SOURCE: Sawyer, Newell W. “The Decline of a Tradition.” In The Comedy of Manners: From Sheridan to Maugham, pp. 1-21. 1931. Reprint. New York: Russell & Russell, 1969.

In the following essay, originally published in 1931, Sawyer traces the evolution of comedy during the eighteenth century and discusses the societal forces and influences that provoked changes in the genre.

It has been often attested that one gets close to the real soul of a man or a people through observing what that man or that people finds to laugh at. Without entering into the philosophy of the matter, however, we may at least be sure that the term “comedy” connotes larger possibilities than those of mere entertainment, and as a form of drama, for instance, affords a vehicle for the criticism of life. The purpose of our present discussion is to note the character and performance of a particular type of comedy...