The dramatic arts of Greece
and Rome had never been wholly forgotten. Their traditions survived
in Italy in the crude pantomime performances of the common people.
Practically, however, the Middle Ages invented a new dramatic art of
their own, developed from the gorgeous religious pantomime of the
church services. The theatre was born of the cathedral; the stage,
of the altar.
The plays, at first purely religious, rapidly developed a comic
side, which by degrees became their central theme. The moral purpose
of the performance was forgotten; and the Church disowned its evil
changeling. To none of these early plays can the term "drama" be
accurately applied; for each and all of them lack plot. They are
merely a series of disconnected scenes, pictures having small
connection and less development. The idea of pursuing a single,
slowly developing story to its climax and conclusion dawns upon the
modern stage only with the English Elizabethan drama.
Despite our imperfect knowledge of the plays and players of that
time, one feels almost justified in saying that the modern drama was
created about 1580 by Christopher Marlowe and was raised to the
highest point of its development about 1600 by William Shakespeare.
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