is in some ways 'before his time', notably in his rejection of the
Morality abstractions.]

[Footnote 48: sweet.]




CHAPTER IV

RISE OF COMEDY AND TRAGEDY


No great discernment is required to see that, after the appearance of
_Johan Johan_, all that was needed for the complete development of
comedy was the invention of a well-contrived plot. For reasons already
indicated, Interludes were naturally deficient in this respect. Nor were
the Moralities and Bible Miracles much better: their length and
comprehensive themes were against them. There were the Saint Plays, of
which some still lingered upon the stage; these offered greater
possibilities. But here, again, originality was limited; the
_dénouement_ was more or less a foregone conclusion. Clearly, one of two
things was wanted: either a man of genius to perceive the need and to
supply it, or the study of new models outside the field of English
drama. The man of genius was not then forthcoming, but by good fortune
the models were stumbled upon.

We say stumbled upon, because the absence of tentative predecessors and
of anything approaching an eager band of successors, suggests an
unpreparedness for the discovery when it came. Thus _Calisto and