ABSTRACT
At the outset of the seventeenth century the task of releasing comedy from its “romantic entanglements” still remained unfulfilled. It was Ben Jonson’s distinction to create a new realistic comedy and to build up in its behalf a stout defense of dramatic theory. He replaces the sweet irresponsibility of Elizabethan day-dreaming by a tone of measured discipline, resulting from his even grasp on the firm facts of experience. James Shirley’s critics have, of course, been justified in insisting that much of his work shows a distinct Elizabethan emphasis. With thorough self-consciousness Shirley’s characters adopt a social pose. They play a social game in which every gesture is observed and every move counts. Shirley portrays manners most successfully when moral considerations do not obtrude themselves, to demand his primary consideration. With amusement Shirley observes Lady Bornwell, incompetent and fantastic in her posing.
