e. [ ] are copied from the printed book,
without change, except that a closing bracket "]" has been added
to the stage directions.
CHANGES TO THE TEXT:
Character names have been expanded. For Example, CLEOPATRA was
CLEO.
Three words in the preface were written in Greek Characters.
These have been transliterated into Roman characters,
and are set off by angle brackets, for example,
.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
The age of Elizabeth, memorable for so many reasons in the
history of England, was especially brilliant in literature,
and, within literature, in the drama. With some falling off
in spontaneity, the impulse to great dramatic production lasted
till the Long Parliament closed the theaters in 1642; and when
they were reopened at the Restoration, in 1660, the stage only
too faithfully reflected the debased moral tone of the court
society of Charles II.
John Dryden (1631-1700), the great representative figure in
the literature of the latter part of the seventeenth century,
exemplifies in his work most of the main tendencies of the time.
He came into notice with a poem on the death of Cromwell in 1658,
and two years later was composing couplets expressing his loyalty
to the returned king.
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