Indeed, an economy of one person
might be affected by making the Queen (as she naturally might) play the
part of confidant to Ophelia.
Shakespeare, to be sure, did not deliberately choose between his own
method and that of Racine. Classic concentration was wholly unsuited to
the physical conditions of the Elizabethan stage, on which external
movement and bustle were imperatively demanded. But the modern
playwright has a wide latitude of choice in this purely technical
matter. He may work out his plot with the smallest possible number of
characters, or he may introduce a crowd of auxiliary personages. The
good craftsman will be guided by the nature of his theme. In a broad
social study or a picturesque romance, you may have as many auxiliary
figures as you please. In a subtle comedy, or a psychological tragedy,
the essential characters should have the stage as much as possible to
themselves. In Becque's _La Parisienne_ there are only four characters
and a servant; in Rostand's _Cyrano de Bergerac_ there are fifty-four
personages named in the playbill, to say nothing of supernumeraries.
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