A scholarly study of the school drama, dealing largely with historical aspects of development in England and Germany.
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From the Preface. This study is the result of the suggestion and inspiration of Professor Paul Monroe, of Teachers Colleges to whom, were it worthier, it would be dedicated. The author is also indebted to Professor Ashley H. Thorndike and Librarian William D. Johnston, of Columbia, to Professors Chauncey B. Tinker and William Lyon Phelps, of Yale, who first awoke a desire for further study in English, to President William DeWitt Hyde, of Bowdoin, whose kindness made possible the absence from the Bowdoin Faculty during which the study was begun, and to numerous fellow students and colleagues. The author is, doubtless, more conscious than the reader, of the faults and incompleteness of this study. Although many fields of English Literature have been studied exhaustively, almost nothing has been written in English upon the School Drama. Further study is needed, in particular, upon the relations between the boy companies and the School Drama, the educational aspect of the University Plays, the Prodigal Son theme in English dramas and the English plays of student life; the author hopes later to do more work on these, and similar topics; he welcomes other investigators in this untrodden field. Meanwhile, this study is presented as an introduction to the whole topic.