difficult for the common people to understand its meaning.

Therefore, the clergy tried to find an

easy medium to transfer the teachings of the Bible to the common people. They adopted new
methods of demonstration and acting. The stories of the Gospel were explained through the
living pictures and the actors acted the story in a dumb show. Initially, English plays depicted
religious stories and were performed in the churches. Thus, English theatre is the outcome of
religion.

1.1 Objectives

Dear Learners, the objectives of this Unit are to:

 acquaint you with the origin and development of English drama up to the modern time
 make you understand the origin and development of English drama from Mystery and
Miracle plays to the modern drama
 inform you about the growth of English drama during the Elizabethan period, the Restoration
period, the eighteenth-century period, the Victorian period and the twentieth-century period
 explain the characteristics of the 20th century English drama.
1.2 Origin of English Drama

1.2.1 Miracle and Mystery Plays:

A Miracle play is a dramatization of an event or legend from the life of a saint or martyr.
It was developed in 14thand 15thcentury. Miracle plays were mainly based on the biblical events
such as disobedience of Adam and Eve, Noah and the great flood, Abraham and Isaac and events
in the life of Christ. Mystery plays are based on the events taken from the Holy Scriptures. The
festivals like Christmas and Easter were celebrated with the performance of these events in
which priests, chorus and actors would take part. The stories of the Bible were presented through
Miracle and Mystery plays. It was a form of worship and could be regarded as the beginning of
medieval drama. Initially, these performances were controlled by the church. In the following
period, the control was shifted to the Town Council. It is rightly said that Miracle play contained
the seeds of both serious and comic drama which flourished in England during the 16th and 17th
centuries.

1.2.2 Morality Plays:

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Morality play emerged as another form of drama.

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The Morality play was larger than the Miracle play. It was divided into acts and scenes as in the
Senecan tradition. It was enacted by professional actors. The Morality play had direct connection
with the Elizabethan plays. The Miracle plays changed focus from Biblical stories to personified
abstractions like Life, Death, Repentance, Goodness, Love, Greed and such virtues and vices.
These human emotions are shown as struggling to gain supremacy over the human soul. These
subjects were popular among religious preachers. There are references of Morality plays in the
14th and 15th century. The first Morality play,The Castle of Perseverance, was written around
1425. Moral truth is presented through these plays in a new and effective manner. The play,
Everyman is one of the examples of the Morality play.

1.2.3 Interlude:
The Interlude is a type of Morality play equally allegorical in content with realistic and
comic elements. It is a short play having a set of scenes, real characters, usually the humble rank,
citizens and friars. There was an absence of allegorical figures and there was much broad farcical
humour, good songs and there were set scenes. The interludes were dramatized at feasts and
entertainments which supplied amusement for court and nobility. In other words, it could be
considered an advancement upon the Morality play. The Interlude is a brief comedy. The most
popular writer of Interludes was John Heywood who wrote The Four P‟s in doggerel verse
describing a lying match between a Pedlar, a Palmer and a Pardoner. The Four Elements, The
World and the Child, Thersites and The Play of the Weather are the other famous interludes
before the drama proper in the sixteenth century.
At this time, classicism began to exercise its influence on the emerging English drama,
which can be evident in Udall‘s play Ralph Roister Doister appeared in 1553. It is an adaptation
from the Roman playwright Plautu‘s play Miles Glorfasits. The next play of this kind, Gammer
Gurton‟s Needle was written by William Stevenson in 1562.

1.2.4 Development of English Drama:

[Link] Beginning of Elizabethan Theatre:
The beginning of the Elizabethan theatre is found in the wandering performers who
moved from castle to castle and town to town. The nobles of England maintained troupes of
players. Thus, the Elizabethan Acting Troupes came into existence. The opening of theatre in
London and The Red Lion in Whitechapel in 1567 by John Brayne is regarded as the beginning
of early modern English drama. John Brayne and his brother-in-law James Burbage built a

13
theatre known as The Theatre at Shoreditch. The Red Lion was a receiving house for touring
companies, whereas The Theatre accepted long-term engagements. The public theatres had
circular arenas, a stage was set at one end of the open courtyard and the auditorium was open to
the sky. The private theatres were enclosed halls with the stage lightened by candles or torches.
The first theatre was built in London by James Burbage in 1576 which was located outside the
city jurisdiction. The Globe, later owned by Shakespeare and Hemminge, was a model for
several theatres.

