ABSTRACT
Looking back over the record of the modern Bengali drama and comparing it with that of the drama of other countries, the first thing that attracts one's notice is its comparative youth. The modern type of drama virtually began in Bengal in the early part of the nineteenth century, that is to say, on the advent of the British rule. Yet, in spite of its being perhaps the youngest drama in the world, it seems spiritually among the most mature. Indeed, it already shows signs of unnatural growth in certain respects before having gone through the experiences and gradual moulding processes of the developed stage-craft in European countries. This seems to be due to the fact that the Bengali drama had an enormous amount of valuable literary traditions and material to fall back upon and to draw from, without at the same time being wholly competent to handle the modern European methods of production in a suitable manner. The incongruity is further explained when one remembers that while the Bengali playwrights were using the old native sources, it was absolutely impossible for them to do more than adapt European dramatic principles and technique to Indian subjects.
