Excerpt from The Staging of Lope De Vega's Comedias Splendor of scenic adornment and magnificence in stage-setting in the public theatres, are creations of our own time, and were unknown in the age which produced the worlds greatest dramatic masterpieces. The play's the thing both poet and public then thought; in comparison with this all else was considered unimportant, and even trivial. With the passing of the great names of the heroic age of the drama, the smaller poets and playwrights, by whom they were succeeded, sought some amends for the inferiority of their plays in an increased attention to scenic detail and display. In our own day a Shakespearean play unaccompanied by elaborate scenery and stage effects, would hardly attract more than a passing notice. The times have changed. Formerly the theatre-goer went to hear the play; now he wants to see it. Shakespeare and Lope de Vega wrote their plays for the ear; now plays are written chiefly for the eye. A study of the development of the public stage in England and Spain, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, proves the truth of Schack's statement that: With the improved outer decorations, the essentials of art are neglected, and almost everywhere the decay of the drama has kept pace with increased scenic splendor, and also, that to him who is aware of this fact, the old stage simplicity will appear in quite a different light, and may be regarded as rather favourable to the true interests of dramatic art. 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.