Dealer. William Wycherley: The Plain
Dealer. Sir John Vanbrugh: The Relapse, which is said to have created
the fop as a type. George Farquhar: The Beaux' Stratagem.
4. _Comedy under the Georges_--Goldsmith and Sheridan. Birth of both in
Ireland, and its effect on their lives and work as dramatists.
Modernness. Readings from The Good-Natured Man and She Stoops to
Conquer. Readings from The Rivals and The School for Scandal. Readings
from Irving's Life of Goldsmith. Description of his grave by the Temple
Church, London.
BOOKS TO CONSULT--Van Laun's History of French Literature. Translations
by Van Laun and Curtis Hidden Page. Lives of Moliere by Chatfield-Taylor
and Brander Matthews. The Mermaid Library (for the Restoration
Dramatists).
Between the September and the October programs there might be an
informal morning meeting, at which the novel by Chatfield-Taylor, Fame's
Pathway, of which Moliere is the hero, might be read in whole or in
part. It gives a vivid description of the stage of that time. In reading
The School for Scandal, The Rivals and She Stoops to Conquer, arrange to
have the parts taken by several of the club and have a rehearsal to
insure a smooth rendering of these bright plays. An additional paper for
this program might be on Jeremy Collier's famous attack on the stage,
and its purifying effect.
III--THE DRAMA IN ENGLAND; VICTORIAN PERIOD
1. _Early Nineteenth-Century Dramatic Criticism_--Charles Lamb's
selections from the early English dramatists. His great love of the
stage, and his essays describing plays and actors of his time. Essays of
Hazlitt and of Leigh Hunt upon the stage.
2. _Sheridan Knowles_--Readings from Virginius.
_Bulwer-Lytton_--Readings from The Lady of Lyons and Richelieu.
3. _Tom Taylor_--Readings from Our American Cousin and The Ticket
of Leave Man. _Robertson_--Readings from Society and Caste.
_Boucicault_--Readings from London Assurance; Louis XI.; and The Colleen
Bawn.
4. _Irving and Terry_--As exponents of Shakespeare. Their personalities.
Irving as a manager. His magnificent stage-settings.
BOOKS TO CONSULT--Brander Matthews: Development of the Drama. C. M.
Gayley: Representative English Comedies. H. A. Clapp: Reminiscences of a
Dramatic Critic.
The immense improvement in the art of staging plays in this period is an
excellent topic for one paper. The famous actors also may be studied:
John Kemble, Edmund Kean, Macready, and Helen Martin (Lady Faucit),
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