SOURCE: “The Pastoral Element in the English Drama Before 1605,” in Modern Language Notes, Vol. 14,No. 4, April 1899, pp. 114-23.

[In the following essay, Thorndike examines the development of the English pastoral drama, noting the introduction of particularly English elements—such as the appearance of comic characters and the satyr type—into the literary form.]

Most accounts of the English pastoral drama have begun with Fletcher's Faithful Shepherdess or Daniel's Queen's Arcadia. There have been references, of course, to some of Lyly's plays, Peele's Arraignment of Paris and Sidney's May Lady, but there has been no recognition of a continuous and considerable development of the pastoral drama before Daniel and Fletcher introduced the genre already highly developed by Tasso and Guarini.

It is the purpose of this paper to present evidence of such a development before 1605, the date of Daniel's Arcadia; and this evidence will fall naturally into two divisions. First, we shall consider evidence of a pastoral element in entertainments and shows presented to the queen; and secondly, we shall consider plays and allusions to plays which show that pastorals were not uncommon on the London stage. The evidence under the first head has for the most part not been presented before, and that under the second has not all been previously utilized.

Taken altogether,this evidence will be enough to throw some light on many questions concerning the origin and development of English pastoral drama. The important and direct influence of the Italian drama on Fletcher and Daniel is well known, but the existence of an English pastoral drama prior to their plays at once suggests that they may have been influenced by it, as well as by the Italian forms. The extent and character of Italian influence on this early English development offers another subject for investigation. While the existence of such Italian influence is undoubted, the existence of a characteristic English development apart from foreign influence is equally to be expected. In the main, we shall leave to one side the question of Italian influence, and point only to such conclusions in regard to the characteristics of the drama as the evidence seems prima facie to warrant. In fact we shall try to do little more than to present the evidence.

I. THE PASTORAL ELEMENT IN ROYAL ENTERTAINMENTS BEFORE 1605

The theory of Rossi¹ that the Italian pastoral drama was developed from the eclogue through the medium of public pageants in honor of noble families, at once suggests the possibility of a similar development in England. The pastoral idea, in general, was a fashionable cult of the court: and the pastoral plays of Lyly, Peele, and Daniel, were all court entertainments. In the royal shows, then, if anywhere, we might expect to find germs of the finished form. I have, therefore, examined the accounts of the entertainments presented to Queen Elizabeth on her various progresses in order to discover whether or not they contain any elements such as afterwards appear more highly developed in the pastoral plays of Fletcher and Jonson. Such elements do appear, and will be briefly enumerated.

A word may first be prefaced in regard to the character of these royal entertainments. Wherever the queen made a journey she was greeted with an oration or show, and often with an elaborate entertainment,highly spectacular, and more or less dramatic. Sometimes the village schoolmaster, or some local functionary prepared the show; sometimes a court favorite like Gascoigne, or a great gentleman like Sidney, devised the entertainments. Hence their artistic quality varies widely. Some of them, doubtless, suggested Shakspere's burlesque in the pageants of Holofernes and Bottom, the weaver; and, on the other hand,some of them with their songs and fairies may possibly have suggested the beautiful conception of Midsummer Night's Dream. They also vary widely in their subject matter. Some with their allegorical characters are like the old moralities, some have deities and scenes from classical mythology, some fairies and bits of folk lore, some are satirical, some deal with romance and chivalry, and some have pastoral elements such as shepherds and satyrs. Often the performance contained a mixture of several of these varieties, and the only invariable point of similarity was the fulsome panegyric to the virgin queen.

In considering the pastoral elements I shall give a broad meaning to the phrase and take account of everything which can have had any relation to the pure pastoral drama. It must be remembered, too, that the accounts which we have of these entertainments before the queen are few compared with the number actually presented, and that we have no records at all of the many given before private persons. A single representation which has been preserved may, therefore, be taken as typical of a considerable number; and the existence of any pastoral elements may fairly be considered proof that such elements were not uncommon.

The first indication of anything at all pastoral is a reference to “a mask of wild men” performed at Greenwich in 1573.² The mask is lost. The connection between wild men and satyrs will appear later.

