Jacobean Drama
Jacobean drama (that is, the drama of the age of James 1-1603-1625) was a decadent form of the drama of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. The Elizabethan age was the golden age of English drama. But with the turn of the century the drama in England also took a turn. It does not mean that there were no dramatists left. There certainly was a large number of them, but none of them could come anywhere near Shakespeare.
Just as after Chaucer poetry in England suffered a decline, similarly after Shakespeare had given his best (that is, after the sixteenth century) drama also suffered a decline. With the passage of time it grew more and more decadent, till with Shirley in the age of Charles I the old kind of drama expired and even theatres were closed (in 1642). "It was inevitable", says Long "that drama should decline after Shakespeare, for the simple reason that there was no other great enough to fill his place."
The dramatists of the Jacobean age can be divided into two classes as follows:
(i) The dramatists of the old school-Dekker, Heywood, Webster, Beaumont, and Fletcher.
(ii) The satiric group-Chapman, Jonson, Marston, Middleton, and Tourneur.
The Change of Patrons:
One of the reason for the decadence in Jacobean drama was its loss of national spirit and patronage. In the age of Elizabeth, drama was trulv national, as 'it was patronised alike bv the queen, the nobles the courtiers, and groundlings. But in the age of James I, it lost contact with common people and came to be patronised by, to quote Hardin Craig, "the courtly classes, their hangers-on, and the socially irresponsible parts of the population." Consequently, to quote the same critic "the stage spoke not to all men, but to men with somewhat specialized interests" Dramatists had to cater to the somewhat decadent courtly taste with tales of intrigue, cruelty, and immorality couched in a high-flown, "polished" style.
Marked Foreign Influence:
The drama of the age of James shows,
Just as after Chaucer poetry in England suffered a decline, similarly after Shakespeare had given his best (that is, after the sixteenth century) drama also suffered a decline. With the passage of time it grew more and more decadent, till with Shirley in the age of Charles I the old kind of drama expired and even theatres were closed (in 1642). "It was inevitable", says Long "that drama should decline after Shakespeare, for the simple reason that there was no other great enough to fill his place."
The dramatists of the Jacobean age can be divided into two classes as follows:
(i) The dramatists of the old school-Dekker, Heywood, Webster, Beaumont, and Fletcher.
(ii) The satiric group-Chapman, Jonson, Marston, Middleton, and Tourneur.
The Change of Patrons:
One of the reason for the decadence in Jacobean drama was its loss of national spirit and patronage. In the age of Elizabeth, drama was trulv national, as 'it was patronised alike bv the queen, the nobles the courtiers, and groundlings. But in the age of James I, it lost contact with common people and came to be patronised by, to quote Hardin Craig, "the courtly classes, their hangers-on, and the socially irresponsible parts of the population." Consequently, to quote the same critic "the stage spoke not to all men, but to men with somewhat specialized interests" Dramatists had to cater to the somewhat decadent courtly taste with tales of intrigue, cruelty, and immorality couched in a high-flown, "polished" style.
Marked Foreign Influence:
The drama of the age of James shows,