English Drama

From it's origins to the present day

 PRESENTERS

Gracia Fidia Kris Diva

Verstianti Fortuna Meliani Andini
Presentation Agenda
The Restoration ( 1660 - 1700 )
The Early Eighteenth Century
The Romantic Period
The High Victorian
The Restoration, 1660 - 1700
The Restoration, 1660 - 1700
In this period, the moral anarchy, sarcasm
to te court (ruler) or institutions, mostly
expressed through drama. particularly,
through comedy called 'comedy of
manners'
 The Restoration,
1660 - 1700
The period from 1660 to 1700 is known as the
Restoration period or the Age of Dryden.

Dryden was the representative writer of this period.

The restoration of King Charles II in 1660 marks the
beginning of a new era both in the life and the
literature of England.
 John Dryden
Dryden was born in 1631, in the Dryden considered as the founder
village called Aldwincle in of English literacy critcsim
Northamptonshire.

All for Love is a 1677 heroic

He went up to Cambridge and drama by John Dryden which
obtained his BA in 1654 known as his best-known and
most performed play.
Stages of Restoration
Period
 Theatres of the seventeenth & eighteenth centuries were
considerably smaller than the Elizabethan theatre.

The 17th & 18th centuries thetre The Elizabethan theatre.

Can held about 500 pople
Performances took place in closed room with artificial lighting
The audience sits in a fully illuminated room
The audience was more homogeneous than the early periods,
from primarily to the higher social classes
Can held about 2000 pople
Performances took place in opened area (public outdoor structure)
like the Coliseum or a small football stadium.
Attracted people from all classes from the Upper Class nobility
and the Lower class commoners.
the rich people paid the most expensive ticket to closest from the stage.
Elizabethan audiences clapped and booed whenever they felt like it.
Sometimes they even threw fruit.
The Early 18th Century
In this period John Gay The Beggar's
Opera remained a standart repetory piece
in the 20th century
Best known today for The Beggar’s Opera, the
English poet and dramatist John Gay was born in
Devon in 1685.
As a young man Gay spent some time
apprenticed to a silk mercer in London, but he
eventually turned to journalism. He became
friends with the poet, dramatist and essayist
Aaron Hill, and helped him and Eustace Budgell
in the production of The British Apollo, a popular
journal of the day.
His most successful play was The Beggar’s
Opera, produced in London on Jan. 29, 1728, by
the theatre manager John Rich at Lincoln’s Inn
Fields Theatre. It ran for 62 performances.
 The Beggar’s Opera
Gay used the ballad opera – a fusion of
opera with folk tunes and the
broadsheet ballads of the street – to
tell the stories of ordinary lives, of
thieves and thief-takers, prison
breakers and prostitutes. Although the
form was widely popular in the 18th
century, The Beggar’s Opera is one of
the only ballad operas that is still
performed with any frequency today.

The Romantic Period

1780 - 1830
Sentimental comedy arose in the
eighteenth century as a reaction to
the Restoration comedy of manners
which was a cynical and witty
portraiture of the aristocratic society
of the Restoration age. The gay and
immoral life of the court encouraged
the composition of the Restoration
comedy of manners.
Comedy of Manners is a style of comedy
that became very popular during the
Restoration of England.

The Audences was mainly people of the

court (aristocracy).

The plays are satire - the poke fun at

society especially the upper class.
social 'rules'
mannerisms
hypocrisy
greed
gossip
affairs
Oliver Goldsmith
The Stoops to Conquer
Another Dramatic Works of
Oliver Goldsmith
Richard Sheridan
The Rival
The School for Scandal
High Victorian 1830 - 1880
 During the Victoria era, the drama
was a developing of art. some of the
popular figure in this field was
Douglas Jerrod (comedy writer)

The Characterictics of Victorian Drama

Focus on the author emotions
nature, beauty, and imagination:
rejection of industrialization,
organized religion, rationalism,
social convention, idealization of
women, children and rural life
inclusion
Types of drama
Comedy
The intentions of drma of
comedies is to make their
audiences laugh.

Tragedy
Tragic dramas use dark themes
such as disaster, pain, even
death. protagonist often have a
important role in this type of
drama
The Role of Women
Changing
Conditions of women's work
created by industrial revolution

The Custody
Gave a mother the right to
petition the court for access to
her minor children and custody
of children under seven years
old and later sixteen years old
Characteristics of Victorian Period

Social Morality Encouragement

Classes and Hard-working
Thank You for
listening!