A BRIEF VIEW OF DRAMATIC POETRY AND ITS CULTIVATORS, DURING
SHAKSPEARE'S CONNECTION WITH THE STAGE.
That the master-spirit which Shakspeare exhibited in the eyes of his
contemporaries; that the great improvements which he had made on the
drama of Peele and Marlowe, and their associates, should excite the
wonder, and call forth the emulation of his age, were events naturally
to be expected. He was accordingly the founder of a school of dramatic
art which continued to flourish until extinguished by those convulsions
that destroyed the monarch, and overturned the government of the
country,—a school to which we have since had nothing similar, or even
approximating in excellence.
The fate, however, of the leader and his disciples has been widely
different. During the life-time of Shakspeare, the spirit of
competition forbade an open acknowledgment of his pre-eminence, and
those who had run the race of glory with him, and outlived his day,
had influence sufficient, either from personal interest, or the
charm of novelty, to procure a more frequent representation of their
own productions, however inferior, than of those of their departed
luminary. But, when the grave had closed alike on their great exemplar
and on themselves, apart, indeed, was their allotment in the estimation
of the living; for while the former sprang from the tomb with fresh
energy and beauty, over the latter dropped, comparatively, the mantle
of oblivion! Yet, not for ever!
Though lost, for a time, in the effulgence of that lustre which
has continued to brighten ever since its revivescence, they have
nevertheless, through an intrinsic though more subdued brilliancy of
their own, begun, at length, to emerge into day, and their demand upon
the justice of criticism, for their station and their fame, is loud and
imperative.
Let us, therefore, as far as our brief limits will permit, and in
furtherance of what has been so judiciously commenced, co-operate
in the endeavour to apportion to these immediate successors of our
matchless bard, the honour due to their exertions. If correctly
attributed, it cannot be trifling, and may assist in forming a just
notion of the most valuable period of our dramatic poesy.
We shall commence with those who, in their own age, were deemed the
rivals, and followed, indeed, fast upon the footsteps of Shakspeare,
hesitating not to give priority of notice to the name of JOHN FLETCHER,
who, though hitherto inseparably united in fame and publication with
his friend Francis Beaumont, deserves, both from the comparative number
and value of his pieces, a separate and exclusive consideration.
Of the fifty-three plays which have been ascribed to these poetical
friends, it appears that not more than nine or ten were the joint
productions of Beaumont and Fletcher; in still fewer was he assisted
by Massinger, Rowley, and Field, and the ample residue, independent of
two pieces now lost, and known to have been his sole composition, was
therefore the entire product of Fletcher's genius.[557:A] With this
curious fact we were first made acquainted by Sir Aston Cokain, who,
speaking of the thirty-four plays of these poets, as published in the
folio of 1647, informs us, that
—— "Beaumont of those many writ in few;
And Massinger in other few: the main
Being sole issues of sweet Fletcher's brain."[557:B]
In fact, as Sir Aston has elsewhere told us[557:C], the bulk of the
collection was written after Beaumont's death, which took place in
1615; the fecundity of Fletcher being so great, that in the interval
between that event and his own decease in 1625, he had produced nearly
forty dramas, besides some which were left in an unfinished state, and
completed by Shirley.
It is also necessary to add, that the ten plays which issued from the
firm of Beaumont and Fletcher are, by no means, the best of the entire
series: they are _Philaster_,—_The Maids Tragedy_,—_King and No
King_,—_The Knight of the Burning Pestle_,—_Cupid's Revenge_,—_The
Coxcomb_,—_The Captain_,—_The Honest Man's Fortune_,—_The Scornful
Lady_, and _The False One_[558:A]; productions, in allusion to which it
has been said, and perhaps with no great injustice, that "if the plays
of Beaumont were thrown out of the collection by Beaumont and Fletcher,
the remainder would form a richer ore."[558:B]
Warrantable, therefore, upon this statement, must it be deemed, should
we now drop the name of Beaumont, after observing, that a portion of
the merits and defects of Fletcher may be attributed to his friend,
and that, in the estimation of Ben Jonson, (on this subject the most
unexceptionable testimony,) he possessed, beyond all others of his age,
a sound and correct judgment.[558:C]
The characteristic of Fletcher, in the serious department of his art,
was a peculiar mastery in the delineation of the softer passions,
especially of love. There is a sweetly pensive tone in many of his
pictures of this kind, which steals upon the mind with the most
insinuating charm, producing that species of pathos which soothes while
it gently agitates the soul; a feeling too sad and melancholy for the
genius of comedy, and too mild and subdued for that of tragedy, but
admirably adapted to an intermediate style of composition, of which
he has given us some happy instances under the title of tragi-comedy.
It must be confessed, however, that an impression of feebleness and
effeminacy, a sickliness of sentiment, and a want of dignity in
the pity which he endeavours to excite, but too often accompany his
efforts, even in this his favourite province.
Yet not unfrequently did Fletcher aspire to the loftiest heights
of the dramatic muse; to the terrible, to the wildly awful, to the
agony of grief. But here he sank beneath the genius of Shakspeare;
in his endeavour to be great, there is a labour and contortion which
frequently betrays the struggle to have been painfully arduous; an
impression which we never receive from the drama of his predecessor,
who seems to attain the highest elevation with an ease and spontaneity
of movement, which suggests an idea, approaching to sublimity, of the
fulness and extent of his resources. But, as an elegant critic has
observed, Fletcher was "too mistrustful of Nature; he always goes a
little on one side of her. Shakspeare chose her without a reserve:
and had riches, power, understanding, and long-life, with her, for a
dowry."[559:A]
Very different, however, was the result of his efforts, when he touched
the gaieties of life; for in this path, he moves with a grace and
legerity which has not often been equalled. He displays, it is true,
little humour, and consequently not much strength of character; but
we are told, on good authority[559:B], that no poet before him had
painted the conversation of the gentlemen of his day with such fidelity
and truth; a declaration which impresses us with an high opinion of
the vivacity and intellectual smartness of the dialogue of that age;
for there is in the representation of Fletcher an almost perpetual
effervescency and corruscation of wit and repartee.
