Jacobean & Caroline (drama)

 JACOBEAN & CAROLINE (drama) 

1. After Shakespeare the drama in England suffered a decline during the reign of James 1 and Charles 1 the heights reached by Shakespeare could not be maintained by the later dramatists.

2. Drama in the hands of Beaumont and Fletcher and others became what may be called 'Decadent'. The real spirit disappeared. What remained was the outer show-

3. For example,

1. Sentiments took the place of Character

2. Eloquent and moving speeches instead of being revaluation of the fine shades of character became important 

3. Dreadful events were described to produce a rhetorical effect on the audience.

4. Moreover instead of fortitude and courage resignation to flat expressed in the form of broken accents, pathos and woe became the main characteristics of the hero.

5. The Jacobean and Caroline dramatists gave expressions to passive suffering and lack of mental and physical vigour.

6. Instead of devoting all their capacity to fully focusing the subject in hand; they made it an instrument of exercising their own power of rhetoric and pedantry.

7. Thus in the hands of these dramatists, the theatre was closed in 1642, and drama died a natural death.

8. The greatest dramatist of the Jacobean period was Ben Jonson. Ben London as we have seen has already been dealt in the Elizabethan Period. Ben Jonson's life span, we see, is from 1573-1637.

9. And Puritan Age Stally from 1600.

A - John Marston

1. (1575-1634) Marston wrote in a violent and extravagant style. His melodrama Antonia and Mellida and Antonia Revenge are full of forceful and impressive passages. In his other works, Marston criticized society in an ironic and lyrical manner, his best play is Eastward Hoe, an admirable comedy of manners.

2. This portrays realistically 

1. The Life of the trade man 

2. The inner life of a middle-class household.

3. The simple honesty of some and

4. The vanity of others.

B -  Thomas Dekker

1. Thomas Dekker (1570-1632) Dekker was free from coarseness and cynicism.

2. Some of his plays possess grace and freshness. He is more popular than any of his contemporaries, he is best at portraying scenes from the life and describing people.

3. The greatest of his comedies is, "The Shoemaker's Holiday"! There the hero Simon Eyre and his shrewish wife are vividly portrayed.

4. In Old Cortunates, Dekkar's poetical powers are soon at their best.

5. The honest whore, is characterized by liveliness, pure sentiments and poetry 

C - Thomas Heywood

1. Thomas Heywood (1515-1650) Heywood resembles Dekker in his gentleness and good temper. He wrote a large number of plays.

2. Those of his plays deal with the life of the cities.

3. The Love Prentices of London with the Conquest of Jerusalem, Edward VI, The Troubles of Queen Elizabeth and The Fair Maid of the West are a few of his works.

4. In those he flatters the citizens of London, It is written in a patriotic vein sea advent and the life of English are described.

5. One of his best works is 'A woman killed with Kindness' discusses the domestic tragedy of a woman's treachery it is free from harshness.

6. Heywood was called by Lamb, 'a sort of Prose Shakespeare '.

D - Thomas Middleton

1. Thomas Middleton (1580-1637) Middleton, like Dekkers and Heywood, wrote about the city of London.

2. He criticized and ridiculed the follies of the citizens of London.

3. He was mainly the writer of Comedies dealing with the seamy. size of London The best known of them are 

1. A Trick to Catch a old one 

2. A Mad world

3. My Masters And Many More.

4. They are full of dupes, the dramatist shows a keen observation of real life.

5. In his later years, Middleton turns to tragedy. 

6. 'Women Beware of Women' is one of his best.

E - Cyril Tourneur

1. Cyril Tourneur (1575-1626) Cyril wrote mostly melodrama full of crimes and torture.

2. His two gloomy dramas are The Revenge Tragedies and The Atheists Tragedies.

3. They are written in a clear style having an intense dramatic effect 

F - John Webster 

1. John Webster (1515-1625 Webster wrote a number of plays.

2. Some in collaboration with others.

3. His best-known works are The Duchess of Malfi, The White Devil, etc.

4. The Duchess of Malfi is the tragedy of a young widow 

5. Duchess, who is driven to madness and death by her own two brothers.

6. Though a melodrama, it has reached the height of truly the gift of a poetic dramatist. It has unforgetful phrases.

G - John Fletcher

1. John Fletcher John Fletcher (1579-1625) Fletcher wrote very few plays.

2. But these made him famous. He also wrote plays in collaboration with Flances Beaumont, like, (i) The Scornful Ladie r (ii) A King and no King, etc

3. But these have more outward charm than real merit. 

H - Philip Massinger

1. Philip Massinger (1583-1640) Massinger wrote tragedies as 'Thierry Theodoret' and 'false one'.

2. The comedies as the Little French Lawyer, the Spanish Curate. He wrote in collaboration with Fletcher.

3. Massinger combined his intellectualism with Fletcher's live case. The most individual quality of Fletcher's plays is that they are plays of ideas.

4. He loves to stage historical debates. 

5. His best comedies are

1. A New Way To Pay Old Debts

2. The Guardian,

3. The City of Madan.

6. His serious plays are The Fatal Dowry, The Roman Actor, The Picture and a few more.

7. All the plays of Massinger show careful workmanship.

8. He was always a conscientious writer.

9. Unfortunately, at that time, the drama had gone to great deterioration.

I - John Ford 

1. John Ford (1586-1639) Ford was the contemporary of Messinger. He was a true poet & -but he was a very gloomy and melancholy person.

2. His works mainly are 'The Lovers Melancholy', 'Tis Pity She's a Whore', 'The 'Broken the art and Love's Sacrifice'.

3. All these plays show a skilful handling of emotions and grace of style.

4. His decadent attitude is seen in the delight he takes in depicting suffering. But he occupies a high place as an artist.

I - James Shirley

1. James Shirley (1596-1666) Lamb called James, "The last of the great race".

2. He was a prolific writer. But shows no originality. 

3. The best comedies are - The Traitor, The Cardinal, Hyde Park and many more. These represent contemporary manners, modes and literary styles.

4. He continued to follow the tradition of his contemporaries.

5. There were many more writers of this period.

6. But the drama suffered a serious setback when the theatres were closed in 1642.

7. They were opened after eighteen years later at the Restoration.

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