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THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF ENGLISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF ENGLISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE

An Encyclopedia in Eighteen Volumes

Volume V: English THE DRAMA TO 1642 Part One

Edited by A. W. Ward & A. R. Waller

Preface

Contents

Chapter I. INTRODUCTORY
The Origins of English Drama
By A. W. WARD, Litt.D., F.B.A., Master of Peterhouse

  1. Earliest traces of English drama
  2. Estrifs
  3. The Normans and their Minstrels
  4. Faint influence of the Classical Drama
  5. The English Monastic Literary Drama
  6. Popular survivals
  7. Festival Plays
  8. Ridings and Mummings
  9. Liturgical Drama
  10. Opposition of the Clergy to secular entertainments
  11. Importance of the Corpus Christi Festival
  12. Cornish Miracle-plays
  13. Variety in dialect and metre in the English Mysteries and Miracle-plays
  14. Origin of the Moralities
  15. English love of Allegory
  16. Evolution of Tragedy and Comedy

BIBLIOGRAPHY

II. Secular Influences on the Early English Drama
MINSTRELS.  VILLAGE FESTIVALS.  FOLK-PLAYS
By HAROLD H. CHILD, sometime Scholar of Brasenose College, Oxford

  1. Strolling Performers: the Latin mimus and the Teutonic scop
  2. Influence of English Minstrels on Religious Plays
  3. Beginnings of the Interlude
  4. The Minstrels’ Guild
  5. Influence of Folk-lore
  6. Cantilenae
  7. Folk-dance and play
  8. The Hock-Tuesday Play
  9. Sword-dance
  10. Plough Monday performances
  11. Development of the Mummers’ Play
  12. Transformation of the May-game into the Robin Hood Plays

BIBLIOGRAPHY

III. The Early Religious Drama
MIRACLE-PLAYS AND MORALITIES
By W. CREIZENACH, Professor of German Language and Literature in the University of Cracow

  1. Concordia Regularis
  2. School Dramas of Hilarius
  3. Religious Plays in London
  4. The vernacular in Medieval Drama
  5. Jacob and Esau
  6. Miracles of Mary
  7. Evidence of the popularity of the Religious Drama
  8. The Harrowing of Hell
  9. Mysteries and their sources: traditional and original elements; mingling of comic with tragic incidents
  10. Costliness of production
  11. Corpus Christi Plays
  12. York Mysteries
  13. Towneley Mysteries
  14. Chester Plays
  15. Ludus Coventriae
  16. Saints’ Plays
  17. Object and value of the production of Mysteries
  18. Early Moralities
  19. The Castle of Perseverance
  20. Mankynd
  21. Mind, Will and Understanding
  22. Everyman
  23. Tendency towards the introduction of comic elements
  24. Progress in aim and treatment
  25. Distinctive character of the Moralities
  26. Effects of Humanism on Mysteries and Moralities
  27. Interlude of the Nature of the Four Elements
  28. Treatment of educational, political, and ecclesiastical questions in the Morality
  29. Vicissitudes in the reigns of the Tudor sovereigns
  30. The last of the Moralities

BIBLIOGRAPHY

IV. Early English Tragedy
By JOHN W. CUNLIFFE, D.Lit. (London), Professor of English in the University of Wisconsin, U. S. A.

  1. Study, imitation and reproduction of Senecan tragedy
  2. Classical influence in the Italian Drammi Mescidati
  3. Giraldi Cinthio’s Orbecche
  4. Early English Tragicomedies
  5. Historic importance of stage directions
  6. Horestes
  7. Kynge Johan
  8. Gorboduc and its political significance: its advance on Senecan Tragedy and early Tragicomedy
  9. Introduction of intermedii
  10. Jocasta
  11. Gismond of Salerne and its sources: motives of its authors
  12. Advance in the treatment of Romance
  13. The Gray’s inn Entertainment; The Misfortunes of Arthur: extent of its debt to Seneca
  14. Popular translation of the Ten Tragedies of Seneca
  15. Renewed interest in English history and the beginnings of English Historical Drama
  16. The Chronicle Histories: The Famous Victories of Henry the fifth
  17. The Troublesome Raigne of King John
  18. The True Chronicle History of King Leir
  19. The relations between Locrine and Selimus
  20. Diminishing attention paid to classical models and increasing appeal to popular sentiment and national tradition; the legacy of the Classics in Tragedy

BIBLIOGRAPHY

V. Early English Comedy
By F. S. BOAS, M.A., Balliol College, Oxford, LL.D. (St. Andrews), late Professor of English Literature in Queen’s College, Belfast, and late Clark Lecturer in Trinity College

  1. John Heywood
  2. His relationship to Sir Thomas More
  3. Period of his dramatic activity
  4. Probability of French influence
  5. His interludes: Witty and Witless; Love; Wether; The Foure P. P.
  6. His narrative power
  7. Doubtful plays: The Pardoner and the Frere and Johan Johan
  8. The collision of romantic and didactic tendencies in Tudor Drama
  9. Calisto and Melebea
  10. Lucrece
  11. Continental Humanist Drama
  12. Performances of Latin plays in the schools and at the Universities
  13. Nicholas Udall
  14. Ralph Roister Doister
  15. Jacke Jugeler
  16. English adaptations of Textor’s Neo-classic Plays
  17. Prodigal son plays
  18. Misogonus
  19. Jacob and Esau
  20. The Glasse of Governement
  21. Supposes
  22. The Bugbears
  23. Influence of the Southern Stage
  24. Strength of the native dramatic instinct
  25. Tom Tyler
  26. Damon and Pithias
  27. Promos and Cassandra
  28. Edwards’s and Whetstone’s theory of the function of Comedy

BIBLIOGRAPHY

VI. The Plays of the University Wits
By G. P. BAKER, Professor of English in Harvard University, U. S. A.

  1. The University standard of judgment
  2. John Lyly
  3. His position in the group of University Wits
  4. His material, method and style
  5. His models
  6. Authorship of the songs in Lyly’s plays
  7. Introduction to the English stage of High Comedy: its essential features
  8. Lyly’s refining and intellectual influence on English Literature and Drama
  9. George Peele
  10. Variety in theme and treatment
  11. Beginnings of dramatic criticism
  12. Peele’s poetry
  13. Robert Greene
  14. His literary career; his Novels and Pamphlets
  15. His Repentance
  16. Early dramatic work
  17. Plays attributed to Greene
  18. His sources and handling of plot
  19. Development of the Love story
  20. Thomas Lodge: sequence of his work
  21. His ill-success and retirement from Drama
  22. Thomas Nashe: popular form of his work
  23. Characteristics of the group of University Wits

BIBLIOGRAPHY

VII. Marlowe and Kyd
CHRONICLE HISTORIES
By G. GREGORY SMITH, M.A., Balliol College, Oxford, Professor of English Literature in the University of Belfast

  1. The forerunners of Shakespeare
  2. Marlowe’s life and early literary work
  3. Tamburlaine the Great
  4. Dr. Faustus
  5. The Jew of Malta
  6. Edward II, the Massacre at Paris and Dido Queene of Carthage
  7. Marlowe’s share in other Plays
  8. Association with Shakespeare
  9. Marlowe’s non-dramatic writings
  10. Poetic quality of his work
  11. Characteristics of his style
  12. His treatment of the Chronicle Play
  13. His forerunners
  14. Edward II
  15. Creation of Blank Verse as a dramatic instrument
  16. Thomas Kyd’s early work
  17. The Spanish Tragedie
  18. Kyd and the early Hamlet
  19. Doubtful authorship of The First Part of Jeronimo and of Solimon and Perseda
  20. Criticism of Kyd’s work and comparison with Marlowe; Kyd’s place in English Drama

BIBLIOGRAPHY

VIII. Shakespeare: Life and Plays
By GEORGE SAINTSBURY, M.A., Merton College, Oxford, LL.D., Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in the University of Edinburgh

