The term “The Problem Play’ was coined by Sydney Grundy who used it in a disparaging sense for the intellectual drama of the nineties, which he believed was marching to its doom in the hands of ‘a coterie of enthusiastic eccentrics’.
It is believed that problem drama or the so-called ‘drama’ differs essentially from tragedy even though it deals with serious issues. It normally exhibits ideas, situations and feelings that lack tragic dimensions. It is distinguished from comedy not only by the lack of episode designed simple to amuse, but on account of its serious temper and didactic aim.