There are, then, very clear limits to the validity of the Dumas maxim
that "The art of the theatre is the art of preparations." Certain it is
that over-preparation is the most fatal of errors. The clumsiest thing a
dramatist can possibly do is to lay a long and elaborate train for the
ignition of a squib. We take pleasure in an event which has been
"prepared" in the sense that we have been led to desire it, and have
wondered how it was to be brought about. But we scoff at an occurrence
which nothing but our knowledge of the tricks of the stage could
possibly lead us to expect, yet which, knowing these tricks, we have
foreseen from afar, and resented in advance.
* * * * *
[Footnote 1: _Of Dramatic Poesy,_ ed. Arnold, 1903, p. 60.]
[Footnote 2: _The World_, December 20, 1899.]
[Footnote 3: At the end of the first act of _Lady Inger of Ostraat_,
Ibsen evidently intends to produce a startling effect through the sudden
appearance of Olaf Skaktavl in Lady Inger's hall.
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