CONTENTS
Chapter I. Definitions [1]
Chapter II. The Medieval and the Classical Influences [21]
Chapter III. The Beginnings of Tragedy [48]
Chapter IV. Marlowe and his Contemporaries [77]
Chapter V. Shakespeare and his Contemporaries [136]
Chapter VI. Shakespeare [181]
Chapter VII. The Later Elizabethans [196]
Chapter VIII. The Restoration [243]
Chapter IX. The Eighteenth Century [281]
Chapter X. The Romantic Movement [326]
Chapter XI. Conclusion [366]
Index [379]
TRAGEDY
CHAPTER I
DEFINITIONS
There is little difficulty in selecting the plays that should be included in a history of English tragedy. Since the middle of the sixteenth century there have always been plays commonly received as tragedies, and others so closely resembling these that they require consideration in any comprehensive study. How far these plays present the common characteristics of a type, how far they constitute a clearly defined form of the drama, and how far they may be connected from one period to another in a continuous development—are questions better answered at the book's end than at its beginning. Some questions of the definition of tragedy, however, may well be preliminary to a study of its history. The very term "English tragedy" involves two precarious abstractions. It separates tragedy from the drama of which it is a part, and it separates English tragedies from those of other languages to which they are related in character and origin. In attempting a definition, we may question the reality of these abstract separations by which our later discussions are to be conveniently limited; for a definition can be attained only through the distinction of tragedy from other forms of the drama, and through a consideration of the varying conceptions of tragedy in different periods and nations.
We may begin very empirically with an element common to all tragedies and roughly distinguishing them from other forms of drama; noticed, indeed, in all theoretical definitions, though its importance is often blurred and it receives only scant attention from Aristotle. He refers to the third part of the plot as "the tragic incident, a destructive or painful action, such as death on the stage, bodily agony, wounds, and the like." If his meaning of "a destructive or painful action" is extended to include mental as well as physical suffering, we have a definition of an indispensable element in tragedy and a conspicuous distinction from comedy.