[Link] First Regular Comedies:

Nicholas Udall (1505-1556) took steps to write a regular English comedy on classical
lines. He wrote Ralph Roister Doister (1553), a play written for his boys to act. Another comedy
was GammerGurton‘s Needle (1566) acted at Cambridge University and written in blank verse.
Thomas Ingeland‘sThe Disobedient Child was printed in 1560. George Gascoigne‘s The Glass of
Government (1575) and Supposes (1566) are notable works. Damon and Pythias by Richard
Edward was presented before Queen Elizabeth in 1964.

[Link] First Regular Tragedies:

The beginning of regular tragedy holds a very interesting connection with the previous
forms of writing. The first two plays Lamentable Tragedy ofCombisesbyThomas Preston and
Appius and Virginia by John Webster. Gorboducis the first regular tragedy in English written in
blank verse, performed in 1564. The first three acts were written by Thomas Norton and the next
two by Thomas Sackville. The Misfortune of Arthur (1587)by Thomas Hughes deals with the
theme of love.

1.2.5 University Wits:

The group of the writers from Oxford and Cambridge known as ‗University Wits‘ are
contemporary playwrights of Shakespeare. It included the writers like John Lyly, George Peele.
Robert Green, Thomas Lodge, Thomas Nash, Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe.
John Lyly (1554-1606): Lyly is commonly considered the leader of the ‗University
Wits‘. He selected classical themes and stories for his plays. His famous plays are A Most
Excellent Comedy of Alexander and Diogenes (1584), Sapho and Phao (1584), Gallathea(1588),
The Man in the Moon (1588), Midas (1589), Mother Bombie (1590), Love‟s Metamorphosis
(1590), and Woman in the Moon (1597).

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 George Peele (1557-1596):George Peele has widened the range of English drama by
writing a romantic tragedy, a chronicle history and romantic literary satire. His work consists of
The Arraignment of Paris (1581), The Battle of Alcazar (1594), The Famous Chronicle of King
Edward I, The Love of King David and Fair Bethsabe, and The Old Wives Tales (1595).
Robert Greene (1558-1592):Greene was well known for the art of plot construction. He
wrote The Comical History of Alphonsus, King of Aragon (1587), The Honourable History of
Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (1589), and The Scottish History of James IV (1594).
Thomas Lodge (1558-1625):Thomas Lodge‘s The Wound of Civil War contains power
over lyric and a charm in his fiction.
Thomas Nash (1558-1625):Nash was pamphleteer and story writer. He tried his hand at
drama. He collaborated with Marston in his Dido and in The Isle of Dogs.
Thomas Kyd (1558-1594): Kyd‘s Spanish Tragedy (1585) occupied important place in
the development of English tragedy. The play is Senecan, adopted to popular requirement. Kyd
breathed it into passion of fine blank verse.
Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593):Marlowe had distinguished scholarly career at the
university. He became popular after publication of his first play Tamburlaine (1587). His other
plays are Dr. Faustus (1587), The Jew of Malta (1592), Edward II (1593). The Tragedy of Dido,
The Queen of Carthage (1594), The Massacre of Paris (1596).

1.2.6 The Restoration Drama:

After Elizabethan period, the English drama suffered but the Restoration period opened a
new avenue for it. The playwrights of this period did not imitate the Elizabethan comedy and
tragedy as a model. There was a complete break from the Elizabethan tradition in drama.
Etherege and Congreve wrote the Comedy of Manners which reflects aristocratic life and
political changes. The Restoration dramatists also promoted Heroic Tragedy based on the heroic
convention derived from French. The heroic tragedies had epic themes, and the protagonists
were superhuman beings.

