34 EVOLUTIONARY PRINCIPLES 



At this point the allegorical elements implicit in the 

 Mediaeval Miracle assumed a leading part in the disintegra- 

 tion of the ancient structure. Moralities paved the way for 

 the dramatic analysis of character, which took a more definite 

 shape in Heywood's Interludes. JVIinor comic and realistic 

 motives, already detached in the subordinate scenes which 

 enlivened the Miracle, coalesced with this psychological form 

 of the nascent drama. Independent plays, partly historical, 

 partly tragic, on subjects connected with Biblical history, 

 such as 'King Darius' and 'Cambyses,' were prepared for 

 separate presentation. At the same time, two principal per- 

 sonages of the Miracle, Herod and the Devil, extended their 

 influence throughout the transitional phase upon which the 

 theatre then entered. 



We are able, by the help of documents, to set forth the 

 opportunities for secular dramatic representation to which 

 the custom of Miracle-playing led. Stages were erected in 

 the yards of inns. The halls of abbeys and great houses 

 welcomed companies of strolling actors. At last theatres 

 for the public arose in the suburbs of London ; they were 

 simple wooden structures, partly open to the air. The small 

 scale, and the beggarly equipment of these theatres need 

 to be insisted on, since the peculiar form of the English 

 Drama depended in no small measure on these external 

 circumstances. 



Resuming the points already mentioned, we find that 

 episodical farces, histories, and tragic pieces, together with 

 the specialised allegories called Moralities and Interludes, 

 usurped upon the colossal stationary fabric of the Miracle. 

 Miracle-plays continued to be represented at stated intervals. 

 But a new dramatic type had come into existence. To this 

 we give the name of the Romantic Drama. In its beginnings, 

 as its origin appeared to be casual, this type was undecided 

 and received but little attention from the cultivated classes. 

 Yet it was destined to survive many perils, to realise itself, 

 and to pass with astonishing speed to fixity in Marlowe, to 

 perfection in Shakespeare, to over-ripeness in Beaumont and 

 Fletcher, to decadence in Davenant. 



