Messrs. Hichens and Fagan, for example, might have asked themselves--or
each other--"Are we getting beneath the surface of this woman's nature?
Are we plucking the heart out of her mystery? Cannot we make the
specific processes of a murderess's mind clearer to ourselves and to our
audiences?" Whether they would have been capable of rising to the
opportunity, I cannot tell; but in the case of other authors one not
infrequently feels: "This man could have taken us deeper into this
problem if he had only thought of it." I do not for a moment mean that
every serious dramatist should always be aiming at psychological
exploration. The character-drawer's appeal to common knowledge and
instant recognition is often all that is required, or that would be in
place. But there are also occasions not a few when the dramatist shows
himself unequal to his opportunities if he does not at least attempt to
bring hitherto unrecorded or unscrutinized phases of character within
the scope of our understanding and our sympathies.
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