n, the province of Comedy is with the follies and foibles or
our nature; it is generally, and it ought always to be, a speaking
picture of national faults, and should satirize the people of the
country where it is represented, by which means a much greater scope is
afforded for the improvement of the spectator. It is not so confined in
its sphere as Tragedy is, for it may affect as well as amuse; there
should be a proper mixture of gravity with mirth, and that succession of
ridiculous and pathetic events with which the life of man is variegated.
But the main superiority of Comedy consists in its having what Tragedy
wants, a moral. It is true that the enlightened portion of the audience
do not require this moral; no farther interested in the scene they
witness than as being spectators of it, they sit by in silence, void of
all passion, and learn in silence a lesson that speaks for itself, and
will have its certain effect on their future lives; but the greater part
of the audience, not being capable either of accurate reasoning or deep
reflection, require to be told what is right, and to have its
distinction from wrong pointed out to them; as in a fable, its point
would be useless to most men without its concomitant moral. Secondly,
the plot of Comedy (as I have said before) is for the most part
fictitious, and refers to national manners, the advantages of both which
peculiarities I have already had occasion to refer to; the characters
also being selected from private as well as public life, from low as
well as polite company, afford Comedy a far wider field to range in than
Tragedy can boast. Comedy introduces us to the cottage as well as the
palace, and displays the economy of one as well as the splendour of the
other; and it can amuse us with the intrigues of a citizen's wife, as
well as interest us with the passion of a princess. We see also in
Comedy, as well as in the world itself, the despicable character of the
rake, and the disgusting vanity of the coquette; we learn to distinguish
between the different traits of character, and we soon find that those
whose language is that of men of honour, often act like knaves. It is
all this diversity that makes Comedy so pleasing as well as so
instructive. Thirdly, the end that Comedy has in view, is to bring about
improvement by exciting contempt and ridicule: by thus mixing ridicule
with vice, we feel a positive enjoyment in seeing it exposed, and it is
by this powerful engi