The Growth of English Drama

covers of the Bible. Their characters were all provided by the familiar narrative. It is true that a few additions to the canonical list were admitted, such as Cain's ser

e real men, recognizable as akin to local types, but no more; one never knew anything of them beyond their simplicity or brutality. Meanwhile their superiors, clothed i

t Plays supplied these requirements, and one is tempted to suspect that in the latter part of their career there was some subversion of the relative positions of the two rival types of Miracle. But what was asked for was novelty. Both forms of the Miracle were hundreds of years old, and both had to suffer the same fate, of relegation to a secondary place in the Drama. In letting them pass from our

Human Being; his varying fortunes as he passed from childhood to old age supplied the incidents, and his ultimate destiny crowned the action. Around him were grouped virtues and vices, at his elbows were his good and his ba

e defeats and triumphs of the spirit of righteousness in man's soul. Nor had allegory yet died when Bunyan wrote, for all time, his story of the battling of Christian against his natural failings. After all, a Morality Play was only a dramatized version of an inferior Pilgrim's Progr

t to let his play run to well over three thousand lines, seeing that within this space he set forth the whole life of a man from the cradle to the grave and even beyond. But later writers were quick to see that this so-called particular theme was still a great deal too general, leaving only the broadest outlines available for characters and incidents. By omitting the stages of childhood and early manhood they could plunge at once into the last stage, where, beneath the shadow of imminent destiny, ev

ts of The Castell of Perseverance and Everyman than could be gathered from these general remarks. For a summary

Confession. At forty years of age we see him in the Castle of Constancy [or Perseverance], whither he has been brought by Confession, surrounded by the seven most excellent Virtues.... The castle is surrounded by the three Evil Powers and the Seven Deadly Sins, with the Devil at their head, and with foot and horse is closely besieged. Humanum Genus commends himself to his general, who died on the cross; but the Virtues valiantly defend the Castle; and Love and Patience and their sisters cast roses down on the besiegers, who are thereby beaten black and blue, and forced to retire. But Humanum Genus in the meantime has become an old man, and now yields to the seductions of Greed, who has succeeded in creeping up

Everyman i

ake this one. Goods (or Wealth) confesses that, as a matter of fact, his presence would only make things worse for Everyman, for love of riches is a sin. Finally Everyman seeks out poor forgotten Good-Deeds, only to find her bound fast by his sins. In this strait he turns to Knowledge, and under her guidance visits Confession, who prescribes a penance of self-chastisement. The administration of this has so liberating an effect on Good-Deeds

of what existed before-whereby the central figure is always before us, urged along from one act and one set of surroundings to another, towards a goal which is never lost sight of. Also there is the invention which provides for these two plays different plots, as well as some diversity of characters. The superiority of the shorter play-Everyman contains just over nine hundred lines-to th

Castell of

rying to secure the adherence of the juvenil

aungel, thi wor

lyst hym no

awyn to the wer

h caysere, ky

nde be hym

h me, styl

to the werd

thou scha

thou schal

pes aungel, tho

he coveyt w

n erthe and

ert here t

[38], be str

fadyth as fy

ryche is go

syttyth, bry

n any dy

ld wolde h

ok it ev

fynde in

ere me w

ies, and then H

m to folwe wet

stodye and g

ryche in

wolde my

in waty

to the werl

de that I

helpe, and t

wyche I

om Eve

as just met

ue frende, shewe

rsake the to

y of good

was well spok

I must nedes kno

o se you in o

wronged ye sha

e grounde be s

nowe before tha

ryly, Felaws

, by thy thankes

r grefe and

my herte shol

to tourne you

comforte whan y

I ten tyme

, I saye as I

be you a good

de you true

nd so ye sha

th, and tho

forsake the

need for a companion along

is mater in dede

lde take such

l, it sholde b

e me aferde

counsell here as

es wolde fere

y, ye sayd,

ver forsake, q

were to he

So I sayd

es be set a syde,

we toke suc

de we com

ever agayne, tyll

yth, than wyll n

these tydyn

dede, deth wa

by God that al

ere the m

that is lyv

go that lot

fader that

promysed othe

wote well I s

te ete and drynke a

women, the l

sake you whyle

me v

, therto ye

the, solas[4

e wyll so

company in my

aken part in such a conversation, and heard the gushing acquaintance of prosperous days excuse himself in the hour of trou