[Link] Comedy of Manners:

The comedy of manners was developed during the Age of Dryden or the Restoration
period. It was influenced by the French dramatist Moliere and the Spanish dramatist Calderon.
The following playwrights contributed to the development of this genre:

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 Sir George Etherege (1635-1691)wrote three comedies: The Comical Revenge or Love in
a Tub (1664), She Would If She Could (1688), The Man of Mode or Sir FoplingFlutter (1676),
and some light verse.
William Wycherley (1640-1715)came to England from France at the Restoration period.
He wrote four plays such as Love in a Wood (1671), The Gentlemen Dancing-Master (1671),
Country Wife (1673) and The Plain Dealer (1674).
William Congreve (1670-1729)is the master of the comedy of manners. He wrote all his
plays before he was thirty. His first play is Old Bachelor (1693), a perfect piece of comic
portraiture for a young man of twenty-three. Two years after the presentation of The Double
Dealer, he wrote his next plays Love for Love in 1695. Congreve's last comedy is The Way of the
World.
Sir John Vanbrugh‘s (1664-1726)three best comedies are: The Relapse (1696), The
Provoked Wife (1697), and Confederacy (1705). These plays deal with happy marriages. He
brought comedy down from the higher level to the lower depths of farce.
George Farquhar (1678-1707)wrote Love in a Battle, The Recruiting Officer and The
Beaux Stratagem. The last one is his best play and deals with the problem of unhappy marriage.
Thomas Shadwell (1642 -1692)wrote many plays, the best of which were Epsom Wells,
True Widow, The Sullen Lovers, The Squire of Alsatia, Bury Fair and Squire of Alsatia. He
imitated closely Jonson's comedy of humours. His style lacks literary grace, but his plots are
usually well-constructed.

[Link] The Heroic Tragedy:

During the Restoration period, several playwrights contributed to the development of the
heroictragedy. The following playwrights contributed to the development of heroic tragedy:
John Dryden (1631-1700)stands as the leader of the heroic tragedy. Between 1664 and
1677, he wrote five plays The Indian Emperor, Tyrannic Love, Conquest of Granada (two parts),
Aurangzeb. All of these plays have heroes of superhuman ability endowed with super human
ideals. The heroines of these plays are faithful, fair and supreme beautiful. Thomas Otway‘s
(1651-1685) first play, Alcibiades, was produced in 1675. It was followed by Don Carlos (1676),
The Orphan (1680) and his masterpiece, Venice Preserved (1682). The Language of his plays is
less exaggerated than the usual heroic plays. Nathaniel Lee (1653-92)wrote many tragedies, of
which the prominent are Nero (1674) Sophonisha(1675), The Rival Queen (1677), and
Mithridates (1673). His plays are usual tale of mishaps, miseries and drunkenness. Elkanah
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Settle (1648-1724)achieved popularity with a Heroic play, The Empress of Morocco (1673). This
play has all the faults and defects of the heroic tragedy. John Crowne (1640-1703)wrote Caligula
(1698), Thyestes (1681), Sir Courtly Nice (1685). Nicholas Rowe (1674-1718)was made Poet
Laureate in 1715. His best-known plays are Tamberlane (1702), The Fair Penitent (1703), and
Jane Shore.

1.2.7 Eighteenth Century Drama:

During the eighteenth-century drama gradually declined and a few dramatists made
remarkable contribution to the development of English drama. Goldsmith and Sheridan were the
two prominent playwrights who enriched drama by their plays.

