Drama (from the Greek drew, I act), is a class of writings which almost entirely consist of dialogue, persons being represented as acting and speaking, and the pieces being usually intended to be acted on a stage by parties assuming the characters of the respective persons.
Its two great branches are tragedy and comedy, the former, roughly speaking, melancholy in character, the latter cheerful. The origin of the drama must be sought for in the love of imitation, and dramatic performances of some kind are to be met with probably among all nations.
Dramatic compositions are found in the Old Testament, for example in Job and the Song of Solomon; and ancient India and China both developed a dramatic literature of their own.
The European drama bad its origin in Greece. Both forms, tragic and comic, took their rise in the celebrations of the Greek festivals of Dionysus (Bacchus), at which hymns and chants were sung by choruses in honour of the god, and the chorus continued to be a prominent feature of the old Greek drama. Greek comedy commenced about 580-560 BC with Susarion, but it was long in attaining regular form. Of the old Greek comedy the chief representatives were Oratinus, Eupolis, Pherecrates, and Aristophanes - the last the greatest.
The invention of tragedy is generally ascribed to Thespis about 530 BC, who was followed by Phrynichus. But the true creator of tragedy was Aeschylus, in whose works and those of Sophocles and Euripides it found its most perfect expression. Thespis had only one actor, who from time to time relieved the chorus by declamation. Aeschylus changed this representation into real action by making use of two actors in addition to the chorus. Aeschylus also introduced masks; and by means of a long gown and the cothurnus, or buskin, the lofty stature of the heroes was imitated. A third actor was first introduced by Sophocles. The accommodations for the spectators were improved, and machinery and scenery introduced. The theatres, which had been formerly built of wood, were now large stone erections, capable of containing the greater number of the citizens. The regular drama among the Romans was borrowed from the Greeks. Plautus and Terence were imitators of the Greek comedy, Livius Andronicus (240 BC) of the Greek tragedy. Of the Roman tragedy, the dramas of Seneca are the only specimens extant.
In most modern European countries the regular drama took its rise in the mysteries, miracle-plays, and moralities of the middle ages. In Italy, however, it began with a reproduction in Latin of classical models. The earliest tragedy in Italian is Trissino's Sofonisba (1502). Regular comedies in Italian were written by Ariosto, Aretino, Macchiavelli, and others; and to the same period (15th and 16th centuries) belongs the Italian Pastoral Drama, which sprung from the ancient idylls, and aimed at a fanciful delineation of Arcadian and mythological scenes. Among the pastoral dramatists of this period are Poliziano, Tasso, and Guarini. The pastorals gave birth to the opera, early masters of which, so far as it may be included in the poetic drama, are Zenoand Metastasio. The Italian drama waned in the 17th century, but in the 18th genuine comedy and classic tragedy were restored, the former by Goldoni, the latter by Alfieri. Monti, Manzoni, and Niccolini are among the later writers of tragedy.
The other European nations cultivated the dramatic art much later than the Italians. The English and Spaniards devoted their attention to it almost at the game time; the former reaching their acme in William Shakespeare, the latter in Lope de Vega and Calderon. The history of the English theatre and the drama is naturally divided into two parts, the first of which begins with the reign of Elizabeth I and ends with the reign of Charles I. The rapid developmentof the drama during the reign of Elizabeth I was entirely unhampered by foreign influence. Lyly, Peele, Greene, Marlowe, William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletchor, Chapman, Webster, Middleton, Marston, Ford,and Massinger are among the chief names connected with the brilliant period of the English drama.
During the Commonwealth the Puritans prohibited all kinds of plays, and the theatres were shut up for thirteen years. With Charles II the drama reappeared, and exhibited a licentiousness hardly equalled by that of any other Christian nation. Among the chief names belonging to this period are Dryden, Otway, Lee, Shadwell, Wycherley, and Etherege. From the close of the 17th to that of the 18th century British comedy was cultivated with much success by Cibber, Farquhar, Congreve, Sheridan, and others.
During the 19th century many writers have been conspicuous by their dramas. Among the chief of these may be noted Byron, Coleridge, Landor, Shelley, Maturin, Talfourd, Milman, Sir Henry Taylor, the first LordLytton, Knowles, R. H. Home, Arnold, Browning, Swinburne, and Tennyson. Among other 19th-century writers for the stage, who, however, may be called playwrights rather than dramatists, may be named, Douglas Jerrold, Tom Taylor, Charles Reade, Thomas Robertson, W. G. Wills, H. Byron, R. Buchanan, Dion Boucicault, W. S. Gilbert, J. M. Barrie, A. W. Pinero, H. A. Jones, etc.
