is period treated only in isolated
instances.[17]

Italian tragedy in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Maffei.

Metastasio.

Alfieri.

The tragedians of the 17th century continued to pursue the beaten track,
marked out already in the 16th by rigid prescription. In course of time,
however, they sought by the introduction of musical airs to compromise
with the danger with which their art was threatened of being (in
Voltaire's phrase) extinguished by the beautiful monster, the opera, now
rapidly gaining ground in the country of its origin. (See OPERA.) To
Count P. Bonarelli (1589-1659), the author of _Solimano_, is on the
other hand ascribed the first disuse of the chorus in Italian tragedy.
The innovation of the use of rhyme attempted in the learned
Pallavicino's _Erminigildo_ (1655), and defended by him in a discourse
prefixed to the play, was unable to achieve a permanent success in Italy
any more than in England; its chief representative was afterwards
Martelli (d. 1727), whose rhymed Alexandrian verse (_Martelliano_),
though on one occasion used in comedy by Goldoni, failed to commend
itself to the popular taste. By the end of the 17th century Italian
tragedy seemed destined to expire, and the great tragic actor Cotta had
withdrawn in disgust at the apathy of the public towards the higher
forms of the drama. The 18th century was, however, to witness a change,
the beginnings of which are attributed to the institution of the Academy
of the Arcadians at Rome (1690). The principal efforts of the new school
of writers and critics were directed to the abolition of the chorus, and
to a general increase of freedom in treatment. Before long the marquis
S. Maffei with his _Merope_ (first printed 1713) achieved one of the
most brilliant successes recorded in the history of dramatic literature.
This play, which is devoid of any love-story, long continued to be
considered the masterpiece of Italian tragedy; Voltaire, who declared it
"worthy of the most glorious days of Athens," adapted it for the French
stage, and it inspired a celebrated production of the English drama.[18]
It was followed by a tragedy full of horrors,[19] noticeable as having
given rise to the first Italian dramatic _parody_; and by the highly
esteemed productions of Granelli (d. 1769) and his contemporary
Bettinelli. P. T. Metastasio (1698-1782), who had early begun his career
as a dramatist by a strict adherence to the precepts of Aristotle,
gain