[Link] The Eighteenth-Century Tragedy:

During the eighteenth century, the pattern of tragedy was a little different from the style
adopted by the Elizabethan and Jacobean playwrights. Tragedies of this period were without the
emotional force, fire, the moving intensity and the pathetic appeal which we had seen in the
tragedies of the Elizabethan dramatists. There were three kinds of tragedies such as classical
tragedy, romantic tragedy and domestic tragedy.
The first type of tragedy developed during this age was classical tragedy. Addison, the
essayist, produced Cato in 1713. It is written in blank verse. The second type of tragedy
developed during this age was Romantic tragedy. Nicholas Rowe, poet laureate and editor of
Shakespeare, produced The Fair Penitent which attracted some popular attention. Another
tragedy that Rowe wrote was Fane Shore. It is written in imitation of Shakespeare's style. The
third type of tragedy developed during this age was the Domestic tragedy. It was written in
prose. Lillo was the main proponent of the domestic tragedy and his tragedy London Merchant or
The History of George Barnwell (1731) gave a domestic tragedy with an apprentice for the hero.
Moore's Gamester is another domestic tragedy based on gambling.

[Link] Other forms of Drama:

Pantomime
During the eighteenth-century, pantomime became popular. Rich, who was manager
first of the theatre at Lincoln's Ion Fields and later at Covent Garden, found pantomime very
profitable and produced several pantomimes which attracted popular attention. They were
puppet-shows which delighted the public.

17
Opera
Opera in Italian style was also cultivated during this age. By far the best of the ballad-
operas was Gay's Beggar's Opera (1728).Besides the political interest, Gay's Opera had many
humorous scenes pretty songs, rollicking gaiety and clever dialogues. Another good ballad-opera
was The Dragon of Wantley (1737) by Henry Carey.

Burlesque
Burlesque is a kind of satirical play in which the spirit of true comedy is presented in a
satirical manner. During the eighteenth-century, writers excelled in writing burlesque. Carey
wrote The Tragedy of Chronohotonthologos (1734), Henry Fielding produced several burlesque
plays notably The Tragedy of Tragedies or The Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great (1731)
and Pasquin (1736) Tom Thumb of Fielding was a great success. It abounds in rollicking fun and
it paved the way for Sheridan's The Critic.

Farce
Farce is a low type of comedy, replete with ludicrous situations; deficient in plot-
construction and sober characters. One of the best farces of this century was Towoley'sHigh Life
Below Stairs (1759), in which some servants, in their master's absence, act their master‘s part.
The most prolific writers of the farcical comedy were Samuel Foote (1720-1777) and George
Colman ―the Elder‖ (1732-1794). Foote‘s best work is The Author which is a satire on servile
and wicked publishers who dupe them. His other works are The Englishman in Paris (1753), The
Minor (1760) and The Liar (1762). His Polly Honnycombe (1760) is a light farce, based round a
sentimental novel reading heroine. The Jealous Wife (1761) was suggested by Tom Jones.

[Link] Sentimental Comedy:

The sentimental comedy of the eighteenth century was a reaction against the comedy of
manners. The comedy of manners was characterized by light-hearted fun, obscenity and
trenchant dialogues. In this comedy, laughter and humour were completely driven out and in
place of comedy which was rich in humour, pathos and pathetic situations were introduced. The
playwrights who contributed to the development of sentimental comedy are as follows:

Colley Cibber (1671-1757)wrote two sentimental comedies Love's Last Shift and
Provoked Husband. Mrs. Centlivre (1667-1723)followed Mrs. Aphra Behn as a practitioner of
the Comedy of Intrigue. She claims her position among the writers of the sentimental comedy.

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Her best plays are The Busybody, A Bold Stroke for a Wife and The Gamester. Richard Steele
(1672-1729)was perhaps the greatest figure among the writers of the Sentimental Comedy. He
wrote three sentimental comedies viz. Lying Lover (1703), Tender Husband (1705) and The
Conscious Lovers (1722). In these plays, we have the tone of morality, kindness and pathos.
Hugh Kelly(1739-1777)carried on the Sentimental Comedy after the middle of the century.
Kelly's False Delicacy was an enormous success. His brother John Kelly produced The Married
Philosopher, which introduced sentimentalism by adapting in English a French sentimental
work. Richard Cumberland (1732-1811)wrote about thirty plays, some of which are tragedies.
He is very fond of emphasizing the moral tone in his plays. In his most typical work are The
Brothers, The West Indian and The Fashionable Lover, we have the best of the sentimental
comedy. Thomas Holcroft (1745-1809) was the chief writer of the Sentimental Comedy at the
end of the century. His popular work is The Road to Ruin (1791).