nge to the Interlude. Quite a

ve jotted for himself this reminder, 'Try human types.' So, at least, we may imagine him doing. The figures that occupy the stage of the old Morality are for the most part, like the two Angels, mere mouthpieces for pious or wicked counsels. Fellowship and his companions, on the other hand, are selected examples from well-known and clearly-defined classes of mankind. They are not more than that. All we know of Fellowship is his ready faculty for excusing himself when help is needed. He has no traits to distinguish him from others of his kind. If we describe to one another the men or women whom he recalls to our memory we find that the descriptions differ widely in all but the one common characteristic. In other words, he is a type. The step which brings us to the Interludes is the conversion of the type into an individual with special marks about him peculiar to himself. It is an ingenious suggestion, that the idea first found expression in an attempt to excite interest by adding to a character one or two of the peculiarities of a local celebrity (miser, prodigal, or beggar) known for the quality typified. If

but just as undeniably 'Virtues'. Each explains his nature to the audience before discovering the presence of Pity, but they quickly fall into a highly edifying conversation. Fortunately for us Contemplation and Perseverance have other engagements, which draw them away. Pity relapses into a corner and silence. Thereupon two men of a very different type take the boards. The first comer is Freewill, a careless,

ld have carried b

s each of them sho

me I was

never pr

mitten off, I can

, there is craft

man's face and

ings that was ne

s all lined w

arrates the incident with so much circumstantial deta

once I stall a h

im for to have

a baily me m

nd: then was I

r with that hor

old him it w

stolen him;

he, my broth

not excused m

ould have lad me

d him the hors

long mane, and

that such another

saw him, nor c

red him the

s gone, then w

not excused

hould have danc

aid he no more

, he pretended m

that morning wa

orse it was

at in my head I

dazzle so i

ight not

departed sho

ile, also in Almaine,' and many places more, even as far as 'the land of Rumbelow, three mile out of hell'. He is acquainted with the names of many vessels, of which 'the Anne of Fowey, the Star of Saltash, with the Jesus of Plymouth' are but a few. With something of a chuckle he adds that a fleet of these ships bound for Ireland with a crowded company of all the godly persons of England-'piteou

his dagger na

a true man, m

at he bear

ruggle, and m

rike him t

him into T

g charges against him, and finally they clap him in irons and leave him-Imagination being the ringleader throughout. Left alone once more Pity sings a lament over the wickedness of the times, whereof the doleful refrain is 'Worse was it never'. A ray of light in his affliction comes with the return of Contemplation and Perseverance, who, releasing him, send him off to fetch his persecutors back. Fortune is on their side, for scarcely has Pity gone when Freewill enters by himself with a wonderful account of his latest roguery-the robbing of a till-for the ears of his audience. Contemplation and Perseverance, stout enough of limb when

huff! who se

ation, full

t my hear

I perish? I

of his friend and stares wonderingly on perceiving him in his new dress. Now begins a second

ination, think wha

day He hang

ll His prec

rive His h

ake up with a c

Eve there d

hat devil! wha

, I was ten y

re fellows

e there to help

holp thee, or thou ha

y the mass, I

I never dra

many an ale

d accepts the guidance of Perseverance, Freewill transferring his allegiance to Contemp

led together in Newgate without money to pay for an upper room, how brazen-faced his lies were, how near he was to hanging, how ingenious were his excuses, and many other facts besides. We have seen him, too, as the ringleader in mischief and the arrantest rogue in the play.

for his ultimate fate. But what interest have we in Contemplation, Freewill and the rest, apart from what they say? No suggestion is thrown out at the beginning that two of the rogues are to be reclaimed: their fate concerns us not at all. The quarrel, and the ill-treatment of poor old Pity, are the merest by-play, with no importance whatsoever as a step in the evolution of a plot. Indeed it is open to question whether there is

till break out again from the sheer viciousness of the Vices. This instinctive hostility between Virtues and Vices supplies the groundwork of the Interludes. They dismiss Humankind from the stage. He was always a weak, oscillating sort of creature. Sound, forceful Abstractions and Types were wanted, which could be worked up into thoroughgoing rascals

tainly a later production than many Interludes which we omit here, notably Heywood's-illu

uous Living, who has already chidden him for his sins who now, after a long monologue or chant, is rewarded by Good Fame and Honour, the servants of God's Promise. On the departure of these Virtues, Newfangle returns, shortly followed by Ralph and Tom, penniless from a game of dice, and more than ever anxious for the property. This last proves to be no more than a beggar's bag, bottle and staff, suitable to their present condition, but so little satisfying, that Newfangle receives a terrible drubbing for his trick. Judge Severity arrives on the scene conveniently to

