Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

The

Oxford Treasury of English
Literature

Vol. II: Growth of the Drama

By

G. E. Hadow

Tutor in English Literature, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Late Tutor in English Literature, Somerville College, Oxford

and

W. H. Hadow

Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford

Oxford

At the Clarendon Press

HENRY FROWDE, M.A.

PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

LONDON, EDINBURGH

NEW YORK AND TORONTO

PREFACE

THE present volume is intended as a companion to the study of Shakespeare, and is therefore classified, on the conventional plan, into the three divisions of Tragedies, Comedies, and Histories, with each of which it is suggested that one or two of Shakespeare's plays should be read. The selection of these may be determined partly on chronological grounds, partly on those of comparison or contrast:-e. g. Richard II with Edward II; Henry IV and Henry V with Sir John Oldcastle; Philaster with Cymbeline, The Tempest, or The Winter's Tale.

The principle adopted in the first volume, that the illustrations should be few and long rather than brief and numerous, is even more imperative here. To offer a single scene as an example of dramatic genius is to offer a single stone as an example of architecture: we have, therefore, restricted ourselves to eighteen plays in all, and have endeavoured to give enough of each to show its general plan and purport. Our choice, like any other within the same limits, must of necessity be open to criticism: there is no attempt at an exhaustive history of the English drama, but only an indication, by typical instances, of the main stages in its growth. Some plays which belong to a more advanced course of study have been here omitted as unsuitable to our present purpose: e. g. Kyd's Spanish Tragedy, Chapman's Bussy d'Ambois, and the two grim 161799

masterpieces of Cyril Tourneur: and for the same reason we have preferred Tamburlaine to Faustus, Dekker to Middleton, and Perkin Warbeck to The Broken Heart. In other cases-e. g. the choice of the two Miracle plays, or the preference of Sejanus to Catiline and of Vittoria Corombona to the Duchess of Malfi—we have been chiefly guided by standards of literary and artistic value: sometimes, as in Gorboduc and King John, the decision was based on grounds of historical importance. The Mumming play was supplied to us by the actors themselves, from traditional parts orally transmitted.

To each play is prefixed a short critical note intended to show its entourage and to supply a standpoint for its consideration. For the opinions expressed we must, of course, take full responsibility: for the materials on which those opinions are formed we have been much indebted to the great critics, from Dryden to Johnson, and from Lamb and Hazlitt to J. A. Symonds and Mr. Swinburne; to the researches of scholars like Dr. Dyce, Dr. Furnivall, and Mr. Sidney Lee; and to three books which are indispensable to the historical study of the subject: Payne Collier's History of the English Drama, Dr. Ward's English Dramatic Literature, and The Mediaeval Stage by Mr. E. K. Chambers.

G. E. H.

W. H. H.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
« ZurückWeiter »