Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Impression Of Reality Attending Dramatic Representations.
duced by a traged y read ; but this is exactly in proportion to the dramatic powers of the reader , and the strength of imagination in the hearer ; and always falls much short of that of a perfect representation on { he stage . But , says the critic , « the deli ght of tragedy proceeds from a " consciousness of fiction ; if we thought murders and treasons real , ' *< they would lease Deli
p no more . " ght is not the word by which I would choose to denote those sensations in the deeper scenes of tragedy , which often arise to such a pitch of intensity , as to be really and exquisitely painful . I do not here mean to enter into an enquiry concerning the source of the interest we take in spectacles of terror and distress . It is sufficient to observethat just the
, same difficulty here occurs in reality , as in fiction . Every awful and terrific scene , from an eruption of Etna , or an attack ' en Gibraltar , to a street-fire or a boxing-match , is gazed at by assembled multitudes . In histories , is it not the page of battles , " treasons and murders , " on which we dwell with most avidity ? I do not hesitate to . assertthat we never behold with pleasure iii fictitious
, representation , what we should not have viewed with a similar sensation in real action . The truth is , that many of the tragic distresses are so Mended with lofty and heroic sentiments , that the impression of sorrow for the sufferer is lost in applause and admiration .
When Cato groans , who does not wish to bleed ? And when this is not the case , but pure misery is painted without the alleviations of glory and conscious virtue , the effects on the beholder are invariabl y pain and disgust . We are , indeed , by the strong impulse of curiosity , led to such representations , as the crowd are to fights and executions ; but what man of nice feeling would ° -o a second time to Fatal Curiosit °
see y , or the butchery of a Damien ? With respect to the principle which renders a degree of dramatic unify- necessary , it seems not difficult to be ascertained . Congruit y is alike essential in real and in fictitious scenes to preserve acont jnuity of emotion . After a pathetic speech in a play , if the actor immediatel y turns his eyes on the audience , or bows to the boxes , •we feel the effect to be spoiled ; why ? because it is plain he is not the man he before appeared to be ; for it is impossible that poignant sorrow should be immediately succeeded by indifference . Thus if
a person were to ask our charity with a lamentable tale of woe , and suitable expression of countenance , and we should immediatel y afterwards detect him smiling or nodding to a companion , the first impression of pity would be lost in a conviction of fraud . A ludicrous incident on the stage interrupts the flow of tears in the deepest tragedy , and fills the house with general laughter . It is just the same in real life . At the funeral of a dear friendat the death
, of a martyr , circumstances may occur , which not only divert the attention , but even provoke a smile . But such distractions in the real scene are short , and the true state of things rushes again on the mind . _ In imitative representations , on the contrary , they may b « so forcible and frequent , as entirely to destroy the effect intended to be produced .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Impression Of Reality Attending Dramatic Representations.
duced by a traged y read ; but this is exactly in proportion to the dramatic powers of the reader , and the strength of imagination in the hearer ; and always falls much short of that of a perfect representation on { he stage . But , says the critic , « the deli ght of tragedy proceeds from a " consciousness of fiction ; if we thought murders and treasons real , ' *< they would lease Deli
p no more . " ght is not the word by which I would choose to denote those sensations in the deeper scenes of tragedy , which often arise to such a pitch of intensity , as to be really and exquisitely painful . I do not here mean to enter into an enquiry concerning the source of the interest we take in spectacles of terror and distress . It is sufficient to observethat just the
, same difficulty here occurs in reality , as in fiction . Every awful and terrific scene , from an eruption of Etna , or an attack ' en Gibraltar , to a street-fire or a boxing-match , is gazed at by assembled multitudes . In histories , is it not the page of battles , " treasons and murders , " on which we dwell with most avidity ? I do not hesitate to . assertthat we never behold with pleasure iii fictitious
, representation , what we should not have viewed with a similar sensation in real action . The truth is , that many of the tragic distresses are so Mended with lofty and heroic sentiments , that the impression of sorrow for the sufferer is lost in applause and admiration .
When Cato groans , who does not wish to bleed ? And when this is not the case , but pure misery is painted without the alleviations of glory and conscious virtue , the effects on the beholder are invariabl y pain and disgust . We are , indeed , by the strong impulse of curiosity , led to such representations , as the crowd are to fights and executions ; but what man of nice feeling would ° -o a second time to Fatal Curiosit °
see y , or the butchery of a Damien ? With respect to the principle which renders a degree of dramatic unify- necessary , it seems not difficult to be ascertained . Congruit y is alike essential in real and in fictitious scenes to preserve acont jnuity of emotion . After a pathetic speech in a play , if the actor immediatel y turns his eyes on the audience , or bows to the boxes , •we feel the effect to be spoiled ; why ? because it is plain he is not the man he before appeared to be ; for it is impossible that poignant sorrow should be immediately succeeded by indifference . Thus if
a person were to ask our charity with a lamentable tale of woe , and suitable expression of countenance , and we should immediatel y afterwards detect him smiling or nodding to a companion , the first impression of pity would be lost in a conviction of fraud . A ludicrous incident on the stage interrupts the flow of tears in the deepest tragedy , and fills the house with general laughter . It is just the same in real life . At the funeral of a dear friendat the death
, of a martyr , circumstances may occur , which not only divert the attention , but even provoke a smile . But such distractions in the real scene are short , and the true state of things rushes again on the mind . _ In imitative representations , on the contrary , they may b « so forcible and frequent , as entirely to destroy the effect intended to be produced .