"But Shakspeare's magic could not copied be, And I cannot but remark with indignation on the abominable manner in which this incomparable play is commonly represented. The witches, who are designed as very serious characters, are represented by buffoons. On the contrary,'instead of the low comedians, the very best declaimers in the theatre ought to support these awful, I had almost said sublime personages; and every exertion should be made to add to the solemnity of the scene. The versatility of Shakspeare's talents is shewn in Cymbeline, where the passion of jealousy is exhibited under a different form and character to what it assumes in Othello. In his historical plays, the correctness with which the characters are drawn and sustained, as far as historical report enables us to judge, is greatly to be admired. The best I think are Julius Cæsar, and Richard III. In the former it is impossible not to observe how much better the character of Brutus is drawn by Shakspeare, than that of Cato by Mr. Addison. Next to Shakspeare, our best tragic writer is undoubtedly Otway. Dr. Beattie most unac countably declares-" That the merit of Venice Preserved, and the Orphan, lies rather in the beauty of particular passages than in the general effect of the whole." If this was the case, it is plain that these plays would only af fect and please a few individuals of nice taste and discrimination, whereas the populace are always attracted by them and delighted with them. I believe much finer passages might be selected from some of Dryden's plays than any which are to be found in Otway, yet these plays do not keep the stage, and are not admired on the whole. In truth a few fine passages will never support any drama. After Otway, Rowe and Young rank highest in the list of English tragic writers. LETTER XXX. Comedy.-Aristophanes.-Plautus.-Terence. -Moliere.-Shakspeare.-Jonson.-Beau mont and Fletcher.-Dryden.-Congreve Farquhar.-Vanburgh.-Steele.-Addison. -Centlivre.-Sheridan. MY DEAR JOHN, On the subject of comedy I shall, I hope, be less prolix than on the other branch of dramatic poetry; for much of what might be said on this topic is anticipated in my last letter. For good compositions of this kind, as well as of the former class, we must look to the moderns, and not to the antients; indeed, as I observed, a play (strictly so called) may be regarded as a modern invention, at least what the antients have left us are to be considered only as hints on which modern dramatists have successfully improved. Aristophanes was a mere farce writer, a buffoon, almost destitute of the only qua lities that can render buffoonery tolerable, wit and humour. Plautus was much superior, and some of his dramas have both plot and character. Terence, who is regarded as a translator of Menander, is intolerably flat and tedious, and there is a sameness in all his dramas which renders the perusal of them, to me at least, insufferably irksome. In them there is very little of character or wit, nor indeed any one essential of a good play. As I rejected Aristotle's rules respecting time and place in tragedy, so I think them equally absurd applied to comedy. The unity of action I would still insist upon for a general reason, which has been frequently repeated in the course of these letters. The object of comedy is commonly regarded as diametrically opposite to that of tragedy; yet I am not one of that class of critics who condemn those mingled dramas, which sometimes produce seriousness and sorrow, and sometimes levity and laughter. "They approach nearer, says Johnson, than either (tragedy or comedy) to the appearance of life; they shew how great machinations and slender designs may promote or obviate one another, and the high and low co-operate in the general system of unavoidable concatenation." As, however, the provinces of each are distinct, though they may occasionally be united in the same production, we may be allowed to consider them under a distinct character. The ends and principles of tragedy I formerly stated to be the passions of terror and pity; the ludicrous and absurd are the objects of comedy; and while the former is conversant in the great and important transactions of human life, the latter occupies itself with the lesser views and follies of men. The scene of tragedy is best laid in a different country, or at least at a different period of time; but comedy should be suited to the common level of men, and therefore directly contrary in both these respects. Dr. Blair is of opinion that the scene should be most frequently laid in our own country, or at least not too far distant, to expose the reigning foibles: thus the general idea or definition of comedy is a satirical exhibition of the follies and improprieties of mankind. While this is strictly pursued, comedy may answer an excellent purpose, besides that of |
