In the mid sixteenth century some english dramatist imitated the--------chorus
Answers
In the mid sixteenth century some English dramatists imitated the Senecan chorus. Though being a Roman, Seneca was himself greatly influenced by the ancient Greek playwrights.
During the sixteenth century, through this route, many features of ancient Greek drama found its way to English plays, including the chorus. So, leading British playwrights like Christopher Marlowe and Shakespeare incorporated the chorus in their works. The chorus comprised a group of actors, who sang during the play.
The chorus played an important role in the play. All the chorus actors together performed the role of the narrator. They gave important information to the audience regarding the setting, plot and characters. They also made the task of the playwright easier by directly telling the audience rather than getting them to discover certain things. Greek drama, particularly tragedies relied a lot on the chorus. In fact the tragedies often began with the chorus.
In Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, which is also a tragedy, the chorus appears in the prologue itself.
‘Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, ‘
Even before the play begins, the audience gets to know the background of the two main families, upon whom the story is based. The chorus also gives precise information about the exact scene of action (Verona).
The utility of the chorus made the English playwrights borrow this feature from classical Greek drama.
In mid sixteenth century some English dramatists imitated Senecan chorus.
The word ‘chorus’ is used for a group of singers, who sing a song together in a drama.
However, chorus was also delivered by a single person in some plays of Elizabethan period, mainly for uttering the prologue and epilogue of a drama.
Initially, chorus was the group of people singing together in ancient Greek festivals and later this trend was also followed by the Romans.