The French drama was in a miserable state before Corncille (1606-84), who indeed is looked on as the founder of the drama in France. Racine, Moliere, Voltaire, and in later times Hugo, are some of the other distinguished French dramatists. Since about 1820 a new dramatic school has been formed in France, which, departing from the ancient strictness of what is called the classic, approaches more and more to the German or British, or what is called the romantic school. The establishment of this school formed part of the general reaction against the excessive adherence to classic models in literature, the leader in the movement being Victor Hugo. C. Delavigne marks the transition from the classical to the beginnings of the romantic school, and among the 19th century dramatists may be mentioned A. de Vigny, George Sand, A. de Musset, Merimee, Ponsard, Augier, Scribe, Dumas the Younger, and Sardou.
The German drama is of later birth than any thus far mentioned, and for a long time the Germans contented themselves with translations and adaptations from the French. Leasing was the first who, by word and deed, broke the French sway (1755), and he was succeeded by Schiller and Goethe, who rank as the greatest of the more modern dramatists. Prominent names in the German drama are Kotzebue, Korner, Schlegel, Tieck, Brentano, Grillparzer, Hebbel, Ludwig, Gutzkow, Freytag, Laube, Von Moser, etc.
The Dutch drama begins with the classical tragedies of Koster in the beginning of the 17th century, and reached its highest in Vondel (1587-1659). Holberg, Heiberg, Oehlenschlager, Ibsen, and Bjornson are the chief names connected with the Scandinavian drama.
The advent of moving pictures during the 20th century revolutionised drama, and introduced film or movies to the audience, with the USA quickly developing a reputation for film making based in Hollywood, and by the end of the 20th century the Indian city of Mumbai had become a leading center of Hindi language film making producing more films than even Hollywood. Research Drama
Anotnia Escobar y Mendoza was a Spanish casuist and Jesuit. He was born in 1589 and died in 1669. His principal works are Summula Casuum Conscientiae and several scriptural commentaries. He was severely criticised by Pascal, and the extreme laxity of his moral principles was ridiculed by Boileau, Moliere, and La Fontaine. Research Anotnia Escobar y Mendoza
Carlo Goldoni was an Italian dramatist. He was born in 1707 at Venice and died in 1793 at Paris. Early in life he showed a taste for theatrical representations, and, when scarcely eight years of age, he ventured to sketch a comedy, which excited the wonder of his relatives. His father, who was a physician, intended that his son should follow the medical profession. But Carlo Goldoni, dissatisfied with this study, obtained permission to study law in Venice. Soon after, however, a relative procured for him a place in the Papal college at the University of Pavia, from which he was expelled for writing scurrilous satires.
After his father's death he settled as an advocate in Venice, but shortly took to a wandering life with strolling players, until in 1736 he married the daughter of a notary and settled down in Venice. Here he first began to cultivate that department of dramatic poetry in which he was to excel; namely description of character and manners. In this he took Moliere, whom he began to study about this time, for his model. For five years he visited various cities of Italy, composing pieces for different theatrical companies, and for a time renewing his legal practice. In 1761 the Italian players invited him to Paris, where many of his pieces met with uncommon applause. He became reader and master of the Italian language to the daughters of Louis XV and received latterly a pension of 3600 livres. At the breaking out of the French Revolution the poet lost his pension, and the decree of the national convention of the 7th of January, 1793, restoring it and making up the arrears, found him already dead. His widow received the arrears and a pension for herself. Many of his numerous pieces still retain possession of the stage in his native country, and, in translations, of the stages of foreign countries. Research Carlo Goldoni
Charles Cowden Clarke was an English writer. He was born in 1787 at Enfield, Middlessex and died in 1877. He was one of the minor members of the Shelley, Keats, and LeighHunt group. His publications include his Hundred Wonders (1814), Adam the Gardener (1834), Shakespeare Characters (1863), and Moliere Characters (1865). He is best known, however, by the edition of Shakespeare which he annotated in conjunction with his wife, and by the Shakespeare Key (1879). Research Charles Clarke
Don Juan is the hero of a Spanish legend which seems to have had some historical basis in the history of a member of the noble family of Tenorio at Seville. According to the legend Don Juan was a libertine of the most reckless character. An attempt to seduce the daughter of a governor of Seville brought the indignant father and the profligate don into deadly conflict, in which the former was slain. Don Juan afterwards, in a spirit of wild mockery, goes to the grave of the murdered man and invites the statue of him erected there to a revel. To the terror of Don Juan the 'stony guest' actually appears at the table to bear him away to the infernal world.
