Stage history has generally been regarded by the student of the arts as a thing apart. It has been assumed that the stage has developed its own art, influenced only by the art of the stage in other lands or in other times. In general, this assumption seems to me unjustified. Rather, the stage should, I believe, be regarded as giving expression in its art to the dominant artistic theory of the time. It is only in its medium of expression that the art of the stage differs from the other arts; its fundamental artistic theory is that held in common with the other arts. Certainly, it seems to me, it is only in this fashion that one can account for the changes in the theory of dramatic presentation that came about within the compass of the eighteenth century. It is my purpose in this paper, therefore, to show the development of the theory of acting in England in the eighteenth century, and to show that in its development the theory of acting followed the general artistic theory of the day.