  1. Character of our knowledge about Shakespeare
  2. His Family and Education
  3. His Marriage and relations with his Wife
  4. His Company
  5. Biographical aspects of the Sonnets
  6. Evidence as to Order of Plays
  7. Value of the Meres list
  8. Earliest group: The Comedy of Errors, Love’s Labour’s Lost and Titus Andronicus
  9. Second group: The Two Gentlemen of Verona, All’s Well that Ends Well and The Taming of the Shrew
  10. Remaining Meres Plays: Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merchant of Venice
  11. Early Chronicle Plays: Richard II, King John, Richard III
  12. Shakespeare’s share in Henry VI, Henry IV
  13. Plays not mentioned by Meres: Pericles, The Merry Wives, Measure for Measure, Much Ado about Nothing, As You Like It and Twelfth Night
  14. Remaining Historical Plays: Henry V and Henry VIII
  15. Classical Plays: Troilus and Cressida, Timon of Athens, Julius Caesar, Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra
  16. Tragicomedies: Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and King Lear
  17. Last group: Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest
  18. Shakespeare’s Censors
  19. His special gifts: poetic phrasing, dramatic construction and character-drawing
  20. His justice and tolerance
  21. Universality of his style
  22. His progress in versification
  23. Shakespearean Blank Verse: management of metre, pause, trisyllabic substitution and the redundant syllable

BIBLIOGRAPHY

IX. Shakespeare: Poems
By GEORGE SAINTSBURY, M.A., LL.D.

  1. Dates of Composition and First Editions
  2. Dedication of the Sonnets
  3. Venus and Adonis
  4. Lucrece
  5. The Sonnets: the problem of their interpretation
  6. Futility of attempts to find biographical details in them
  7. Dramatic elements
  8. Peculiarities of versification
  9. Lesser Poems: A Lover’s Complaint, The Passionate Pilgrim, The Phoenix and the Turtle
  10. Shakespeare’s metrical mastery in the Lyric

BIBLIOGRAPHY

X. Plays of Uncertain Authorship Attributed to Shakespeare
By F. W. MOORMAN, B.A. (London), Ph.D. (Strassburg), Assistant Professor of English Language and Literature in the University of Leeds

  1. Classification of extant Plays
  2. Locrine: points of resemblance to The Spanish Tragedie
  3. Arden of Feversham: deliberate bluntness of the story and unattractiveness of the hero
  4. A Yorkshire Tragedy
  5. Edward III
  6. Cromwell
  7. Sir Thomas More: its scholarly character and political tone
  8. The Birth of Merlin: its probable authors
  9. Faire Em
  10. The Merry Devill of Edmonton
  11. Mucedorus
  12. The London Prodigall
  13. The Puritane
  14. The Two Noble Kinsmen: wealth of its sources and qualities

BIBLIOGRAPHY

XI. The Text of Shakespeare
By the Rev. ERNEST WALDER, M.A., Gonville and Caius College, Headmaster of Ockbrook School, Derby

  1. Reasons for reluctance of authors and companies to publish
  2. Origin of the Quartos
  3. Duplicate, Variant and Doublet Quartos
  4. Discrepancies in Texts: curtailment or omission for stage purposes or for want of actors; political expediency
  5. Carelessness of Players and Printers
  6. Lack of evidence making Shakespeare responsible for Corrections or Additions
  7. Value of the first Folio
  8. The later Folios
  9. Subsequent history of the Text of Shakespeare
  10. Rowe’s edition
  11. Conjectures and restorations of Pope
  12. His controversy with Theobald, and its effects on Theobald’s edition
  13. Hanmer’s edition
  14. Warburton’s ignorance of the old Text and of Shakespeare’s language
  15. Johnson’s edition
  16. Scientific criticism of Capell
  17. Johnson and Steevens’s Text
  18. Malone’s edition
  19. Nineteenth century Editors: Singer; Hudson; Collier; Halliwell-Phillipps; Delius; Staunton; Grant White; Dyce
  20. The Cambridge Shakespeare

BIBLIOGRAPHY

XII. Shakespeare on the Continent
1660–1700
By J. G. ROBERTSON, M.A., B.Sc. (Glasgow), Ph.D. (Leipzig), Professor of German Language and Literature in the University of London