In 1575, at Kenilworth,³ George Gascoigne prepared several devices to add to the interest of Leicester's entertainment. One evening as the queen was returning from the chase, she was greeted by a “Humbre Salvagio,” “with an oaken plant pluct up by the roots in his hands, himself foregrone all in moss and ivy.” At the end of his speech he called on “his familiars and companions, fawns, satyrs, nymphs, dryads, and hamadryads.” None answered but echo; and then ensued a long dialogue between the wild man and echo. Here, then, we have a representative of the satyr type and the device of the echo dialogue, both elements of the pastoral drama.

This show seems to have been favorably received, for a similar exhibition⁴ was at once prepared, but for some reason not presented. In the midst of an entertainment presenting Diana and her nymphs, a man clad all in moss comes in and announces that he is the son of the “humbre salvagio” and has a similar dialogue with echo.

On another day,⁵ as the queen was going hunting, she was meet by Gascoigue, “dressed as Sylvanus, god of the woods.” He made a long speech, running along by her horse, and led her to a bush, whence “deep desire” was heard speaking. This business of a voice from a bush or tree is repeated in other entertainments, and also in Pastor Fido (i, 4), where we have “a shrill voice from riv'd beech.” In Gascoigne's device, Pan, Diana, and her nymphs also appear.

These three Kenilworth devices show that the introduction into English drama of Diana and her nymphs, and wilder denizens of the woods, such as Pan, Silvanus, and the satyr tribe, goes back at least to 1575. As in later representations, it is the hunting horns which disturb these wood-dwellers. It seems certain that Gascoigne borrowed most of this pastoral material directly from similar Italian performances.

In 1578, at Wanstead, the Contention of a Forester and a Shepherd for a May Lady, by Sir Philip Sidney, was presented before the queen. Here for the first time we find shepherds and a distinct pastoral setting. The old shepherd,afterwards a favorite character,makes his first English appearance; the chorus of foresters and shepherds reminds us of the chorus of huntsmen and shepherds in Pastor Fido (iv, 6); and Therion, the hunter, who is rude and sometimes strikes the lady, and his rival Espiles, who is mild and gentle, are rudimentary types not unlike the contrasted Silvio and Mirtillo. The singing match is also a bit of dramatized eclogue; but, on the other hand, the burlesque schoolmaster, and the lady, dressed like “an honest man's wife of the country,” are English elements quite foreign to the conventional pastoral genre.

I have found no other traces of a pastoral element in the accounts of the queen's progresses until 1591. At Cowdray in that year, a wild man awaited the queen by a tree and made a speech.

In 1592 at Bissam,⁶ on the queen's arrival at the top of the hill, she was again met by a wild man who made a speech full of references to Pan, Sylvanus, and Echo.⁷ At the middle of the hill, “sate Pan and two virgins keeping sheep and sewing in their samplers.” Pan made love to the shepherdesses, and a long dialogue ensued, the subject of which may be well enough described in two phrases of the virgins—“the follies of the gods who became beasts for their affections; the honour of virgins who became goddesses for their chastity.” At the bottom of the hill, Ceres and her nymphs completed the show. Here, then, we have again the satyr element both in the wild man and Pan, who woos the virgins with presents of chestnuts; and the chastity motive, so highly developed in later drama.

In the same year at Sudely,⁸ an old shepherd greeted her majesty in a pastoral strain, praising the country as a very Arcadia where “we carry our hearts at our tongues' ends, being as far from dissembling as our sheep from fierceness;” and presenting her with a lock of wool “in which nothing is to be esteemed but the whiteness, virginity's color; nor to be expected but duty, the shepherd's religion.

On a Sunday, at the same place, there was a performance in which Apollo appeared running after Daphne, while a shepherd followed lamenting the loss of his nymph. Apollo turned Daphne into a tree, “and on one side of the tree appeared one who sung; and on the other, one who played.” After the song the tree rived; Daphne appeared; and upon being pursued by Apollo, fled to her majesty,” uttering this—“for whither should chastity fly for succour but to the queen of chastity?”—and so on, in a long panegyric on chastity and the virgin queen.

On another day at the same place,⁹ there was a speech by one “cloked in a sheep's skin, face and all.” Then her majesty was brought among shepherds, among whom was a queen and king to be chosen. Melibaeus and Nisa appeared as shepherds, also the Cutter of Cootsholde, a comic and not a pastoral personage.

