…enforced chastity (against someone will)…tie up my love’s tongue”

Act III, Scene II

In another part of the forest, Puck tells Oberon about the predicament involving
Titania and Bottom.

Hermia enters the clearing with Demetrius. Puck is surprised to see the woman he saw
earlier with a different man from the one he enchanted. Oberon is surprised to see the
man he ordered Puck to enchant with a different woman. He realizes that a mistake has
been made and says that he and Puck will have to remedy it. Hermia presses Demetrius
about Lysander’s whereabouts, fearing that he is dead, but Demetrius does not know
where Lysander has gone. He lies down and falls asleep, and Hermia stalks away to find
Lysander.

When Hermia is gone, Oberon sends Puck to find Helena and squeezes the flower juice
onto Demetrius’s eyelids. Puck quickly returns, saying that Helena is close behind him.
Helena enters with Lysander still pledging his undying love to her. Still believing that
he is mocking her, Helena remains angry and hurt. The noise of their bickering wakes
Demetrius, who sees Helena and immediately falls in love with her. Demetrius joins
Lysander in declaring this love. Lysander argues that Demetrius does not really love
Helena; Demetrius argues that Lysander is truly in love with Hermia. Helena believes
that they are both mocking her and refuses to believe that either one loves her.

Hermia reenters, having heard Lysander from a distance. When she learns that her
beloved Lysander now claims to love Helena, as does Demetrius, she is appalled and
incredulous. Helena, who is likewise unable to fathom that both men could be in love
with her, assumes that Hermia is involved in the joke that she believes the men are
playing on her, and she chides Hermia furiously for treating their friendship so lightly.
Lysander and Demetrius are ready to fight one another for Helena’s love; as they lunge
at one another, Hermia holds Lysander back, provoking his scorn and disgust: “I will
shake thee from me like a serpent” (III.ii.262). Hermia begins to suspect that Helena has
somehow acted to steal Lysander’s love from her, and she surmises that, because she is
short and Helena is tall, Helena must have used her height to lure Lysander. She grows
furious with Helena and threatens to scratch out her eyes. Helena becomes afraid,
saying that Hermia was always much quicker than she to fight. Demetrius and Lysander
vow to protect Helena from Hermia, but they quickly become angry with each other and
storm off into the forest to have a duel. Helena runs away from Hermia, and Hermia,
reannouncing her amazement at the turn of events, departs.

Oberon dispatches Puck to prevent Lysander and Demetrius from fighting and says that
they must resolve this confusion by morning. Puck flies through the forest hurling
insults in the voices of both Lysander and Demetrius, confusing the would-be
combatants until they are hopelessly lost.
 Jacobean Drama (1567-1625)
The Jacobean era refers to the period in English and Scottish history that coincides with
the reign of James VI of Scotland. In literature, some of Shakespeare's most prominent
plays, including King Lear (1605), Macbeth (1606), and The Tempest (1610). Also
during this period were powerful works by John Webster, Thomas Middleton, John
Ford and Ben Jonson.
In Jacobean Drama, we can observe three different subgenres: Comedies, Revenge
Tragedies and Masques
1. Comedies: they are different from Elizabethan Comedies, there is an evolution: city
comedies. They took play in London, realistic seating. They comedies, criticises
elements of middle classes and the obsession about money, sex and power. There is a
didactic moral purpose. Show the teaching: “do not be like them or you will have
consequences, a punishment” There is a happy ending but for the rest of the characters
of the society. Some recognized Jacobean city comedies are:

Thomas Dekker: The Shoemaker’s Holiday

John Marston: The Malcontent
Thomas Middleton: A Chaste Maid in Cheapside
Ben Jonson: The Alchemist, Volpone

2. Tragedies: most of the Jacobean Tragedies were about revenge and they took place
out of England. It is the most successful dramatic genre of the time. The plays were
becoming more and more violent because audience enjoyed remaining wordless, in
shock. Jacobean tragedies were plays about the abomination of human beings,
brutality and horror, violence was not enough. Taboo elements were used: incest,
necrophilia…also the notion of sex and death together, in other words, the origin and
end of live. The plays showed how corrupted human beings are. Some recognized
Jacobean Revenge Tragedies are:

The Revenger’s Tragedy by Thomas Middleton

The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster
The Atheist’s Tragedy Cyril Tourneur
‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore by John Ford (1630)

