English Literature

(Amelia) #1
CHAPTER VI. THE AGE OF ELIZABETH (1550-1620)

I am nothinge a-colde,
I stuffe my skyn so full within
Of ioly good ale and olde.
Backe and syde, go bare_, etc.

Our first tragedy, "Gorboduc," was written by Thomas
Sackville and Thomas Norton, and was acted in 1562, only
two years before the birth of Shakespeare. It is remarkable
not only as our first tragedy, but as the first play to be writ-
ten in blank verse, the latter being most significant, since it
started the drama into the style of verse best suited to the
genius of English playwrights.


The story of "Gorboduc" is taken from the early annals of
Britain and recalls the story used by Shakespeare inKing Lear.
Gorboduc, king of Britain, divides his kingdom between his
sons Ferrex and Porrex. The sons quarrel, and Porrex, the
younger, slays his brother, who is the queen’s favorite. Vi-
dena, the queen, slays Porrex in revenge; the people rebel and
slay Videna and Gorboduc; then the nobles kill the rebels,
and in turn fall to fighting each other. The line of Brutus be-
ing extinct with the death of Gorboduc, the country falls into
anarchy, with rebels, nobles, and a Scottish invader all fight-
ing for the right of succession. The curtain falls upon a scene
of bloodshed and utter confusion.


The artistic finish of this first tragedy is marred by the au-
thors’ evident purpose to persuade Elizabeth to marry. It
aims to show the danger to which England is exposed by the
uncertainty of succession. Otherwise the plan of the play fol-
lows the classical rule of Seneca. There is very little action on
the stage; bloodshed and battle are announced by a messen-
ger; and the chorus, of four old men of Britain, sums up the
situation with a few moral observations at the end of each of
the first four acts.


CLASSICAL INFLUENCE UPON THE DRAMA.The revival
of Latin literature had a decided influence upon the English

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