y, and mutual trickery of sundry 'lewd fellows of the baser sort'? When it extended its sphere from the castle banqueting-hall to the street or inn-yard no greater excellence was expected from it. Its brevity saved it from tediousness, and the Virtues, whom the lingering influence of religion upon the drama saved from the wreck of the Moralit

t religious element, it grew stronger as the latter weakened. Thus, in Like Will to Like a certain Hance enters half-intoxicated, roaring out a drinking song until the sudden collapse of his voice compels him to recite the rest in the thick stutter of a drunken man. He carries a pot of ale in his hand, from which he drinks to the health of Tom Tosspot, giving the toast with a 'Ca-ca-carouse to-to-to thee, go-go-good Tom'-which is but an indifferent hexameter. At the suggestion of Newfangle '

y their own declared relationship and by the close union which stage tradition quickly gave to them. Most of us will remember Sha

gone,

anon

with y

a t

the ol

ed to s

h dagger

age and

, ha! to

a mad

hy nai

goodman

n fast. He has become the Vice. Compared with him the rest of the Vices appear foolish fellows whom it is his delight to plague and lead astray. So supreme is he in wickedness that he has even been given the Devil himself as his godfather, uncle, playmate. It is his duty to keep alive the natural wick

pon me, and would

alf spoken, I am w

erywhere, as the ca

s. Lack'st thou car

cheat, child, to co

n to be drawing

's The Devi

of the Devil as she knew him: 'As fine a gentleman of his inches as ever I saw trusted to the stage, or any where else; and loved the commonwealth as well as ever a patriot of them all; he would carry away the Vice on his back, quick to hell, in every play where he came, and reform abuses' (Ben Jonson's The Staple of News). But our present purpose is with Nichol Newfangle and h

bs in his hand which, as soon as he speaketh, he offereth unto one of the men or boys standing by.' He is apparently on familiar terms already with the 'gallery' (or, in the term of that

like unto like; it

nave, and take

-conceived illustration of the meaning of its strange title. Forthwith he rattles along with a string of patter about himself, who he is, what sciences he learnt in hell before he was born, and so on, until arrested by the abrupt

icite, whom

or else some

it were best

see, it is my g

I have been t

ut mum: you shall h

rge print on his chest and back the name Lucifer. He too commences with a laugh or a shout, 'Ho!'. That is the hall-mark of the Devil an

huff! who se

ation, full

the very kin of Newfangle; both have the same godfather. So the d

own boy, I am glad

anding by). He speaketh to yo

art even he, of w

ak aloof, for to co

lier of Croydon, who joins them in a jig and a song. He soon goes off again, followed by

vil ent

o! mine own boy, m

on my back

hall hold my stirrup,

for that do t

say, leap

all, woh! and I w

f spurs I would

this jade do

masters, till

t make a jour

way on the D

hristmas pantomime, if this episode is to have its full meaning. Brief in

ous hymns, and sweet lyrics of the buffoon, the preacher, and the lover. Thus, turning haphazard to The Trial of Treasure, the Interlude immediately preceding Like Will to Like in the volume of Dodsley's Old English Plays, we find no less than eight songs. Like Will to Like has also eight. New Custom, the othe

of Croydon hat

his marke

danceth wit

will to l

et us rejoi

e merry

he Collier

and dance

s dance we

h and eke

and the De

e to lik

nd drink to me, and

t in [the] pot for P

to and fro, even rou

et it be so, I brin

than they are to-day. In the midst of so much comical wickedness and naughty wit, with a decreasing use of the old Morality Virtues, it might be thought that this element would be crowded out. But it was not so. The

th take ex

any, as from a serp

u all a mir

aintily and d

at all in vi

am but a

e, which grieve

he end of m

fathers and

ur children in

ude we will, the preacher is always to be found uttering his short sermon on the folly of sin. Our merry friend, the Vice,

or drive home a needed reform, in those years when the Stage was the Cinderella of the Church; one at least, The Four Elements, was written to disseminate schoolroom learning i

t I all parents

ir children; aye,

l to evil, be

em before they

s father's advice in regard to matrimony, only to bring him to the bottom rung of miserable drudgery and servitude under a scolding wife. Of some interest is the lad's

ruit goeth b

bodies both

scourged and b

p to toe the

t the necessity of sustained industry if scholarship was to be acquired. It has been suggested, with good reason, that the play was written by a schoolmaster for

