What was the reason of this? Simply that under the system
of royalties prevalent in France, it was greatly to the author's
interest that his play should fill the whole evening. Sardou needed no
more than three acts for the development of his drama; to have spread it
out thinner would have been to weaken and injure it; wherefore he
preferred to occupy an hour or so with clever dramatic journalism,
rather than share the evening, and the fees, with another dramatist. So,
at least, I have heard his practice explained; perhaps his own account
of the matter may have been that he wanted to paint a broad social
picture to serve as a background for his action.
The question how far an audience ought to be carried towards the heart
of a dramatic action in the course of the first act is always and
inevitably one of proportion. It is clear that too much ought not to be
told, so as to leave the remaining acts meagre and spun-out; nor should
any one scene be so intense in its interest as to outshine all
subsequent scenes, and give to the rest of the play an effect of
anti-climax.
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