Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 10.djvu/374

 304 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s.x. APRIL 22, 1922. of the passions, is changed with those social forms and conditions, and since we can trace quite clearly this change from the time of the Athenians till now, I do not see why we should aim at imitating, at all times and in all things, the ancient tragedians. We cannot hope to meet the same emotional response in our Theatres as did the Athenians, two thousand years ago. (ii. 109.) The Greeks imitated nature, and their kings in the Theatre were the kings they knew in their little houses and little domains ; bub we, who have a different idea of kings, are obliged to pass from imitation to reality and hence Agamemnon, CEdipus, Theseus, Achilles, Ulysses, are no longer kings of Greece, but of France, of Italy, and become ideal characters, (ii. 117.). . . What interest can we have in the rivalry of the Athenians and Thebans and Spartans, in the glory of the former and the discomfiture of the latter ? What knowledge of the race of (Edipus, Agamemnon or Hercules ? What delight in all those peculiar characteristics which distinguished the Greece of twenty centuries ago ? (ii. 104.) The rulers of Greece were Democrats and consequently a play would be very badly received that did not contain some representation of the people. Hence the introduction of the chorus which, to us, so far removed from this necessity, appears superfluous, (ii. 155.) We must say that all those things adapted to the ancient Theatre are as little adapted to our Theatre as a long beard in an Oriental who, having cast aside his own dress and put on our dress, should come to Italy. We would certainly ask him either to cut his beard or change his dress, (ii. 160.) A highly original metaphor sums up Carli's attitude to ancient drama : How an we make a whole equal to another perfect whole without it being identical ? To make one equal to it, it is necessary to transcribe the same ' (Edipus ' [i.e., of Sophocles] ; otherwise it would not be equal. Have you ever seen a big cart blocking the road with its wheels ? It does not leave any space anywhere for passage elsewhere, and everything, consequently, which goes along that road, must come to a stand behind it. Similarly with the ' CEdipus ' nothing can raise it or reach it and everything going that way must stay behind it. (ii. 189.) III. The most original and most advanced section of Carli's dramatic theory is centred in the definition of dramatic- structure and plot : The main business of the Tragic Poet is to know the sources of the passions, (ii. 69.). . . j Tragedy is not an imitation of men, but of their actions, so that our passions are aroused. Such | actions and objects should be presented to public | approval in such a way that they correspond to the situation or disposition of the minds of the spectators, (ii. 72.) It is necessary, then, that the action to be represented on the stage should correspond to our nature and should be prepared aid directed to suit this nature. I call action that which is j produced on the stage in public and such an ] action should have beginning, middle and end. (i. 163.). . . Rebellious, proud and uncultured spirits hate rules as they abhor laws ; they would like to introduce into the intellectual kingdom that which they call liberty, but which is, in reality, only the spirit of anarchy or des- potism. The rules directed, as they are, to the formation of a theatrical representation i.e., an action, probable and possible, which develops proportionately, interests the audience, and ends with the full approval of the public are as fundamental, necessary, and even as indispensable as solidity, proportion and harmony of the parts- are in the building of a great palace, (ii. 64.) The actual creation of drama is "a mystery known to very few." (i. 164.) The body and form of this picture resembling nature should be constructed on the dictates of the usual disposition of our minds which form that nature. Neither the ornament of elegant verse nor scenario in tragedy should be more than ornament. . . . Every living person is subject to every possible agitation of the soul and all men are subject to all passions, (i. 164.) Carli touches then on the theory of tragic purgation : In what then should we imitate the ancients ? Let us imitate that which is common to us all. The sources of passion are still open to us : we are men just as the ancients and emotion is not banished from our hearts. It is even more familiar to us and, with the removal of that which causes the highest degree of terror, we have the fine field in front of us which belongs to pity and moderate fear. But those actions, which must arouse in us this emotion, should reflect our social habits and our moral disposition. . . . The painting of our social conditions, of our social passions, unites and brings together the audience and the actors, and, recognizing the ridiculous nature of what results, we laugh at ourselves and thus sometimes correct our defects, (ii. 123-125.). . . We should, in Tragedy, renounce everything bound up with the social customs, ideas and character of the ancients [and, if we must take plots from Greek or Roman history, we should see] that the facts chosen interest humanity in general, inde- pendently of any particular setting, and all prejudices peculiar to the ancients should be avoided, (ii. 125.) The modern spectator, who goes to the Theatre to see or hear a Tragedy, hates everything that interrupts the progress of the action and loves the frequency of varied operations which, in a succession of continuous moments, call him and lead him to the principal action of Tragedy, (ii. 129.) ... A single scene, which attracts and merits the attention of the audience through a living and interesting incident, is more effective than a hundred Tragedies built according to the universal precepts of art. (ii. 130.). . . A hundred verses well studied will never cause as great an effect as an " Oh Dio ! " said at the right moment, (ii. 132.) The conclusion to the theories advocated in ' Dell ' Indole del Taatro Tragico ' may be found in the words :