He is advised first to undergo long years of training under Instruction, Study, and Diligence; but, soon tiring of them, he rashly goes to the fight, trusting that his own strength, backed by the courage of Will and the half-hearted support of Diligence, will prove sufficient. Too self-confident, he is overthrown and his companions are put to flight. Will soon returns with Recreation, by whose skill Wit is restored to vigour and better resolution. Nevertheless, dire

e may be quoted Will's speech on life before and after

posed as yet

I am loth to b

achelor, a man

is some good fe

d be merry at b

testy as thos

iour and loth

u may ride and

your will and a

and lusty, e

e clogged and

shall not have

me another les

oo, except your l

d fellowship! the

n inch, you id

d pinching, and

master, but all

our, and ang

t be kept unde

will make me to

shall be to ha

t effectively reach the ears and hearts of the people. Kirchmayer's Pammachius, translated into English by Bale (author of King John), contained an attack on the Pope as Antichrist. In 1527 the boys of St. Paul's acted a play (now unknown) in which Luther figured ignominiously. Here then were Roman Catholics and Protestants e

players' names and descriptions as given at the beginning: Perverse Doctrine, an old Popish Priest; Ignorance, another, but elder; New Custom, a Minister; Light of the Gospel, a Minister; Hypocri

meddlers in divinity

almost is ever

r hands, but all sc

le or the New Testam

or them! and then t

proverb-to cast

h is meet for them,

ifle to busy the

or nine-holes, or

them be, a

claration from New Custom,

mass, and such t

atory, pardo

ord and primiti

h covetousness

ugh blindness, and

have been i

548), Bishop Bale depicts that monarch as an inspired hater of papistical tyranny and an ardent lover of his country, in whose cause he suffered death by poisoning at the hands of a monk. Stephen Langton, t

g John, as a f

d Pharaoh for

it out of the l

ans did agains

ple did still in

shua, which was o

s into the land o

vid, at the vo

pope, he struck do

ain to a Chr

ple, like a most

uty intending th

ead to the living

d act will ple

er lines are hard to beat for deliberate partisan mi

gered and thirs

sake that God h

eive that sin

world, like as

hand: in me i

d people, I bese

bove on my poor

en, with the cl

law, with the

ence I do for

d to pardon y

England, now las

y I could do fo

ain, yea, farewe

as The Pardoner and the Friar and believe that its author wrote under any such earnest and sober inspiration as did the author of New Custom. His intention was frankly to amuse, and to paint life as he saw it without the

order. By a sort of stichomythic alternation each for a time is supposed to carry on his speech regardless of the other, so that to follow either connectedly the alternate lines must be read in sequence. But every now and then they break off for abuse, and finally they fight. A Parson and neighbour Prat interfere to convey them to jail for the disturbance, but

d ye give ought to

uld ye spend on the

ye give ought to t

ese babbling monks

hardly labour fo

o nought daily bu

hurteth them go

l you fables dear

keth them idle and

this babbling fr

none other thing

ence, therefore, in t

is the sole dramatic element. Nevertheless, by sheer wit interest is maintained to the end, every one smiling over the rival claims of such veteran humbugs as the old-time pardoner and apothecary; scant reverence does 'Pothecary vouchsafe to Pardoner's potent relics, his 'of All Hallows the blessed jaw-bone', his 'great toe of the Trinity', his 'buttock-bone of Pentecost', a

entered hell and

devil and I w

he had brough

e devils of

rray in su

day there

l-gilt, their c

ell-kempt, an

] butter their

devils so we

devil sat i

ouls were pla

ackets they

soul a good

hey played

fer laugh

residue of

reat full wel

and asks if he may ta

honour, sa

hell shall w

wouldest hav

justice, th

devils with

to-do with

the charge w

thou our frien

pardons

us there c

lour in his heart, however, give his monologue an argumentative form, in which first one motive and then the other gains the upper hand, very similar to the conflict between Launcelot Gobbo's conscience and the Devil. He closes in favour of the beating and then-Tyb comes home. Oh the difference! Johan Johan suspects his wife of undue friendliness with Sir Jhon the Priest, but he dare not say so. Tyb guesses his doubts, and in her turn suspects that he is inclined to rebel. So she makes the yoke heavier. Johan Johan has to invite Sir Jhon to eat a most des

re any buffoonery; even of its near cousins, scuffling and fighting, only one of the three plays has more than a trace. Hence the earlier remark, that Heywood was before his time. It is not devils in bearskins and wooden-sworded vices that create true comedy; they belong to the realm of farce. Yet they continued to flourish long after Heywood had set another example, and with them the cuffing