1. Name : Asari Bhavayang
Roll no :-4
Enrollment No:-3069206420200002
Course:-M.A (English)Sem1
Subject:-History of English Literature
Topic:- The Origin Of the Drama
Teacher Name :- Dilip Barad sir
Batch :- 2021-2023
Email :- asaribhavyang7874@gmail.com
Department:- Department of English
2. The Origin of the Drama:-
● “First the deed, then the story, then the play; that seems
to be the natural development of the drama in its simplest
form”.(long-115)
● Many historians believe that drama came to England
along with them. There was information that when the
Roman where in England, they established vast
amphitheatre for production some plays, but when they
left, the theatre gone with them
● Originally, the term drama came from Greek word meaning
“action” or “to act” or “to do”. William J. Long argues that
“drama is an old story told in the eye, a story put into
action by living performers”.
3. Periods in the development of the Drama :-
1. The Religious Period.
2. The Moral Period of the Drama.
3. The Artistic Period of the Drama.
Classical Influence upon the Drama.
Shakespeare's Predecessors in the Drama.
4. PERIODS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
DRAMA
1. The Religious Period:-
● In Europe, as in Greece, the drama had a distinctly
religious origin. The first characters were drawn from
the New Testament, and the object of the first plays
was to make the church service more impressive, or
to emphasize moral lessons by showing the reward of
the good and the punishment of the evil doer.
5. ● Miracle and mystery plays:-
● Miracle play, also called Saint’s Play, one of three
principal kinds of vernacular drama of the European
Middle Ages along with the mystery play and the
morality play.
● From the drama evolved to Miracle and Mystery play. In
France, Miracle used to represent the life of the saints and
Mystery used to represent any scene taken from the
scripture. Meanwhile in England, there was no distinction
between this two. The term Miracle play was used to
represent any story taken from the scripture or the bible and
the life of the saints.
6. Mystery plays
● We hear of no play being called a 'Mystery' in
England before the eighteenth century, and it
seems probable that all out-of-door dramas in this
country were known as 'miracles.'
● From the eleventh century onward monastic and
cathedral records frequently mention properties
used in such dramatic representations.(Edward-66)
7. Cycles of plays :-
● On 1311, the Council of Vienne revived the feat of
Corpus Christi.
● This festival held in June every year and last for
three or four days, sometimes extend to six days.
● The Miracle plays were presented in all large
town city in England
● It was arranged to exhibit the whole story from
creation to the Day of Judgment in a cycle.
8. 2. The Moral period of the Drama ;-
● In morality plays, the protagonist of the play generally
meets various moral attributes through personification.
The other characters in the play signify moral qualities
and the hero of the play represents mankind and
humanity. Supporting characters in the play are
personifications of either good or bad. So, moral
lessons can be learned from these plays. The hero or
the protagonist shows the difference between good and
bad. These type of plays were developed at the later
14th c. It gained more popularity in the 15th c.
9. ● The Interludes :-
● The introduction of Morality play also introduce so
called “interlude”.
● Interlude is the short version of morality play.
● Generally interludes were given during break of the
scene.
● It was a short stage entertainment in a sense of
humor and was considered as the comedies.
● The example of interlude was by John Heywood
which performed around 1497.
10. 3. The Artistic period of the Drama :-
● The final stage of the evolution of English drama was the artistic
period.
● In this period, the purpose of the play was not to point out a moral
but to represent human life as it is.
● During this period, English drama was influenced by classical drama.
● The first comedy was “Ralph Roister Doister” written by Nicholas
Udall on 1556.
● The play divided into acts and scenes and wrote in rhyming couplets.
● This first comedy had become the model and predecessor of English
comedies.
● The first tragedy “Gorboduc” was written by Thomas Sackville and
Thomas Northon around 1562.
11. References:
1. Albert,Edward. (1979). History of English
Literature. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
2. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia.
"Miracle play". Encyclopedia Britannica, 6
Feb. 2019,
https://www.britannica.com/art/miracle-play.
Accessed 10 February 2021.
3. Long, William.J.(2014). English Literature.
Noida: Maple Press Ltd.
