There is, however, another side to the question. The English stage was most flourishing in the time of Queen Elizabeth. The dramatists of that day looked upon amusement as only a part of their duties. Many men of lofty and penetrating intellect used the theatre as a medium for the expression of their thoughts and ideas.
Their aim was to ennoble and elevate the audience, and imbue it with their own philosophy, by presenting noble characters working out their destiny amid trials and temptations, and their pictures, being essentially true to nature, acted as powerful incentives to the cultivation of morality.
Shakespeare stands preeminent among them all, because by his wealth of inspiring thought he gives food for reflection to the wisest, and yet charms all by his wit and humour and exhibits for ridicule follies and absurdities of men.
It is a great testimony to the universality of his genius that, even in translations, he appeals to many thousands of those who frequent Indian theatres, and who differ so much in thought, customs and religion from the audiences for which he wrote.
