From the moment the American writer ceased to be an Englishman, and became fully aware of his national consciousness, American drama, following the trend of the development of American literature, began to feel its way for the proper expression of national characteristics.
And so, in the second and third volumes of this series, the reader will find plays which, while not wonderful in their literary value, are, nevertheless, very distinctive, as reflecting the theatrical tastes of the time, and the very crude, but none the less sincere, technical effort of the playwrights. All the dramas included in the second and third volumes have had their stage productions, and are thus representative of characteristics which mark the abilities of certain actors, whose claims to originality are found in the special types they created.
It has been the present editor's object so to arrange the successive order of these plays that the reader may not only be able to judge the change in stagecraft and technique, but, likewise, may note the change in social idea and in historical attitude toward certain subjects. For example, "The Contrast" contains the first American Stage Yankee--a model for a succession of Stage Yankees to follow. But, whereas Royall Tyler's _Jonathan_ was not especially written to exploit the peculiar abilities of Mr. Wignell, the comedian, most of the Yankee plays of a later date were written to exploit the peculiar excellences of such actors as G. H. Hill and James H. Hackett.
In no way can the reader better sense the change in social customs and ideals than by reading a series of plays written in successive generations and reflecting the varying customs of the time. In some respects "The Contrast" may be considered our very earliest drama of social manners, even though Royall Tyler was not over-successful in stamping the small talk of his women as being distinctively American. Rather is it the direct imitation--without the brilliancy--of the small talk in "The School for Scandal." But, nevertheless, "The Contrast" does attempt to deal with society in New York before the nineteenth century, and in Mrs. Mowatt's "Fashion," in Mrs. Bateman's "Self," in Bronson Howard's "Saratoga" (which has been published), in Clyde Fitch's "The Moth and the Flame," and in Langdon Mitchell's "The New York Idea," we are given a very significant and sharply defined panoramic view of the variations in moral and social attitudes.