The mermaid series of Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatists (1887-1909): a literary and critical history

摘要

The Mermaid Series (1887-1909) edited by Havelock Ellis was a majorudwatershed in appreciation of Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. Before itudappeared plays were available to general readers in scattered anthologies,udlarge expensive collected editions or in expurgated selections whichudincluded only the more lyrical speeches and memorable scenes. Criticismudof the drama followed suit; the majority of critics concentrated on theudsections which appealed to the romantic and sentimental tastes of nineteenthcenturyudreaders. The two men who conceived the Mermaid Series, JohnudAddington Symonds and Havelock Ellis, approached the drama differentlyudfrom their contemporaries; Symonds studied a play as a whole work of artudand Ellis concentrated on its view of life. Both were unsatisfied withudthe "select beauties", fragmented approach and wanted readers to have theudbest plays in their entirety easily available in handy, inexpensiveudeditions. Symonds's awareness of the drama as theatre was combined with audhistorical perspective allowing him to judge the drama in relation to itsudown time. He made a lasting but hitherto underestimated contribution toudstudy of Beaumont and Fletcher, Dekker, Marlowe, and Ford. Ellis's workudon the drama is overshadowed today by his studies of sex but his concentrationudon ideas and appreciation of unconventional behaviour enabled him toudformulate new views on Ford, Middleton and Chapman. The two other majorudeditors to work on the series, A. C. Swinburne and Arthur Symons had moreudconventional nineteenth-century approaches. Both were impressionisticudcritics who were most attracted to the l~nguage of the drama. Swinburne,udhowever, occasionally transcended his fragmented approach and offeredudsignificant interpretations of Tourneur, Massinger; 'The .Changeling, Heywood. Symons's range was more limited but his form of impressionism was valuableudfor its concentration on the aesthetic experience at the heart of a workudof art. His most important contributions were the study of Middleton andudMassinger. Besides these four major critics numerous lesser writers workedudon the series. Their editorial work was valuable and some, notably ErnestudRhys, c. H. Herford and Thomas Dickinson offered criticism of enduringudimportance.udIn my first chapter I consider the general availability of texts ofudthe Elizabethan and Jacobean drama in the nineteenth century, the generaludattitudes towards the drama, and the critical approaches of each of theudeditors. The subsequent chapters are organized around the volumes of theudseries. I consider the climate of opinion in which each appeared, assessudits critical and editorial contribution and evaluate the work of the otherudMermaid editors on the dramatist included in the volume. My study showsudthat the concept of the Mermaid Series and the work of its editors helpedudto revolutionize study of the Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatists by providingudgood texts and by pointing the way to our present view of the playsudas whole works of art.