In these entertainments we find again the pastoral setting, the exploitation of chastity, and the mixture of mythological and English country characters. These entertainments also warrant us in concluding that the representation of shepherds and nymphs and wild men, was not uncommon in such pageants. Pastoralism was certainly popular in the literature of the day,and played a considerable part in these theatrical shows, even when the pieces were not pastoral in theme or character. This prevalence of the pastoral may be illustrated by a few lines from a masque of knights and ladies,¹⁰ in which the queen of fairies had a part. The lines are, I think, fairly typical of many similar songs and pastoral allusions.

Of our new destiny
Echo, echo, certify,
Farewell all in woods that dwell,
Farewell Satyrs, nymphs farewell,
Adieu desires, fancies die,
Farewell all inconstancy.

From 1592 on, the queen's progresses were very infrequent, and only one other pastoral entertainment appears. In 1600-1 a “Dialogue between two shepherds, Thenot and Piers, in praise of Astrea,” was recited at the home of the author, the Countess of Pembroke. It is simply an eclogue.

One of the first entertainments offered to Queen Anne must be added to complete our list. In her progress to her coronation (1603), she was entertained at Althorpe with a kind of masque written by Ben Jonson, and entitled “The Complaint of the Satyrs against the Nymphs.” A satyr was lodged in a spinet (little wood), by which her majesty and the prince were to come, and advancing his head above the top of the wood, he began:

Here! there! and everywhere!
Some solemnities are near
That these changes strike my ear,
My pipe and I a part shall bear, etc.

After piping a strain he ran out and welcomed the queen. Then a bevy of fairies, headed by Queen Mab, tripped out and began to dance and sing. Thereupon the satyr

“came hopping forth, and mixing himself with the fairies, skipped in, out, and about their circle, while they made offers to catch him.”

He mocked them in a long song, of which a few lines will indicate the tenor:

This is she that empties cradles
Takes out children, puts in ladles,
Trains forth midwives in their slumber
With a sieve the holes to number
And then leads them from her burrows
Home through ponds and water furrows.

The fairies declared to Queen Mab,

                                                                                This is only spite
For you would not yester night
Kiss him in the cock shut light.

Then they caught him and pinched him black and blue. The satyr ran away, but later reappeared, and in a long speech to Queen Anne, closed the ceremony.

So far as I know, the foregoing are the only bits of pastoral pageants before 1605 which have been preserved. Meagre as they are, they may be fairly taken, I think, to indicate that Daniel and Fletcher did not work in an altogether untried field. Even apart from the plays of Lyly and Peele, and the masques of Sidney and Jonson, the entertainments of the queen's progresses show a considerable amount of the pastoral element. Before 1600 the chastity motive, the setting of shepherds and hunters, the story of unrequited love, the singing contest, the hunting party with sounding horns—all these had become material of the pastoral drama. Some characters, too, such as the satyr type, the rude forester, and the venerable shepherd, were pretty familiar. That, after all, this is a small contribution, that Daniel and Fletcher are to be credited with creative work, goes without saying; but in the light of these earlier pastoral dramatic attempts, it hardly seems possible that their work could have seemed absolutely new either to themselves or the Elizabethan public.

How far Italian influence can be traced in these early pastoral exhibitions cannot probably be definitely determined. I find no sure indications of the influence of either Aminta or Pastor Fido. These plays may have had an effect in increasing the prevalence of pastoral exhibitions after 1580; but, on the other hand, this prevalence must in a considerable measure have resulted from the popularity of pastoral poetry in general. Most of the pastoral entertainments might have well enough been suggested by the pastoral eclogues and romances. At the same time, there can be no doubt that the use of the pastoral in royal entertainments was at least suggested in the cases of Gascoigne and Sidney by similar pastoral entertainments in Italy.

The mixture of pastoral with mythological elements is only natural, both being taken from classical sources; and is, in fact, to be found in nearly all pastoral drama. The mixture of pastoral with native comic characters is, perhaps, more distinctively an English development. It may, indeed, possibly be taken as an evidence of the influence of contemporary public plays, though to some extent this mixture was anticipated in Spenser's and Barclay's eclogues. Pastoral poetry,at any rate,anticipated the pastoral drama in the introduction of contemporary satire. However, the honest country woman and the pedant Rombus of Sidney's May Lady, and the Cutter of Cootsholde at Sudeley, are worth noting, since they precede Daniel's use of contemporary satire,and Shakspere's introduction of English rustics, in the Arcadia of As You Like It.

