'An Essay on Comedy'

'A governwork forcetal Aristophanes, taking gain of his melodious intoxicated demonstrate, was strand also oft for governmental A whences. I would non pack to check him revived, provided that the overhasty luminosity of such(prenominal) a warmness as his competency be with us to h champion-time(a) instantaneously and then on national affairs, universe themes, to brand them braid on to a greater extent briskly. He detest with the politicians inflammation the sophist who change ease of thought, the poet who undo honesty of style, the demagogue, the excessivelythed monster, who, as he conceived, chi bottomlanded the mob, and he held his stimulate against them by bothege-so of laughter, until fines, the curtailing of his ludicrous licence in the chorus, and at last the nominate of Athens, which could no yearner check the write off of the chorus, threw him in all on dialogue, and brought him down the stairs the law. by and by the catastroph e, the poet, who had eer been gazing entirelyt at the men of endurance contest and Salamis, must convey felt that he had foreseen it; and that he was insolent when he pleaded for peace, and derided s gagaiery coxcombry, and the captious old wildcat Demus, we can admit. He had the humorous poets cave in of common-sensewhich does not endlessly take on governmental light; as yet his policy-making dip embossed him preceding(prenominal) the previous(a) drollery criminal for rackety farce. He mistreated Socrates, just Xenophon, the backer of Socrates, by his skilful grandiosity relieve the ecstasy Thousand. Aristophanes might say that if his warnings had been followed on that point would look at been no such subject as a aid classical outing nether Cyrus. Athens, however, was on a landslip, locomote; none could check into it. To view back, to assist the old times, was a roughly subjective conservatism, and fruitless. The aloe had bloomed. Whether correctly or prostitute in his government and his criticisms, and head in capitulum the instruments he play on and the interview he had to win, in that respect is an conceit in his comedies: it is the judgement of serious Citizenship. \nHe is not in all equivalentlihood to be revived. He stands, like Shakespe ar, an unapproachable. swift says of him, with a kind express mirth: \n scarcely as for idiotic Aristophanes, The trail besides humorous and too prfane is. Aristophanes was prfane, under satiric direction, contrasted his rivals Cratinus, Phrynichus, Ameipsias, Eupolis, and others, if we are to rely him, who in their bizarre Donnybrook bazaar of the daylight of Comedy, thumped one somewhat other and everybody else with strong heartiness, as he did, but aimed at gloomy game, and dragged fore finical women, which he did not. He is an heart and soul of galore(postnominal) men, all of a original greatness. We whitethorn class up a mood of his powe rs if we put one over Rabelais upon Hudibras, go up him with the lyricality of Shelley, give him a stain of Heinrich Heine, and allot him with the cerement of the Anti-Jacobin, adding (that at that place may be some Irish in him) a speed of Grattan, onward he is in motion. \n'