[Link] The Comedy of Humour:

The comedy of humour which Goldsmith and Sheridan cultivated in the eighteenth
century was a reaction against the sentimental comedy of Cibber, Steele, Kelly and Cumberland.
Let us now look at the contribution of Fielding, Goldsmith and Sheridan to the development of
the comedy of humour.
Henry Fielding (1707-54) wrote comedy and farce. He made clever adaptations of
Molier'sL‟Avare (The Miser) and Le Medecinmalgre‟lui The Mock Doctor). But it was in parody
and political satire that he obtained his most personal success. He achieved success in his
Tragedy of Tragedies or The Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great (1731) and Pasquin
(1736), and The Historical Register for the Year (1736-37).
Oliver Goldsmith (1728-74)revived the comedy of humour of the Elizabethan Age and
gave a hard blow to the sentimental comedy. Goldsmith's great objection to the sentimental
comedy was that it was more like a tragedy than a comedy. Goldsmith's first play was The Good-
Natured Man produced in 1768. The Good-Natured Man, despite introducing laughter and
humour, remained for the most part a failure. The next play, She Stoops to Conqueror The
Mistakes of a Night, was produced in 1771. This play marks a departure from the first play and
practically introduces the reign of humour in comedy.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan‘s (1751-1816) plays are written in the mood of satirical
observation of life. The main plays of Sheridan are Rivals, St. Patrick's Day, The Scheming
Lieutenant, The Duenna, A Trip to Scarborough, The School for Scandal, and The Critic or, A
19
Tragedy Rehearsed. All these works of Sheridan are not of equal importance; his best-known
works are The Rivals, The School for Scandal, The Duenna and The Critic.

1.2.8 The Victorian Drama:

The Victorian age was one of the most remarkable periods in the history of English
literature. The literature of the Victorian age was correlated to the social and the political life of
the age. A few literary artists of the age struck the note of revolt against the materialistic
tendencies of the age. The playwrights who contributed to the development of drama during this
period are:

[Link] The Victorian Dramatists:

The Victorian period is regarded as the period of novel but there are certain playwrights
who tried their hands in the formation of drama some of the contributors among them are as
follows:

[Link] Major Contributors:

Alfred Tennyson wrote a poetic play Queen Mary. It is a historical play and has Mary
Tudor for its heroine. It is a blank verse play dealing with conflict between Rome and
Lutheranism. The next plays The Promise of May speaks about the injurious influence of
secularism. The material of The Cup is borrowed from Plutarch and does not deserve any special
mention. The Falcon is indebted to Boccaccio and is a lovely idyll. Tennyson's last play The
Foresters is a woodland masque and deals with the legends of Robin Hood.
Robert Browning is popularly known as the poet of dramatic monologue. His dramatic
contribution could not impress the audience as compared to other playwrights. Strafford is
Browning's earliest drama. The historical tragedy deals with the career and death of Strafford.
King Victor and King Charles is a blank verse play, based on Alfieri's life of Victor Amedee II.
The next play The Return of the Druses is a tragedy in blank verse, in which Browning sought to
exhibit the most wild and passionate love. A Blot in the Scutcheon is a play, influenced by
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Colombe's Birthday is one of the pleasant plays of Browning.
Luria is a play that has distinct echoes from Othello. A Soul's Tragedy is Browning's
masterpiece, and according to Lounsbury, it unites consistency of plot with clearness of
expression and truth of life.

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 Matthew Arnold wrote only one play, Merope, which is the most complete reproduction
in English, in the form of convention of Sophoclean tragedy. The poetry of the drama is
unmistakable.

