n part superseded by the
_morality plays_, although the former did not wholly go out of style
until the time of Elizabeth. The passion play given every ten years at
Oberammergau, Bavaria, is a survival of the old mystery play. The
moralities personified the virtues and vices common to man, and
attempted to teach moral lessons by allegorical representations. When
popular interest in these dramas began to lag, current topics were
introduced into the dialogue, and characters from real life appeared on
the stage for the first time. Early in the sixteenth century John
Heywood invented a farcical composition called _The Interlude_ to
relieve the tiresome monotony of existing plays. But it was in 1540 that
the first comedy appeared, and it is not too much to say that this play
marks the beginning of modern English drama. Nicholas Udall, head master
of Eton College, being accustomed to write Latin plays for his boys,
concluded to try his hand at an English drama. The result was _Ralph
Royster Doyster_, the first comedy. In 1562 Queen Elizabeth was
entertained by the presentation of the first English tragedy, a play
entitled _Gorboduc_, by Thomas Sackville.

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries amateur dramatic
productions called _masques_ were presented. Sometimes even nobles and
members of the royal family took part. These plays were accompanied by
music, dancing, and spectacular effects. The literary character of the
masque developed into the compositions of Ben Jonson, and culminated in
Milton's _Comus_. During the reign of Elizabeth the productions of Kyd,
Peele, Greene, Marlowe, and Beaumont and Fletcher raised the drama to
such a lofty plane that only the genius of a Shakespeare could surmount
it.

There are two distinct classes of modern dramas--tragedies and comedies.
In the former, events crowd irresistibly on to some terrible conclusion,
usually resulting in the death of the principal characters. An
atmosphere of gloom surrounds it, and the flashes of light serve but to
intensify the general darkness. Even when the soul of the reader
recognizes the justice of the end it rebels against the horrors of the
situation. The deeper and darker passions predominate; love is swallowed
up in hate and happiness drowned in grief. The comedy is in a lighter
and happier vein; its situations may be trying but they end happily; the
sun shines and the air is clear; if storms appear they are the showers
of a summer day, not