Stockmann,
gagged and thrown back into poverty, is tempted to take flight, but
determines to remain in his native place and fight for its moral, if
not for its physical, sanitation.
Each of these acts is a little drama in itself, while each leads forward
to the next, and marks a distinct phase in the development of
the crisis.
When the younger Dumas asked his father, that master of dramatic
movement, to initiate him into the secret of dramatic craftsmanship, the
great Alexandre replied in this concise formula: "Let your first act be
clear, your last act brief, and the whole interesting." Of the wisdom of
the first clause there can be no manner of doubt. Whether incidentally
or by way of formal exposition, the first act ought to show us clearly
who the characters are, what are their relations and relationships, and
what is the nature of the gathering crisis. It is very important that
the attention of the audience should not be overstrained in following
out needlessly complex genealogies and kinships.
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