scene and old in the next This made the story hard to follow Sidney wanted drama to be more disciplined like ancient Greek plays Mixing of Characters Sidney dislikes how English plays mix kings with clowns In classical drama tragedies were serious and comedies were funny They were kept separate But English plays often combined both According to the author a play should be pure comedy or tragedy He says The ideal tragedy is an imitation of the noble action in the representation of which it stirs admiration and commiseration Sidney says mixing characters is confusing For example a play might show a noble king in one scene and a silly jester in the next This weakened the play s moral lesson Sidney believed drama should either teach seriously or entertain lightly not both at once Lack of Moral Purpose Sidney believed drama should teach goodness But many English plays failed here Some showed evil characters succeeding without punishment Others made foolish behavior seem funny without teaching a lesson About this the author says Delight hath a joy in it either permanent or present Laughter hath only a scornful teaching Sidney wanted drama to inspire people to be better like Greek tragedies did He thought plays should clearly show the difference between right and wrong Bad Use of Language Another problem Sidney saw was the use of big or strange words Some writers used difficult language just to sound clever Their plays had words that were too fancy or did not match the character He admired poets like Chaucer who wrote clearly and beautifully For Sidney good drama should focus on moral lessons not just show off fancy words Hope for Improvement Although Sidney criticised English drama he did not hate it completely He believed that English had the power to create great plays He praised older poets like Chaucer and believed that with care drama could improve He wanted writers to learn from classical examples and write plays that were both beautiful and meaningful He hoped that English drama would become noble and respected again if writers followed the right rules To wrap up Sidney wanted English drama to be better He criticised it because he loved it and saw its potential He believed drama should follow rules teach good values and use clear language The dramas of his time in his view were full of mistakes But he did not give up hope He wanted writers to improve and make drama that could guide people Sidney s ideas remind us that art should not only entertain but also teach and inspire