Question- Write an essay on the twentieth century poetic drama. Who are its main exponents? Write in brief their contribution to the poetic drama.

Related Short Answer Questions
1. Write a brief note on Synge's contribution to the modern poetic drama.
2. Write a note on T.S. Eliot's contribution to the modern poetic drama.

Answer -

Poetic drama revived in the twentieth century England as a result of the efforts of such Irish dramatists as William Butler Yeats, John Middleton Synge and Lady Gregory. They found poetic drama to be related to their national culture. They established in Dublin The Irish National Theatre which went a long way in reviving the poetic drama. It was popularly known as the Cethic Revival for it sought to discover the beauty of the Irish legends and folklore.

Yeats and Synge established the Irish National Theatre as their sharp reaction to realism. They thought that drama should make people feel rather than think and give the audience a means to have that emotional and spiritual upliftment which other forms of art give. They and their followers tried to reclothe the ancient heroes and make them alive once again in such a way as to make the actual and the ideal inseparable.

Yeats wrote lyrical poetic plays in the early career of his life; but under the impact of NOH plays of Japan he adopted a taut and conversational style. His important plays are "The Counters Cathleen', 'Paolo and Francesca', The Land of Heart's Desire', The Shadowy Waters', The King's Threshold", 'Deirdre' and 'Four Plays for Dancers'.

Synge's style is unique. His plays are written in prose, but they have the rhythms and cadences of poetry; this poetry seems to spring from the natural idiom of the peasant. His best play is Riders to the Sea' which approaches the greater tragedies of the past in their spirit; for the dramatist has set human characters here against nature's stern power. It is also a powerful tragedy because the dramatist has used "the language, based on a rich and still imaginatively vital peasant speech", it "has the strength to soar, harmonizing with the emotions evoked and giving them their expressive form."

Before we come to talk of T.S. Eliot's poetic plays, we must mention Sean O'Casey - Juno and Pay Cock', 'Within The Gates' The Star Turns Red'; John Masefield The Tragedy of Nun'; Thomas Hardy - The Dynasts'; Abercrombie Deborah', The Adder', The End of a World', The Staircase', The Deserter', 'Phoenix'; and Bottomley - King Lear's Wife' and 'Gruach'.

T.S. Eliot helped to popularize poetic drema in England. He was in search of a form of verse as could be a satisfactory vehicle for modern poetic drama. His 'Murder in the Cathedral', The Family Reunion', The Cocktail Party' and The Confidential Clerk' are the best of their kind in his times. Other important writers of poetic drama are Auden The Dog Beneath the Skin', The Ascent of F6'; Macneice 'Out of The Picture', Spender Trial of a Judge', Fry 'A Phoenix Too Frequent and The Lady is Not for Burning', Wedser, Osborne, Becket, Simpson and Thomas.

T.S. Eliot began his career as a dramatist by writing The Rock'. The impulse bhind his second play 'Murder in the Cathedral' was religious rather than a properly theatrical one. It is closer to being a drama than The Rock' is. Here, T.S. Eliot has made a very effective use of the chorus. The chorus in the play is made up of the woman of Canterbury. They have been presented very realistically. The most important action in the play is St. Thomas A. Becket's triumph over various temptations, this action takes place in his mind. The play is strictly 'interior', and the outward value of the play is rather that of a spectacle and commemorative ritual.

T.S. Eliot's next play is The Family Reunion'. It is neither religious nor edifying nor commemorative. It does not contain so many, memorable and eloquent passages as 'Murder in the Cathedral'. For in this play the dramatist tries to catch the tones, idioms, and rhythms of contemporary speech. It has helped the dramatist to create the illusion of reality.

His latest play The Cocktail Party' deals with a more profound and serious theme, that of the various kinds of self-deceptions in which even cultivated, pleasant and well-meaning people tend to indulge. In this play the dramatist has dealt with a typical problem of ordinary behaviour in modern time. The play keeps us continually amused and expectant. Though lacking the poetic richness of 'Murder in the Cathedral', The Cocktail Party' does have some eloquent passages.

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