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VOL. III, 1912: COLLECTED BY W. P. KER

I. WHAT ENGLISH POETRY MAY STILL LEARN FROM GREEK. GILBERT MURRAY.

II. SOME CHILDISH THINGS. A. A. JACK.

III. A LOVER'S COMPLAINT. J. W. MACKAIL.

IV. ARNOLD AND HOMER. T. S. OMOND.

V. KEATS'S EPITHETS. DAVID WATSON RANNIE.

VI. DANTE AND THE GRAND STYLE. GEORGE SAINTSBURY.

VII. BLAKE'S RELIGIOUS LYRICS. H. C. BEECHING.

HUMPHREY MILFORD
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
LONDON, EDINBURGH, NEW YORK, TORONTO
MELBOURNE AND BOMBAY

A NOTE ON DRAMATIC CRITICISM

IN one of the largest American Universities there is a room filled with theatrical bric-à-brac which is called The Dramatic Museum'. Actors, theatrical managers, antiquarians, and millionaires have added to a collection begun by the University authorities; and the museum now contains reproductions of the great theatres of the ancient and modern world, masks, prompt-books, playbills, and all the other accessories of the stage. The room does not contain collections of plays; or if it does (for I have never visited the museum) they are subsidiary to the main object of the directors, which is to illustrate the changing conditions of the theatres of the world as an essential introduction to the study of the drama.

Now, there can be no legitimate objection to the study of theatrical antiquities as a thing in itself. Human curiosity finds a natural satisfaction in searching the past for every manifestation of man's activity and ingenuity; and who shall say that the antiquities of the theatre may not be studied with interest (and even with intelligence) by those who are especially attracted by the stage and its history? Manuscripts, parchments, missals, bindings, and typography are a legitimate object of study for both those who are interested and those who are not interested in the contents of books; and the history of the theatre may furnish amusement to those alike who love the drama and those who care nothing for what the drama really has to offer the souls of men. The professional printer may profitably spend his spare hours in studying the history of printing, without concerning himself with the literature which the printed

page gave to the world; the actor may amuse himself intelligently by ransacking stage memoirs or studying theatrical antiquities, without adding to his knowledge of dramatic poetry; and who shall say them nay? Both printer and actor become students of Kulturgeschichte in the process, though, like Monsieur Jourdain, they may not know it; they are both exploring outlying regions in the field of human culture.

But the fact is that the collection in the American University has not been brought together for this reason. It has a far more pretentious purpose than this. It is called a dramatic' (not merely a theatrical) museum, and those responsible for its existence have brought together their interesting collection because they believe that these theatrical antiquities are an essential instrument of dramatic criticism. They believe that dramatic literature cannot be intelligently studied without an understanding of all that has gone on in the playhouses of the world from the very beginnings of the drama. The shape of the stage, the scenery, the audience and its characteristics, the lighting of the house, and many other things must be considered and understood before the art of the drama can be understood and appreciated. This raises a serious question of literary theory. For while we were willing to follow the printer's studies in the history of typography, with real interest, and without a careful weighing of the relative merits of printing and other arts and crafts, the case would be quite different if he insisted that we cannot understand the history of literature without studying the history of printing; and we should be especially inclined to examine the merits of his contention if we found that it was accepted without question by a considerable number of literary critics. The thesis of the directors of the 'dramatic museum' is a popular one in this age; actors, playwrights, and dramatic critics alike agree with them. What is the history of this thesis,

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