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Article REFLECTIONS UPON TRAGEDY. ← Page 2 of 3 →
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Reflections Upon Tragedy.
It may , however , be objected , that if we banish love from our tragedies , we shall never see women in them , or they will only perform very trifling parts . What will become of us , if we banish " from our pleasures that amiable sex , who are formed to inspire tenderness , to move and captivate us , and who make us share in the sentiments of those heroes who sacrifice their lives for them , or detest the cruelty of those tyrants who them ? Whbanish women from our
oppress y dramatic works ? Why should we expel love entirely r This , indeed , as not to be wished ; let it only be subordinate to the principal interest , and the end I have in view will be answered . If weopen the books of every age , and search the annals of empires and republics , we shall there find that women have always been the most considerable agents . More ambitious and more violent , but less prudent than the
men , they have almost always occasioned the greatest revolutions . Others , without causing the fall of their kingdoms , have governed them with the greatest wisdom ; and some have exercised acts of justice or severity , which might afford matteffor a thousand tragedies . The celebrated Elizabeth , ( if we except her amours with the Earl of Essex ) , and some others , whose merit was not equal to that of this
queen , have given proofs of the most heroic courage , and of the most intrepid firmness . Has not Russia had some valorous empresses ? and at Rome , where the women were subordinate to their husbands , did they not distinguish ' themselves by instances of courage , patriotism , and greatness of soul ? It is these heroines that ought to be produced upon the stage : we should then have bold characterswell delineated .
, The death of Czesar , and that of Philoctetes , are the only two modern tragedies in which there are no women . They are , however ,, no less interesting ; the first , above all , is sublime ; but this is not to be given as a model . It would be too difficult , and perhaps it might become tiresome .
It remains now to speak of the subjects which ought to be chosen : for the greater number of those exhibited on the stage , for some years past , are only subjects of invention or amplification . It cannot be denied , that a subject of invention , if it be interesting and welltreated , must afford pleasure ; but many qualities must be united in it . Historical events , when treated in a languid manner , speak at least to our remembrancewhereas fabulous subjects speak-only to the
, imagination : the first is the real figure , the second is only the mask . \ Ye may hear authors every day complain of a scarcity of subjects , but let them only open the fourth book of the Eneid . They will there find a great abundance , which , by the help of a few alterations , necessary for preserving the exactness of theatrical rules , would open a field for the most sublime and emphatical expressions . " If we turn
over the history of the sovereigns of the universe , what incidents , and plots ! what murders , occasioned , by love , glory , or ambition 1—The lives of the eastern emperors seem to be a copious source , from which many interesting subjects might be drawn ; and the empire of the Turks might likewise supply a great many . Have we not also the khans of T artery , the emperors of China , Japan , Pegu , Calicut ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Reflections Upon Tragedy.
It may , however , be objected , that if we banish love from our tragedies , we shall never see women in them , or they will only perform very trifling parts . What will become of us , if we banish " from our pleasures that amiable sex , who are formed to inspire tenderness , to move and captivate us , and who make us share in the sentiments of those heroes who sacrifice their lives for them , or detest the cruelty of those tyrants who them ? Whbanish women from our
oppress y dramatic works ? Why should we expel love entirely r This , indeed , as not to be wished ; let it only be subordinate to the principal interest , and the end I have in view will be answered . If weopen the books of every age , and search the annals of empires and republics , we shall there find that women have always been the most considerable agents . More ambitious and more violent , but less prudent than the
men , they have almost always occasioned the greatest revolutions . Others , without causing the fall of their kingdoms , have governed them with the greatest wisdom ; and some have exercised acts of justice or severity , which might afford matteffor a thousand tragedies . The celebrated Elizabeth , ( if we except her amours with the Earl of Essex ) , and some others , whose merit was not equal to that of this
queen , have given proofs of the most heroic courage , and of the most intrepid firmness . Has not Russia had some valorous empresses ? and at Rome , where the women were subordinate to their husbands , did they not distinguish ' themselves by instances of courage , patriotism , and greatness of soul ? It is these heroines that ought to be produced upon the stage : we should then have bold characterswell delineated .
, The death of Czesar , and that of Philoctetes , are the only two modern tragedies in which there are no women . They are , however ,, no less interesting ; the first , above all , is sublime ; but this is not to be given as a model . It would be too difficult , and perhaps it might become tiresome .
It remains now to speak of the subjects which ought to be chosen : for the greater number of those exhibited on the stage , for some years past , are only subjects of invention or amplification . It cannot be denied , that a subject of invention , if it be interesting and welltreated , must afford pleasure ; but many qualities must be united in it . Historical events , when treated in a languid manner , speak at least to our remembrancewhereas fabulous subjects speak-only to the
, imagination : the first is the real figure , the second is only the mask . \ Ye may hear authors every day complain of a scarcity of subjects , but let them only open the fourth book of the Eneid . They will there find a great abundance , which , by the help of a few alterations , necessary for preserving the exactness of theatrical rules , would open a field for the most sublime and emphatical expressions . " If we turn
over the history of the sovereigns of the universe , what incidents , and plots ! what murders , occasioned , by love , glory , or ambition 1—The lives of the eastern emperors seem to be a copious source , from which many interesting subjects might be drawn ; and the empire of the Turks might likewise supply a great many . Have we not also the khans of T artery , the emperors of China , Japan , Pegu , Calicut ,