More notable as an English variation is the development of the satyr type. Just what connection or difference existed between the wild man of the woods and the satyr, would probably have puzzled both spectators and authors to explain. How dim their ideas may have been, can be surmised from a contemporary description of a stone figure at Hamstead. Nichols¹¹ points out its resemblance to Gascoigne's “Humbre Salvagio”—“all his limbs being covered with thick hair and his loins surrounded with a girdle of foliage;” and from the illustration,it certainly appears to have been intended for a wild man. The contemporary account, however, calls it a “figure of Hercules with his club.”

The wild man of the earliest entertainments is covered with moss, dwells in the woods, and is the companion of satyrs and nymphs. This wild man is differentiated from Silvanus, the god of the woods; but the two look much alike. Later the wild man appears with Pan who woos a shepherdess. Wild man, Humbre Salvagio, Silvanus, or Pan; the personage is the same from a theatrical point of view. So far as we can determine the characteristics with which he is endowed, he is a simple, wild animal, who lives like a squirrel, who ordinarily frolics with the nymphs, and plays his pipe in peace, but who comes forth in wonderment to see the queen.

There is nothing of the classical satyr's lasciviousness in this,¹² nothing of the rude lust of the satyr of the Italian pastoral drama. The satyr kind of the pageants certainly owed nothing to the elaborate development of the satyr in the Italian drama. In Ben Jonson's masque the difference is even greater. The satyr, there so-named, is introduced as the companion of Queen Mab and her fairies. He is a creature not of Arcadia but of fairy land. He is a singer, a piper, a merry fellow, and in addition serves as a messenger and a sort of chorus. This satyr, however, in his appearance from a bush, his wonderment at the queen's appearance, his long address, his introduction of the host, serves in the same situations and performs the same duties as the wild man. Here, then, we possibly have a direct contribution to the pastoral drama. From the wild man to Jonson's satyr is only a short step, and from Jonson's satyr to Fletcher's is an equally short step. The satyr in the Faithful Shepherdess is far removed from the lustful satyrs of Sacrificio, Aminta, or Pastor Fido; he again is an artless creature near related to the fairies, and serves as messenger and chorus. He gains of course in refinement from the delicacy of the verse, and the moral element elaborated in his adoration of chastity. This spontaneous reverence for chastity, however, also appeared in the wild men and Pan, when they encountered Elizabeth. From the wild men to Fletcher's satyr, then, we have what looks like a development peculiar to English soil; and, in this connection,it is worth noting that as theatrical parts, these are points of similarity between Fletcher's satyr and Shakspere's Ariel.

II. THE PASTORAL ELEMENT IN PUBLIC THEATER BEFORE 1605.

In tracing the pastoral element in the public drama, we shall first examine the extant plays, and then note the references to pastoral plays, that are not extant. None of the extant plays are pure pastorals like Pastor Fido or the Faithful Shepherdess. In the extent of their use of mythological characters and stories, they rather resemble such an early pastoral drama as Politian's Orfeo. Some of their mythological material, however, as for example, Lyly's use of a miraculous transformation, of an oracle, of a festival to some God, or of the tracing of divine descent, may fairly be called the common property of all pastoral plays. More distinctly pastoral elements, such as shepherds, song contests, and the story of unrequited love also appear.

The Arraignment of Paris, by Geoge Peele. First quarto 1584. Probably acted about 1508.

The main part of the play deals with classical mythology; but here, as in some of the entertainments, Diana and her nymphs are brought in close connection with shepherds. The chorus of shepherds also appears, and in the first act a shepherd is contrasted with a hunter. The story of Colin's unrequited love and the talk of his fellow shepherds Hobbinol, Thenot, and Diggon, follow the Shepherd's Calendar. The probability of Italian influence is also apparent from an Italian song of twelve lines¹³ which is incorporated in the text. Oenone appears as a nymph among the shepherds, and Paris is alluded to as “Amyntas' lovely boy,” probably a reference to Watson's Amyntas.¹⁴

Gallathea, by John Lyly. Entered S. R. 1585. First quarto 1587, Written about 1580.¹⁵

The sacrifice of a virgin to Neptune forms the basis of the plot as in Pastor Fido. Melibeus and Tyterus are shepherds; Gallathea and Phyllida are their daughters, who assume boys clothing to avoid the sacrifice. Diana's nymphs again appear in connection with the shepherds; each of the nymphs, in fact, falls in love with a shepherd. With their loves, and the love which springs up between Gallathea and Phyllida, there is a complication of love affairs something like that of the later pastoral drama. Besides this pastoral story, the play has a large mythological element, a ship-wreck, and a good deal of contemporary satire. The pastoral element, however, is quite distinct and brings us nearer than any previous play to the later forms of Daniel and Fletcher.

