The Critic | Parody of Tragedy
In this essay, the author examines the ways in which Sheridan’s play parodies a number of tragic conventions.
In 1763, sixteen years before the premiere of The Critic, James Boswell co-authored a pamphlet in which he jeered at David Mallet’s Elvira, a tragedy acted at the Drury Lane Theatre. Confessing to his friend Samuel Johnson that he felt somewhat guilty about the pamphlet, since he himself could not write a tragedy ‘‘near so good,’’ Boswell received another impromptu lesson from his mentor that found its way into The Life of Samuel Johnson.
Why no, Sir; this is not just reasoning. You may abuse a tragedy, though you cannot write one. You...
[The entire page is 2083 words long]
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