DRAMA; DRAMATIC L1TERATTKK. 



DRAMA; DRAMATIC LITERATURE. 



bat the ordinary drama itself was no longer tolerated except under the 

 romantic garb, sad UM apankh Mbool beaam* for time the modal 



At the miie time the public continual their favour to a species of 

 oonwly, or rather comic recitation, which in Italr Mem* to have boon 

 in all times peculiarly national This WM called the commalia a 

 ogpeffo or etmmtdi* dtif ortr. It I^-HI"**^ of the mere outline of a 

 dramatic composition, wherein the parti very slightly aketched were 

 assigned to the smnl psrformers, who wore to fill them up extempo- 

 rarily. The** sketches were called trtxarj, trom their containing 

 merely the argument of each aoene : those of the comedian Klaminio 

 Soala were particularly celebrated. Some of theee imjtroriiatori, 

 specially those who appeared in the standing maaka of Arleochlnu, 

 PanUlixw, PuncineUa, At., displayed a liveliness of humour which, in 

 spite nf the great mass of empty buffoonery by which they were 

 accompanied, made this kind uf performance long continue to be well 

 received by the Italian*, until the more general cultivation given to 

 the higher dramatic department*, and the general advance of social 

 refinement, oauaed the improvisatory maaka to be finally abandoned to 

 Hwpapalaea, 



The taak of claaridiing the musical drama wag undertaken first by 

 Apcwtolo Zeno. and afterwards, with more success, by the Abate 

 MetMtanio. [Ztvi (Apodolo Zcno), and METASTASIO, in Bioci. Div.] 

 They were both of the FVench school, though Metastasio borrowed 

 much of hU intrigue from the Spanish dramatists, especially from 

 Calderon," but failed to imp.irt the spirit. Goldoni, about 1 750, began, 

 to produce at Venice his c< :tned generally on the I 



models [UOLDOXI, in Bioo. Div.], and displayed such abundant nature 

 anil fertility in jiaintin.; the manners anil the follies of his own age 

 and country, that at length he brought the comedy of rhnraetcr into 

 vogue, to the discredit both of the improvisatory farce and tl 

 drama His first successes, however, received a severe check. The 

 injury sustained by the masked and improvisatory comedy, for which 

 the company of Sacchi in Venice had the highest talents, was one of 

 the causes that led to the production, at this period, of the fantastic 

 dramas of Qoni. [Oozzi, COUNT CARLO, in Bioo. Div.] Those are 

 ftury tales in a dramatic form, in which, however, along with thu 

 wonderful, versified, and serious part, tikis author introduced the whole 

 of the masks, and allowed them the most unrestrained development, 

 and the extravagant caricature of the Italian masks formed an admi- 

 rable contrast to the wild wonders of the fairy tile. 



In the latter period of the last century, Alfieri opened a new sera of 

 Italian tragedy. [Al-FiEiu, in I'.ioi,. Div.] He adhered indeed to the 

 established classic school, took his subjects chiefly from ancient story, 

 and was a strict observer of the unities. Since his time MONTI and 

 M.vx/uM are the only names that require to be mentioned among 

 dramatic writers. 



S/Mnitft Dfiima. In Spain, as elsewhere, it was the church that 

 gave birth to the modern drama ; but this remarkable, circum^ 

 peculiar to Spain, that while in the other great nations of Europe the 

 mature development of the drama detached it wholly from the 

 of religion, in the peninsula, on the contrary, the great 

 geniuses constantly devoted a large portion of their efforts to religious 

 compositions for ecclesiastical purposes ; and the most perfect of all 

 the Spanish theatrical poets made such con: i.U favourite 



occupation. Owing to this very ntriking peculiarity of the Spanish 



i which also will l>c indicated Mow, v. 



. notice of the spiritual plays of the Spaniards until we come to 

 particularise the several upeciea of their dramatic productions as exlii- 

 Utod in the most advanced period of their theatre. 



The earliest performance that can strictly be called theatrical of 

 which we find any mention in the Spanish annals, is that exhibited in 

 1414 at the coronation festival of Ferdinand the Good, king of Arragon. 

 It was from the. pen of the Marquis de Villeua, a man who possessing 

 intellectual acquirements prodigious for the time iu which he lived, 

 marched boldly, as a writer, in advance of his age and nation so 

 boldly, indeed, that all his writings were burned after his death, and 

 this piece among them, so that its very title lia-s perish. 

 learn that it was an allegorical play, wherein figured the personages of 

 Justice, Peace, Truth, and Clemency ; so that it seems to have belonged 

 class of n-iru/i/iM in vogue for a while iu the infancy of the 

 Spanish drama, and which Cervantes afterwards revived. Shortly after 

 this attempt of Villcna, his friend, the Marquis de SantUlana, a man 

 of usually exUsuive knowledge, and of equal freedom Initli of thought 

 and pen, dramatised, under the title of 'Comodiete de i 

 the incident* of a naval action which took place in 1435, near the 

 island of I'onxa, between the Genoese and the Arragonese, and in 

 the latter were defeated. This piece was n. M or was 



the author's works ; lU title, quoted in hi* : 



Was all that was known of it until Sr. Ma i t ]{,,sa about 



thirty years ago discovered it among the n, : Royal 



i 'ni". This interesting relic of the eai 



dramatic genius of Spain exhibits remarkable skill in the handling of 

 an historical occurrence, as well as great beauty of plot, dialogue, and 

 versification. 



