Abstract:
This thesis consists of an examination of the development of the kind of play described at the time as ‘serious’, throughout the period of the Restoration proper, namely from 1660 until the accession of William and Mary. The term ‘serious play’ was in current usage at this time to denote works in which the course of action involved physical danger; by definition, such actions were only suitable for dramatic representation when the people concerned were of noble birth. As a consequence, although the term ‘serious’ does not necessarily imply that a treatment of serious themes or moral issues is involved, the style of these works tends to be elevated, to use poetry rather than prose as the dramatic medium, and to employ the various forms of rhetoric for ‘heightening’ the effect ...