The imagination of Fletcher, when not straining after the eagle wing
of the bard of Avon, was fertile and felicitous in an extraordinary
degree. The romantic, the fanciful, the playful, are epithets
peculiarly descriptive of its range and tone, within which he
frequently emulates with success the excellence of his great master.
There appears, indeed, in several of his pieces, an evident intention
of entering the lists with Shakspeare. Thus the exquisitely pleasing
character of Euphrasia, under the disguise of a page, in _Philaster_,
was undoubtedly intended to rival the similar concealments in _The
Two Gentlemen of Verona_, in _As You Like It_, in _Cymbeline_, and in
_Twelfth Night_. Amoret, in _The Faithful Shepherdess_, is a delightful
counterpart of Perdita, in _The Winter's Tale_, and throughout _The
Two Noble Kinsmen_, and especially in the character of the Jailor's
daughter, there is a striking, and, in general, a very happy effort
made, to copy the express colouring of Shakspeare's style, and his mode
of representing the wanderings of a disordered intellect.
But when, regardless of the hazardous nature of the experiment, he
attempts, in his _Sea Voyage_, to emulate the magic structure and wild
imagery of _The Tempest_, his ambition serves but to show, that he had
formed a very inadequate estimate of his own powers.
Yet the failure in such an enterprise can reflect no disgrace, and from
what has been said, it must necessarily be inferred, that we consider
Fletcher as holding a very high, if not the highest rank, in the school
of Shakspeare.
How much is it to be lamented then, that excellence such as this should
have been polluted by the grossest spirit of licentiousness; for it
would appear, from the tenour of many of our author's plays, that, in
his vocabulary, sensuality and sensibility were synonymous terms; so
nakedly and ostentatiously has he brought forward the most immodest
impulses of sexual appetite. Shakspeare may be, and is, occasionally,
coarse and unreserved in his language; but, if compared with Fletcher,
the nudity of his expressions is like the marble statue of a vestal,
when contrasted with the wanton exposure of a prostitute.
As we wish to be spared the pain of reverting to such a subject, for
which the age of Fletcher and his successors offers, unfortunately,
but too many opportunities, it shall here be closed with a single
expression of regret, that a department of poetry which, in itself,
seems better calculated than any other to serve the cause of virtue,
should be degraded to a purpose thus base and unworthy.[561:A]
On a level with, if not one degree above the writings of Fletcher,
follow the purer and more chastised productions of PHILIP MASSINGER,
a poet of unwearied vigour and consummate elegance. That he had, in
conjunction with others, composed for the stage some years anterior
to the death of Shakspeare, there is every reason to conclude;
for his first arrival in London, in 1606, was, we are told, under
necessitous circumstances, and with the view of dedicating his
talents to dramatic literature; and, though his _Virgin Martyr_, his
earliest _publication_, did not appear until 1622, it was a notorious
fact, that he had written in conjunction both with _Beaumont_ and
_Fletcher_.[561:B] It is almost certain, indeed, from what Mr. Gifford
has stated, that, in the interval just mentioned, he had brought on the
stage not less than eight or ten plays.[561:C]
The English drama never suffered a greater loss, (for all Shakspeare's
pieces have descended to us,) than in the havoc which time and
negligence have committed among the works of Massinger; for of
thirty-eight plays attributed to his pen, only eighteen have been
preserved!
Massinger, like Fletcher, pursued the path in which Shakspeare had
preceded him with such imperishable glory; but he wants the tenderness
and wit of the former, and that splendour of imagination and that
dominion over the passions, which characterise the latter. He has,
however, qualities of his own, sufficiently great and attractive, to
gift him with the envied lot of being contemplated, in union with these
two bards, as one of the chief pillars and supporters of the _Romantic
drama_.
He exhibits, in the first place, a perfectibility, both in diction
and versification, of which we have, in dramatic poesy at least, no
corresponding example. There is a transparency and perspicuity in
the texture of his composition, a sweetness, harmony, and ductility,
together with a blended strength and ease in the structure of his
metre, which, in his best performances, delight, and never satiate the
ear.
To this, in some degree technical merit, must be added a spirit of
commanding _eloquence_, a dignity and force of thought, which, while
they approach the precincts of sublimity, and indicate great depth and
clearness of intellect, show, by the nervous elegance of language in
which they are clothed, a combination and comprehension of talent of
very unfrequent occurrence.
These qualities are, it must be allowed, not peculiar to dramatic
poetry; but when we find, that to their possession are added a powerful
discrimination and marked consistency of character, no inconsiderable
display of humour, much fertility of invention in the preparation
and developement of his incidents, and an unprecedented degree of
grace and amenity in the construction of several of his comic scenes,
together with a fund of ethic knowledge, an exquisite sense of moral
feeling, and above all, a glow of piety, in many instances amounting to
sublimity, we willingly ascribe to Massinger originality and dramatic
excellence of no inferior order.
But when Dr. Ferriar, closing his _Essay on the Writings of Massinger_,
asserts that he "ranks immediately under Shakspeare himself[562:A],"
we must crave permission to hesitate for a moment, in reference to the
enchanting tenderness of Fletcher.
"If there be a class of writers, of which, above all others," observes
Mr. Gilchrist, "England may justly be proud, it is of those, for the
stage, coeval with and immediately succeeding Shakspeare[563:A];" an
observation which the names alone of Fletcher and Massinger would
sufficiently justify; but when to these we are enabled to add such
fellow-artists as Ford, Webster, Middleton, &c. we are astonished that
even the talents of Shakspeare should, for so long a period, have
eclipsed their fame.
