Theatre History Overview - Part 83 - Heroic Drama

Heroic Drama was part of restoration drama, particularly, restoration spectacular. This type of drama relied on opulent scenery. It was also given specific rules that were to be followed. It is said that Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra followed these rules even though they had not yet been developed.

This form of drama started developing through many works written during the 1660s, but a timespan of 1664 to 1678 is what is generally given. A couple of significant plays leading to heroic drama are The Black Prince by Robert Boyle and The Indian Emperour by John Dryden. Dryden asserted that heroic drama was to other drama as heroic poems were to other poems. Because of this, he came up with rules for these plays.

The three laws Dryden devised are as follows:

1. The play should be written in epic rhyme. There is no particular rhyme scheme in epic rhyme, but it often uses a certain meter, blank verse. or couplets. (Some say that heroic verse should be closed couplets in iambic pentameter).
2. The theme of the play should be be on nationwide foundations, mythological proceedings, or great, important, significant subjects.
3. The leading character should be like Achilles in that he is influential, decisive, and dominating even when wrong.

Other examples of dramatic plays are Venice Preserved by Thomas Otway and The Rival Queen by Nathaniel Lee. Playwrights also liked to parody heroic tragedy. Examples of this are The Tragedy of Tragedies, o The Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great by Henry Fielding and The Rehearsal by the Duke of Buckingham.

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