The
two scenes fulfil exactly the same function in the economy of the play;
it can be acted with either of them, it might be acted with both; and it
is impossible to say which produces the intenser or more "specifically
dramatic effect."
The fact remains, however, that there is almost always a dramatic and
undramatic, a more dramatic and a less dramatic, way of doing a thing;
and an author who allows us to foresee and expect a dramatic way of
attaining a given end, and then chooses an undramatic or less dramatic
way, is guilty of having missed the obligatory scene. For a general
discussion of what we mean by the terms "dramatic" and "undramatic" the
reader may refer back to Chapter III. Here I need only give one or two
particular illustrations.
It will be remembered that one of the _scenes a faire_ which M. Sarcey
foresaw in _Les Fourchambault_ was the encounter between the two
brothers; the illegitimate Bernard and the legitimate Leopold. It would
have been quite possible, and quite natural, to let the action of the
play work itself out without any such encounter; or to let the encounter
take place behind the scenes; but this would have been a patent ignoring
of dramatic possibilities, and M.
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