[Link] Other Contributors of the Victorian Drama:

Swinburne is one of the Victorian dramatists who wrote several plays. Towards the end
of the Victorian period a new literary genre known as problem play came into [Link],
Jones and Roberston wrote problem plays in prose. Henrik Ibsen began his literary career as a
writer of poetic drama. Poetic drama had fallen on evil days. But the Irish poets sought to revive
poetic drama. W. B. Yeats, J.M. Synge, and Lady Gregory felt that poetic drama was closely
associated with their national culture. The establishment of the Irish National Theatre in Dublin
marks the beginning of a new movement in drama.

1.2.9 The Twentieth Century English Drama:

In the twentieth century new trends were introduced in drama. The dramatists were at
ease in producing once again comedies of manners. Drama was revived in the beginning of
twentieth century. In the course of six decades, the English drama had witnessed many trends
and currents. Let us study them one by one.

New Trends in the Twentieth Century Drama:

Realism
Realism is the most significant and outstanding quality of modern drama. The dramatists
of early years of the twentieth century were interested in naturalism and realism and it was their
endeavour to deal with real problems of life in a realistic technique in their plays. It was Henrik
Ibsen, the Norwegian dramatist, who popularized realism in modern drama. He dealt with the
problems of real life in a realistic manner in his plays. His example was followed by Robertson,
Jones, Pinero, Galsworthy and Bernard Shaw in their plays. In the dramas of these realists, we
get glimpses of real life, with all its warts and sordid ugliness. They deal with problems of
marriage, justice, law, administration and strife between capital and labour and use the theatre as
a means for bringing about reforms in the conditions of society prevailing in their days.

Drama of Ideas
Modern drama is essentially a drama of ideas rather than action. The stage is employed
by dramatists to give expression to certain ideas which they seek to propagate in society. The

21
modern drama dealing with the problems of life has become far more intellectual than ever it was
in the history of drama before the present age.

Romanticism
Romanticism, which had been very dear to Elizabethan dramatists found its way modem
drama, and it was mainly due to Sir J.M. Barrie's effort that the new wave of romanticism swept
over modern drama for some years of the twentieth century. Barrie made excursions into the
world of romance, fantasy, magic and super-naturalism in his plays Mary Rose, Peter Pan, A
Kiss for Cinderella, Admirable Crichton and Dear Brutus.

Poetic Plays
Another reaction to realism and naturalism in drama was evinced in the popularization of
poetic plays by a host of dramatists T. S. Eliot, Stephen Phillips, J.E. Flecker, John Drinkwater,
John Masefield, W.B. Yeats, and Christopher Fry. They have made poetic plays a force to reckon
to within modern drama.

Historical and Biographical Plays:

Another trend is found in modern drama that is in the direction of using history and
biography for dramatic treatment. Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra and St. Joan are historical plays
of great importance. Ervine wrote The Lady of Belmont and popularized the old historical
characters in Shakespeare's plays. John Drinkwater penned four historical plays: Abraham
Lincoln (1918), Mary Stuart (1921-22), Oliver Cromwell (1922) and Robert Lee (1923). In each
one of these plays there is a central dominating personality standing on a higher pedestal over the
multiplicity of individually delineated characters. Clifford Bax wrote several historical plays, the
chief of them being Mr. Pepys (1930), Socrates (1930), The Venetian (1936). Bax's effective
treatment of character, his skilful wielding of material, and his delicate sense of style give prime
distinction to his work.
Biography has been skilfully used in two prominent plays of our times. Barrets of
Wimpole Street by Rudolf Bezier and The Lady with a Lamp by Reginald Berkley. In the former
play biographical details about Robert Browning and Mrs. Elizabeth Barret Browning form the
texture of the play, while the latter play deals with the life and achievement of Florence
Nightingale.

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The Irish Movement
A new trend in modern drama was introduced by the Irish dramatists who brought about
the Celtic Revival in literature. In the hands of the Irish dramatists like W. B. Yeats, J. M.
Synge, Leanox Robinson, T. C. Murray and Edward Martyn, drama ceased to be realistic in
character, and became an expression of the hopes and aspirations of the Irish people from remote
days to their own times.