FORD'S first appearance as an author, was in a copy of verses
to the memory of the Earl of Devonshire, in 1606, and his earliest play
of which we have the date of performance, was "A Bad Beginning makes a
Good Ending," acted at court, in 1613[563:B]; but it is probable that
the three plays mentioned with this, in Mr. Warburton's Collection, and
like it, never published, and now lost[563:C], were likewise early, and
perhaps anterior compositions.
As it was the fashion, at this period, for dramatic writers to commence
their course in conjunction with others, we find Ford accepting
frequent assistance from his friends: thus _The Sun's Darling_, _The
Fairy Knight_, and _The Bristowe Merchant_, were written in conjunction
with Decker; and _The Witch of Edmonton_, with the aid of both Decker
and Rowley.
Of the pieces which were exclusively the product of his own genius,
_'Tis Pity She's a Whore_, though not published the first, was the
first written, and was succeeded by _The Lover's Melancholy_, _The
Broken Heart_, _Love's Sacrifice_, _Perkin Warbeck_, _The Fancies Chast
and Noble_, and _The Ladies Tryal_.
Ford possesses nothing of the energy and majesty of Massinger, and
but little of the playful gaiety and picturesque fancy of Fletcher,
yet scarcely Shakspeare himself has exceeded him in the excitement of
pathetic emotion. Of this, his two Tragedies of _'Tis Pity She's a
Whore_, and the _Broken Heart_, bear the most overpowering testimony.
Though too much loaded in their fable with a wildness and horror often
felt as repulsive, they are noble specimens of dramatic genius; and who
that has a heart to feel, or an eye to weep, can, in the first of these
productions, view even the unhallowed loves of Giovanni and Annabella;
or in the second, the hapless and unmerited fates of Calantha and
Penthea, with a cheek unbathed in tears!
JOHN WEBSTER, whom we shall place immediately after Ford, as next,
perhaps, in talent, resembled him in a predilection for the terrible
and the strange, but with a cast of character still more lawless and
impetuous. Of the six plays which he produced, two were written in
conjunction with William Rowley, and are comedies; the remaining four,
containing three tragedies, and a tragi-comedy, are the issue of his
unaided pen. The tragedies, especially _The White Devil, or Vittoria
Corombona_, first printed in 1612, and _The Dutchesse of Malfy_, in
1623, are very striking, though, in many respects, very eccentric
proofs of dramatic vigour.
It appears, however, from the dedication to the "_White Devil_," that
our author was well acquainted with the laws of the ancient drama,
and that "willingly, and not ignorantly," he adopted the Romantic or
Shakspearean form. The last paragraph of this address is a pleasing
instance of his diffidence, liberality, and good sense:—"For mine own
part," says he, "I have ever truly cherished my good opinion of other
men's worthy labours, especially of that full and heightened stile of
master Chapman; the laboured and understanding works of master Jonson;
the no less worthy composures of the both worthily excellent master
Beaumont, and master Fletcher; and lastly, (without wrong last to be
named,) the right happy and copious industry of master Shakspeare,
master Decker, and master Heywood, wishing what I write may be read by
their light; protesting that, in the strength of mine own judgment, I
know them so worthy, that though I rest silent in my own work, yet to
most of their's I dare (without flattery) fix that of Martial:—
—— "non norunt hæc monumenta mori."[565:A]
The silence which modesty dictated to Webster, ought long ago to have
been broken, by a declaration, that he was fully entitled to a niche in
the same temple of Fame with those whom he has here commemorated. In
his pictures of wretchedness and despair, he has introduced touches of
expression which curdle the very blood with terror, and make the hair
stand erect. Of this, the death of _The Dutchesse of Malfy_, with all
its preparatory horrors, is a most distinguishing proof. The fifth act
of his _Vittoria Corombona_ shows, also, with what occasional skill
he could imbibe the imagination of Shakspeare, particularly where its
features seem to breathe a more than earthly wildness. The danger,
however, which almost certainly attends such an aspiration after, what
may be called inimitable excellence, Webster has not escaped; for,
where his master moves free and etherial, an interpreter for other
worlds, he but too often seems laboriously striving to break from
terrestrial fetters; and, when liberated, he is, not unfrequently,
"an extravagant and erring spirit." Yet, with all their faults, his
tragedies are, most assuredly, stamped with, and consecrated by, the
seal of genius.
Not less than twenty-four plays are ascribed to THOMAS MIDDLETON, of
which, sixteen at least, appear to owe their existence entirely to
himself: the rest are written in conjunction with Jonson, Fletcher,
Massinger, Decker, and Rowley. Middleton, it is probable, began to
compose for the stage shortly after Shakspeare[565:B], for one of his
pieces was _published_ as early as 1602, and eight had passed the press
before 1612. His talents were principally directed towards comedy, only
two tragedies, _The Changeling_, and _Women beware Women_, and two
tragi-comedies, _The Phœnix_ and _The Witch_, being included in the
list of his productions.
Humour, wit, and character, though in a degree inferior to that which
distinguishes the preceding poets, are to be found in the comedy of
Middleton; and, occasionally, a pleasing interchange of elegant imagery
and tender sentiment. His tragedy is not devoid of pathos, though
possessing little dignity or elevation; but there is, in many of his
plays, and especially in the tragi-comedy of _The Witch_, a strength
and compass of imagination which entitle him to a very respectable rank
among the cultivators of the _Romantic_ drama.
