Page:Grierson Herbert - First Half of the Seventeenth Century.djvu/69

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The history of the drama in Holland in the seventeenth century is the history of an effort which was not fully successful. The same elements were present as in England and France. The Morality gave way to the tragi-comedy or dramatised story-play, romantic and historical. The classical drama, represented especially by Seneca, Plautus, and Terence, was studied, admired, and imitated by a band of young men eager to elevate and refine the literature of their country. But the elements never succeeded in combining to produce a living and great drama, on either the English