SOURCE: Levin, Richard. “The Triple Plot of Hyde Park.” Modern Language Review 62 (January 1967): 17-27.

In the following essay, Levin studies Shirley's use of plot structure to develop themes in his play Hyde Park.

Shirley's Hyde Park is one of the best known and most widely admired of that interesting group of plays, usually classified as his ‘realistic comedies’ or ‘comedies of manners’, produced in the five year period preceding his departure for Ireland; in fact, many students of the Caroline stage have ranked it second only to The Lady of Pleasure, which is regarded as his greatest achievement in this genre and is frequently coupled with Hyde Park in their discussions. Judging from these discussions, however, it would appear that their enthusiasm for the play is largely limited to the ‘realism’ of its ‘manners’. Although few critics have gone as far as W. A. Neilson, who states flatly...