A more than common celebrity has attached itself to this last-named
composition, in consequence of the conjecture of Mr. Steevens, that it
preceded _Macbeth_, and afforded to Shakspeare the _prima stamina_ of
the supernatural machinery of that admirable play. This may readily
be granted, without aspersing the originality of the Bard of Avon;
for if we except the mere idea of the introduction of such an agency
into dramatic poetry, there is little beside a few verbal forms of
incantation, and two or three metrical invocations, of singular
notoriety perhaps at the period, which can be considered as betraying
any marks of imitation. In every other respect, affinity or resemblance
there is none; for the Witches of Middleton and of Shakspeare are
beings essentially distinct both in origin and office. The former are
creatures of flesh and blood, possessing power, indeed, to inflict
disease, and to execute more than common mischief, but very subordinate
instruments of evil, when compared with the spiritual essence and
mysterious sublimity of the _Weird Sisters_, who are the authors not
only of nameless deeds, but who are nameless themselves, who float upon
the midnight storm, direct the elemental strife, and, more than this,
who wield the passions and the thoughts of man.
The hags of Middleton are, however, drawn with a bold and creative
pencil, and seem to take a middle station between the terrific
sisterhood of Shakspeare, and the traditionary witch of the
country-village. They are pictures full of fancy, but not kept
sufficiently aloof from the ludicrous and familiar.
On the same elevation with Middleton, as to dramatic merit, may we
place the name of THOMAS DECKER, who, if he has not equalled
his contemporary in the faculty of imagination, has, in some instances,
exceeded him, in the vigorous conception of his characters, and the
skilful management of his fable. So early as 1600, had he published
one of his best dramas, under the title of _Old Fortunatus_, which,
together with _The Honest Whore_, printed in 1604, very adequately
prove that his talents were of no inferior class; the character of
_Orleans_ in the first of these plays, and that of _Bellafront_ in the
second, exhibiting not only many beautiful ideas in richly poetical
language, but many indications of an original and discriminative mind.
The fertility of Decker was great; for independent of numerous pieces
of a miscellaneous kind, he wrote or contributed to write, not fewer
than thirty-two plays. Several of these, however, were never printed,
and are not now, probably, in existence; and two which were once in Mr.
Warburton's possession, perished with his ill-fated collection. There
is reason to suppose that twelve, if not fifteen, originated solely
with himself, and for the remainder, his associates were Middleton,
Massinger, and Ford, Webster, Day, and Rowley. With the latter and
Ford, he wrote _The Witch of Edmonton_, the execution of which shows,
that, though he has availed himself, with much effect, of the common
superstitions connected with his subject, he was, in point of fancy,
inferior to Middleton, the Witch of this triumvirate being little more
than the ignorant and self-deluded victim of the folly of the times,
then, under the shape of decrepid and female old age, to be found in
almost every hamlet in the kingdom.
Decker has been more known to posterity by his connection and quarrel
with Ben Jonson, than by his own works, a fate which has also obscured
the writings and reputation of JOHN MARSTON, who, in his
life-time, was not undeservedly celebrated both as a dramatic and a
satiric poet. In the former capacity he produced eight plays, of which
the two parts of _Antonio and Mellida_, _The Insatiate Countess_, and
_The Malcontent_, published as early as 1602, 1603, and 1604, reflect
great credit on his abilities. These, and indeed all his dramas, give
evidence of great wealth and vigour of description, of much felicity
in expression, and of much passionate eloquence; nor are his characters
raw or indistinct sketches, but highly coloured and well supported.
The compliment, however, which some modern writers have paid him, on
the score of chastity of thought and style, is, we are sorry to say,
most unmerited; for neither is it supported by the opinion of his
contemporaries, nor by the testimony of his own writings. So greatly
was he a sinner in this respect, that an old satirist says of him,—
"Tut, what cares he for modest, close couched terms,
Cleanly to gird our looser libertines?
Give him plain-naked words, stripped from their shirts,
That might beseem plain-dealing Aretine."[568:A]
If fecundity were a test of genius, no writer, with the exception
of Lopez de Vega, would stand upon such elevated ground as THOMAS
HEYWOOD, who tells us, in the Preface to his _English Traveller_, a
tragi-comedy, that it was "one reserved amongst 220 in which he had
either an entire hand or at the least a main finger;" a degree of
industry and fertility which may justly excite our astonishment.
It is perhaps equally extraordinary, that, in periods so late as the
reigns of Elizabeth, James, and Charles, and when the art of printing
was in full activity, only twenty-six of this prodigious number should
have issued from the press, a paucity for which their author accounts,
in the preface just quoted, in the following manner: "One reason," he
avers, "is that many of them, by shifting and change of companies, have
been negligently lost; others of them are still retained in the hands
of some actors, who think it against their peculiar profit to have them
come in print; and a third, that it never was any great ambition in me,
to bee, in this kind, voluminously read."
This apathy or modesty has, no doubt, deprived us of some interesting
plays; for though Heywood had little of the enthusiasm or fancy of
the genuine poet, there are in several of the pieces which remain, an
unaffected ease and simplicity, and a power of touching the heart,
which merit preservation in no common degree. He abounds, too, in
pictures of domestic life very minutely finished, correct without being
cold, and effective without being overcharged. To his skill in exciting
pathetic emotion, his tragedy entitled _A Woman killed with Kindness_
bears the most impressive testimony.
Heywood, as may be conceived, began early, and continued long to write.
Of the dramas which are left us, the first published, was his _Death of
Robert Earle of Huntington_, dated 1601, and the last, the tragi-comedy
of _Fortune by Land and Sea_, dated 1655. He was occasionally assisted
by Rowley, Brome, &c.
Greatly superior in poetic force and vigour to Heywood, but equally
inferior as to truth of dramatic imitation, we have now to mention the
venerably epic name of GEORGE CHAPMAN, the translator of Homer, and the
friend of Shakspeare and Jonson, with whom, as a writer for the stage,
he was nearly coeval.
Though the author of more comedies than tragedies, the genius of
Chapman was infinitely better calculated for the latter province. Many
beauties, it must be granted, are to be found in some of his comedies,
especially in his _All Fooles_, and _Widdowe's Tears_, but they stand
aloof from the character of the department, in which they are included.
