James Shirley Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Robert S. Forsythe

Critical Essay by Robert S. Forsythe

SOURCE: Forsythe, Robert S. “The General Characteristics of Shirley's Plays.” In The Relations of Shirley's Plays to Elizabethan Drama, pp. 48-63. New York: Columbia University Press, 1914.

In the following excerpt, Forsythe enumerates the dominant characteristics of Shirley's works, describing him as a courtly playwright concerned with moral justice. He also notes that Shirley was an innovative adaptor writing at a time when dramatic conventions were deeply entrenched.

In the words of the author of the excellent article upon the Gifford-Dyce edition of Shirley in The Quarterly Review, XLIX, 14:

“When Shirley came on the stage, he might seem to succeed to a mine, of which the wealth had been completely exhausted—a land, of which every nook and corner had been explored and cultivated to its utmost height of productiveness. Every source from which dramatic invention had drawn its materials might seem dried up. The history of every country had...
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