3. Masques: a theatrical, entertainment just for the court. The element of the visual
spectacle was more important than the rest. Dancing, music, visual effects and rich
scenario were introduced. The Jacobean Masques were represented just once, they
were never repeated. Some recognized Jacobean Masques are:
Inigo Jones
Ben Jonson: Masque of Beauty (1608) and Masque of Blackness (1605)
 Restoration Drama (1642-1660)
The term “restoration” in Restoration drama refers to the return of the monarchy to England
after something more than a decade of Puritan rule. Theatre was illegal in England because
Charles I was a puritan; Theatre was a place of freedom and entertainment. For him, the theatre
was immoral, the fact of men dressed as women. At that time, theatre has had a big impact on
society and there were performed clandestine performances while Charles I ruled.
The monarchy was abolished and a republic called the Commonwealth of England was
declared. The monarchy was restored to Charles's son, Charles II, in 1660. Charles II opened
the theatres; while the republic, he was in exile in France and was impregnated by his culture.
Although the theatre was legalized, the kinds of plays were different: different audience,
fashion, etc.
Drama was going to be very liked to the English Court, financially but also legally. For a play to
be performed, there was required a special permission by the King. There were two companies
and playhouses (33before) in London:
 The King’s Company at Drury Lane under Thomas Killigrew
 The Duke’s Company at Lincoln’s Inn Fields under William D’Avenant
The industry was very expensive for two reasons:
a. The capacity of the theatre was smaller
b. They invested a lot of money in expensive elements like candles and artificial light
because the theatre was indoors.
For this reason, theatres had a limited audience, basically rich aristocratic groups of people.
The playwrights had to adapt the plays to the taste of that specific group of population. Now,
actors were well considered. For the first time, women were allowed to be actresses on the state
and Prostitutes were the first to accept to be actresses. Some of the most recognized ones were
Nell Gwyn, Moll Davis or Elisabeth Barry…they were a device to attract more people. Some
famous female playwrights are:
 Aphra Benn: The Forced Marriage, The Rover, The Lucky Chance, The Emperor of the
Moon.
 Susanna Centlivre: Busie Body, The Wonder, A Bold Stroke for a Wife
It has the same artificial same pattern; in a faraway exotic place a hero with
superhuman exaggerated virtues has to face one dilemma: the call of duty or
honour and the call of love or passion represented by the beautiful virtues of a
woman. In this dilemma; “live without honour or death with honour” the hero
cannot choose.
From our point of view, the language use is artificial, bombastic and
exaggerated, almost humoristic. The kind of verse used is heroic couples.
Restoration
Tragedy The plays represented the way aristocratic audience would like to be. The
society at Restoration, after a period of moral repression, was a society without
values. They question all the moral principles of the previous generation (for
example, marriage was not the consequence of love; marriage was a tool to
achieve money or social status). Some playwrights were:
William D’Avenant : “The Siege of Rhodes” (1662)
Roger Boyle: “Henry the Fifth”(1664)
Elkanah Settle: “The Empress of Morocco” (1673)
John Crowne: “The Destruction of Jerusalem” (1677)
John Dryden (1631-1700). Some of his most important works were:
”The Indian Queen” (1664)
“The Conquest of Granada” (1670)
“Aureng –Zebe” (1675)
“All for Love” (1678)
“The Spanish Friar” (1681)
Restoration
Comedy George Etherege:
- Love in a Tub (1664)
- She Would if She Could (1668)
- The Man of Mode (1676)
William Congreve:
- The Way of the World (1700)
John Dryden:
- Marriage a la Mode (1673)
William Wycherley :
- Love In a Wood (1671)
- The Gentleman Dancing Master (1671)
- The Plain Dealer (1676)
- The Country Wife (1675)

The country wife (1675)

China scene: (act 4, scene 3)…line 186 (enter Lady Fidget)
Lady Fidget wanted to buy some “China” but Horner says that he does not have more China. Sr.
Jaspar is the only character who understands “china” literally. Ironic is an important part of the
play that is continuously used. This device is used to describe this society……
Lady Fidget thinks that she is the only one who can enjoy Horner’s China but now she realizes
that he is offering it to another woman.
Setting: London with high aristocratic groups represents the idea of corruption; and the
countryside represents the idea of innocence.
The image of sophisticated and educated people is a fake image. Behind the surface of
sophisticated manners, there are selfish people who just think about themselves.
When you describe a character with just a particular feature or obsession: it has not a deep
psychological description, the character is more like an exaggerated, not real, a chiaroscurist.