The legend has furnished the subject for many dramas and operas. The most famous of the latter is Mozart's Don Giovanni, which has made the story familiar to everybody. Amongst the former are Burlador de Sevilla by Tellez, Don Juan ou Le Pestin de Pierre, by Moliere, and The Libertine by Shadwell. The Don Juan of Byron bears no relation to the old story but in name and in the libertine character of the hero. Research Don Juan
Etienne Arago was a French journalist. He was born in 1802 and died in 1892. The brother of Dominique Arago, he founded the journals La Reforme and Le Figaro. He was director of the Theatre du Vaudeville in 1829 and took part in the revolution of 1848. He was condemned to transportation in 1849; fled from France, but returned in 1859. He was mayor of Paris during the German war, and appointed archivist to the Ecole des Beaux Arts in 1878. He was the author of upwards of 100 dramas; La Vie de Moliere; Les Bleus et les Blancs, and other works. Research Etienne Arago
Jean Sylvain Bailly was a French astronomer and statesman. He was born in 1736 at Paris and died in 1793. After some youthful essays in verse he was induced by Lacaille to devote himself to astronomy, and on the death of the latter in 1753, being admitted to the Academy of Sciences, he published a reduction of Lacaille's observations on the zodiacal stars. In 1764 he competed ably but unsuccessfully for the Academy prize offered for an essay upon Jupiter's satellites, Lagrange being his opponent; and in 1771 he published a treatise on the light reflected by these satellites. In the meantime he had won distinction as a man of letters by his eulogiums on Pierre Corneille, Leibnitz, Moliere, and others; and the same qualities of style shown by these were maintained in his History of Astronomy (1775-87), his most extensive work. In 1784 the French Academy
elected him a member. The revolution drew him into public life. Paris chose him, May 12, 1789, first deputy of the tiers-etat, and in the assembly itself he was made first president, a post occupied by him on June the 20th 1789, in the session of the Tennis Court, when the deputies swore never to separate until they had given France a new constitution. As mayor of Paris his moderation and impartial enforcement of the law failed to commend themselves to the people, and his forcible suppression of mob violence on July the 17th, 1791, aroused a storm which led to his resignation and retreat to Nantes. In 1793 he attempted to join Laplace at Melun, but was recognized and sent to Paris, where he was condemned by the revolutionary tribunal, and executed on November the 12th. Research Jean Bailly
Jean Leon Gerome was a French painter and sculptor. He was born in 1824 at Vesoul and died in 1904. He went to Paris in 1841, and became a pupil of Paul Delaroche. In 1853 he travelled in the East. In 1855 the first of his great pictures. The Age of Augustus and the Birth of Christ, appeared, and four years later his picture of the Roman gladiators, Ave Csesar Moriturite salutant. In 1861 he exhibited his celebrated Phryne before her Judges. In 1863 he was appointed a professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Many of his pictures have been exhibited in London, and his works were long in great favour in England and the United States as well as in his native country. Besides those already mentioned the following are amongst the chief works of Gerome : Louis XIV and Moliere, Death of -Caesar The Plague at Marseilles, Kex Tibicen, L'Eminence Grise, and various scene's from Oriental Life. Jean Gerome received the Prussian order of the Red Eagle and was a commander of the legion of honour. Research Jean Gerome
William Powell Frith was an English artist. He was born in 1819 at Studley, near Ripon and died in 1909. After 1840, when he exhibited Malvolio before Olivia at the Royal Academy, he produced a great number of scenes from Shakespeare, Moliere, Dickens, Sterne, Goldsmith, etc, besides his immensely popular pictures, Coming of Age in the Olden Time (1849), Life at the Seaside (1854), The Derby Day (18S8), The Railway Station (1862), Before Dinner at Boswell's Lodgings (1868) The Private View at the Royal Academy (1881), etc. He was commissioned by queen Victoria to paint the marriage of the Prince of Wales. He was elected RA in 1852, and was a member of several foreign academies. Large engravings have been produced from a number of his pictures. In 1887-1888 he published his autobiography in three volumes. Research William Frith
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
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Abbreviations
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