DRAMA

Btudy of the dramatic poems which we po e , but by the rules of criticism delivered to us by Greek authors, and especially by Aristotle. From these it appears that the parts or characteristics of a tragedy, e entially divided, were held to be the fable or story, the manners, the style, the sentiment, the music, and the diction: that the fable should consist of an entire action, namely, one principal event and the auxiliary events; and that the proper emotions to be excited by the action are terror and pity: that its parts of quantity, according to the division of form, were the prologue, being that part of the tragedy which precedes the parode or first entry of the chorus; the episode, being all those several parts which are included between the several choral odes; the exode, the part which follows the last choral ode; and the chorus itself, or the intervening odes, which also admit of various subdivisions. Formally considered, the arrangement of the old comedy nearly resembled that of tragedy; in the new, the chorus was altogether omitted. The unity of action was a remarkable characteristic of the Greek drama, although widely different from that peculiar quality which modern critics have characterized by the name: it should rather be termed unity of subject, inasmuch as in many of our remaining tragedies, and especially those of ^schylus, there is little or no trace of what we term a plot, i. e. a main incident at which we arrive through subordinate incidents tending to its accomplishment. The unity of time, — viz. that the imaginary duration of the action should not exceed twenty-four hours; and that of place,— namely, that the scene in which the events occur should be the same throughout, — are inventions of French critics, not warranted by the remains of Greek art, in which both are not unfrequently violated; but, although not rules of Grecian discovery, they are easily rendered applicable to the simple and severe form of the Greek tragedy. In considering the theatrical effect of the Greek drama, we must remember that the tragedies were originally religious solemnities; the theatre, a vast building open at the top, calculated for the accommodation of several you sand spectators; the scene, . proportionally large. Dramatic representations were, at Athens, the offering of wealthy men to the people: he who contributed the expenses of the entertainment was said, li(ra.yiiv, to bring in the play; the poet who produced it, hi^xa-xuv, to teach it, t. e. teach the actors to perform it. A complete representation consisted of four pieces by the same author; a trilogy, or three tragedies, narrating succe ive events in the same series of mjrthological tradition; and a fourth piece, termed a satyric drama, of which the chorus consisted^of satyrs, and the mythological subject was treated in a manner approaching to burlesque. The features of the actors were exaggerated by masks, their height increased by dre , their powers of voice aided by acoustic contrivances, in order to suit the colo al dimensions of the theatre. The whole vocal part was rhythmical; the choral odes were sung, and accompanied by the choric dance, in which the actors composing the chorus took part, subjected to very peculiar rules: the narrative part of the performance was spoken in a peculiar modulated voice, resembling probably the recitative of the modern opera. As to the metrical character of the ancient Greek drama, the metre used in the dialogue was the iambic trimeter, varied occasionally with the an apses tic and trochaic, chiefly where the other. dram at is personae conversed with the chorus, or the members of the chorus itself took part in the action; the choral odes were composed in a great and very artificial variety of metre. Latin Drama — The early Etruscans po e ed dramatic representations, whence the Romans derived some peculiar national entertainments (ieeMiMi); but.with this slight exception, their drama consisted merely in the first instance of translations, afterwards of close imitations of the Greek. Accius and Pacuvius transferred to the Roman stage the tragedy of the three Attic poets; Plautus and Terence the new comedy of Menander. Of these writers Terence is the only one who appears to have deviated, and that slightly, into original invention: in the degeneracy of the Roman empire even this adscititious taste ceased to be cultivated, and the theatres were entirely occupied by farcical buffoonery, or shows and sports on a gigantic scale. Among an infinite variety of works which treat of the cla ical drama, may be cited the first volume of Schlegel on Dramatic Art and Literature. A catalogue of them will be found at the end of the 4th edition of the Theatre of the Greeks, Cambridge, 1836. See also ^c?m.