British Drama, 1660-1779: A Critical HistoryTwayne Publishers, 1995 - 282 pages The development of this drama over 119 years is the subject of Frances M. Kavenik's British Drama, 1660-1779: A Critical History, a fascinating account of the people and events shaping the genre during the period. Approaching her subject from a popular culture perspective, Kavenik argues that the drama produced in these years was the most innovative since Shakespeare's time, giving rise to such forms as the musical and the situation comedy. A comprehensive first chapter describes the theaters, stage apparatus, playwrights, performers, audiences, and critics of the period, while four chronologically arranged chapters detail key developments during each subperiod. The Lincoln's Inn Fields and Drury Lane theaters, the Licensing Act of 1737, legendary figures like Nell Gwyn and David Garrick, the growth of the periodical press as a medium for dramatic criticism, the popularity of productions like John Gay's The Beggar's Opera and Aphra Behn's The Rover - these and much more are brought vividly to life for readers, as is Kavenik's theme that "late seventeenth- and eighteenth-century comedies, heroic plays, tragicomedies, and tragedies were the genre films and soap operas of their day, enthralling their audiences and speaking to their needs and desires, offering entertainment, excitement, and escape. They also were capable ... of creating or reforming their audiences' needs and desires". |
From inside the book
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Page 22
... French and advocated by Thomas Rymer in his Tragedies of the Last Age ( 1677 ) ; he favors rhymed couplets as a medium for heroic tragedy ( though he later reversed himself ) ; he generally prefers the home - grown and " vehement " over ...
... French and advocated by Thomas Rymer in his Tragedies of the Last Age ( 1677 ) ; he favors rhymed couplets as a medium for heroic tragedy ( though he later reversed himself ) ; he generally prefers the home - grown and " vehement " over ...
Page 49
... French influence of Molière that occurred in the late 1660s and early 1670s was much more pervasive and far - reaching . The different impact of these two foreign influences was caused by a number of factors , but the two most important ...
... French influence of Molière that occurred in the late 1660s and early 1670s was much more pervasive and far - reaching . The different impact of these two foreign influences was caused by a number of factors , but the two most important ...
Page 218
... French riots at the Little Haymarket theater . Walpole reluctantly declares war against Spain . Famine in Ireland . John Wesley begins preaching . David Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature published . Thomson's Edward and Eleanora ...
... French riots at the Little Haymarket theater . Walpole reluctantly declares war against Spain . Famine in Ireland . John Wesley begins preaching . David Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature published . Thomson's Edward and Eleanora ...
Common terms and phrases
actors afterpieces audience authority Beggar's Opera Beverley Bevil Jr Carolean comedy Carolean period Celadon characters Charles Cibber cited in text Colley Cibber Colman comic Congreve Congreve's Conscious Lovers contemporary Country-Wife courtship Covent Garden critics Davenant dramatists Drury Lane Dryden eighteenth century Elizabeth Barry England English farce Farquhar female Fielding's Fletcherian Florimell Garrick George Haymarket hereafter cited hero heroic drama heroic plays Hume humorous Husband Jaffeir Jane Shore John Rich Jubilee kind Lady late seventeenth libertine Lincoln's Inn Fields Loftis London Love for Love Macheath male managers marriage marry Merchant Milhous moral Oroonoko pantomime passion patent performances play's playwrights plot political popular plays produced Provoked Wife published rake repertory Restoration Richard Rivals Rothstein Rover satiric scene School for Scandal Secret Love sentimental comedy sexual Shakespeare Sheridan shift social stage Steele's taste theater theatrical Thomas tragedy University Press Valentine Vanbrugh Venice Preserved William Willmore women