Pastoral Influence in the English Drama

Abstract

At first thought the word “pastoral” scarcely seems to require definition, yet, as a matter of fact, the word has been used in several different senses. Usually it has been employed to designate a distinct species of literature, but the more careful critics refer to it as a mode of literary expression. The latter view is undoubtedly more accurate, for the pastoral treatment may be applied to almost any form of literature,—lyric, drama or romance. Still it is convenient to speak of the pastoral as a species of literature, and this use of the term is not misleading if we understand it to refer to the literature which is written in the pastoral mode, and which is altogether free from, or only slightly affected by, other influences. The real difficulty is to state definitely the essential nature of the pastoral, its characteristics, and the motives which prompted men to produce it. Here again the critics disagree. Some seem to regard pastoral literature as a sincere expression of man's delight in rural simplicity and content; others as an artificial and insincere portrayal of imaginary rural life. Perhaps it is impossible to arrive at a satisfactory definition of the pastoral; certainly a narrow view of the subject based on modern prejudice is utterly inadequate.