Impressionism
Impressionism constitutes another important feature of modern drama. In the
impressionistic plays of W. B. Yeats, the main effort is in the direction of recreating the
experience of the artist and his impressions about reality, rather than in presenting reality as it is.
Impressionistic drama of the modern age seeks to suggest the impressions on the artist rather
than to make an explicit statement about the objective characteristics of things or events.
Expressionism
Expressionism is another important feature of modern drama. It marks an extreme
reaction against naturalism. The movement which had started early in Germany made its way in
English drama, and several modern dramatists like Sean O'Casey, C.K. Munro, H.F. Rubinstein,
J.B. Priestley, Elmer Rice and Eugene O'Neill have made experiments in the expressionistic
tendency in modern drama.

The Comedy of Manners

There is a revival of the comedy of manners in modern dramatic literature. Oscar Wilde,
Noel Coward, and Somerset Maugham have done much to revive the comedy of wit in our days.
The drama after the Second World War has not exhibited a love for comedy, and the social
conditions of the period after the war are not very favourable for the blossoming of the artificial
comedy of the Restoration age.

[Link] The Theatre of the Absurd:

The Theatre of the Absurd is a term derived from Albert Camus' essay The Myth of
Sisyphus (1942), and clear and lucid thought about absurdist drama is found in Martin Esslin's
book The Theatre of the Absurd (1961). It is a term applied to a group of dramatists in the 1950s
who did not regard themselves as a school but who all seemed to share certain attitudes towards
the predicament of the man in the universe. In The Myth of Sisyphus Albert Camus defined the
absurd as the tension which emerges from man's determination to discover purpose and order in

23
a world which steadfastly refuses to evidence either. Most notable among them were Samuel
Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, Arthur Adamov, Jean Genet, and Harold Pinter. The lesser figures of
this school of drama are Robert Pignet, N. F. Simpson, Edward Albee, Fernando Arrabal and
Gunter Grass.
Samuel Beckett(1906- 1889)was an Irish dramatist and novelist, but he long lived in Paris
and wrote both in French and English with ease and facility. He used a deliberately formless
language to present the meaningless void of experience as encountered by his characters. In
fiction he scored success by Murphy, Molloy and Watt and in drama his masterpiece is Waiting
for Godot (1953).
Eugene Ionesco(1909-1994)was a Rumanian-born dramatist who wrote in French. He is
leading figure in the Theatre of the Absurd. He dealt with such subjects as the breakdown of
language, the proliferation of objects and the absurd vulnerability of man, threatened from both
outside and inside. His famous plays are The Lesson, The Chairs, The Victims of Duty, How to
Get Rid of It, The Killer, Rhinoceros, Exit the King and The Bald Prima Donna.
Arthur Adamov(1908–1970)was a Russian-born dramatist who lived in France and
wrote in French. He expressed his deep sense of alienation in his autobiographical volume
L'Avew (1938-43). His famous plays are La Paradie (1945), L‟Invasion, Professor Taranne, Le
Ping-pong, Paolo Paoli (1957) and Printemps '71 (1962).

Jean Genet(1910-1986)was a famous French novelist, dramatist, and poet. Among his
well-known plays are Deathwatch, The Maids, The Balcony, The Blacks and The Screens. Genet
has been classified both as a dramatist of the Absurd and as a follower of Art and in his ritualistic
Theatre of Cruelty.
Harold Pinter (1930-2008)was an English dramatist whose works are allied to the
Theatre of the Absurd. He wrote several famous plays such as The Room, The Birthday Party,
The Careiaker, The Dumb Waiter, The Servani, The Home Coming, Landscape, Silence, and Old
Times.
Edward Albee(1928-2016)was an American playwright. His early one-act plays are
brilliant absurdist analyses of contemporary social and psychological tensions. His popular
works are The Zoo Story (1958), The Sand-Box (1959), Fam and Yam (1960) and the finest, The
Death of Bessie Smith (1960), on the hysterical nature of Southern sexuality and politics. This
dislocations and rituals of the theatre of the absurd are used in his first full-length play, Who‟s
Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962). His next play Tiny Alice (1964) is a psychological fantasy of
24
sexual and manipulation in high camp manner. Box-Mao-Box (1968) is probably his most
impressive work so far.

