INTRODUCTORY NOTE
THE CABINET MINISTER
ADVERTISEMENTS
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
![The Cabinet Minister [Decorative Illustration] Arthur W. Pinero](https://oldbook.b-cdn.net/kitaplar/4/pg33957-h/images/cover.jpg "Cover")
THE CABINET MINISTER
THE PLAYS OF ARTHUR W. PINERO.
IN MONTHLY VOLUMES.
Price 1s. 6d., paper; 2s. 6d., cloth.
1. The Times. A Comedy in Four Acts.
2. The Profligate. A Play in Four Acts.With a Portrait, and a Preface by MalcolmC. Salaman.
3. The Cabinet Minister. A Farce in FourActs. With an Introductory Note by MalcolmC. Salaman.
4. The Hobby Horse. [Ready February.
To be followed by "Lady Bountiful," "DandyDick," "The Magistrate," "The Schoolmistress," "TheWeaker Sex," "Lords and Commons," "The Squire,"and "Sweet Lavender."
THE CABINET MINISTER
A FARCE
In Four Acts
By ARTHUR W. PINERO
LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
MDCCCXCII
Copyright, January 1892.
All rights reserved.
Entered at Stationers’ Hall.
Entered at the Library of Congress, Washington, U.S.A.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
It is well known that Mr. Pinero holds decided views ofhis own as to the nature and function of farce; indeed,he claims for it a wider scope and a more comprehensivepurpose than have ever been associated with farce of theold Adelphi type, or the more modern genus of thePalais Royal. He has openly expressed his opinion thatfarce must gradually become the modern equivalent ofcomedy, since the present being an age of sentimentrather than of manners, the comic playwright must ofnecessity seek his humour in the exaggeration of sentiment.Thus Mr. Pinero holds that farce should treat ofprobable people placed in possible circumstances, butregarded from a point of view which exaggerates theirsentiments and magnifies their foibles. In this light itis permitted to this class of play, not only to deal with[Pg vi]ridiculous incongruities of incident and character, but tosatirise society, and to wring laughter from those possibledistresses of life which might trace their origin to fallaciesof feeling and extravagances of motive.
"The Cabinet Minister" is the latest of Mr. Pinero’sseries of farces, and it may be regarded as the directdevelopment of ideas which he began to put into practicewhen he wrote "The Magistrate." Since then theseideas have undergone a process of gradual evolution,which may be clearly traced through the successiveproductions of "The Schoolmistress," "Dandy Dick,"and "The Cabinet Minister," in each of which it willbe seen that the author has aimed less at the expositionof a plot than at the satirising of particular types ofcharacter in a possible social atmosphere.
"The Cabinet Minister" was writt