"To conclude, Plutarch, in his comparison of these "authors, says, that the Muse of Aristophanes is an "abandoned prostitute, and that of Menander a modest "woman.' It is evident that this whole character is taken from Plutarch. Let us now go on with this remark of father Rapin, since we have already spoken of the Latin comedy, of which he gives us a description. 66 66 "With respect to the two Latin comic poets, Plau"tus is ingenious in his designs, happy in his concep- . "tions, and fruitful of invention. He has, however, "according to Horace, some low jocularities, and "those smart sayings, which made the vulgar laugh, "made him be pitied by men of higher taste. It is "true, that some of his jests are extremely good, but "others likewise are very bad. To this every man "is exposed, who is too much determined to make "sallies of merriment; they endeavour to raise that laughter by hyperboles, which would not arise by "a just representation of things. Plautus is not quite "so regular as Terence in the scheme of his designs, "or in the distribution of his acts, but he is more “simple in his plot; for the fables of Terence are "commonly complex, as may be seen in his Andrea, “which contains two amours. It was imputed as a "fault to Terence, that, to bring more action upon "the stage, he made one Latin comedy out of two "Greek; but then Terence unravels his plot more na"turally than Plautus, which Plautus did more na"turally than Aristophanes; and though Cæsar çalls “Terence but one half of Menander, because, though "he had softness and delicacy, there was in him "some want of sprightliness and strength; yet he has "ridicules so much in his plays, had a more delicate "turn of burlesque than himself, and had his merri"ment without his impudence. It is true, that Aris"tophanes wrote amidst the confusion and licentious"ness of the old comedy, and he was well acquainted "with the humour of the Athenians, to whom un"common merit always gave disgust, and therefore "he made the eminent men of his time the subject ❝ of his merriment. But the too great desire which "he had to delight the people by exposing worthy "characters upon the stage, made him at the same "time an unworthy man; and the turn of his genius "to ridicule was disfigured and corrupted by the indelicacy and outrageousness of his manners. After "all, his pleasantry consists chiefly in new-coined puffy language. The dish of twenty-six syllables, "which he gives in his last scene of his Female Ora"tors, would please few tastes in our days. His lan 66 66 66 guage is sometimes obscure, perplexed and vulgar, "and his frequent play with words, his oppositions " of contradictory terms, his mixture of tragic and "comic, of serious and burlesque, are all flat; and "his jocularity, if you examine it to the bottom, is "all false. Menander is diverting in a more elegant "manner: his style is pure, clear, elevated, and na tural; he persuades like an orator, and instructs "like a philosopher; and if we may venture to judge upon the fragments which remain, it appears "that his pictures of civil life are pleasing, that he "makes every one speak according to his character, "that every man may apply his pictures of life to "himself, because he always follows nature, and feels "for the personages which he brings upon the stage. "To conclude, Plutarch, in his comparison of these "authors, says, that the Muse of Aristophanes is an "abandoned prostitute, and that of Menander a modest It is evident that this whole character is taken from Plutarch. Let us now go on with this remark of father Rapin, since we have already spoken of the Latin comedy, of which he gives us a description. 66 "With respect to the two Latin comic poets, Plau"tus is ingenious in his designs, happy in his concep"tions, and fruitful of invention. He has, however, "according to Horace, some low jocularities, and "those smart sayings, which made the vulgar laugh, "made him be pitied by men of higher taste. It is “true, that some of his jests are extremely good, but "others likewise are very bad. To this every man “is exposed, who is too much determined to make "sallies of merriment; they endeavour to raise that laughter by hyperboles, which would, not arise by "a just representation of things. Plautus is not quite "so regular as Terence in the scheme of his designs, "or in the distribution of his acts, but he is more "simple in his plot; for the fables of Terence are "commonly complex, as may be seen in his Andrea, "which contains two amours. It was imputed as a "fault to Terence, that, to bring more action upon "the stage, he made one Latin comedy out of two "Greek; but then Terence unravels his plot more na"turally than Plautus, which Plautus did more na"turally than Aristophanes; and though Cæsar çalls "Terence but one half of Menander, because, though "he had softness and delicacy, there was in him "some want of sprightliness and strength; yet he has "written in a manner so natural and so judicious, that, though he was then only a copy, he is now "an original. No author has ever had a more exact 66 sense of pure nature. Of Cecilius, since we have "only a few fragments, I shall say nothing. All "that we know of him is told us by Varrus, that he "was happy in the choice of subjects." Rapin omits many others for the same reason, that we have not enough of their works to qualify us for judges. While we are upon this subject, it will perhaps not displease the reader to see what that critic's opinion is of Lopes de Vega and Moliere. It will appear, that, with respect to Lopes de Vega, he is rather too profuse of praise: that in speaking of Moliere, he is too parsimonious. This piece will, however, be of use to our design, when we shall examine to the bottom what it is that ought to make the character of comedy. "No man has ever had a greater genius for comedy "than Lopes de Vega the Spaniard. He had a fertility "of wit, joined with great beauty of conception, and "a wonderful readiness of composition; for he has "written more than three hundred comedies. His "name alone gave reputation to his pieces; for his re"putation was so well established, that a work, which "came from his hands, was sure to claim the approbation of the public. He had a mind too ex"tensive to be subjected to rules, or restrained by "limits. For that reason he gave himself up to his "own genius, on which he could always depend "with confidence. When he wrote, he consulted no "other laws than the taste of his auditors, and regu"lated his manner more by the success of his work 66 "than by the rules of reason. Thus he discarded all scruples of unity, and all the superstitions of probability." (This is certainly not said with a design to praise him, and must be connected with that which immediately follows.) "But as for the most part, "he endeavours at too much jocularity, and carries "ridicule to too much refinement; his conceptions "are often rather happy than just, and rather wild “than natural; for, by subtilizing merriment too far, "it becomes too nice to be true, and his beauties lose "their power of striking by being too delicate and "acute. "Among us, nobody has carried ridicule in co"medy farther than Moliere. Our ancient comic "writers brought no characters higher than servants, "to make sport upon the theatre; but we are di "verted upon the theatre of Moliere by marquises "and people of quality. Others have exhibited in "comedy no species of life above that of a citizen; "but Moliere shews us all Paris, and the court. He "is the only man amongst us, who has laid open "those features of nature by which he is exactly "marked, and may be accurately known. The "beauties of his pictures are so natural, that they "are felt by persons of the least discernment, and his 66 66 power of pleasantry received half its force from his power of copying. His Misanthrope is, in my opi "nion, the most complete, and likewise the most "singular character that has ever appeared upon the “stage: but the disposition of his comedies is always "defective some way or another. This is all which "we can observe in general upon comedy." Such are the thoughts of one of the most refined 1 |