It is, in fact, in the lofty and heroic drama, in the more elevated
and descriptive parts of tragedy, that he excels; in a grandeur often
wild and irregular, but highly animated and striking. Thus the two
tragedies, entitled _Bussy D'Ambois_, breathe a chivalric spirit truly
inspiring, and, however censured by Dryden[569:A] for tumour and
incorrectness of style, excite in the reader a sensation of involuntary
transport. It will readily be admitted, however, that such a mode of
composition is by no means adapted to dramatic purposes, and presents
no safe or legitimate model. Chapman wrote sixteen plays, besides
assisting Jonson and Marston in _Eastward Hoe_, and Shirley in at least
two of his productions.
With nearly all the poets whom we have hitherto mentioned did WILLIAM
ROWLEY unite in the composition of various pieces for the stage;
namely, with Massinger, Middleton, and Heywood, Ford, Decker, and
Webster, and, it has even been said, with Shakspeare, in a play
entitled _The Birth of Merlin_. For this last association, however,
there appears to be no other foundation than the bookseller's
assertion, who printed this play in 1662, and which is totally
unsupported by any other evidence external or internal.
But Rowley wanted not talent and originality for independent exertion,
and five dramas out of nine which have been attributed solely to his
pen, have reached us from the press. That a writer who was deemed
a worthy assistant in such plays as _The Witch of Edmonton_, _The
Thracian Wonder_, and _The Spanish Gipsey_, must have possessed no
very inferior abilities, can admit of little doubt, and is confirmed
indeed by his own exclusive compositions; for _A Match at Midnight_,
and _All's Lost by Lust_, the former in the comic, and the latter in
the tragic, department of his art, evince, in incident and humour, in
character and in pathos, powers which repel the charge of mediocrity.
Upon the whole, however, we consider him as ranking last in the roll of
worthies who have thus far graced our pages.
Among the crowd of poets who commenced writers for the stage during the
dramatic life-time of Shakspeare, and who were peculiarly disciples
of the same school, we have now, in our opinion, noticed the most
eminent; and if we add to the list, the names of TAILOR, TOMKIS, and
TOURNEUR, the first the author of _The Hog hath lost his Pearl_, the
second of _Albumazar_, and the third of _The Revenger's Tragedy_, _The
Atheist's Tragedy_, and _The Nobleman_, productions in which some very
beautiful passages are to be found, and some entire scenes of great
merit, we shall not probably be charged with the omission of any thing
which could materially serve to heighten our idea of this unrivalled
period of the _Romantic_ drama. Beyond the limits, indeed, to which we
are confined, one great name, that of _Shirley_, meriting, in many
respects, the celebrity which _now_ accompanies the memory of Massinger
and Fletcher, would require particular attention; but we must hasten
to conclude this branch of the subject, by a simple enumeration, in
alphabetical order, of those who, in any degree, contributed to fill
the school of Shakspeare whilst its founder was in existence:—
Armin, Robert.
Barnes, Barnaby.
Barry, Lodowick.
Bird, William.
Borne, William.
Boyle, William.
Brandon, Samuel.
Brewer, Anthony.
Campion, Thomas.
Carey, Elizabeth.
Chettle, Henry.
Cook, John.
Dauborn, Robert.
Day, John.
Downton, Thomas.
Drayton, Michael.
Field, Nathaniel.
Goff, Thomas.
Hathway, Richard.
Haughton, William.
Hawkins, ——
Jubey, William.
Machin, Lewis.
Massey, Charles.
Mason, John.
Munday, Anthony.
Pett, ——
Porter, Henry.
Rankins, William.
Ridley, Samuel.
Robinson, ——
Rowley, Samuel.
Sharpman, Edward.
Shawe, Robert.
Singer, John.
Slaughter, Martin.
Smith, William.
Smith, Wentworth.
Stephens, John.
Taylor, John.
Wadeson, Anthony.
Wilkins, George.
Wilson, Robert.
Wilson, ——[571:A]
In this long list, the only name of celebrity is that of _Michael
Drayton_, and it is a circumstance very extraordinary, and much to be
regretted, that, although we find, from the manuscripts of Dulwich
College, this great poet had written an entire play, under the title
of _William Longsword_, and had contributed towards the composition of
not less than twenty others, whilst we learn, at the same time, from
Meres[571:B], that he was well known as a writer of tragedy, not a
particle of his authenticated poetry, in this province, should have
reached posterity.
After this concise view of the contemporaries of Shakspeare, whom we
conceive to have in general adopted, either tacitly or avowedly, and
with an approximation nearly proportioned to their talents, the style
and structure of _his_ drama, we have now to bring forward the mighty
leader of another school, which, if not equally excellent with that
established by Shakspeare, possesses the most undoubted originality,
and, in its peculiar walk, a degree of merit which neither in its own
day, nor in any subsequent period, has encountered any successful
rivalry. To this description is it necessary to add the name of BEN
JONSON?
Some attempts at a more classical construction of our drama had been
made about the period when Jonson began to write: _Daniel_, for
instance, had published his _Cleopatra_, in 1594, after the models of
antiquity, and _Alexander_ Earl of Stirling, printed, in 1603 and 1604,
his _Monarchic_ Tragedies, in which a regular chorus is introduced; but
these were abortive efforts, unsupported by the requisite abilities for
dramatic composition, and it remained for Jonson to impress upon his
own age, and upon posterity, the conviction that an equally correct
form of art might be combined with some of the striking excellences of
the Romantic school.
It is probable that when Jonson first began to write for the theatre,
which we find, from Mr. Henslowe's memorandums, was as early as 1593,
and in conjunction with Decker, Marston, Chettle, &c., he conformed
himself to their mode of composition; but no sooner had he ventured on
the stage with a comedy exclusively his own, than he aspired to the
establishment of a Dramatic Literature in this province, which, while
it should adhere to the structure of the classical model, might exhibit
various and extensive views of human nature, and uniformly have for its
object the correction of vice and folly through the medium of unsparing
satire.
