February 22, 2007: Hamilton on Passive Audiences - 0 Comments

"A good-humored crowd, those people who filled the Roman theatre in its first days of popularity, easily appealed to by any sentimental interest, eager to have the wicked punished--but not too severely--and the good live happily ever after. No occasions wanted for intellectual exertion, no wit or deft malice; fun such as could be passively enjoyed, broad with a flavor of obscenity. Most marked characteristic of all, a love of mediocrity, a complete satisfaction with the average. The people who applauded thse plays wanted nothing bigger than their own small selves. They were democratic."

- Hamilton, The Roman Way, 1932