102 



DRAMA. 



Drtnu. ic. But classical simp):. * no farther in their 



*'"'.'' national drama, than to the more arrangement 



Their language, their (I their manners, (we 



may, without partiality. .. exquisite touches 



of nature in liacine,) have an exceedingly forced and 

 artificial air. Their eloquence is rhetorical and decla- 

 matory. Their passions evaporate in description ; and 

 tin- limitation of poetical language to a certain range of 

 expression*, out of which Ikt sustained style cannot 

 wander, gives a monotony still farther increased by the 

 incessant clank of its rhyme. We cannot, however, but 

 repeat, with deference to the name of liacine, that, un- 

 der all the disadvantages with which he laboured, love 

 speaks in his pages with a sweetness and grace that is 

 always enchanting. 



French co- It would be injustice to the genius of France to leave 

 unnoticed the pre-eminence of her comic muse. Three 

 nations of modern Europe may dispute the palm of 



comedy Spain for comedies of intrigue. France and 



England for those of character. Frequently, perhaps 

 generally, all French and English comedies have a full 

 mixture both of intrigue and portraiture of character ; 

 but in that of Spain, the fonner evidently prevails ; 

 whereas, when we come to ask in what consists the ex- 

 quisite proof of Shakespeare's or Moliere's comic powers, 

 we should say, that it is not in contriving a plot, but 

 in displaying the picture of a Falstaffor of a 'IVrtuffe. * 

 The love of comparison may induce us to ask, whether 

 our great compatriot Shakespeare, or the Frenchman, 

 has best succeeded in the portraiture of comic charac- 

 ter? This question we presume to suggest, not to 

 solve. The question may be suggested, for it is not a 

 comparison of the portraiture of national manners, but 

 of human nature taken at large. This merit belongs in 

 common both to Shakespeare and Molicre. Falstaft'is 

 a man comprising the whole world of wit, humour, and 

 laughable vice within himself. The Tartuffeand Avare 

 of Moliere, are respectively the consummate portraitures 

 of knavery and avarice, in their most amusing shapes. 

 It is perhaps comparing excellence of different kinds, 

 rather than of different degrees. But the latter, viz. 

 Moliere's picture of character, is ..n.ilo^ous to what 

 painters would call the hard style ; and if humour be 

 the test of comedy, we might with some hesitation pro- 

 nounce Falstaff to be the more exquisitely comic. The 

 characters of Moliere, however, have the undoubted su- 

 perior merit of being more defined, and less ambiguous 

 than that of Shakespeare's. An essay of no small in- 

 genuity has been written, to prove that Falstaff is really 

 not intended by Shakespeare to be held up as a coward ; 

 and it is impossible to read that essay without entertain- 

 ing some doubts upon the subject. But no stretch of 

 human ingenuity could make us sceptical, for a mo- 

 ment, as to the intention of Moliere, with respect to his 

 strong comic characters ; and, indeed, when we reflect 

 upon thc'Mrength of Moliere's drawing, we may well 

 pardon the hardness of his likenesses. The vices of 

 Falstaff, on the other hand, are like his fat form, sleek 

 and undeterminate. Moliere's villanies show, as it were, 

 the skeleton and anatomy of comic nature. One ma- 

 terial difference between the two authors is, that Shake- 



speare makes his \illain laugh 



licre's are wholly t! ^ - - ' 



The drama of Germany is the in . iao f 



great European dramas, and can hardly be said to have Germany. 



assumed to itself a definite char'". :.-r. Hie first 

 rate auth. ver, such as Lcssing, Schiller: < 



and Werner, have set nt total defiance Uie principles of 

 what is called the classic system of t raged v. German 

 tragedy belongs to the romantic school ; but its romance 

 and enthusiasm are unlike that of the Sp.nni-h drama, 

 which is sombroiis and melancholic. An air of wild- 

 ness reigns in its sentiments and charactir^ : tl.c fami- 

 liar dialogue forms not an easy repose to its higher 

 parts, and terror and pathos are pushed to the excess of 

 horror and agency. So general a remark should not, 

 perhaps, be risked, without some qualification. But 

 from the further consideration of the German drama we 

 arc induced to abstain, by the increasing popularity of 

 a work upon the subject, that of Madame de Stael, which 

 must have already communicated to most of our readers 

 an interesting and copious view of it. The eloquence 

 of that authoress may probably inspire a higher idea 

 of German dramatic genius, than a perusal of the 

 dramas themselves could have excited ; for every sub- 

 ject on which she writes seems to borrow a reflected . 

 lustre, irom the fire of her enthusiasm. The distinct 

 and able ai'alysis, however, which she has gi\cn> of 

 separate chef d'ouvrcs, will be sudicient to guide a cir- 

 cumspect reader from pai-ticipating even in the gene- 

 rous fault of her partiality. 



The earliest dramatic entertainments exhibited inHramaof 

 England, as well :is in every other part of Europe, v ere England. 

 of a religious kind. Of those religious mysteries, 

 enough has been already said, to give an idea of their 

 general subjects and contents ; and we have already 

 mentioned the probable theory of Voltaire, which traces 

 the origin to Constantinople. These religious dramas 

 were usually represented in or near churches. In se- 

 veral of our old scriptural plays, says Mr Warton, we 

 see some of the scenes directed to be represented cum 

 cantu ct orgnnis, a common rubric in a missal. That 



1 ccause they were represented in a church, where 

 the choir assisted. As the mysteries, or miracle-plays, 

 frequently required the introduction of allegorical cha- 

 racters, such as Charity, Sin, Death, Hope, Faith, or 

 the like, and as the common poetry of the times, espe- 

 cially among the French, began to deal much in alle- 

 gory, at length the plays were formed, consisting en- 

 tirely of such personifications. The .mirade-plays or 

 mysteries, were totally destitute oj' invention and plan. 

 They tamely represented stories, according to the letter 

 of the scripture or the respective legend. (The strokes 

 of buffoonery were alone original. ) But the moralities 

 were dawnings of the dramatic art, and have In en 

 called the day-dreams of the drama. They contain some 

 rudiments of a plot, and even attempt to delineate man- 

 ners. From hence the gradual transition to real histo- 

 rical personages was natural and obvious. Dr Percy, 

 in his account of the F.nglish stage, has given an ana- 

 lysis of two ancient moralities, entitled Kreri/ Man, and 

 Luily Juvcntus, from which a perfect notion of this 



Ai a genera] position, the superiority of plays of character over tlioso <it" plot or intrigue may be asserted ; at the umc time, exquisite 

 invention of intrigue in a gift of genius which should not be under-rated ; and though we hesitate not to consider tin Spanish drama as de- 

 ficient in character-painting, yet CuhUron, the Shakckfiearc of Spain, gives such spirituality to his plot, and makes the incidents which 

 excite a breathleu expectation, and a gay convulsion . I 1 1 . , unosiiy in their transition, so much connection with the character of the pcr- 

 wnafes, that we sometimes may fairly admire him as a painter of character, through the medium of incident*. An exquisite instance of 

 Calderon's comic powers, w hi El Secrcton V'oza, UK Ij of intrigue that ever the world witnessed- - of intrigue, how- 



ever, in Which there it much mixture 