^e«.,vol. 49. Chinese Drama — Before proceeding to the dramatic art of modem Europe, derived as it is from that of Greece, two oriental nations may be noticed which po e a national drama of their own. In China, theatrical entertainments form one of the most popular amusements, and theatrical writing has been cultivated from a very early period. The Chinese drama comprises pieces which we should term both tragical and historical plays, tragicomedies, and comedies both of intrigue and of manners; tojfether with abundance of low, pantomimic, and farcical representations. In their regular drama, however, there 362 appears to be le of what we should term connected than of succe ive action: many of them are, as it were, dramatized memoirs or biographies of individuals, real or fictitious; the representation of some is said to require ten days. It is remarkable that, of all national dramas, the Chinese appears to be the only one in which we can trace no original connection with religious observance. {Morrison, Horce Linicce; A bel Be mics at j Memoirs of the Acad, des Inscriptions, .) Hindoo Drama — The Hindoo plays which now exist are written for the most part in Sanscrit, although not a living language at the period when they were composed; mixed, however, with other dialects, which, according to Hindoo critics, are respectively appropriate to different parts of a play. They seem to have been appropriated to the entertainment of learned persons, and acted only on solemn occasions. They are few in number; about sixty only are known: some containing long mythological narratives, others much complicated incident of a domestic character, in a strain of tragedy alternating with comedy, like the romantic drama of modern Europe. The dramatic art appears to have flourished in India during a period of several ages, ending about the 14th or 15th centuries of our era. Dramatic criticism was also much cultivated; and the most minute and artificial rules are laid down by Hindoo commentators as to the conduct of a piece, the requisite ethics, the formal arrangement, and the characters which must be introduced. The Hindoo drama is so widely different from the Greek or Chinese, that it must be regarded, like them, as a spontaneous offspring of national genius. {Wilson's Specimens of the Theatre of the Hindoos, 2 vols. 8vo. 1835.) Modern European Drama For many centuries after the downfall of the Roman empire, the dramatic art appears to have been entirely lost. Its first revival in the middle ages was owing to the solemnities of the church, into which dramatic interludes were introduced in various countries of western Europe, representing at first events in biblical history or the lives of the saints, and afterwards intermingled with allegorical fantasies. {See Mysteries, Moralities.) The framers of these early pieces were monks, and the monks were the only preservers of cla ical learning; but whether we can infer from these facts that the idea of these rude representations was suggested or their details improved by cla ical a ociations, it is not easy to pronounce. At the period of the revival of literature, however, the dramatic art was called nearly at once into life in the four principal countries of western Europe; Italy, France, Spain, and England. In the two first of these countries it arose simply cla ical, and unmixed with any original conceptions, or with the sentiments and fashions of the middle ages; in the two last it jjartook largely of both, and was also immediately derived from the mysteries and moralities above mentioned: hence, in a historical view, arose the distinction, so elaborately explained by modern critics, between the cla ical and romantic drama. Italian Drama — Originated in close imitation of cla ical models. The Sofonisba of Tri ino (1515) is not absolutely the oldest Italian play, but the first which served as a model for subsequent composers. Ruc ell a i and many others followed in the same track; Bibbiena, Machiavel, Ariosto, as clo.sely imitated the model of the Terentian comedy. The pastoral drama of the 16th century, of which Ta o and Guarini were the most celebrated writers, furnished the first novelty in this branch of literature; but these are rather poetical than dramatical compositions. The trne national theatre of Italy arose in the 17th century, in the musical drama (opera), to which Metastasio, early in the 18th, communicated all the charms of poetry; but since the period of that writer, the operatic part of the dramatic art has again been wholly disconnected from the literary, and the words only serve as vehicles for the music. While the higher cla es were devoted to the opera, the lower found their national amusement in the commedie dell' arte; comedies performed by masqued characters, which gradually became fixed in the well-known persons of Harlequin, Pantaloon, Brig hell a, ., who improvised their parts: Gold on i, in the middle of the 18th century, succeeding in establishing a regular comic drama in po e ion of the stage; while his rival, Gaspare Gozzi, took up the commedie dell' arte as models, and founded upon them a series of amusing extravagances. But since the period of these two spirited write is comedy has fallen almost completely into disrepute. At the end of the 18th century Alfieri, a bold and severe genius, produced tragedies in which the ancient cla ical form (with the exception of the chorus) was again reverted to, instead of the French imitations of it which had long been current in Italy as well as the rest of Europe; and several dramatic poets have since appeared, who have adopted the same model. {Ginguene, Litter at ure It a lier me; Tiraboschi; Walker on Italian Tragedy, 1799; On the Revival of the Drama in Italy, 1805; Hiccoloni, Hist, of the Ital. Theatre.) French Drama The early French tragic writers, from the beginning of the 16th century down to Corneille in the [s. 375]