Shakspeare's Dramatic Art

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER HI. John Heywood's Intebludes. Hick Scobneb, in my opinion, must be regarded as the point of transition from the Moralities to Heywood's Interludes, which again mark an important historical stage in the development of the English drama. The reign of Henry VIII. is the beginning of a new period as regards England. Without entering upon a closer examination of this period, I shall merely mention some events which directly influenced the further development of dramatic art. Among these were, I think, first of all, King Henry's luxury, love of splendour and pleasure: he ruled like a despot, made an external show of the whole might, majesty and power of the state, which was centred in his own person; and then that peculiar excitement of the nation which, being politically oppressed, began (in consequence of the Reformation) to move more freely and independently in the clerioo-religious direction, and by its lively interest in the great ecclesiastical questions of the day, took an important part in public life. The king's extravagant love of show and amusement in the first place increased dramatic art both as regards the external means of its subsistence and also as regards the greater value and esteem which were conferred upon it. The example of the Duke of Gloucester (afterwards Richard III.) to keep a private company of actors, had already become a fashion among the English nobles. A certain number of actors were engaged and formed part of the lord's men or retainers, wore his crest and livery, and had a claim to his protection, but were otherwise specially paid for every performance (twenty shillings by an earl, ten by a baron), a relation which continued down to Shakspeare's time. Even under Henry VII. we hear of the special theatrical companies in the service of ...