Success, in a very extraordinary degree, accompanied this first
adventure of laudable ambition, which under the title of _Every Man
in his Humour_ made its appearance, at The Rose theatre, in 1596, and,
with material alterations and improvements, at The Globe, in 1598. This
was followed, at various periods, and almost to the very close of his
life, by thirteen more pieces in the same department, of which ten are
comedies, and the remaining three, as their author chose to designate
them, comical satires.
That these productions, though in the line peculiarly adapted to
his genius, should be equally excellent, it would be extravagant to
expect. The best, and, we may add, the most incomparable in their
kind, are the play just mentioned, _Volpone, or The Fox_, _Epicœne,
or The Silent Woman_, and _The Alchemist_. As much inferior to these,
but yet possessed of considerable merit, we may next enumerate _The
Case is Altered_, _The Devil is an Ass_, and _The Staple of News_; and
lastly, though not devoid of interesting and well written passages,
_Bartholomew Fair_, _The New Inn_, _The Magnetic Lady_, and _A Tale of
a Tub_. The _comical satires_, entitled _Every Man out of his Humour_,
_Cynthia's Revels_, and _The Poetaster_, are, especially the last,
composed in a tone of indignant strength; and, as their appellation
might lead us to suppose, are personal and severe; but probably not
more so than the occasion warranted.
The fair fame of Jonson which, both in a moral and dramatic light,
has, for more than a century, been overwhelmed by a cloud of ignorance
and prejudice, now brightens with more than pristine lustre, through
the liberal and generous efforts of some accomplished scholars of
the present day; and if ever it be permitted to departed spirits to
witness the transactions of this sublunary sphere, with what delight
and gratitude must the spirit of the injured bard look down upon the
labours of his learned friends, upon the noble and disinterested
protection of a _Gilchrist_, a _Godwin_, and a _Gifford_!
Under such circumstances, and with such a triumvirate in his support,
it were needless, and, indeed, it were unjust, to do more than repeat
in this place their own summary of his merit as a comic poet, to
which we will now add, once for all, however unimportant it may be,
the expression of our conviction of the general justness of their
sentiments with regard to his writings, and of the unanswerable nature
of their defence with regard to his moral character; a tribute which
we are, beyond measure, gratified in paying, as whilst they have
impartially brought forward the great talents of Jonson, they have
paid a full and frank acknowledgment to the superior comprehensiveness
of the genius of Shakspeare; and have, at the same time, placed in a
striking point of view the _steady friendship_ which subsisted between
these two luminaries of the dramatic world.
It is, however, only with the literary character of Jonson that we are
now occupied; and on the topic immediately before us, the consideration
of his _comic_ powers, Mr. Godwin has cursorily, but very justly
remarked, that "these, perhaps, compose his strongest claim to the
admiration of all posterity. He excels every writer that ever existed,
in the article of humour; and it is a sort of identical proposition
to say, that humour is the soul of comedy. Even the caustic severity
of his turn of mind aided him in this. He seized with the utmost
precision the weaknesses of human character, and painted them with a
truth that is altogether irresistible. Shakspeare has some characters
of humour marvellously felicitous. But the difference between these
two great supporters of the English drama, in the point of view we
are considering, lies here. Humour is not Shakspeare's mansion, the
palace wherein he dwells; there are many of his comedies, where the
humorous characters rather form the episode of the piece; poetry, the
manifestation of that lovely medium through which all creation appeared
to his eye, and the quick sallies of repartee, are the objects with
which his comic muse more usually delights herself. But Ben Jonson is
all humour; and the fertility of his muse, in characters of this sort,
is wholly inexhaustible."[574:A]
With a fuller elucidation of the subject, which laid more directly
before him, Mr. Gifford, after commenting on the inutility of the
common practice of contrasting the two poets, and after observing
that "Shakspeare wants no light but his own; 'for' as he never has
been equalled, and in all human probability never will be equalled,
it seems an invidious employ, at best, to speculate minutely on the
precise degree in which others fell short of him," proceeds to state,
that "the judgment of Jonson was correct and severe, and his knowledge
of human nature extensive and profound. He was familiar with the
various combinations of the humours and affections, and with the nice
and evanescent tints by which the extremes of opposing qualities melt
into one another, and are lost to the vulgar eye: but the art which he
possessed in perfection, was that of marking in the happiest manner
the different shades of the same quality, in different minds, so as to
discriminate the voluptuous from the voluptuous, the covetous from the
covetous, &c.
"In what Hurd calls 'picturing,' he was excellent. His characters
are delineated with a breadth and vigour, as well as a truth, that
display a master hand; his figures stand prominent on the canvas, bold
and muscular, though not elegant; his attitudes, though sometimes
ungraceful, are always just; while his strict observation of
proportion, (in which he was eminently skilled,) occasionally mellowed
the hard and rigid tone of his colouring, and by the mere force of
symmetry, gave a warmth to the whole, as pleasing as it was unexpected.
Such, in a word, was his success, that it may be doubted whether he has
been surpassed, or even equalled, by any of those who have attempted to
tread in his steps.
