A Detailed Short Note On Restoration Drama [750 Words+]
A Detailed Short Note On Restoration Drama
The chief feature of Restoration Drama is Heroic Tragedy.
The Heroic Tragedy or the Heroic Play, like the Comedy of Manners, is a peculiar product of the Restoration era. It has often been condemned as unnatural and artificial. L. C. Knights criticises it as being alien to the soil. The fact is that it should not be judged by the standards of Shakespearean tragedy, but rather as a reaction to it.
It arose, first, as a reaction to Shakespeare, because it was felt that nothing more could be done with the Shakespearean type of tragedy, and If they wanted really to excel and do something new, they must explore fresh fields. Secondly, it arose mainly to satisfy the social, moral and artistic needs of the age, and it lived so long as it satisfied those needs. "It came into existence in response to the spiritual needs of a tired, disillusioned and decadent
aristocracy."
The aristocracy suffered from a sense of futility and moral insecurity. Shakespearean tragedy faced life and reality and interpreted it, the Restoration aristocracy needed a drama which would resuscitate those nobler values of life which their society had lost. "The heroic play created a dream world for them where they could find love, virtue and greatness, as a substitute for the pettiness around them." They craved romance and heroism, and it could only be satisfied by a type of play which was at once aristocratic and artificial.
Note on Restoration Drama
It was in response to such demands that the heroic play showed "heroic virtue", in noble men of illustrious birth, and thus helped to sustain their faith in kings, princess, men of conspicuous power, anciently called heroes.
The heroic play is an aristocratic growth, at once lofty and artificial. It does not deal with the real world and its problems. Rather, it creates a mechanical world of its own, in which life is lived at a heightened level, and to which real suffering can hardly penetrate. It is a "heroic world", not a "tragic one", a world in which all the limitations of human nature are forgotten and man is encouraged to believe that he has absolute power over his actions and circumstances. Pure emotion, more particularly the inflated emotions of love and honour, is regarded as an end in itself. Reality is kept out, and this is regarded as a distinction rather than a fault.
Thus the heroic tragedy creates an "escape-world, for a degenerate aristocracy and provides them with the vicarious satisfaction of doing great deeds. The Heroic Play is basically different from the older tragedy, and is to be understood with reference to the laws of the epic or heroic poem rather than to those of the tragedy. Dryden defined it, "as an imitation, in little, of a heroic poem" He noticed the great affinity between the two genres, the end is the same, the characters are the same, the action and passions are the same, only the manner of conveying them is different.
Epic does it through narration, while the heroic play uses action and dialogue for the purpose. The heroic play was thus invested with, "the greatness and majesty of a heroic poem". It was not to hold merely a mirror to nature, but to magnify reality. It was the representation of nature, "but nature raised to a higher pitch". The plot, the characters, the wit, the passions, the descriptions, were all to be exalted above the level of common converse. The style was also to be made epical. It was not to imitate conversation of real life too closely, since sublime subjects ought to be adorned with the sublimest, and the most figurative expressions.
The purpose of the Heroic play was not to arouse "pity and fear" but admiration. "Admiration", as used by the writers of the age, was an ethical term. The purpose of an epic was to instruct princes, and this was also the purpose of the heroic play. Now instruction through example is much more effective than through precepts. Just as the theme of a heroic Poem is Love and Valour so also Love and Valour are themes of a heroic play.
Admiration is aroused by the representation of these qualities. The dazzling feature of the heroic play is the hero who is a superman and who embodies the typically romantic qualities of Love and Valour. Valour is the outstanding trait of his character. The audience is amazed at such superhuman devotion and loyalty. The heroic play presents sudden turns of fortune, often caused by love.
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