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On The Impression Of Reality Attending Dramatic Representations.
Incongruities in dramatic spectacles may be of various kinds . They mav arise from the characters , the diction , or the fable . Those which proceed from the violation of what are termed the unities of time and place are , perhaps , the least injurious of any ; for we find by experience , that the mind possesses the faculty of accommodating itself , with the greatest facility to sudden changes in these will admit itthe interven
particulars . Indeed , where the fable , - tion of acts renders the change of time and place no incongruity at all . Forthe drama is then a history , of which certain parts are exhibited in dialogue , and the rest in narration . Now , it is impossible to give a reason , why the mind , which can accompany with its emotions series of entire narrationshould refuse to follow a story
a , of which the most striking parts are exhibited in a manner more peculiarly impressive . During the continuance , indeed , ofthe dramatic actions , every thing should be as much as pcssible in unison ; for as the stage is the most exact imitation of real life that art can
invent , and in some respects even perfect , an inconsistency in one point is rendered more obvious by comparison with the rest . Thus , with regard to time ; as the conversation on the stage employs the very same space of time as it would in a real scene , it seems requisite , that the accompanying action should not exceed those limits . If , while the stage has been occupied by the same performers , _ or aa uninterrupted succession of new onesthe story should require the
, transactions of half a day to run parallel with the discourse of half an hour , we could scarcely fail to be sensible of an incongruity , and cry to ourselves , " this is impossible 1 " Such a circumstance would g ive a rude shock to the train of our ideas , and awaken us out of that dream ofthe fancy , in which it is the great purpose of dramatic representations to engage us . For notwithstanding a critic of Dr . however
Johnson ' s name ( whose heat and imagination , , appear from numerous instances to have been very intractable to the eftbrt $ of fiction ) has thought fit to treat the supposed illusion ofthe theatre with ridicule , I cannot but be convinced ofthe existence of what I have so often myself felt , and seen the effects of in others ; and if the point were to be decided by authority , I mig ht confidently repose on that of the judicious Horace , who characterises Ms master of th © drama , as one ,
qui pectus inamter angit , Jrritat , mttlcet , falsis terroribus implet Ut magus ; & modo me Thebis , modo ponit Athenis . of delusion produced bthe imitative artsand «
iThe notion a temporary y , par Vicularly by the drama , is , I observe , supported by Dr . Darwin , in the ingenious prose Interludes of his loves if the Plants ; and by arguments so similar to those Jiere made use of , that it will be proper for me to say , that this short Essay was written some years before the appearance of that beautiful poem . The writer whom Dr . Darwin combats on this occasion , is Sir Joshua Reynolds , who seems implicitly to have adopted ihe opinion of his friend Dr . Johnson . A "KIN
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Impression Of Reality Attending Dramatic Representations.
Incongruities in dramatic spectacles may be of various kinds . They mav arise from the characters , the diction , or the fable . Those which proceed from the violation of what are termed the unities of time and place are , perhaps , the least injurious of any ; for we find by experience , that the mind possesses the faculty of accommodating itself , with the greatest facility to sudden changes in these will admit itthe interven
particulars . Indeed , where the fable , - tion of acts renders the change of time and place no incongruity at all . Forthe drama is then a history , of which certain parts are exhibited in dialogue , and the rest in narration . Now , it is impossible to give a reason , why the mind , which can accompany with its emotions series of entire narrationshould refuse to follow a story
a , of which the most striking parts are exhibited in a manner more peculiarly impressive . During the continuance , indeed , ofthe dramatic actions , every thing should be as much as pcssible in unison ; for as the stage is the most exact imitation of real life that art can
invent , and in some respects even perfect , an inconsistency in one point is rendered more obvious by comparison with the rest . Thus , with regard to time ; as the conversation on the stage employs the very same space of time as it would in a real scene , it seems requisite , that the accompanying action should not exceed those limits . If , while the stage has been occupied by the same performers , _ or aa uninterrupted succession of new onesthe story should require the
, transactions of half a day to run parallel with the discourse of half an hour , we could scarcely fail to be sensible of an incongruity , and cry to ourselves , " this is impossible 1 " Such a circumstance would g ive a rude shock to the train of our ideas , and awaken us out of that dream ofthe fancy , in which it is the great purpose of dramatic representations to engage us . For notwithstanding a critic of Dr . however
Johnson ' s name ( whose heat and imagination , , appear from numerous instances to have been very intractable to the eftbrt $ of fiction ) has thought fit to treat the supposed illusion ofthe theatre with ridicule , I cannot but be convinced ofthe existence of what I have so often myself felt , and seen the effects of in others ; and if the point were to be decided by authority , I mig ht confidently repose on that of the judicious Horace , who characterises Ms master of th © drama , as one ,
qui pectus inamter angit , Jrritat , mttlcet , falsis terroribus implet Ut magus ; & modo me Thebis , modo ponit Athenis . of delusion produced bthe imitative artsand «
iThe notion a temporary y , par Vicularly by the drama , is , I observe , supported by Dr . Darwin , in the ingenious prose Interludes of his loves if the Plants ; and by arguments so similar to those Jiere made use of , that it will be proper for me to say , that this short Essay was written some years before the appearance of that beautiful poem . The writer whom Dr . Darwin combats on this occasion , is Sir Joshua Reynolds , who seems implicitly to have adopted ihe opinion of his friend Dr . Johnson . A "KIN