But it is important to note
that he formed a low opinion of all of them. Their intellectual glitter
did not appeal to him. Their cynical licentiousness seemed to him to be
merely "silly." One might have anticipated from him a different
verdict on the frank obscenity of Restoration drama. But there are the
facts. Neither did Mr Pepys, nor (he is careful to remind us) did Mrs
Pepys, take "any manner of pleasure in" the bold indelicacy of Dryden,
Etherege, or Sedley.
When we ask what sort of pieces Pepys appreciated, we seem to be faced
by further perplexities. His highest enthusiasm was evoked by certain
plays of Ben Jonson, of Beaumont and Fletcher, and of Massinger. Near
the zenith of his scale of dramatic excellence he set the comedies of
Ben Jonson, which are remarkable for their portrayal of eccentricity
of character. These pieces, which incline to farce, give great
opportunity to what is commonly called character-acting, and
character-acting always appeals most directly to average humanity.
Pepys called Jonson's _Alchemist_ "a most incomparable play," and he
found in _Every Man in his Humour_ "the greatest propriety of speech
that ever I read in my life.
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