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.
PREFACE
This book attempts to trace the course of English tragedy from itsbeginnings to the middle of the nineteenth century, and to indicate thepart which it has played in the history both of the theatre and ofliterature. All tragedies of the sixteenth century are noticed, because oftheir historical interest and their close relationship to Shakespeare, butafter 1600 only representative plays have been considered. The aim of thisseries has been kept in view, and the discussion, whether of individualplays or of dramatic conditions, has been determined by their importance inthe study of a literary type. Tragedy in the eighteenth and nineteenthcenturies has attracted very little critical attention, and in those fieldsthe book is something of a pioneer. The Elizabethan drama, on the contrary,has been the subject of a vast amount of antiquarian, biographical, andliterary research, without which such a treatment as I have attempted wouldbe almost impossible. In order, however, to keep the main purpose in view,it has been necessary to omit nearly all notice of the processes ofresearch or the debates of criticism, and to give only what seem to me theresults. To indicate at every point my reliance on my own investigations ormy indebtedness to the researches of others would, indeed, necessitatedoubling the size of the book. Its readers will not require an apology forits brevity, but I regret that I can[Pg vi] offer only this inadequateacknowledgment of the great assistance I have received not merely from thestudies mentioned in the Bibliographical Notes, but also from many othersthat have directly or indirectly contributed to my discussion.
I am indebted to Dr. Ernest Bernbaum, who very kindly read chapters viiiand ix, and made a number of suggestions. I have also the pleasure ofexpressing my great obligations to Professors Brander Matthews, JeffersonB. Fletcher, and William A. Neilson, who have read both the manuscript andthe proof-sheets and given me the generous benefit of their most helpfulcriticism.
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
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