Love's Metamorphosis by John Lyly. First quarto 1601. Acted, probably, about 1580. Revived (see title page) 1597-1600.

The title page of the first quarto describes the play as “a wittie and wurthy pastorall,” and the scene is given Arcadia. Nisa, Celia, Niobe, and Tirtena appear as nymphs of Ceres, and the first three have importunate lovers in Ramis, Montanus, and Silvestris. These last are spoken of as amorous foresters and huntsmen;¹⁶ neither shepherds nor sheep are mentioned. In content, however, the play is, perhaps, nearer to the developed pastoral form than any other of Lyly's. Each of the foresters woos a nymph, and each nymph refuses very persistently, so there is an opportunity for a good many love dialogues,¹⁷ and much bemoaning of unrequited love. There is also a good deal of praise of chastity and talk of “gods amorous and virgins immortal, goddesses full of crueltie, and men of unhappinesse.” [V. 1.)

There are a few other distinct pastoral elements; for example, the writing of verses on the trees (i. 1), the nymphs celebrating the festival (i. 2), and Fidelias who “chased with a Satyre, by prayer to the gods became turned to a tree” (i. 2).

The title page shows that the play was intended for a pastoral, hence we may assume that a story of unrequited love was definitely recognized as the proper content of a pastoral.

Midas by John Lyly. Entered S. R. 1591. First quarto 1592. Acted 1590(?).

The pastoral element is very slight,but Apollo, Pan, and nymphs appear in conjunction with five shepherds, Menaleus, Coryn, Celthus, Draipon, and Amyntas. There occurs, too, a long dispute between a huntsman and other servants,on the merits of hunting (iv, 3). Furthermore, in the prologue,spoken in Pauls,there is an allusion which seems to show that plays called pastorals were common on the stage.

At our exercises, souldiers call for tragedies, their object is blood: courtiers for comedies, their subject is love; countrimen for pastorals, sheepheards are their saints.

In this connection, Polonius' words to Hamlet may be recalled.—“The best actors in the world, either for … pastoral, pastoral-comical,historical-pastoral—,” etc. Lyly's prologue seems to show that even by 1590 the pastoral was recognized to be a distinct kind of drama, just like tragedy, comedy, or history.

Amphrisa, the Forsaken Shepherdess, or Pelopoea and Alope by Thomas Heywood. First printed in Dialogues and Dramas, 1636. Identified by Mr. Fleay¹⁸ with one of the Five Plays in One acted at the Rose, 1597. This identification is plausible,but by no means certain, so this play may have been written after 1605.

This is a pure pastoral but is very brief, occupying only eleven quarto pages. Pelopoea and Alope, two shepherdesses, appear and speak of Amphrisa's false lover who has forsaken her. Amphrisa then enters; and a long conversation ensues, which results in the conclusion that the only remedy for injuries is patience. The queen of the country, with her nymphs,now enters. They have been chasing the stag and after telling of their exploits,listen in hiding, to the talk of the Arcadian girls,and are charmed by it. Amphrisa meanwhile is presented with a willow garland so that:

All th' Arcadian swains and nymphs that see
Your brows ingirt with this forsaken wreath
Will take note of his falsehood and your faith;
Your innocence and his inconstancie.

The queen finally discovers herself, compliments the shepherdesses; and several songs and dances close the entertainment.

The Woman in the Moon: by John Lyly. Entered S. R. 1595. First quarto 1597. Probably written between 1590-5.

As often in Lyly's plays, the main action depends on transformation, and there are plenty of mythological personages: the pastoral element, however, is considerable.

Four “Utopian shepherds,” “all clad in skins” appear,ask for a female companion,and sing a roundelay. Pandora is given them, and throughout the play they appear as suitors; Stesias in particular, filling the part of the forsaken, scorned, and love-sick swain. To settle their contention, she sends them:

                                                                                to slay the savage boar
Which roaring up and down with ceaseless rage
Destroyes the fruit of our Utopian fields
And he that first presents us with his head
Shall wear my glove in favour of the deed.

(ii, 1.)