  1. Channels by which Shakespeare reached the Continent
  2. His influence on German and Dutch Seventeenth Century Drama
  3. Awakening of interest in the man
  4. Literary importance of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
  5. Voltaire’s attitude towards Shakespeare
  6. His adaptations from Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth
  7. Abbé Prévost and contemporary French admirers of Shakespeare
  8. Influence of Voltaire’s opinions in Italy
  9. Early Seventeenth Century indications of appreciation of Shakespeare in Germany
  10. Strength of Classicism
  11. The Translations of La Place, and their effect on Voltaire and French Criticism
  12. Sébastien Mercier
  13. Le Tourneur
  14. Voltaire’s last Attacks
  15. Popularity of the Adaptations of Ducis
  16. German interest in Shakespeare aroused by Lessing
  17. Wieland’s Prose Translation
  18. The new attitude of the Sturm und Drang; Gerstenberg’s and Herder’s Criticism
  19. Shakespeare included in the répertoire of the German stage; Schröder
  20. The Romantic School: A. W. Schlegel and his Fellow Workers
  21. Shakespeare’s influence on German Eighteenth Century Literature: on the French Romantic School
  22. German Shakespearean Scholarship in the Nineteenth Century
  23. Influence of Hegelianism
  24. Shakespeare and the Modern German Theatre
  25. The Meiningen Reforms
  26. Introduction of Shakespeare into other lands, chiefly through French or German Translations
  27. Value of recent American Criticism

BIBLIOGRAPHY

XIII. Lesser Elizabethan Dramatists
By the Rev. RONALD BAYNE, M.A., University College, Oxford

  1. General characteristics of Lesser Elizabethan Dramatists
  2. Their names according to Henslowe’s Diary and Meres’s list
  3. Antony Munday’s career (1553–1633) and industry as a writer
  4. Translations of Fedele and Fortunio: The Weakest goeth to the Wall
  5. His extant Plays founded on Ballads and Folk-lore
  6. Henry Chettle’s early life: his Tragedies: The Tragedy of Hoffman
  7. Haughton’s Comedies: Girm the Collier of Croyden and English-Men For my Money
  8. Porter’s Two angry women of Abington
  9. Hathwaye; Robert Wilson; Wentworth Smith
  10. Michael Drayton’s dramatic work
  11. John Day’s early work
  12. Samuel Rowley’s When you see me, You know me
  13. English imitation of French Senecan Drama
  14. Fulke Greville’s Mustapha and Alaham

BIBLIOGRAPHY

XIV. Some Political and Social Aspects of the Later Elizabethan and Earlier Stewart Period
By A. W. WARD, Litt.D., F.B.A.

  1. Main features of the English Renascence at its height
  2. Contrast between the beginning and the end of the age
  3. Literary significance of the later years of Elizabeth’s reign
  4. Strength of the Tudor Monarchy and Popular Sentiment
  5. Dramatists and the Divine Right of Kings
  6. Question of the Queen’s Marriage
  7. Her attitude towards the Religious Problem
  8. Struggle for the English Throne
  9. Elizabeth’s Ministers before and after the crisis
  10. Vigour and activity of the New Generation
  11. Elizabeth’s Court
  12. Education of the Courtier
  13. Contrast between Court and Country
  14. Gradual change in social conditions; amalgamation of New and Old Nobility
  15. Rise of Prices and advance of Trade and Industry
  16. Increased luxury in Diet and Dress
  17. Horticulture
  18. Drinking
  19. Tobacco
  20. The Army and Navy in Elizabeth’s time
  21. Position of the Clergy and causes of their disrepute
  22. Changes in the Universities, jobbery in Schools and Universities and in the Church
  23. Puritanism and the Dramatists
  24. Growth of London and its causes
  25. Increase of Litigation and its effects on the Legal Profession
  26. The Medical Profession
  27. Authors and their troubles
  28. Attention paid to the Fine Arts
  29. Social conditions of the Trading and Yeoman Classes
  30. Depression of the Labouring Class
  31. Servingmen
  32. Treatment of the Poor, Vagabonds and Criminals
  33. General unrest and high spirit
  34. The Women of the age

BIBLIOGRAPHY