ABSTRACT
In the midst of a discussion about “the trew vse of perfite Imitation,” the pedagogue Roger Ascham recalls his days as a Cambridge University student in the 1530s:
Although reminiscing about “trew Imitation,” Ascham stops short of either setting the scene or reproducing the dialogue from his “many pleasant talkes” with Thomas Watson and Sir John Cheke. Nor does the scholemaster spell out either the specific content of their conversations or their assessment of where classical dramatic practice meets classical dramatic theory. But even in its brevity the anecdote is evocative. For, like the unlocalized settings and uncluttered stages that so many early modern plays make a virtue of, Ascham economically dramatizes a perfect humanist moment with but a few words and little action. His story presents, in other words, the epitome of an academic play, one in which the actors converse informally within a formal educational environment, enhancing their understanding “togither” by refining the necessary skills that facilitate the production of knowledge. Inviting the reader to participate imaginatively in the scholarly exchange, Ascham’s scene portrays the humanist reclamation of classical learning, whose “preceptes” and “examples” furnish its pupils with modern standards for critical judgment, while at the same time supplying them with models for contemporary education and praxis.
