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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: SHAKESPEAKE'S CONTEMPOKAKIES. the general state of the Drama a few years -L before Shakespeare took hold of it, our information is full and clear, not only in the specimens that have survived, but in the criticisms of contemporary writers. A good deal of the criticism, however, is so mixed up with personal and polemical invective, as to be unworthy of much credit. George Whetstone, in the dedication of his Promos and Cassandra, published in 1578, tells us: The Englishman in this quality is most vain, indiscreet, and out of order. He first grounds his work on impossibilities; then in three hours he runs through the world, marries, makes children men, men to conquer kingdoms, murder monsters, and bringeth gods from Heaven, and fetcheth devils from Hell. And, that which is worst, many times, to make mirth, they make a clown companion with a king; in their grave counsels they allow the advice of Fools; yea, they use one order of speech for all persons, ? a gross indecorum. ? In 1581, Stephen Gosson published a tract in which he says: Sometimes you shall see nothing but the adventures of an amorous knight, passing from country to country for the love of his lady, encountering many a terrible monster made of brown paper; and at his return so wonderfully changed, that he cannot be known but by some posy in his tablet, or by a broken ring, or a handkerchief, or a piece of cockle-shell. And in another part of the same tract he tells us that The Palace of Pleasure, The Ethiopian History, Amadis of France, and The Round Table, comedies in Latin, French, Italian, and Spanish, have been thoroughlyransacked, to furnish the play-houses in London. Which shows very clearly what direction the public taste was then taking. The matter and method of the old dramas, and all such musty fop...
| ISBN-13 | 9780217053396 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 0217053394 |
| Weight | 0.68 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.47 In |
| List Price | $24.30 |
| Format | Paperback |
|---|---|
| Pages | 206 pages |
| Publisher | |
| Published On | 2009-08-01 |
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