Mrs Pinch wife: she is the innocent, candid country wife, the silly wife. She represents the
character natural innocent. She has a simple tone. She is not aware of many things. She was
fascinated by that elegant sophisticated man of London, she is not going to question the way he
treats her (at the beginning). She is not witty in words but in actions (very clever)she knows
how to improvise or act very quickly ex. when she was writing a letter for Horner she sings the
letter by Alicia and she invents the letter is from Alicia…why is she writing? If Horner rejects
her, her reputation will be ok.
She learns very quickly: she becomes sophisticated, she is corrupted by London, she is taken to
the dark side of her contact with London people. She is more intelligent that mr. p., he
undersides?? her. Prob the only not cliché chacter in the play. She has an evolution, she is not a
flat character.
What she pretending at the beginning? Who knows…
Act 4, scene 2: Mrs P is describing what is happening between her and Horner. She is not really
aware of what is happening. “He kissed me a hundred times…sister” Mr P pretends Mrs P is his
brother (she is dressed as a man).
She tells that to his husband with husband, (not aware of the fully meaning of that).
Principle: In the play, the adultery is considered a consequence of husband’s mistakes. If you
husband is not good enough, you can be unfaithful, you are not going to be punish, your
husband yes. (ex. Too jealous)
IN the play, it seem that the person who is responsible for unfaithfulness is not the wife, but the
husband
Alicia: she is different in many ways from the rest of the characters. 1st: she is not called by her
last name, her real name would be Mrs. Pinch wife (sister of P), a way of underline that she is
not defined by other people’s last name; she is defined by herself an independent characters. She
represent honesty, real values, she does not use reputation as a fake appearance. She is faithful
to her own particular values. She is the only character who tells the truth. The only female
character who is rejected because she is unfaithful (with Horner), but in fact she did not have
any relation with him; if you have values, you will be accused of something. Even if you tell the
truth; At the end, she is not punished. The happy ending of Alicia is the result of Mrs Pinch
wife’s lie with the letter; and even Alicia has to tell a lie at the end of the play. She says that
Margery didn’t want to have sex with Horner, it was only to punish her husband: lie.
The happy end comes of this two lies. A character who represent the truth, has a happy ending
because of the lie: it is impossible not to lie in London, a place lack of immorality.
Act 2, scene 1, line 224
She has promised Sparkish to marry her, for her to fulfil a promise is something very important;
even she does not love him. When she makes a promise, it is forever because she has values and
real honour. This is broken when Sparkish knows that Alicia was with Horner (not true) thanks
to the letter of Mrs. Pinch wife.
Irony: the only faithful character is rejected for being unfaithful
White lies are necessary; you do not have to be sincere all the time. You should be able to lie
properly, with a good purpose. S
Sparkish: he is blinded by his own lie. He admires himself so much; he is the opposite of Pinch
wife (insecure). He wants to show off, be admired, this is his hamartia: vanity, pride.
Act 3, scene 2, line 366
“showing my wife, is like to show fine clothes at a playhouse…”  I love to be envied. He
wants a wife that is loved my many people. But Mr Pinchwife thinks the opposite. Eventually,
they will both be
He cannot even consider that Alicia is going to be with someone who is not him. His narcissistic
view of himself makes that.
Honourable ladies: represent the image of honour, respectability, but it is just public surface.
Behind that they are unfaithful women, in a way, they are like Horner. These ladies pretend to
be respectable; they use a good reputation as a disguise.
The sin is not having sex with other men; it is that people know that you have had sex with
other men. They use reputation to do the (la otra cosa xd)
Line 97, Page 176, Act 5, Scene 4
“We, women use reputation to deceive the world” Appearance – reality. Reputation is a trick.
We behave the way men want us to behave. A man wants to see as shy, virtue women, but it is
just appearance.
Epiphany for Horner: he thought that he was deceiving the ladies but the ladies were also
deceiving him, they both are pretend to get what they want. Who is using whom? Horner is
using the ladies but in a way, is also the “victim” he also being deceived by the ladies.
For a moral point of view, they are both at the same level. They use different weapons
(impotent/virtues). Reputation is a mask for them and the same is not doing same, it is letting
people know that you are doing something.
You don’t get marriage for love, for other interest (social institution you can get money and
social position or appearance. But one exception: Alicia. Dif bet Alicia and the rest of the ladies,
she is still single.
The solution of many problems does not come from virtues, but from lies.
Compare of idea of marriage in MSND and the country wife.
 Eighteenth century drama
By the end of the 18th century, there is some time of decline n restoration tragedy and comedy.
We start to see some changes:
The decline of Restoration Drama: is losing the energy and the favour of the audience
1) Triteness or repetition of the same time of plays.
2) New group of peoples going to the playhouse (before aristocratic) and now we have the
incorporation of new social groups with different taste and sensibilities. They demand a
different kind of drama. Drama is closely related to audience. Playwrights had to adapt
the plays to the taste of the new audience that come from :
1. Middle classes: had a lot of money with activities related to commerce and
have free time to go to the theatre. Some of them uneducated people and have a
different taste. (New characters, before silly merchant, now intelligent
merchant)
The London merchant by George Lillo- The Conscious Lovers by Richard
Steele
2. Female audiences: an increasing number of women. Playwrighters had en
cuenta women sensibilities
The drummer by Joseph Addison – very close to the first proto-feminist ideas.
The most important genre in the 18th century is the sentimental comedy.
“It is the business of a comic poet to paint the vices and follies of humankind” William
Congreve---Intention to give an moral, didactic message.
“The business of plays is to recommend Virtue, and sicountenance Vice” Jeremy Collier (1698)
You cannot find a behaviour to be imitated.
Actors: we can see the continuation of R. drama: actors and actress become celebrities and very
famous, stars. People attend to the theatre not to see the play, but to see the actor.
Ex. David Garrick, Colley Cibber, Roger Kemble and Charles Kemble.

