historical dramas; and Chikamatsu had tried his apprentice hand at them. Though his genius did much to raise them from crudity to a high level of excellence, they cannot, with a few exceptions, be pronounced unqualified successes. In historical plays he had to respect the popular traditions regarding historical characters and to take into consideration the mental capacity of his audience, which was not of high order, and consequently his genius had not a full scope for its exercise. In the social or domestic play which he was the first to produce, the case was totally different. Here he was in his element, for the subjects he took were derived from common life. In those days when newspapers were unknown, passing events transpired but slowly; and every item of news was eagerly devoured, though it suffered from
THE GIDAYU-SINGER’S PERCH.
exaggeration in the transmission. Gidayu would, on getting scent of a sensational occurrence, hie to Chikamatsu and make him write a play on the subject before it became generally known. For this reason, many of Chikamatsu’s domestic plays deal with lovers’ suicides, murders, and
