Page:The thirty-six dramatic situations (1921).djvu/51

FOURTEENTH SITUATION 49 Is the Fourteenth, then, limited to but one class, a mere derivative of the preceding? No; it possesses, fortunately, some germs of savagery which permit of its development in several directions. Through them it may trend upon "Murderous Adultery," "Adultery Threatened," and especially upon "Crimes of Love" (incests, etc.). Its true form and value may be ascertained by throwing these new tendencies into relief.

A (1) — Malicious Rivalry of a Brother: — "Britannicus;" "Les Maucroix" by Delpit (the Common Parent here gives place to a pair of ex-rivals, who become almost the Instigators); "Boislaurier" (Richard, 1884). From fiction: "Pierre et Jean," by de Maupassant. Case in which rivalry is without hatred: "1812" (Nigond, 1910).

(2) — Malicious Rivalry of Two Brothers: — "Agathocle," "Don Pedre," Adleaide du Guesclin" and "Amelie," all by Voltaire, who dreamed of carving a kindgom all his own, from this sub-class of a single situation.

(3) — Rivalry of Two Brothers, With Adultery on the Part of One: "Pellets et Melisande" by Maeterlinck.

(4) — Rivalry of Sisters: — "La Souris" (Pailleron, 1887); "L'Enchantement" (Bataille, L900); "Le Demon du Foyer" (G. Sand). Of aunt and niece: "Le Risque" (Coolus, 1909).

B (1) — Rivalry of Father and Son, for an Unmarried Woman: Metastasio's "Antigone;" "Les Fossiles" (F. de Curel); "La Massiere" (Lemaitre, 1905); "La Dette" (Trarieux. 1909); "Papa" (de Flera and de Caillavet, 1911); Racine's "Mithridate," in which the rivalry is triple, between the father and each of the sons, and between the two sons. Partial example: the beginning of Dumas' "Pere Prodigue."

(2) — Rivalry of Father and Son, for a Married Woman: — "Le Vieil Homme" (Porto-Riche, 1911).

(3) — Case Similar to the Two Foregoing, But in Which the Object is Already the Wife of the Father. (This goes beyond adultery, and tends to result in incest, but the purity of the passion preserves, for dramatic effect, a fine distinction between this sub-class and