mankind, to distinguish it from tragedy, which is an exhibition of the misfortunes of the great. ... If we apply to authorities, all the great masters in the dramatic art have but one opinion. Their rule is, that as tragedy displays the calamities of the great, so comedy should excite our laughter by ridiculously exhibiting the follies of the lower part of mankind.”
“Laughing Comedy”
In An Essay on the Theatre, Goldsmith argued that “sentimental comedy” was really a form of “bastard tragedy”: