Introducción a la Literatura Ingl. y Nort. Prof. Mariel R.

Amez

RESTORATION DRAMA
 Only 2 theatres were authorised audience restricted to nobility.
 Atmosphere at Court: artificiality, superficiality and corruption.
 Women started performing (often disinhibited) female parts daring and shocking.
 Middle classes, though growing in importance, were Puritan did not attend performances no
moderating influence.
 Plays were sophisticated, brilliant, witty (esp. in repartee) but low in morality.

Plays
Heroic Drama: unrealistic. Improbable story. Exotic setting. Rhetorical and artificial text. Characters
didn’t develop: representation of lofty virtues (heroine: purity; hero: courage and honour) E.g.: “The
Indian Queen”, “The Conquest of Granada” by Dryden.
Classical Tragedy: not popular
Comedy of Manners: commentary on manners rather than a representation of life  superficial.
Comic effect depended on unsuitability of behaviour. No didacticism (no critical attitude)  laughter
was the only aim. Stock characters: old husband – young wife; country squire in town; young man
about town who thinks himself irresistible but ends up being duped. Brilliant and successful as
drama; not high from a literary point of view. E.g.: Wycherley – Congreve – Farquhar

EIGHTEENTH – CENTURY DRAMA

 More theatres playing regularly more varied audiences managers had to cater for different
tastes.
 Importance of actors: plays adapted to suit them (in complete disrespect for authors)
 Authors not encouraged adaptations of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Jonson (usually altered beyond
recognition)
 Realism introduced in situations and character portrayal. Manners became less artificial. Plays
morally good but dramatically bad.
 Introduction of sentiment.
 Political Satire: 1737: Licensing Act (beginning of censorship): all plays had to be submitted to
the approval of the Lord Chamberlain (no play could attack the government)  Fielding turned
from drama to novels.

Plays
Domestic/Middle Class Drama/Tragedy: Middle-class themes and character. Appeal to pity for the
heroine. Sometimes no real catastrophe.
Sentimental Comedy: aimed at tears and pity, rather than laughter. Moralistic and didactic.
Presented manners that were becoming social problems (gambling, dwelling) so as to correct
them. Hero and Heroine patters of virtue. Villain allowed to repent and reform. E.g.: Lillo
Comedy of Manners: Last outstanding drama until virtually the end of the 19th century. Assault
against sentimental comedy. Continuing the tradition of the Restoration Comedy of Manners but
without shocking details. Not socially exclusive: drew its characters (more rounded) from different
social classes. Revival of pure comedy: their purpose was not didactic but entertainment.
E.g.: Goldsmith “She Stoops to Conquer”
Sheridan “The Rivals” “The School for Scandal”.
Comic Opera: a stage farce or comedy set to extensive music.