The History of the Chorus in the German Drama

fifteenth century German literature was at a low ebb. It was a period of moral, religious and social disintegration, and the literature of the period naturally reflected this condition ; it was vulgar, coarse, satiric, in the worst sense plebeian. The religious drama had developed into a great unwieldy folk-drama; and in the course of its evolution so much that was rude and repulsive had been introduced that the plays fell into disrepute. For some time there had been a tendency to treat religion more seriously, and at the beginning of the sixteenth century the old religious drama passed out of existence. The Shrove-tide plays which were the only other type of drama in this period, were crude, vulgar farces, in doggerel verse and generally more or less satiric in character. In the sixteenth century the type was greatly improved by Hans Sachs, who wrote no less than eighty-five Shrove-tide plays. His technic is very simple. There is no division into acts and scenes, and the characters come and go as it suits his pleasure. The Shrove-tide plays continued to flourish throughout the sixteenth century, but early in the seventeenth they too were given up. Such were the conditions in Germany when a movement arose which was to produce a new drama based on classic models; a drama which, under the influence of the Reformation, was to give the vernacular drama a stricter and more regular form, and then work hand in hand with this popular drama in furthering the teachings of L...