Originally published in 1976, this highly acclaimed, full-scale account of Restoration drama is now available for the first time in a paperback edition. Following the changing patterns of drama decade by decade from 1660 to 1710, the author fully explores the diversity of the plays as they reflect the fads and fashions of a small, highly competitive theatre world constantly buffeted by political and social change. Anxious to avoid misleading generalizations - such as the dominance of `comedy of manners' and the rise of `sentimental' drama - Hume carries out a detailed, chronological survey of some five hundred plays, chronicling the emergence of numerous dramatic modes and their interaction and mutual influence. This meticulous documentation is set within the context of a critical discussion of theories of comedy and tragedy prevalent in the period.
Reviews
`The scope and sympathy of Professor Hume's study make it the most important book on Restoration drama to have appeared in our century ... Professor Hume's central concern... was to give a concrete and detailed picture of the Restoration dramatic tradition as it existed historically and to examine the ways in which it was experienced by the theatre-goers of four reigns. In this he is triumphantly successful.' Harold Love, Modern Language Review `a comprehensive survey of critical history as well as of the plays of fifty years. It is well-expressed, well-constructed, authoritative, and indispensable.' T. W. Craik, British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies



Book Information
ISBN 9780198117995
Author Robert D. Hume
Format Paperback
Page Count 544
Imprint Clarendon Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 139mm * 30mm