---
# System prepended metadata

title: 'An Enlightened Stage: Morals, Manners, and the Middle-Class'
tags: [DramaSix, ' class']

---

---
tags: DramaSix, class
---
# An Enlightened Stage: Morals, Manners, and the Middle-Class

### Arc of the class
### Questions to Consider

_Question_
How did the emergence of a new audience in 18th-century England affect the kinds of plays that were presented and the ways these plays were written and performed?

_Question_
How were the “tearful comedies” and “affecting tragedies” of the early 18th century different from the plays of the previous century?

_Question_
In what ways does the new repertory suggest a new function for theater as a moral agent and moral institution?

_Question_
How did Shaftesbury’s notion of a “moral instinct” affect attitudes about watching theater?