The Reemergence of Satirical Drama, and The Licensing Act
Toward the end of the 1720s, the behavior of opera stars, the absurdity of spectacle productions, and an escalation of political warfare between the two parties led to a reclamation of the stage by political dramatists. During the later years of King George I, who favored Robert Walpole, there was a scramble for the favor of the future King George II, his wife, and his mistress, and this combined with a shattering of public confidence in the government after the South Sea Bubble and revelations of corruption in the trial of Jonathan Wild, Charles Hitchen, the Earl of Macclesfield, and others.
Read more about this topic: Augustan Drama
Famous quotes containing the words satirical and/or act:
“The satirical rogue says here that old men have grey beards,
that their faces are wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber
and plum-tree gum, and that they have a plentiful lack of wit,
together with most weak hams.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“It is in the very nature of things human that every act that has once made its appearance and has been recorded in the history of mankind stays with mankind as a potentiality long after its actuality has become a thing of the past.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)