Write a note
on Restoration drama with special reference to the heroic tragedy and the
comedy of manners.
Ans:
During
the puritan age, there were no theatrical performances in London and the
theatres were closed. With the restoration of Prince Charles as King Charles II
to the throne, the gates of the London theatres were re-opened again. The
re-birth contributed much in English dramatic tradition. The main restoration
dramatists form are two- ‘The heroic tragedy’ and ‘the comedy of manners’. John
Dryden, William Congreve, William Charlie, John Bregh etc are leading
playwrights of this period.
The Heroic tragedy is a peculiar
product of the Restoration era. It has often been condemned as sentimental or
artificial. L.C. knight criticized it as ‘being alien to the soul’. This
dramatic form developed as a reaction to Shakespeare because it was felt that
nothing more could be done with the Shakespearian type of tragedy and if they
wanted to excel and do something new they must explore fresh fields. Secondly,
it developed mainly to satisfy the social, moral and artistic needs of the age.
In short, the heroic play is an aristocratic growth so it remains artificial
for the ground level of the society. It does not deal with the real world and
its problem rather its creates a mechanical world of its won in which all the
limitations of human nature are forgotten and man is encouraged to believe that
he had absolute power over his action and circumstances. This heroic play is
basically different it as an imitation in little of heroic poem. Just as in the
epic, so also in the heroic play probability is stressed to the farthest limit.
The heroic playwright enjoys a greater liberty of fancy. The introduction of
the supernatural element is therefore justified on the same ground as in an
epic.
The
heroic play ought to be an imitation of an heroic poem and consequently love
and valour should be the subject of it. The purpose of heroic play was not to
create pity and fear but an admiration for the hero. In this type of pays the
hero must be one who can perform anything that creates wonder in the mind of
its audience. The main characteristics of this type of plays are the subjects
of the heroic tragedy are love and valour, everything in a tragedy is govern
med by an air of exaggeration Dryden himself states, “Heroic play is indeed the
representation of nature, but it is nature up to a higher pitch”. The scenes of
the heroic plays are laid in distant lands and the characters are the persons
of super human structure indulging in loud declamations and heroic speeches.
The
dazzling feature of the heroic play is that the heroic is a super man and in
whom are embodied the typical romantic qualities which reflects the outstanding
trait of his character. He is a great warrior and travels across the world in
quest of glory and honour. These plays also presents sudden terms of fortune
often caused by love triangles, which is a common theme of heroic tragedy.
Because, the heroic tragedy only creates admiration and concernment and unhappy
ending is not considered as a appropriate for it. The heroic play is to be
explaining by the epic tradition of English dramatic tradition. As F. R. Leavis
points out, “It provided an explanation with the help of sensationalism.” For
all these features thee dramatics form became quite popular among the audience
of restoration period.
Write a note
on Restoration comedy as ‘Comedy of Manners”.
Ans: The comedy of manners is a
peculiar product of the restoration era and it reflects the true spirit of the
age. It highlights faithfully the way of life and manners of the ‘greater’
society at that contemporary period. It depicts as small world which has a
distinct territory of its own—the fashionable parks and the coffee house of
London city at Charles II’s time. Moreover, it is a highly sophisticated world
which follows well defined rules and convictions. In this society, there is
fashion in behaviours as well as in dress, which must be strictly followed. It
values form and style both in speech and conduct and projects good manners.