Representative English Plays: From the Middle Ages to the End of the Nineteenth Century; Edited with Introductions and Notes (Classic Reprint). Dieser Artikel ist nicht verfügbar.Representative English Plays: From the Middle Ages to the End of the Nineteenth Century; Edited with Introductions and Notes (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Representative English Plays: From the Middle Ages to the End of the Nineteenth Century; Edited With Introductions and Notes

In the present collection, for the first time, representative English plays from the earliest period to our own generation are included in one volume. The drama in our day shows a vitality, an originality and a literary excellence unknown for two centuries; and partly in consequence of this, the drama of the past is being studied and read in our schools and colleges, and among people at large, to such an extraordinary extent as justifies such a convenience as this. In a single volume of readable form it is obviously impossible to include all celebrated or influential plays, or plays of all types. Some long periods with few plays of high excellence, such as the nineteenth century, are difficult to represent ade quately at all in so small a collection. As to principles of choice, a collection merely of the best plays would be deficient in balance and in meaning for the student; one merely of typical plays would be deficient in attractiveness and in terost for the reader. Choice must be made on practical and not purely theoret ical grounds, by a series of checks and balances; now one consideration will prevail, now another. Probably no two editors would independently agree, and it is impossible to content every reader. In the present case the principal con siderations have been excellence, influence and historical importance, representa tive and typical character (for a body of drama or for an age), and the importance of the type. Occasionally the mere celebrity of a play or its author has been allowed to turn the scale. Lyly's Mother Bombie was chosen, rather than one of his other plays, as exemplifying the strong Latin influence which helped to transform the medieval into the modern drama; Marlowe's Edward II as one of his best plays and as exemplifying the plays on English history written by so many besides Shakespeare; Dryden 's Conquest of Granada rather than All for Love as being more influential, original and characteristic; Bulwer's Lady of Lyons as extremely popular in its day, and as characteristic of a long and barren period which it would be unsatisfying to leave almost unrepresented. It is un necessary to explain the entire omission of Shakespeare; in so small a collection it was the only way to do him full justice and honor.

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