Jeremy Collier, clergyman
A Short View of the Immorality
and Profaneness of the English Stage (1698)
A total of 288 pp, 6 chapters.
Attacks:
immodesty of speeches
abuse of Scripture
ridicule of clergymen
encouragement of debauchery
Relied on:
close readings
contemporary examples from the stage
survey of ancient condemnations of drama from "Heathen Philosophers" to "Primitive Church"
"the business of plays is to recommend virtue and discountenance vice"
Responses:
Dryden in 1700 was mild
Congreve and Vanbrugh less so
62 pamphlets in support of Collier
34 pamphlets in support of the stage
Successful:
3 editions of 1500 copies each sold out in 2 years
wrote Defense of a Short View later in `98
Collier is successful for a number of reasons. The time was ripe for his attack:
Climate of moral consciousness
1. Proposals for a National Reformation of Manners (1694)
2. Laws against drinking, "whoring" and profaning were starting to be enforcedOutrage at the "abuses" of the 70s-80s
Playwrights were willing to write to accommodate the audience
Also, the changing audience informed tastes. More bourgeoisie, less aristocracy.
Playwright's choices:
1. Instruct by holding up to ridicule any deviation from accepted behavior
2. Instruct by holding up exemplars of virtue and encourage us to follow
(external) 
Seminar
on Restroation Drama (Spring,
1997) Introduction
to Literature, Spring 1999 (Ray);Introduction
to Literature: Society and Identity (Kate)