Later, the shepherds dispute who had the largest share in slaying the boar. The passage suggests the incident of Silvio's victory over the boar in Pastor Fido (iv, 3). There seems, indeed, to be a similarity in phrasing. The Pastor Fido is also suggested by another incident, when Pandora's servant tells her: “Mistress, my mayster is in this cave, thinking to meet you,and search us here.” (iv, 1.) Still further, we find a trace of the Satyr motive. Pandora, who becomes light and wanton through Venus' agency (iii, 2.), enters in company with Joculo, and the following dialogue ensues.

P. Prethee be quiet, wherefore should I daunce?
J. Thus daunce the Satyrs on the even lawnes.
P. Thus, pretty Satyr, will Pandora daunce.
Cupid. And thus will Cupid make her melody.
J. Were I a man I would love thee.
P. I am a mayden, wilt thou have me?
J. But Stesias says thou art not.
P. What then? I care not.

(iii, 2.)

Joculs thus appears to be a sort of satyr; he does not come on the stage again. “Utopian” is rather curious for Arcadian, but the two seem to be the same as far as the nature of the scene is concerned. The setting of shepherds and an Arcadian-like country, and the story of unrequited love appear again, and the satyr element appears for the first time, I believe, in the regular drama.

The Maid's Metamorphosis; anonymous. First quarto 1600.

Whether this was an old play (as early as 1590) revived, or was written shortly before publication, are questions which do not especially concern us; nor does the question of authorship, although we may note that it has been attributed to Lyly, and is thought by Mr. Fleay to have been written by Lyly and Daniel.

The play is a medley in which Apollo and the muses, a magician, fairies,court people,clowns, shepherds, and foresters, all appear; and the main action deals with the transformation of the heroine into a boy and back again. If the author be not Lyly, his indebtedness to Lyly is manifest; and his indebtedness to the Fairy Queen is also marked. The pastoral element, however, follows dramatic conventions that were earlier instituted.

The heroine, Eurymine, is saved from death, but banished from court. She wanders in a forest, where she meets with Silvio, “a ranger,” and Genulo, a shepherd, who at first, take her for a nymph or goddess and immediately become rivals for her love. Then ensues a long poetical contention as to whose house she shall be taken, in which forester and shepherd proclaim the merits of their respective callings in genuine pastoral style. This contention ends in rival songs by a chorus of shepherds and a chorus of woodmen. Eurymine settles the dispute by accepting a cottage from the forester and a flock from the shepherd. The whole scene at once recalls Sidney's May Lady, and was very likely suggested by that entertainment. In this scene, in the rivalry of the forester and shepherd throughout the play, and in the choruses of woodmen and shepherds, we are still further reminded of the Pastor Fido. If the play was written as late as 1600, I should think there could be little question of the influence of Guarini; this influence, however, seems general, rather than specific; the direct indebtedness seems to be to Sidney.

Eurymine is now established as a shepherdess; her lover Ascanio seeks her in vain; the rivals woo her in another eclogue, and Apollo, whose advances are repulsed, transforms her into a boy.

Among the distinct pastoral elements, we have an elaborate echo dialogue, in form exactly like that of Gascoigne's; and the rival song contest of shepherd and forester when they serenade Eurymine. The comic dialogues of the clowns—Joculo, the court clown, Frisco, the forester's boy, and Mopso, the shepherd's boy—furnish in addition some bits of real English rusticity. Throughout,moreover, there are many pastoral references, and the forest is obviously Arcadian.

In short, we have the pastoral element so well developed that it suggests Guarini, but on the other hand, the mythological and transformation and comic dialogue scenes,show at least a direct imitation of Lyly. The pastoral scenes, too, follow Sidney and Gascoigne, and are not very different from Lyly's. At all events, the play adds definite evidence of the use of pastoral elements in the drama, and takes its place in the development from the early forms of Gascoigne and Sidney. It shows, too, a pretty highly developed pastoral play at least five years before the Queen's Arcadia.

As You Like It: Shakspere. Entered S.R. 1602. Probably first acted in later half 1599.

Arden is a sort of Arcadia, inhabited by pastoral shepherds and court ladies in pastoral disguise. The disguised shepherdess appears also, it will be remembered, in the Maid's Metamorphosis. In the unrequited love of Silvius for Phoebe, in his laments and her rebuffs, we find again a distinct pastoral element. Shakspere took practically the whole of this pastoral element from Lodge's Rosalynde. Just as the Shepherd's Calendar, and the Fairy Queen, and doubtless Sidney's Arcadia, influenced the stage pastoral, so here a pastoral novel receives dramatization. Moreover, the dramatized pastoral and, in particular, the presentation of the pastoral story of unrequited love, must have already been familiar on the stage.

