It is
not even true that the Greeks habitually aimed at such continuity of
time as we find in _Getting Married_. They treated time ideally, the
imaginary duration of the story being, as a rule, widely different from
the actual time of representation. In this respect the _Oedipus_ is
something of an exception, since the events might, at a pinch, be
conceived as passing within the "two hours' traffick of the stage"; but
in many cases a whole day, or even more, must be understood to be
compressed within these two hours. It is true that the continuous
presence of the Chorus made it impossible for the Greeks to overleap
months and years, as we do on the modern stage; but they did not aim at
that strict coincidence of imaginary with actual time which Mr. Shaw
believes himself to have achieved.[1] Even he, however, subjects the
events which take place behind the scenes to a good deal of "ideal"
compression.
Of course, when Mr. Shaw protests that, in _Getting Married_, he did not
indulge in a "deliberate display of virtuosity of form," that is only
his fun.
Pages:
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191