This principle is subject to a certain
qualification in the case of historic and legendary themes. In treating
such subjects, the dramatist is not relieved of the necessity of
developing his story clearly and interestingly, but has, on the
contrary, an additional charge imposed upon him--that of not flagrantly
defying or disappointing popular knowledge or prejudice. Charles I must
not die in a green old age, Oliver Cromwell must not display the manners
and graces of Sir Charles Grandison, Charles II must not be represented
as a model of domestic virtue. Historians may indict a hero or whitewash
a villain at their leisure; but to the dramatist a hero must be (more or
less) a hero, a villain (more or less) a villain, if accepted tradition
so decrees it.[2] Thus popular knowledge can scarcely be said to lighten
a dramatist's task, but rather to impose a new limitation upon him. In
some cases, however, he can rely on a general knowledge of the historic
background of a given period, which may save him some exposition.
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