We shall now consider some evidences of the existence of other pastoral plays not extant, and then enumerate in chronological order all the entertainments or plays before 1605, containing pastoral elements.

Phyllida and Covin, presented at court by the Queen's men, Dec. 26, 1584.¹⁹

A Pastoral Tragedy; by George Chapman. He received £2 in earnest of a tragedy by this name from Henslow, July 17, 1599.

The Arcadian Virgin; by Chettle and Haughton. From Henslow's diary, we learn that the authors were advanced money on this play, Dec. 13, and 17, 1599.

Still further evidence of the existence of pastoral plays is found in Henslow's inventory of stage properties, 1598, where there is mention of “two white shepherds coats.” Apart from this, there is no evidence of any pastoral play, or play with shepherds in it, performed by his company before 1598.

In Mucedorus (earliest known quarto 1598, but play certainly older) there is mention of “a mask of shepherds, presented by Lord Jules” (i, 1). Mr. Fleay says this mention is an addition of the 1606 quarto, and identifies it with the shepherds mask of the time of James I, but this latter he elsewhere says is Jonson's Pan's Anniversary, of June 16, 1623.²⁰ At all events the mask alluded to was probably acted before 1605.

LIST OF ENTERTAINMENTS AND PLAYS, CONTAINING PASTORAL ELEMENTS BEFORE 1605

1573. A Mask of Wild Men at Greenwich. Fleay, Chr. ii, 341.

1575. Entertainments to the Queen at Kenilworth, Gascoigne. Nichols i, 436, 503, 575.

1578. May Lady at Wanstead. Sidney.

1581. (Before 84) Arraignment of Paris at court. Peele.

1582. (Before 85) Gallathea, at court. Lyly.

1582. (Before 1600) Love's Metamorphosis. Lyly.

1584. Phyllida and Corin, at court. Anonymous.

1590. (Before 1592) Midas, at court and in public (most of those court plays were probably also acted on public stage by children's companies). Lyly.

1591. Wild Man at Cowdray.

1592. Entertainment to the Queen at Bossans. Nichols iii, 135 seq.

1592. Two Entertainments at Sudeley. Nichols iii, 137 seq.

1590-95. A Woman in the Moon, at court. Lyly.

1597 (?) (Before 1631). Amphrisa, the forsaken shepherdess. Heywood.

Before 1598. Some play by Henslow's company with two shepherds in it.

1599. A Pastoral Tragedy, public. Chapman.

1599. The Arcadian virgin, public. Chettle and Haughton.

1599. As You Like It, public. Shakspere.

1597-99. Revival of Love's Metamorphosis and probably other of Lyly's plays.

In or before 1600. Maid's Metamorphosis, public. Anonymous.

1600-1. A Dialogue between two shepherds. Entertainment to the queen. Countess of Pembroke.

1603. A Complaint of Satyrs against Nymphs. Entertainment to Queen Anne. Ben Jonson.

Before 1605. Mucedorus, with the mask of shepherds.

Before 1606. Pastor Fido, performed at Cambridge University. Nichols. Progresses of James I, vol. i, p. 553.

This list is enough to convince one that the pastoral had wide vogue as a dramatic form. From 1573 on, it played a part in pageants; and from 1580 on, it played a part on the London stage. In London it was represented by at least three companies, the Paul's boys and their successors, Henslow's company and Shakspere's. Indeed, we can hardly doubt that if we had the evidence of the other companies which we have of Henslow's, we should have still further proof of the prevalence of the pastoral drama.

One other important fact is brought out by this list, the popularity of the pastoral plays 1597-1600. During this period Lyly's Love's Metamorphosis, and probably others of his plays, were revived by the children of the chapel. At Henslow's theatres, there were several pastoral plays, and at the Globe, As You Like It.

The pastoral play was, then, certainly common and popular, though not completely developed. Our evidence is, however, sufficient to enable us to define the general type with some exactness.

