 These plays, together with "Sweethearts" (1874), "Charity", and "Broken Hearts" (1875), did for Gilbert on the dramatic stage what the German Reed Entertainments had done for him on the musical stage.They established that his capabilities extended far beyond burlesque and won him artistic credentials as a writer of wide range, who was as comfortable with human drama as with farcical humour.Although these fairy comedies represented a step forward for Gilbert, the blank verse is a drawback, as it limits Gilbert's vital prose style.