Comedies Classic Reprint

Author : John Vanbrugh
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9780483864627
Total Pages : 86 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (646 download)

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Download or read book The Confederacy written by John Vanbrugh and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2018-01-24 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Confederacy: A Comedy Tun dialogue of this comedy is brilliant, but the plot is deficient in bustle, and the characters are not drawn with much force. AS a com position, it is Most faultless, and yet it is not half so entertaining, nor indeed, half so meritorious, as many pieces that are liable to a thou sand critical objections. It wants the verve, the freshness, that genius flings over its productions. There is much for approbation, but little for delight; and, like Cato, it only leaves behind the recollection of something that we could not censure though it did not please us. The fact is, that this school of comedy is borrowed from the French, and like all exotics, flourishes but palely in its adopted climate. Its principles are altogether opposite to the genius of our nation; an Englishman loves excitement, and is capable of it in a high degree, whether it be of pathos, or of humour; not so a Frenchman - his enthusiasm is mere grimace, an action of the body in which the mind has no share; he is enthusiastic, because he will, not because he must; a smart saying, therefore, answers all the purpose with him of real humour, just as the cold-blooded declamations of his heroes and heroines satisfy his feelings. Ridicule is the only thing he fears, the only thing he really loves, and the effect of this is visible in all his works; he never strives to be great but to be correct, and instead of thinking of his subject, is always thinking of his critics. The English have very little sympathy with this pitiful feeling so opposite to real greatness as Goethe says of the Germans, though not with our view of the subject. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.