"In the plots of his comedies, which were constructed from his own
materials, he is deserving of undisputed praise. Without violence;
without, indeed, any visible effort, the various events of the story
are so linked together, that they have the appearance of accidental
introduction; yet they all contribute to the main design, and support
that just harmony which alone constitutes a perfect fable. Such, in
fact, is the rigid accuracy of his plans, that it requires a constant,
and almost painful attention, to trace out their various bearings and
dependencies. Nothing is left to chance: before he sat down to write,
he had evidently arranged every circumstance in his mind; preparations
are made for incidents which do not immediately occur; and hints are
dropped, which can only be comprehended at the unravelling of the
piece. The play does not end with Jonson, because the fifth act is come
to a conclusion; nor are the most important events precipitated, and
the most violent revolutions of character suddenly effected, because
the progress of the story has involved the poet in difficulties from
which he cannot otherwise extricate himself. This praise, whatever be
its worth, is enhanced by the rigid attention paid to the unities; to
say nothing of those of place and character, that of time is so well
observed in most of his comedies, that the representation occupies
scarcely an hour more on the stage, than the action would require in
real life."[576:A]
Mr. Gifford then goes on to explain, why Jonson, "with such
extraordinary requisites for the stage, joined to a strain of poetry
always manly, frequently lofty, and sometimes sublime," should not have
retained his popularity; accounting for this result by the assignment
of three causes, of which the first was, his dismissing "the grace
and urbanity which mark his lighter pieces whenever he approached the
stage, putting on the censor with the sock;" the second sprung from
the circumstance, that "Jonson was the painter of humours, not of
passions," and aiming less to excite laughter in his hearers, "than to
feast their understanding, and minister to their rational improvement,"
he frequently brought forward unamiable and uninteresting characters,
pests which he wished to extirpate from society, not only by rendering
them ridiculous, but by exhibiting them in an odious and disgusting
light; and the third was, "a want of just discrimination. He seems
to have been deficient," observes Mr. Gifford, "in that true tact or
feeling of propriety which Shakspeare possessed in full excellence.
He appears to have had an equal value for all his characters, and he
labours upon the most unimportant, and even disagreeable of them, with
the same fond and paternal assiduity which accompanies his happiest
efforts."[577:A] This laboured and indiscriminate finishing may be
termed, indeed, one of the prominent characteristics of Jonson's
composition; and has, perhaps, more than any thing else, contributed to
obscure his reputation.
The genius of Jonson seems to have forsaken him, when he touched the
tragic chords. Neither pity nor terror answered to his call, and
_Sejanus_ and _Catiline_ are valuable, principally, for their correct,
though cold and hard, delineations of Roman character and costume. It
is remarkable, that, in the construction of these tragedies, Jonson
has deserted his Athenian masters, and, adopting the licence of the
Romantic school, he has laid aside the unities of time and place; but
without acquiring that breadth and freedom in the execution of his
subjects, with which such deviations ought to have been accompanied.
The devotion of the poet to this high department of his art was not
confined, however, to these two Roman dramas; he had planned a tragedy
on the Fall of _Mortimer_, of which only a small fragment remains;
and we find, from the Dulwich Manuscripts, that, the year preceding
the first performance of _Sejanus_, he had actually been engaged in
writing a play on the subject of _Richard the Third_:—"Lent unto
Benjemy Johstone," says Henslowe's memorandum, "at the appoyntment
of E. Alleyn and Wm. Birde the 22 June 1602, in earnest of a boocke
called _Richard Crook-back_, and for new adycions for Jeronymo, the
some of x lb."[577:B] The _Richard_ of _Jonson_, and the _Macbeth_
of _Milton_!—would that time had spared the one and witnessed the
execution of the other! How delightful, how interesting might have been
the labour of comparison!
If Jonson failed, as he must be allowed to have done, in communicating
pathos and interest to his tragic productions, he has made us ample
amends by the unrivalled excellence of his numerous _Masques_, a
species of dramatic poetry, to which he, and he alone, put the seal
of perfection. Here his imagination, which, in the peculiar line of
comedy he cultivated, had but little scope for expansion, and was, in
his tragedies, altogether repressed, by an undeviating adhesion to the
letter of history, expatiated as in its native element. "No sooner,"
remarks Mr. Gifford, "has he taken down his lyre, no sooner touched on
his lighter pieces, than all is changed as if by magic, and he seems a
new person. His genius awakes at once, his imagination becomes fertile,
ardent, versatile, and excursive; his taste pure and elegant; and all
his faculties attuned to sprightliness and pleasure."[578:A]
No greater honour, however, has been paid to the memory of Jonson,
than the proof which Mr. Godwin has brought forward of his being
the favourite author of Milton, "the predecessor that he chiefly
had in his eye, and whom he seems principally to resemble in his
style of composition."[579:A] Among the numerous passages by which
he has substantiated this fact, none are more conspicuous than those
that breathe the spirit of the lyrical portion of the Masques; for
"Milton," as he observes, "will certainly be found to have studied
his compositions in this kind more assiduously, than those of any of
his contemporaries.—It would be strange indeed, if the poet, who in
early youth composed the Mask of Comus, had not diligently studied
the writings of Ben Jonson."[579:B] Can there be a test of merit more
indisputable than this? for _Comus_, though by no means faultless as a
Masque, has to boast of a poetry more rich and imaginative than is to
be found in any other composition, save _The Tempest_ of Shakspeare.
"It is not however," proceeds Mr. Godwin, "in lighter and incidental
matters only, that Milton studied the great model afforded him by
Jonson: we may find in him much that would almost tempt us to hold
opinion with Pythagoras, and to believe that the very spirit and souls
of some men became transfused into their poetical successors. The
address of our earlier poet to the two universities, prefixed to his
most consummate performance, the comedy of _The Fox_, will strike every
reader familiar with the happiest passages of Milton's prose, with its
wonderful resemblance.—They were both of them emphatically poets who
had sounded the depths, and formed themselves in the school, of classic
lore.
"The difference between 'them' may perhaps best be illustrated from the
topic of religion. They had neither of them one spark of libertine and
latitudinarian unbelief. But Jonson was not, like Milton, penetrated
with his religion. It is to him a sort of servitude—it is not the
principle that actuates, but the check that controls him. But in
Milton, it is the element in which he breathes, a part of his nature.
