AbstractsHistory

Note: p. 59 skipped in manuscript. The main body of this study consists of a comparison and a contrast of the various aspects of the drama in pre-Shaksperian or medieval days with those same aspects of the modern theatre. This, in itself, is but a means towards an end. I have attempted to show that what appealed to theatre-goers of one generation can also appeal to a succeding generation; that it is possible to transplant a specific art form from its own essential background and, with minor modifications and changes in its material, still find for it a sympathetic and appreciative public. In other words, by using a representative medieval drama as an example, I have tried to prove that audiences through the ages have not changed fundamentally, and that our early English theatre, though often neglected, produced plays worthy to be remembered. [...]