ABSTRACT
The Edwardian era has a buoyancy and flair all its own, evident on every level of stage artistry, from music halls and musical comedy to the highest reaches of cosmic speculation. Edwardian drama shows two related trends, Dionysian and Apollonian: a colourful enjoyment of the tragic and the will to human advance. The patterning of events shows a semi-dramatic mastery and the cinematographic directions create a mental theatre. The choric spirits are more exciting, their poetry barbed, and their attempt to interpret man's relation to the cosmos the drama's heart. The Dynasts forms a natural introduction to the Scottish dramatist John Davidson who, working on much the same material and with a similar rejection of traditional religion, reaches different conclusions. Spirit knowledge is generally best when freely moulded and manipulated into art; otherwise colour and warmth may be lost.