The scene is in Arcadia, sometimes explicitly stated as in Gallathea and Love's Matamorphosis and sometimes only implied. In all cases, however, the action takes place in a forest and its environs. Shepherds and sometimes shepherdesses appear as inhabitants of this Arcadia; sometimes these are of Arcadian origin, sometimes as in Maid's Metamorphosis and As You Like It, people of the court also appear in shepherd's guise. Foresters, usually in rivalry with the shepherds, nymphs, magicians, and various gods and godesses also appear among the dramatis personae.

The main story of the pastoral portion of the play is always one of unrequited love. The importunate suitor and the cruel or indifferent maid appear over and again. Sometimes the complication of love affairs results, as in Gallathea and As You Like It, in something like the love-chain of the later pastoral.

The chastity motive is rarely absent. The chastity of maids in resisting the overtures of amorous gods, the rejection of lovers because of a preference for the virgin state, the divine nature of this virginity—these are favorite subjects.

Among the scenes and situations used we have found hunting scenes, echo dialogues, song contests, rival discussions of a hunter's and a shepherd's lives; writing verses on a tree, the celebration of a festival by the nymphs, the proposed sacrifice of a virgin, the transformation of a maiden to a tree, most of which have been used more than once in the plays discussed. In these scenes, then, the pastoral drama of Daniel and Fletcher was surely forestalled in the use of much of its material.

The satyr appears only once in the plays and is then a merry fellow, Joculo, not far removed from the faun-like satyr of the entertainments. The motive of crude, ungoverned lust hardly appears at all except in the pursuer of Fidelias in Love's Metamorphosis and in the amours of the gods.

Thus pastoral drama is interwoven with a sort of mythological spectacle. Many of the mythological scenes as the transformation scenes, the embassy to an oracle, and the presence of Diana, Pan, Apollo, and nymphs, are closely connected with the pastoral scenes. In general, however, anything from classical mythology seems to have been thought a fit companion for the pastoral. On the other hand, contemporary satire and bits of native comedy, were often introduced into the Utopian Arcadia.

So much for the characteristics of the pastoral drama before 1605; that it owed much to the Italian drama cannot be doubted, but the exact nature of its indebtedness is a question I cannot pretend to discuss. It was also directly influenced by the non-dramatic English pastorals. The influence of the Shepherd's Calender, the Faery Queen, and Lodge's Rosalynde have been noted; and Sidney's Arcadia doubtless served to increase the vogue of the dramatic pastoral. That the influence of the Italian drama was equally direct is possible enough; but as in the entertainments, so in the plays, there is no sure evidence of a use of Aminta or Pasto Fido.

The inter-influence of the entertainments and stage-plays can hardly be determined from the meagre evidence we have, but taking the two together, there is certainly evidence of a direct dramatic influence on Daniel and Fletcher. Even before their time, Chettle and Haughton, Henslow's hacks, must have gone to work to compose their Arcadian Virgin on lines already definitely laid down by theatrical precedent. In 1599, too, when Shakespeare dramatized Lodge's novel, he must have been conscious of preparing for the stage material, already familiar there in the work of other dramatists. Surely when Daniel prepared his pastoral, he can hardly have seemed wholly an innovator; and when Fletcher brought out his Faithful Shepherdess on the London stage, he was only presenting in a more elaborate form a dramatic genre already well naturalized.

Notes

1. Battista Guarini, ed Il Pastor Fido, 1886. Part ii, Chap. 1.

2. F. G. Fleay, A Chronicle of the English Drama, 1559-1142, ii, 341.

3. Nichols, Progresses of Elizabeth. Vol. i. p. 436.

4. Nichols i, 503.

5. Nichols i, 575.

6. Nichols iii, 135.

7. Nichols iii, 137.

8. Nichols iii, 137.

9. Nichols iii, 142.

10. Nichols iii, 202.

11. Nichols ii, p. 121.

12. So far as the wild man is classical, he is clearly a faun rather than a satyr; and so indeed are Fletcher and Jonson's satyrs. The Elizabethans seem to have confused the two.

13. Act ii, p. 350, Routledge Edition.

14. Act iii, p. 360; also cf. p. 584, note.

15. Cf. Endymion, Ed. by G. P. Baker, 1894. Introduction.

16. Act i, sc. 2.

17. Cf. act i, sc. 1 act iii, sc, 1; act v, sc. 2.

18. Chronicle of Drama, vol. i, p. 286.

19. F. G. Fleay, Chronicle of Drama, vol. ii, p. 297.

20. Cf. Cronicle of Drama, vol. ii, p. 344; and vol. ii, p. 14.