1st third of the Century (1700)

1. The sentimental comedy
2. Tragedy:
2.1 classical tragedy
2.2 Domestic Tragedy
3. Ironic/Parodic Drama
2nd third of the century (1750)
3rd third of the Century (1800)
 1st third of the Century (1700)
a. Sentimental comedies
Sentimental comedies are also called “weeping comedy” because they were written to make
people cry, not to sad things, but happy. Ex. The Conscious Lovers ***: first sentimental
comedy, it was imitated a lot because it was very successful. This play stablishes the features of
sentimental comedies.
“What the generous mind itself denies the secret care of providence supplies” -> behave in a
Christian moral way, and don’t worry because at the end everything will be sorted out, and
unexpected incident will happen and everything will be ok. A very explicit message.
- Absence of negative character. The only problem comes from some misunderstanding. But
there is no evil character; all the characters are rewarded at the end.
- Didactic lesson. Characters are examples to follow.
- Marriage is always the result of true love (not like Restoration Drama)
- No reference to explicit or implicit sex (plays written following Christian values)
- Sometimes they are very exaggerated especially the unexpected incidents at the end of the
play.
Other example is A Lady’s Last Stake
“…to entertain people with satisfaction with a sober and polite mirth”
“…my object in the play is to promote simplicity of mind, good nature, friendship and honour”
“…to attempt a comedy, which might be no improper entertain in a Christian commonwealth”

b. Tragedies
1. Classical Tragedies: Plays trying to imitate Shakespeare and Greek and Roman tragedies.
Very successful however from a literally point of view, not good
Ex: Jane Shore by Nicholas Rowe, Cato by J. Addison, Irene by Samuel Johnson
And Zara by Aaron Hill (trans. Voltaire)
2. Domestic Tragedies: the innovation.
Ex: the London Merchant or the History of George Barnwell by George Lillo. You
don’t have to be a king, queen to be the protagonist. And the the contemporary
London (domestic)
Try to write about something the audience will identify. Bring the conventions of
classic tragedies to everyday life.
The gamester by Edward Moore
c. Ironic/Parodic Drama
Plays making fun about almost everything. The critizies polittians, society..everything from
a very funny point of view.
The most successful: The Beggar’s Opera (1728) a parody of a pastoral. Instead of
sheppears, people in jail.
Henry Fielding: he started writing plays before novels.
The Tragedies of Tragedies, or the Life and Death of Tom Thumb, the Great (1731)
Tragedy of Cobent Graden (1732)
The Historical Register for the Year _(1736)
2.nd
All plays before be performed should be approved by the government, censorship-
Walopme ** The licensing Act (1737). This law disappeared in 1967
Crisis in English Drama: it was not easy to have their plays accepted.
He decided to write novels because of the licensing act- tom jones
David Garrick:
The clandestine Marriage 1766
Richard Cumberland: the west Indian 1771, the brothers 1769,

3rd part ot he century:

The laughing comedy:
Comedies in which some playwrights wanted to mix some elements of restoration comedies
and sentimental comedies. With the mixt of both (humor and didactic intention)
Oliver Goldsmith: the good natured man 1768, she stoops to conquer 1771 IMP,
Richard Brinsley Sheridan: the school for scandal 1771, the rival 1775, the critics 1779
 Nineteeth Century Drama
Gilbert and Sullivan
Most of their plays were represent in Savoy Operas. They underlined how silly were the
particular conventions of the time.
- HMS Pinafore: His Magikist Ship. Underlines how unqualified people are in control of the
royal navy. People get the position even if they do not deserve.
- The Mikado: the Mikado is a Japanese emperor. It took play in Japan. It criticized
Victorian model. To flirt is forbidden, to death  a critic. Take in Japan but talked about
contemporary London
- The Patient: parody of aestheticism
3.- Society Drama
The novels should be used to represent reality. Drama was aimed to described society in a
more realistic a truthful way. Ex: Henry Ibsen (A doll house). Social drama: people writing
about those social groups suffering: working class.
Society drama: high upper class. Normally ladies concerned about their place. Drama:
happiness vs respectability. Private (not happy) vs public dimension (social respectability).
For example one theme: marriage should be maintained at all costs?
A woman with a past: a respectable woman who years before, she made a mistake, she did
something not appropriate, and now this mistake appears and it threatening her and her
happiness (ex. Sex before or out marriage). That woman becomes the victim of her past.
Double standard: different consideration between woman and men. Social scandal: sex out of
marriage for women but nothing happens if a man does it. So, they criticize the Victorian strict
moral, those conventional views.
Authors:
- Arthur wing Pinero:

The second Mrs. Tanqueray

- Henry Arthur Jones:

The Case of Rebellious Susan

The liars

Oscar Wilde

He is one of the greatest writers in English Literature, in European and worldly recognized. He
was Irish like more playwrights. He was a celebrity at the time, larger than life. He live in a
exaggerated way, he was also famous for the things he did in his private life. He was an
amazing writer and person. He was homosexual and it was forbidden at that time, he was in
jail, he was in exile in Paris where he died. Aestheticism is a cultural movement; in terms of art,
art imitates life. According to many intellectual views, art should imitate life. Art (novel,
painting…) any kind of art should be a reflection of what is happening. Aestheticism is the
exactly opposite view, life imitates art. Art should be not limited life. Art should be use to
escape from reality, not to describe reality. Your idea should be not the result of reality. Reality
should imitate your idea. You should leave the life you want to life and not the life society
imposes you. You should not subordinate ideas to your life. Art something creating by men, not
natural. Those ideas are represented by aestheticism and Oscar Wilde.

He was a literary critic, he was a lot of criticism, also poetry (the profoundce??? ), short stories
for children, and novels (for ex. The picture of Dorian Grey), he also wrote drama.

Tragedies:

- The Duchess of Padua

- Salome

Comedies: the most important

- Lady Windermere’s Fan

- A woman of No Importance

Apparently they (comedies) are society drama but they are not. They are impregnated by the
wig of Oscar Wilde. They are parodies.

- An Ideal Husband: instead of a woman with a past, but in this case the woman is not the
victim, she is the villain. The husband is the victim of the past.

- The importance of Being Earnest

- The Importance of Being Earnest.

It is considered his masterpiece; It appears to be a comedy of manners, but it is not. In order to

consider a comedy of manners, this particular social group should be real. The king of character
you have in the play, it is not caricatures’, and they are beyond. The characters behave like
children. Values are upside down. According to Oscar Wilde, in order to understand the play,
we should treat trivial things in a series thing, while serious things are treated in a trivial thing.
That’s why it cannot be considered a play of manners. They are not real characters.

“The amount of women in London who flirt with his husbands is really scandal….”

“I haven’t seen her since her husband died. She looks…”

“The give people the chance to…”

You cannot take that literary. It is the way Wilde wants to break your expectations. Common
sense is broken, there is a distortion. The play should not be a description of real life. The
rejection of realism. All the characters accept this absurd view of life. For them, this is common
logic, the normal thing, that’s why they are not going to question.

“Style and not sincerity is the vital thing”

It is considered a Farce? Some few elements artificial plot, visual humour

Society drama? High class, revealed secrets at the end,

Society drama, melodrama, comedy of manners, self-parodies and farce elements; but in fact, it
is a mixture of different elements of all of them.

Structure: 3 acts.

The main purpose: simplicity and child innocent. Remarkable simplicity. By the end of act 1 “I
love scrams, they are the only thing that are take serious”…”Nobody ever does”

To be earnest is a fact of honour. It has a double meaning and duality during the whole play is
presented.