construction and conduct of plays, and subjected dramatic composition to highly artificial rules of poetical and rhetorical style.  For example, the Sahitya-darpana divides Sanskrit plays into two great classes, the Rupaka or principal dramas, and the Uparupaka or minor dramas.  At the head of the ten species of Rupaka stands the Nataka, of which the ‘[S’]akoontala’ is an example.  It should consist of from five to ten Acts; it should have a celebrated story for its plot; it should represent heroic or godlike characters and good deeds; it should be written in an elaborate style, and be full of noble sentiments.  Moreover, it should be composed like the end of a cow’s tail; so that each of the Acts be gradually shorter.

In India, as in Greece, scenic entertainments took place at religious festivals, and on solemn public occasions.  Kalidasa’s ‘[S’]akoontala’ seems to have been acted at the commencement of the summer season—­a period peculiarly sacred to Kama-deva, the Indian god of love.  We are told that it was enacted before an audience ’consisting chiefly of men of education and discernment.’  As the greater part of every play was written in Sanskrit, which, although spoken by the learned in every part of India even at the present day, was certainly not the vernacular language of the country at the time when the Hindu dramas were performed, few spectators would be present who were not of the educated classes.  This circumstance is in accordance with the constitution of Hindu society, whereby the productions of literature as well as the offices of state, were reserved for the privileged castes[6].

Every Sanskrit play opens with a prologue, or, to speak more correctly, an introduction, designed to prepare the way for the entrance of the dramatis personae.  The prologue commences with a benediction or prayer (pronounced by a Brahman, or if the stage-manager happened to be of the Brahmanical caste, by the manager himself), in which the poet invokes the favour of the national deity in behalf of the audience.  The blessing is generally followed by a dialogue between the manager and one or two of the actors, in which an account is given of the author of the drama, a complimentary tribute is paid to the critical acumen of the spectators, and such a reference is made to past occurrences or present circumstances as may be necessary for the elucidation of the plot.  At the conclusion of the prologue, the manager, by some abrupt exclamation, adroitly introduces one of the dramatic personages, and the real performance commences.

The play, being thus opened, is carried forward in scenes and Acts; each scene being marked by the entrance of one character and the exit of another, as in the French drama.  The dramatis personae were divided into three classes—­the inferior characters (nicha), who were said to speak Prakrit in a monotonous accentless tone of voice (anudattoktya); the middling (madhyama), and the superior (pradhana),