SOURCE: "Of the Stage," in An Enquiry into the Present State of Polite Learning in Europe, 1759, reprinted in The Works of Oliver Goldsmith, Vol. II, edited by Peter Cunningham, John Murray, 1854, pp. 56-61.

In this essay, Goldsmith finds the current state of drama in England debased and vulgar.

Our Theatre has been generally confessed to share in this general decline, though partaking of the show and decoration of the Italian opera, with the propriety and declamation of French performance. The stage also is more magnificent with us than any other in Europe, and the people in general fonder of theatrical entertainment. Yet still as our pleasures, as well as more important concerns, are generally managed by party, the stage has felt its influence. The managers, and all who espouse their side, are for decoration and ornament; the critic, and all who have studied French decorum, are for regularity...