He acts, 'as ever in his Great Task-master's eye:' and this is not his
misfortune; but he rejoices in his condition, that he has so great, so
wise, and so sublime a Being, to whom to render his audit."[580:A]
The labours of Jonson closed with a species of dramatic poetry in which
he had made no previous attempt, and we have only to regret that it was
left in an unfinished state; for had the _Sad Shepherd_ been completed
in the style of excellence in which it was commenced, it would have
been superior not only to the _Faithful Shepherdess_ of Fletcher, but
perhaps to any thing which he himself had written.
When Jonson, in his noble and generous eulogium on Shakspeare, tells
us, that
"He was not of an age, but for all time,"
he seized a characteristic of which the reverse, in some degree,
applies to himself; for had he paid less attention to the _minutiæ_
of his own age, and dedicated himself more to universal habits and
feelings, his popularity would have nearly equalled that of the poet
whom he loved and praised. Yet his fame rests on a broad and durable
foundation, and we point, with pride and triumph, to that matchless
constellation of dramatic merit, where burn, with inextinguishable
glory, the mighty, names of SHAKSPEARE, JONSON, FLETCHER, MASSINGER.
FOOTNOTES:
[557:A] Vide Malone's Dryden, vol. i. part ii. p. 101.
[557:B] Verses addressed to Mr. Humphrey Mosely, published in his
Poems, Epigrams, &c. 1658.
[557:C] Verses addressed to Mr. Charles Cotton.
[558:A] See Malone's Dryden, vol. i. part ii. p. 101. note.
[558:B] Monthly Review, new series, vol. lxxxi. p. 126.
[558:C] Malone's Dryden, vol. i. part ii. p. 100.—Fuller tells us, in
his quaint but emphatic manner, that Beaumont brought "the _ballast_ of
judgment," and Fletcher "the _sail_ of phantasie."—Worthies, part ii.
p. 288.
[559:A] Lamb's Specimens of English Dramatic Poets, p. 409.
[559:B] Dryden on Dramatic Poesy.
[561:A] Would that the Commentators on Shakspeare had pursued the
plan which Mr. Gifford has adopted in his edition of Massinger, who,
speaking of the freedoms of his author, declares, that "those who
examine the notes with a prurient eye, will find no great gratification
of their licentiousness. I have called in no 'one' (he adds) to drivel
out gratuitous obscenities in uncouth language; no 'one' to ransack the
annals of a brothel for secrets 'better hid:' where I wished not to
detain the reader, I have been silent, and instead of aspiring to the
fame of a licentious commentator, sought only for the quiet approbation
with which the father or the husband may reward the faithful
editor."—Massinger, vol. i. pp. lxxxiii. lxxxiv.
[561:B] Gifford's Massinger, vol. i. pp. xii. xiv. Introduction.
[561:C] Ibid. vol. i. pp. xviii.-xx.
[562:A] Gifford's Massinger, vol. i. Essay on the Writings of
Massinger, p. cxxvi.
[563:A] Letter to William Gifford, Esq. on the late edition of Ford's
Plays, 8vo. 1811, p. 7.
[563:B] Vide Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary, vol. xiv. p. 465.
[563:C] Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxxxv. p. 219.
[565:A] Vide Ancient British Drama, vol. iii. p. 3.
[565:B] _The Old Law_, in which he assisted Rowley, was acted in its
original state, and before it was re-touched by Massinger, in 1599.
[568:A] Returne from Parnassus, act i. sc. 2.—Vide Ancient British
Drama, vol. i. p. 49.
[569:A] In his Dedication to the Spanish Fryer.
[571:A] This writer is mentioned by Meres in 1598, and praised for his
skill in comedy.
[571:B] Vide Witt's Treasury, p. 281.
[574:A] Jonson's Works by Gifford, vol. i. pp. ccxcix. ccc.
[576:A] Gifford's Jonson, vol. i. Memoirs of Jonson, pp. ccxiii.-ccxv.
[577:A] Gifford's Jonson, vol. i. Memoirs, pp. ccxvi.-ccxix.
[577:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 394.
[578:A] Gifford's Jonson, vol. i. Memoirs, p. ccxxx. After the
passage which we have inserted in the text, follow these admirable
observations:—
"Such were the Masques of Jonson, in which, as Mr. Malone says, 'the
wretched taste of those times found amusement.' That James and his
court delighted in them cannot be doubted, and we have only to open
the Memoirs of Winwood and others to discover with what interest they
were followed by the nobility of both sexes. Can we wonder at this?
There were few entertainments of a public kind at which they could
appear, and none in which they could participate. Here all was worthy
of their hours of relaxation. Mythologues of classic purity, in which,
as Hurd observes, the soundest moral lessons came recommended by the
charm of numbers, were set forth with all the splendour of royalty,
while Jones and Lanier, and Lawes and Ferrabosco, lavished all the
grace and elegance of their respective arts on the embellishment of the
entertainment.
"But in what was 'the taste of the times _wretched_?' In poetry,
painting, architecture, they have not since been equalled; in theology,
and moral philosophy, they are not even now surpassed; and it ill
becomes us, who live in an age which can scarcely produce a Bartholomew
Fair farce, to arraign the taste of a period which possessed a cluster
of writers, of whom the meanest would now be esteemed a prodigy.
And why is it assumed that the followers of the court of James
were deficient in what Mr. Malone is pleased to call taste? To say
nothing of the men, (who were trained to a high sense of decorum and
intellectual discernment under Elizabeth,) the Veres, the Wroths, the
Derbys, the Bedfords, the Rutlands, the Cliffords, and the Arundels,
who danced in the fairy rings, in the gay and gallant circles of these
enchanting devices, of which our most splendid shows are, at best, but
beggarly parodies, were fully as accomplished in every internal and
external grace as those who, in our days, have succeeded to their names
and honours."—Memoirs, pp. ccxxx. ccxxxi.
[579:A] Gifford's Jonson, vol. i. p. ccxcvii.
[579:B] Ibid. vol. i. pp. ccciii.-cccv.
[580:A] Gifford's Jonson, vol. i. p. cccvii.