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126 The Renaissance 1485–1660<br />

The same can be said for the plays of Richard Brome and James<br />

Shirley. They are quite different in style, but both are highly inventive<br />

and versatile within their chosen forms. Shirley’s tragedies The Cardinal<br />

(1641) and The Traitor (1631) tackle religious and political themes.<br />

Brome’s most successful works are comic – A Jovial Crew (1641) and<br />

The City Wit (printed 1653). These works show that, despite Puritan<br />

opposition, the theatre continued to be a lively art-form right up until<br />

the theatres were closed in 1642.<br />

It should, however, be remembered that Puritanism does not simply<br />

represent opposition to theatrical activity and similar pursuits. Several<br />

dramatists, most notably Middleton, identified themselves with Puritan<br />

beliefs, although not in an extremist way. Puritan thought aimed, in<br />

its most literal sense, to purify and simplify the spiritual mindset of the<br />

time: only later did the extreme of revolution become an option.<br />

The result of extreme Puritan moralistic pressure was that, in 1642,<br />

the Long Parliament put an end to theatrical performances. The closure<br />

of the theatres brought to an end the greatest period of English drama.<br />

Never again was drama to be the most popular literary genre or such<br />

a vital forum for the discussion of the major themes of the age.

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