" I remember no passage in which Sarcey
explicitly lays down so hard and fast a rule, but several in which he
seems to take it for granted.[1]
It may be asked whether--and if so, why--the theory of the obligatory
scene holds good for the dramatist and not for the novelist? Perhaps it
has more application to the novel than is commonly supposed; but in so
far as it applies peculiarly to the drama, the reason is pretty clear.
It lies in the strict concentration imposed on the dramatist, and the
high mental tension which is, or ought to be, characteristic of the
theatrical audience. The leisurely and comparatively passive
novel-reader may never miss a scene which an audience, with its
instincts of logic and of economy keenly alert, may feel to be
inevitable. The dramatist is bound to extract from his material the last
particle of that particular order of effect which the stage, and the
stage alone, can give us. If he fails to do so, we feel that there has
been no adequate justification for setting in motion all the complex
mechanism of the theatre.
Pages:
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316