Representative English Comedies, V. 1. from the Beginnings to Shakespeare

This landmark collection traces the remarkable journey of English comedy from its earliest roots in medieval liturgical rituals and folk performances through to the luminous heights of the Elizabethan age. Editor Charles Mills Gayley, a pioneering scholar of English drama, assembles the defining comedies that shaped a nation's sense of humor and social consciousness. The collection illuminates how humor evolved from broad physical farce and moral instruction into the sophisticated wit and biting satire that would eventually define Shakespeare's comic vision. Through critical essays and carefully contextualized texts, readers witness comedy's transformation into a mirror held up to society, one that reflects not merely entertainment but the very values, anxieties, and aspirations of each era. For students of literature, theater historians, and anyone curious about where our modern sense of humor originated, this volume offers an unparalleled journey through five centuries of comic innovation.