History of English Drama: From Middle Ages to Victorian Era

The Medieval Roots of English Drama

Shakespeare's theatre has its roots in medieval times. Bishops wanted to bring the Bible to the people, which is why priests began to perform biblical passages to make them easier for the public to understand. Consequently, the origin of drama lies within the Church. Certain biblical episodes were represented only during Easter.

Morality Plays of the 15th and 16th Centuries

These plays focused on the fate of the individual human person and were performed by traveling companies. The most famous morality play is Everyman. Morality plays survive in Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus, featuring its soliloquizing protagonist, its Good and Bad Angels, and its final moral lesson.

Mystery and Miracle Plays

This kind of play consisted of cycles of religious dramas performed not by priests, but by town guilds and religious craft associations. One important mystery play is The Play Called Corpus Christi.

Early Tudor Drama in the 16th Century

There were different kinds of drama in churches, streets, inn-yards, the royal court, the houses of the nobility, schools, and universities. After 1530, drama became an important mass event, and authorities were more concerned about the control of plays. Since the break with the Catholic Church, the open-air performances of mystery plays disappeared. Puritans claimed the abolition of the theatre because they stated that it was an instrument of corruption related to the Catholic Church, as had happened with the Christians of Ancient Rome.

Restoration Drama and the Comedy of Manners

Significant changes occurred in drama at this point. There were only public licensed theatres, such as The Royal Theatre and Inn Fields Theatre. Women began to play feminine characters. The audience was at first upper class or upper-middle class. The plays reflected the manners and moral values of the people who returned from France with the King; this style was called the Comedy of Manners. In some plays, love and sex had a bigger place, but with a comic and obvious treatment—for example, older men and women looking for younger lovers. New concerns developed from the earlier city comedy. Plays also portrayed the differences between country life and city life through complex and funny stories. Furthermore, plays satirized the false fashions and selfish behavior of the time.

Late Victorian Literature and Drama

The 19th-century drama was basically Melodrama. It featured sound effects, elaborate clothing, and stage changes. In this period, the "actor cult" began; Sarah Bernhardt and Henry Irving became very famous and admired. The middle and high classes began to frequent theatres. Although the predominant style was melodrama, the "serious" or "new drama" was also present as a revival of the drama of ideas. In 1850, the Music Hall was born, combining acting, music, dance, and acrobatics. We must not forget another important art of the time: Photography. Julia Cameron was one of the first women who became a famous photographer.