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The Types of English Literature

EDITED BY

WILLIAM ALLAN NEILSON

TRAGEDY

BY

ASHLEY H. THORNDIKE




TRAGEDY

BY ASHLEY H. THORNDIKE

PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
AUTHOR OF "THE INFLUENCE OF BEAUMONT
AND FLETCHER ON SHAKSPERE"

BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge


COPYRIGHT 1908 BY ASHLEY H. THORNDIKE

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO REPRODUCE
THIS BOOK OR PARTS THEREOF IN ANY FORM

_Published May 1908_

The Riverside Press
CAMBRIDGE. MASSACHUSETTS
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

Transcriber's Note: Underscores indicate italics and tildes (~) indicate
bold in this text.


PREFACE


This book attempts to trace the course of English tragedy from its
beginnings to the middle of the nineteenth century, and to indicate the
part which it has played in the history both of the theatre and of
literature. All tragedies of the sixteenth century are noticed, because of
their historical interest and their close relationship to Shakespeare, but
after 1600 only representative plays have been considered. The aim of this
series has been kept in view, and the discussion, whether of individual
plays or of dramatic conditions, has been determined by their importance in
the study of a literary type. Tragedy in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries has attracted very little critical attention, and in those fields
the book is something of a pioneer. The Elizabethan drama, on the contrary,
has been the subject of a vast amount of antiquarian, biographical, and
literary research, without which such a treatment as I have attempted would
be almost impossible. In order, however, to keep the main purpose in view,
it has been necessary to omit nearly all notice of the processes of
research or the debates of criticism, and to give only what seem to me the
results. To indicate at every point my reliance on my own investigations or
my indebtedness to the researches of others would, indeed, necessitate
doubling the size of the book. Its readers will not require an apology for
its brevity, but I regret that I can offer only this inadequate
acknowledgment of the great assistance I have received not merely from the
studies mentioned in the Bibliographical Notes, but also from many others
that have directly or indirectly contributed to my discussion.

I am indebted to Dr. Ernest Bernbaum, who very kindly read chapters viii
and ix, and made a number of suggestions. I have also the pleasure of
expressing my great obligations to Professors Brander Matthews, Jefferson
B. Fletcher, and William A. Neilson, who have read both the manuscript and
the proof-sheets and given me the generous benefit of their most helpful
criticism.

A. H. T.

NEW YORK, March, 1908.




CONTENTS


CHAPTER I. DEFINITIONS                                     1

CHAPTER II. THE MEDIEVAL AND THE CLASSICAL INFLUENCES     21

CHAPTER III. THE BEGINNINGS OF TRAGEDY                    48

CHAPTER IV. MARLOWE AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES                77

CHAPTER V. SHAKESPEARE AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES            136

CHAPTER VI. SHAKESPEARE                                  181

CHAPTER VII. THE LATER ELIZABETHANS                      196

CHAPTER VIII. THE RESTORATION                            243

CHAPTER IX. THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY                       281

CHAPTER X. THE ROMANTIC MOVEMENT                         326

CHAPTER XI. CONCLUSION                                   366

      INDEX                                              379




TRAGEDY




CHAPTER I

DEFINITIONS


There is little difficulty in selecting the plays that should be included
in a history of English tragedy. Since the middle of the sixteenth century
there have always been plays commonly received as tragedies, and others so
closely resembling these that they require consideration in any
comprehensive study. How far these