[Link] Expressionism in Modern Drama:

Certain dramatists of America, Europe and England made new experiments in producing
plays not dealing with external realism but with the inner life of the characters. Expressionism in
drama is just an experiment in presenting the inner life of the characters in a psychological way.
The prominent dramatists of the ‗Expressionistic school‘ are O'Casey, Priestley, Munro,
Rubinstein and Elmer Rice. We will briefly deal with the works of these dramatists of the
'Expressionist School'.
Sean O'Casey (1884-1964) was an Irish dramatist. He was a worthy successor of Synge,
interested in the presentation of Irish life, not the Irish life of the Aran Islands, but the life of
slums of Dublin bringing out all the sordidness and drunkenness of the Irish men and women.
His first play The Shadow of a Gunman brings out the slum tenements of Dublin. It reveals the
bloodiness of the Anglo-Irish war of 1920. The next play Juno and the Paycock (1924) is a
political play dealing with the execution of a young man by his Republican comrades. The
Plough and the Stars (1926) also deals with the cruel and brutal folly of civil war. The Silver
Tassie combines the naturalistic and Expressionistic methods. The other plays of O'Casey are
Within the Gates (1933), The Star Turns Red (1940), Purple Dust (1940), Red Rose for the
(1946), Oak Leaves and Lavender (1946), and Cockadoodle Dandy (1949). The plays of O'Casey
are about Irish life, and the tragedy and comedy of this life is well brought out in dialogues,
which are vivid, racy and rhythmical. The characters of O'Casey are weak. They are crude and
pitiable.
C. K. Munro tried to imitate the German Expressionism in his play Rumour (1924). It
deals with the origin of war and modern international jealousies. It is a significant play of the
expressionistic school.
Reginald Berkeley's (1890-1935)play The White Chateau (1927) is in style of Munro's
Rumour. It has power, dignity and distinction. His other plays are The Quest of Elizabeth, Mango
Island, and The World's End.
H. F. Rubinstein made experiments in the style and manner of Berkeley. His famous play
The House (1926) deals with a building having vital entity and power. His next play Isabel‘s
Eleven (1927) expresses something new in dramatic form.

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 J. B. Priestley (1894-1984) was a playwright who attempted to break the conventions of
the naturalistic drama. He authored more than thirty plays. He produced comedy, farce, domestic
drama and expressionistic plays. His famous Expressionistic play is Johnson over Jordan. It
reads like a morality play. The other plays of Priestley are Time and the Conways (1937),
Dangerous Corner (1932), Music at Night (1938), I Have Been Here Before (1937), Laburnum
Grove (1933), The Long Mirror (1940), They Come to a City (1943), Desert Highway (1943),
Home is Tomorrow (1948).

1.3 Learning Outcomes

Dear students in this unit, we have come across origin and development of English drama
up to the Twentieth Century English Drama. We have focused on the Beginning of the
Elizabethan Theatre and contribution made by the University Wits to the growth of English
drama. In the course of the chapter, an attempt has been made to consider the Restoration drama
and the Eighteenth-Century drama. The Unit further records the Victorian drama and its major
contributors. The unit also covers the Twentieth century English drama along with new trends,
theatre of absurd and expressionism.

1.4 Glossary

Ritual: a religious ceremony consisting of a series of actions.

Gospel: the teaching or revelation of Christ.
Martyr: a person who is killed because of their religious or other beliefs.
Chorus: a large organized group of singers
Realism: factual presentation
Cultivate: to nourish, to promote
Farcical: unwise or humorous
Absurd: silly or unwise
Legend: a story of unknown authorship
Strife: strike
Expression: act of showing one‘s feelings
Tendency: belief or intention
Aspiration: something that you hope to achieve

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