It was near the close i century that a sort of theatre was 



lift established in Castile. The earliest dramatic atteu.pt in thin 



1 1 was made by Juan de la Encina, who excelled 



nd whose numerous works form a canciouero of 



themselves. After extending the field of religious representations 

 by composing for exhibition on festival days a number of autos, 

 wherein we find not mere paraphrase* of Scripture, but conceptions 

 of the poet's own, together with a certain dignity of ncti* 

 language, he formed the project of carrying the stage beyond tb 

 of the church With this view he composed some small pastoral 

 pieces, which he denominated eclogues. These pieces, in wl. 

 himself enacted the principal parts, were first exhibited at the houses 



f the Admiral of Castile and the Duchess del Infantado. A- 

 name indicates, they consisted of nothing more than a dialogue 

 between two or more shepherds. The author, imitating Virgil, used 

 this expedient in the first instance to celebrate, by means of allusion, 

 some particular event, such as the conclusion of a peace, or the 

 of a prince : and next, he invented some short and simple action 

 wherein he brought into play the passions of his interlocutors them- 

 selves. These little pieces, interrupted by dances and ending with 

 songs (villancicos) usually contained also some farcical scenes ; 

 they may be said to have comprised at once the 

 comedy, the ballet, and the vaudeville ; and they have in them much 

 grace and wit, as well as nature and liveliness. The first performance 

 of these pastoral comedies took place in the year 1492, so m> 'inoralile in 

 the Spanish annals as being that of the conquest of Granada and the 

 discovery of the New World. 



it the same time appeared the famous ' Celestina,' begun by 

 Rodrigo Cota and finished by Fernando Rojas de Montalvin. 'I 

 entitled a " tragicomedy, " it was never performed, nor was it capable 

 of being so, as it was in reality but a tale told in dialogue. Yet the 

 singular merit of this truly primitive composition, which went through 

 several editions, and was translated into almost every K:: 

 language, contributed much to the advancement of the stage by 

 furnishing a genuine model of dramatic diction. 



It was in the beginning of the 16th century that to these various 

 attempts succeeded the first regular Spanish dramas, but, through a 

 singular concurrence of circumstances, they appeared out of 

 Bartolome de Torres-Naharro, long a captive in the hands of the 

 Moors, and residing at Rome after his redemption, there composed 

 some comedies in his native language, and got them performed at the 

 tasteful and voluptuous court of Leo X. In the compositions of 

 Torres-Naharro, though little known, and unjustly depreciated by 

 Signorulli in bin ' Historia Critica del Teati i,' there is much happiness 

 of invention, well-drawn character, and spirited dialogue ; they have 

 nlxo the licentious tone of the Italian comedies of that period, and 

 contain some strokes of a malicious boldness peculiar to the author, 

 who, though a priest, and living at the pontifical court, composed 

 satires against the church such as Luther himself might have .1 

 Ho also invented the introi'to, or prologue, and gave to the < 

 name which they have ever since borne, of jofnadas, that is, jo 

 or stages, alluding to the pauses or resting-places for the actor and the 

 spectator. 



No sooner did Naharro's pieces find their way to Sjxun : 

 than they were proscribed by the Inquisition, so watchful to extir- 

 pate every trace of Protestantism. The like $ upon those 

 written shortly after in Germany by the author 



i.' Cristoval de Costillcjo, secretary to tli milian 



and Ferdinand. These Litter pieces, which it wa- not den 

 to publish among the author's works when the prohibition wa- 

 offin 1573, butwli own to have been of the satiric 



licentious class, are entirely lost. So that the Spanish stage pi 

 the singular phenomenon of having really had two infancies. The 

 first attempts in regular dramatic composition being suppressed b\ the 

 formidable authority above-mentioned, found no imititors, an; 

 seem to < omplctoly forgotten, for it was a play of Ariosto's 



that was exhibited at the marriage of an infanta iu 154S 

 classical scholars, indeed, as Villal. 



Simon de Abril, strove to bring forward the ancieuU as dramatic 

 modi Is, by translating Hautus, Terence, and Aristophanes ; but tin ir 

 works were still less adapted to take possession of the national mind. 

 So that while, of those dramatic productions which Spain 

 possessed, one part lay hidden in the libraries of a few ot 

 and the other buried in the archives of the inquisition, the people 

 were abandoned to the gross merriment of the jugglers and buffoons. 

 Hence it is that I'.outerwek, Sisuioudi, and al; 



other foreign critic, apparently ignorant even of the names of tli 



tic writetrt of Spain, make no mention of them, but fix the 

 middle of the 1 iJth century :us the period of the earliest origin of the 

 Swinish drama. 



The founder of the truly national and popular theatre of Spain wag 



I. ope de Ullrda, of Seville, who quit V of agoldb. 



a company of .-(rollers, of whom he shorth 



according to the Spanish expression, the autor. This title, dn IM 1, not 



from the Latin auclur, but fi 



that time given to mie who composed anil recited pieces, and 



retained to n.'nily the manager of a company of comedian-. I. opt de 



Hueda united thu two kinds of talent neceiuiary to an mil ., of that 



. hud prodigious success; was unanimously declared to be both 

 a great poet and a great performer ; and the grandees of the time 

 crowded t > the diversion which his exhibitions afforded them from the 



. gravity of the. palace of Philip II. The few of his plays, 



